Sports so often hinge on strong starts and finishes.
The Pistons and Red Wings are both off to their best starts in years.
In college football, the Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State Spartans each have three games left, but are in very different positions with the season's end in sight.
Michigan Public sports commentator John U. Bacon joined Morning Edition host Doug Tribou to talk about all that and more from the world of sports.
Sports this weekend:
N.Y. Rangers at Detroit Red Wings - Fri., 7:00 p.m.
Detroit Pistons at Brooklyn Nets - Fri., 7:30 p.m.
Michigan football - Off
Michigan State football - Off
Detroit Lions at Washington - Sun., 4:25 p.m.
Doug Tribou: The Pistons are 6-2. That is Detroit’s best start since the 2008-2009 NBA season. And their star guard — Cade Cunningham — appears to be heating up after a bit of a cool start. What are you thinking about when it comes to the Pistons building on last year’s trip to the playoffs?
John U. Bacon: Well, if you simply had the same team and the same star in Cade Cunningham, the same coach in J.B. Bickerstaff, you'd probably be just a notch or two better than last year. And that's about where they are now. They'll still need, I think, another trade, another acquisition to get to the next step. However J.B. Bickerstaff coaches that rarest of things in NBA: defense. It is in short supply. So when you coach defense, of course, you're in every game. This is a team that is fun to watch.
DT: The Red Wings are also off to their best start in years. They are 9-5 on the season. But like the NBA, the NHL season is 82 games long. The Red Wings haven’t been to the playoffs in a decade, but have had some near misses. What are the difference makers for teams that can get through that grind of a long season and manage to get above that playoff bubble zone that NHL has every year?
JUB: Well, I hate to say it, but it's the thing that the Red Wings lack and that is experience. Young guys tend to start out very good during the start of the season and then fade off towards the end, which is just what happened. It is a very tiring season.
And Doug, whenever I talk to pro athletes and ask them, what do the average fans not get about what you do? They always, always, always say travel. And the travel is at the worst in the NBA and the NHL — I know that Major League Baseball has twice as many games — but it's worse because you're moving every single day and that wears you out. So those guys better be in their beds at ten o'clock. How's that, Doug?
DT: [Laughs] Michigan is No. 21 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings. Twelve teams will make the playoff this season. Michigan’s stock slipped a bit after an uninspired win over a struggling Purdue team. The Wolverines have this weekend off before they head into their final three regular season games. What’s your assessment of their season so far?
JUB: Well, they're about where you'd expect them to be, frankly. They're 7-2. They're a ranked team. They've got a true freshman quarterback who just turned 18 in August. So by and large, they're doing pretty well. But here's the deal. They're not a great team. And the Big Ten right now is not a great conference. So, there! You got a shot!
DT: Michigan State also has the weekend off. Lots of talk lately about head coach Jonathan Smith’s future as the team struggles for a second straight season. The Spartans have lost six straight. And they are winless against Big Ten opponents. How much can Smith do from here out to make the case for a third season?
JUB: He's got to win some games. This is new territory, Doug. In the old days, you always got four or five years. Now with NIL — which is name, image, likeness where you pay the players — if you don't start winning now, who's going to pay to bring in better players next year? I mean, donors will not be excited by this. So that's the new world you're into. Smith, incredibly, is on the hot seat after only a year and a half.
DT: The Lions lost a tough one in the NFL last weekend, falling to the Minnesota Vikings by three points. The Lions are now 5-3. So they've already lost more games than last season, although last season was really something. So how would you assess their season this year so far at about the halfway mark?
JUB: Well, in fairness, they're in a tougher division this year. This is a much better NFC North. And some issues need to be addressed. But man, in the NFL, unlike college football, if you are 10-7 at the end, you've had a great season, and you're a playoff team. In college football, that's not so good.
DT: I just got back from a tour of Ireland with a group of Michigan Public listeners, and we had a great time. Great trip. While we were there, the rugby teams from Ireland and New Zealand played a match. And it was on in the bar of one of the hotels where we stayed during the trip. A few of us went down to watch the match. Of course, the match was in Soldier Field, which I think — check my geography here — Chicago is a little closer to the studios here in Ann Arbor than than Dublin, for example. [Laughs]
JUB: [Laughs] Anybody can go to Chicago and watch the game live. It takes a real man to go to Ireland to watch it on TV. So well done, Doug.
DT: [Laughs] Thanks, John. Have a good weekend.
JUB: You got it, Thanks.
Editor's notes: Quotes in this article have been lightly edited for length and clarity. You can hear the full interview near the top of this page.
The University of Michigan holds Michigan Public's broadcast license.
