The eligibility of one of the state’s top players, River Rouge‘s Jamal Poplar, is being question. (AnnArbor.com)

Michigan State will be fine without Jabari Parker. (State News)

Michigan native Shane Battier upset Russell Westbrook because of a hard foul. (Hoops World)

Rochester native Walker Russell Jr. has been traded to the Reno Bighorns. (RGJ.com)

Is Michigan‘s Nik Stauskas the next Glen Rice? (MLive)

Central Michigan is the biggest surprise in the MAC. (Hustle Belt)

Kobe Bryant likes the defense of former Michigan standout Darius Morris. (LA Times)

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When Tory Jackson gave up his professional career to coach his alma matar, Saginaw Buena Vista, Jackson insisted that he believed his role in the district was to teach life through basketball, not simply teach basketball. Early this season, he’s already delivered his first lesson in a very public way. Jackson reportedly decided to have his team forfeit a game when he felt they were being too undisciplined. From WNEM TV 5:

But in his short tenure as coach, he said he’s had to make some extreme decisions. A big one was made Thursday night. He canceled his team’s travel to Shepherd because of disciplinary issues.

“We had a slip-up, we had a slip-up, we were undisciplined, and I just punished them for not being as disciplined as what I expected from them,” said Jackson.

He’s not saying exactly what the slip-up was but he said his players and parents know. He informed them today there will be no game. Team captain Armondi Rogers said he gets it.

“There’s more to it than basketball; it’s about life,” said Rogers.

But Jackson said until everyone else understands that, you can call it tough love.

“I feel like this right here will be a learning thing, a learning tool, and from here on out, I don’t expect anything else but great,” said Jackson.

Jackson took a stance that not many coaches would, but not everyone is applauding his decision. Namely, via the Saginaw News, the coach of the team Buena Vista was supposed to play. Here’s Shepherd coach Ryan Huber:

“I understand it was for disciplinary reasons, but it feels like he was punishing our players,” Huber said. “We had a parent of one of our players come quite a ways to see his son play, but then we found out the morning of the game that Buena Vista wasn’t going to come. We had 11 players ready to go. It didn’t feel good. At this point, I don’t think we’ll consider scheduling Buena Vista again.”

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When veteran guard Derek Fisher went down with an injury and subsequently asked for his release from the Dallas Mavericks, the Mavs didn’t have to look far to find a replacement. Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports that Mavs will call up Detroit native Chris Douglas-Roberts, who was briefly with the team in training camp and was playing for their D-League affiliate, the Texas Legends, this season. From Stein:

The Mavericks, league sources told ESPN, will be calling up Chris Douglas-Roberts from the Frisco-based Texas Legends to replace Fisher. Widely rated as the top current NBA prospect in the D-League, Douglas-Roberts is scheduled to play for the Legends in Saturday night’s home game against Iowa before joining the Mavericks on Sunday in San Antonio.

In nine games as a Maverick after signing Nov. 29, Fisher averaged 8.6 points and 3.6 assists in just over 25 minutes per game.

The Mavericks are eager to see if Douglas-Roberts can give them the backcourt scoring and penetration they’ve been seeking after his time in the NBA’s developmental league, but sources said that Dallas is likewise expected to continue exploring potential trade options to strengthen its point guard position, which has been a problem all season.

Above when I said Douglas-Roberts ‘played for’ the Legends, that wasn’t an entirely accurate description. During his D-League stint, Douglas-Roberts was the top player in the league, a dominant, do-it-all perimeter threat who scored nearly 28 points per game, shot 50 percent, made 40 percent of his three-pointers and averaged 5.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game.

Douglas-Roberts is still no guarantee to stick with the Mavericks, but he has undoubtedly earned his latest shot at sticking in the NBA with that outstanding performance.

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Numbers don’t tell the story for Michigan State‘s Brandan Kearney. (MLive)

Benton Harbor‘s Chet Walker, the 10th greatest Philadelphia 76er of all-time. (Courier Post)

A year in epic moments from Flint’s JaVale McGee. (Deadspin)

McGee with a little Michigan on Michigan crime, swatting former Spartan Zach Randolph. (SLAM)

Lansing’s Anthony Clemmons, other Iowa freshmen learning through their mistakes. (Iowa City Gazette)

Oakland‘s Ryan Bass, Vinnie Johnson-like. (Grizzlies Den)

A new Coleman — DaJuan Coleman — is conjuring up images of Detroit native and Syracuse great Derrick Coleman for the Orange, but they are not related. (New York Times)

Jay Bilas says Michigan‘s Trey Burke is the best point guard in the country. (ESPN)

How does Burke stack up in the player of the year race? (CBS Sports)

What makes the Michigan program great? (David Merritt)

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Justice B. Hill of SB Nation has an incredible, in-depth story on the life of former Wayne State basketball player and Harlem Globetrotter Earnest Wagner Jr.:

Their basketball skills got them into Wayne State University, a big deal only a few years after Jackie Robinson had integrated Major League Baseball. Together, they spent a whirlwind three years on campus, excelling on the court: Kline, the skilled forward; Wagner, the ball-handling guard with a deadeye shot. He knew he was good, the team’s best player, so some people told him. Better than Kline or Charlie “King Snake” Primas, the team’s other star. “There was a lot of things I guess people seen about me that I didn’t see about myself,” Wagner says. “Sometimes, I really underestimated myself.” He laughs at the thought. “That’s a shame, ain’t it?”

You won’t regret going to read this.

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By Jay W. Jensen

Highlights of University of Detroit player Jason Calliste.

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BallinMichigan.com runs highlight videos of high school players across Michigan. The players featured must be in high school (9th-12th grades) and the videos must be recent. If you’d like to submit a video, e-mail the link to patrickhayes13(at)gmail(dot)com.

East Lansing coach Steve Finamore has long been intrigued by the ‘foul or defend’ debate and why coaches choose one or the other with their team up three in late-game situations. He’s so intrigued, in fact, that he’s conducting his own research on it and he asked me to crowd source the BallinMichigan readership for examples. Here is coach Finamore’s message:

I am working on a study about a late game situation; up 3, on defense and less than :07 to play. Do you foul or defend? I was wondering if you can post a note on your website asking all coaches to look out for this situation and to contact me. I’m covering HS, college and pro. I would love more HS samples. hoops135@hotmail.com been tracking since day one.

So, coaches, players, fans of the game out there … if you’re interested in this hotly contested late-game debate and have examples of why one or the other works or doesn’t work, contact coach Finamore with your input.

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Kevin Scheitrum of NBA.com has a fantastic, long piece on former Michigan State standout Durrell Summers, who now plays for the Idaho Stamped in the NBA D-League. There are plenty of great quotes in there, but this one really stood out to me:

“I definitely look back on it, and it was a great ride, to be honest,” Summers said of his four-year run at MSU, with appearances in two Final Fours. “I learned a lot and had a lot of fun, but that may have been a gift and a curse. A gift and a curse because you’re young and it’s happening like that, and there’s not really a script for how to deal with it. Your coaches try to tell you, but it’s hard. … I don’t want to get into all of it, but you’re having fun in college, not necessarily being as productive on the court. If it’s not helping me get better as a basketball player, you shouldn’t be partaking. That’s the thing I had to learn.”

Summers hinted at these things when I interviewed him before the season started. Since becoming a professional, he seems to have really learned that he’s not going to carve out a long basketball career unless he adds elements to his game and works exceedingly hard at those things, and to his credit, he seems to be backing up those words with his actions based on the strong season he’s having for Idaho so far.

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By Jay W. Jensen

Highlights of Jalen Adams, a class of 2013 player from Saginaw Arthur Hill.

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BallinMichigan.com runs highlight videos of high school players across Michigan. The players featured must be in high school (9th-12th grades) and the videos must be recent. If you’d like to submit a video, e-mail the link to patrickhayes13(at)gmail(dot)com.

Eastern Michigan hosts Oakland University on Saturday in what should be an interesting matchup — Eastern as the school with a rich basketball history, Oakland as still a relatively new Division I program, but one with a much better immediate history than Eastern.

But the Eagles are showing some signs of life over the last two seasons, and Jeremy of EMU blog Eagle Totem thinks a win over Oakland on Saturday could be another positive step in Eastern reinvigorating some of that dormant basketball past:

• Eastern will play its most important non-conference game this week, against an in-state foe.  Of course I am talking about the Oakland Grizzlies, who will visit the Convo this Saturday.  Thursday night, I think the best we can hope for is a better showing against our cousins down the road than Western’s 73-41 drubbing earlier this month.
• In better days for EMU, in this case 1997, Earl Boykins and the Eagles ventured over to Ann Arbor and beat a Michigan team led by Louis Bullock and Tractor Traylor (RIP) by the score of 89-83.  The hero of that game was the always underappreciated James Head, who hit a big three in the closing minutes to put a dagger in U-M’s hopes.
• In 1997 Oakland was a fledgling program, it would have been quite a leap of faith to believe Oakland would surpass EMU in hoops, but the evidence over the last decade is pretty clearly in Oakland’s favor.  The game this Saturday is a nice opportunity to begin to change that.

Tip-off for Saturday’s game is 2 p.m. in Ypsilanti.

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