BasicsWho: Michigan (1-0) vs. Houston Baptist (0-3) |
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Houston Baptist is a member of the new Great West conference. You know, the one who’s tournament champion gets an automatic bid to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT).
Still fresh to Division 1 basketball, Houston Baptist was not a good team last year. They went 5-25 last year with only one win over a team with an RPI better than 300, a 7 point win over Utah Valley.
Judging by early season play, it doesn’t look like they have gotten much better. The Huskies are off to an 0-3 start with losses to South Alabama, Sacramento St., and Rice. Of their six players who started more than 10 games, only one returns to the team this year.
Their offensive statistics aren’t pretty. They are shooting a meager 8.5% from three point range and only 45% from inside the arc for an effective FG% of only 36%. They are also turning the ball over on a whopping 27.3% of their possessions.
Their defense has been a little better. They are allowing an almost respectable .94 points per possession and holding opponents to an eFG% of 42.3%. The interesting news for Michigan is that they are doing a great job of defending the three point shot, allowing opponents to shoot only 18.9% from long range.
Mario Flaherty, the lone returning starter, is the leading scorer for the Huskies. The 6-foot-9 big man averages 13 points and 9 rebounds per game. Andrew Gonzalez provides the scoring punch on the wing. The 6-foot-6 scorer averages 11 points and 4 rebounds per game.
Unlike Northern Michigan, who was content to sit back in a zone, the Huskies love to push the tempo. They averaged 72 possessions per game last year (compared to Michigan’s 64 last year) and are right around that mark through three games this year as well. Mike Rothstein’s article compares the Huskies style of play to Nolan Richardson’s 40 minutes of hell:
“We’re modifying it to some degree,” Cottrell said. “We’ve always been a very up-tempo team, led the nation in scoring on the NAIA level for three years out of 10 and we’re in the top 10 all the other years.
The last time I wrote a preview this negative was probably last year’s Savannah State game, and we all know how that one turned out. Interestingly enough, both Savannah State and Houston Baptist play an up-tempo pressing style of defense. These games count and none of them can be taken for granted.
That being said, Houston Baptist shouldn’t provide much more of a challenge than Northern Michigan. This is the last cupcake before Michigan heads down to Orlando and dives headfirst into the tough part of their non-conference schedule.
The game is streaming online at BigTenNetwork.com. Early returns on their feed have been overwhelmingly negative.If you are in the area, you can get into Crisler for 2 cans of food and a dollar. Not a bad deal at all. As always, predictions and discussion belongs in the comments.
Pregame Reading
- John Beilein’s media roundtable from Thursday
- John Beilein Radio Show Tips Off at Pizza House on Dec. 14
Full schedule after the link - Ben Cronin’s first game for Michigan might be Big Ten opener
This headline says everything you need to know - NOTEBOOK: Michigan guard Manny Harris heard congratulations all week about his triple-double
Rothstein with some hoops notes on injuries - The OSU ‘point guard’ turned it over 10 times
The Evan Turner at point guard experiment didn’t work so well against a solid UNC team - 10 things to know about Houston Baptist
From MGoBlog diaries - Rough day for the Big Ten. In addition to Ohio State’s loss, Indiana fell to Ole Miss and Penn State lost to UNC-Wilmington.
One of the reasons I’m more optimistic about this season is because with Darius Morris, we have another guy that can get to the hoop if the 3′s aren’t falling. If the Indiana and Savannah State games showed anything, its that when the shots aren’t falling you can not just lose, but get blown out by ANYONE.
Last night, Ohio State got reduced to a “jump shooting” team by UNC to less than stellar results.
Alright so im thinking about driving down to Crisler Arena but im not sure how this can food drive works.. All i need is 2 canned food items and a $1.00 and i can get into the game? Also can 2 people do this like me and my dad, and where can we sit?. The reason im asking these is because its a 3 hour drive from where we live and i would hate to drive all the way down and not be able to get in.. Thank you…
help Please: They will probably be seats in the upper bowl but everyone can get in with two cans and one dollar.
Here’s the full article: http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/.....09aab.html
“Fans that bring two canned food items to Gate A to either game will receive admission to the game for $1. The Wolverines are hoping to reach 1,000 cans from each game to donate to Food Gatherers. In addition, fans may also receive $1 admission to the men’s Friday night game against Houston Baptist by presenting their Michigan vs. Ohio State football ticket at Gate A.”
thank you Dylan… hopefully i can make it out to the game… GO Blue!
With the quality of BTN.com’s video stream (or lack of quality) I think mgoblue.com’s audio is far superior. I’ll probably have stat tracker going and the audio too…there is usually a lag with stat tracker, but at least it gives me something visual while listening to the game.
I’m hoping Manny can get another Triple Double.
His assists will be his limiting factor most nights, and with an opponent this bad, I would think Manny should get lots of assists.
While I agree with Gary Parrish’s very bare bones post about Evan Turner, I have a hard time taking anything seriously from a guy that’s as much of a douchebag as his picture makes him appear to be.
not that it matters, but a slightly more interesting poll question would be: “Who wins Old Spice? Michigan or the field?”
If I had to take one of the eight, it’s Michigan easily. But vs. the field? That’s about a tossup.
I am pretty shocked that so many people are picking Michigan honestly… I picked Florida State. I guess people are very confident.
Novak got 5 3′s in the exhibition, Vogrich got 5 in the 1st game. It’s Stu’s turn tonight. Go blue!
@BlimpyBlue: While Gary Parrish does look like a total tool in his picture, after reading his stuff the past couple years I can assure you he is the best msm college basketball writer around.
Heading out to Crisler. My prediction: UM 102 Houston Baptist 65. I have no idea what to expect out HB besides the preview that says they like to run. UM gets plenty of open looks and knocks down a lot of them. Player of the game: D Sims with 28 and 14. Go Blue!
Dylan, I agree with you. I think Florida St. will AT LEAST give us a run for our money. I do think UM will squeak it out though with the key factor being Darius. However, eventually some freshman mistakes will cost us a game. I am looking forward to the old spice tourney because i want to see if UM keeps on playing hard pressure D and pushing the ball. It is one thing to do it vs NMU and HBU but to do it against Creighton/Xavier/FSU will be another thing
It’s true, those BTN.com feeds are simply awful at game time. However, if you can stand missing the game live, and if you’ve bought it, you can watch it archived at a different time when BTN’s server isn’t overloaded (read: any other time). It’s essentially like DVRing it.
Will there be an online stream somewhere for free?
anyone have a link where we can watch the game online w/o using btn.com?
this stream is garbage. I’m glad I just paid 3 bucks for a totally non working piece of crap. The BTN is pathetic. They shouldn’t be selling something that doesn’t work.
Just tuned in to BTN and no game. Check this site and now I’m pissed. I have 4 BTN alternate stations empty but this is being streamed. Thank you BTN (middle finger raised.)
Is the audio on MGOBLUE working for anyone?
btn fails again… michigan struggling a little bit with Houston B.’s quickness and height.
Incredibly sloppy start. DeShawn Sims was more vocal than I’ve seen him coming to the bench. Need to get him the ball.
This guy calling every shot a gun is annoying.
mgoblue audio is not working for me either. Try http://www.w4country.com
haha… Sven, you’re very right
Maybe it’s because I brought it up in the preview but this game feels eerily similar to SSu. Not predicting a finish like that but yikes, sloppy. Michigan is forcing things and looks frustrated. Need to bring it down a notch and just play.
Also Michigan isn’t down huge like the SSU game. One key difference.
I going to go out on a limb and say Manny finishes higher than 12.5% shooting. He can’t keep missing like this.
Should see what our inside game is made of tonight. Nice move inside by Gibson. No problems getting a good signal at btn.com.
Hi everyone. I live outside of the country and actually purchased BigTenTicket.
My question is: What’s the difference between “Big Ten Ticket” and “Big Ten Network Streaming” They are the same website design, same graphics, same company, but different packages.
http://video.bigtennetwork.com/about
http://www.bigtenticket.com/about
Basically, despite my purchase of $70, I’m not getting access to the game tonight. I assume this is because it’s not on the TV channel. Does anyone else find this absolutely f—ing ridiculous?
I mean, besides the fact that the streaming absolutely sucks, now I have to put up with this. They will be getting a very angry email this weekend.
Sims getting hot from 3 now. transition d is terrible.
You can’t stop Zack Gibson!
A couple threes from DeShawn get the team going. Transition d is terrible.
My BTN.com stream is working great. Good quality. Well worth the $3. 28-20 Blue..
Agree the btn.com is fine. Not sure what all the bitching is about. Agree on the transtiion d. Got to start stopping the ball. Would like to see some assists from the point tonight
Four 3-pointers from Peedi! You gotta be kidding me…weird game.
It wasn’t pretty but it’s a 12 point half time lead. I told you guys DeShawn wanted the ball. Just didn’t know it was the baseline three. Manny has an inefficient 19 points, should have probably four more because of missed free throws.
Hard to complain with a 12 point lead after playing that poorly.
Beilein absolutely ripped into the team at the 17:55 mark. Defensive effort, especially in transition, is pathetic.
Michigan pulling away but you can tell Beilein is not pleased.
dylan im not at the game. what is he not pleased about? we are winning by a lot but from the comments it looks like um was maybe looking ahead to creighton?…
I’m wondering how the Bigs play out as well. Does anyone think we will see more of the Sims/Gibson lineup this year (than last year)? Rarely happened last year and with all the young bigs hurt or just not ready I just don’t see it happening…but there it was tonight. Also, difficult to get up for Houston Baptist, but I would certainly like to see more wide open shots knocked down. But hey, win and get better. That is a formula I can handle…
team was definitely looking ahead to Creighton….all around slow game by M…didnt get back, didnt finish as well as they have, cold shooting by everyone not named Deshawn…but an awkward 20ish point win, so you gotta take it…certainly hope and expect they come out with some more fire against a very solid Blue Jays swuad
Anthony Wright is doing alot of little things right. Still missing his shots but plays good D. Manny had the worst 25 point performance-he got pulled at one point. Deshawn is floating around out there not really showing intensity-in contrast Zack Gibson is on his game. LLP, Stu, Morris Vogrich not much to say but I do think Vogrich is going to be very good in the future.
My thoughts: obviously agree with everyone on the sloppy play, but still nice to coast out a win. The energy just was not there tonight for whatever reason. I think missing some bunnies early and a couple really poor turnovers early, deflated the team. It showed on defense as well, HB got a ton of good looks many of which they missed but rebounded and put back. I will say this, HB was better than I expected. They were big, physical and had a couple of pretty decent guards. If they had some shooters they would be a tough team.
- Sims/Harris: pretty standard games. Manny basically carried our zero offense for most of the first half until Sims heated up late.
- Darius Morris: looked tired or sick or just kinda out of it. Missed a layup early and then looked lost on D the next possession. He needs to learn to be more assertive and look to turn the corner on his guy. A lot of times he dribbles no where in particular.
- Novak/LLP/Douglass/Gibson: pretty standard games as well. They all missed some shots, but played reasonably well on both ends. Novak really was outmatched in the post but he continued to battle. Douglass did a good job running the show at point and taking care of the ball. Gibson needs more minutes. I think he might be the pleasant surprise this year. He is very productive when he is out there.
- Wright: made one nice back door pass, other than that not much.
- Vogrich: I dont think he scored, but I thought overall he played better than the NMU game. He made a couple real nice drives but just didnt finish. He also had a couple of hustle plays and I thought his defense was a step forward. Still not great on the ball, but a little better.
On to Orlando, hopefully we show up early against Creighton.
Wolverines started slower than a jar of peanut butter but, thanks to Manny and Deshawn they got it together.
Hopefully this slow start jazz is finished. I think Zack Gibson played pretty good.
That steal and basket before halftime by Manny was cool. Key thing is 2-0.
“anyone have any thoughts”?
It’s seems you’ve made a lot of assumptions and have too many worries after 2 meaningless games. Let it play out a bit.
@Gabey. Lots of questions in there so I will try to address as many as possible.
- Can Morris handle the spot light next year if Manny leaves? Well I think the answer is probably no, but he will not be asked to either. Obviously the team will not have a Manny type player (if he leaves early), but they will have a very seasoned group of players. The style will likely change back to stress more of the back cuts and screens that Beilein likes to utilize. With Manny out there a lot of times our offense becomes, get it to Manny, let him go one-on-one, everyone else space out. Next year, D-Mo wont be asked to fill that role, instead he just becomes another cog in a balanced offense.
- If Stu can’t shoot what is he good for? Many, many things. He is actually one of the best on the ball defenders the team has. He is also a nice guy to play at the top of the zone because he is more athletic than many people realize. Offensively, he will do just what he did tonight. Take care of the ball and find the open guy. Occassionally drive to the basket primarily just to look to pass. Im fine with that. Again, I dont think many people are looking at Stu Douglass and saying “come on be a star.” He is a role player and a very good one.
- Can this years team contend? Contend for what? The Big Ten? yes. A national championship? probably no. The fact is that this team is good enough when they are on to beat anyone, and I believe anyone (in the country not just the Big Ten). When they are off, they are pretty average. But still not a bad team by any stretch. Because this years team is more athletic than last years, plus deeper, and more experienced, their margin for error is a lot higher. They are still not capable of playing (shooting) poorly and beating a Kansas or MSU, but they can play/shoot poorly and beat an Illinois or Minnesota. And I think that says something. Last year that team needed to do so many things right to beat good teams, this year there is way more room. So yes this team can contend in the Big Ten, but no they probably cannot put together 6 games in the tourney.
- Who do we turn to next year/are these last two years flukes? Seems to make sense to handle both of these at the same time. As I said earlier, I dont expect this team to turn to any one player next year (assuming Manny leaves). Instead I think they will rely on being a very balanced team and use a much more structured offense to score. Think back to Beileins years at WVU they didnt have anyone that was as good as Sims or Manny, yet they won consistently. This is also why I dont think these years are flukes. Now will they be as good next year as they are this year? Probably not, unless someone improves a lot which is possible, or one of the incoming freshman are a lot better than people think. But that said, I still expect them to be competitive next year and have a very good chance at the tourney. Beilein has proving his doesnt need stars to succeed and there is no reason to think that will not continue. Moving on from there to the next question . . .
- Can UM become year in, year out contenders for tourney births and/or naty titles? Tourney births? absolutely. Naty titles? year in year out, no. How many teams are there that are year in year out contenders – not very many, if any at all. With so much turnover in college basketball it is extremely difficult to come into every year with a shot to win a title. All teams go thru a season or two where they miss on recruits and are not contenders. So that seems like a ridiculous standard to apply to UM. But in terms of births, there is no reason they cannot contend yearly for that. I mean its not all that difficult to be in contention on a yearly basis for the tournament. The better question is probably can they contend on a yearly basis for the Big Ten? I think yes on this one as well. If you look at the recruiting, Beilein is bringing in some very good kids. No he has not landed a McDonalds All-American yet, but it wouldnt shock me at all if he does soon. If Zeigler comes to UM, then they will have 4 four star recruits in the last two classes with at least one more on the way in the following class. That is pretty solid talent. That is enough to build a Big Ten championship quality program on.
So to sum up: If Manny leaves, next years team probably will not be quite as good as this years (but i wouldnt count it out as a possibility). However, they still should make the tourney and be competitive in the Big Ten. Beilein has built plenty of winners without star power before, no reason he cant here. But that said, he actually seems to be bringing in plenty of talent that might develope into that star power. It looks like Zeigler (still a ?mark) and Bundridge both will be ranked as high as Manny was when he came in. You dont just replace a special player like Manny, it will take a team effort, but one I think they can accomplish.
Paragraphs.
Yes, please paragraphs. I understand your hesitancy to buy into this team being consistent contenders for the Big Ten and the tournament given what the program has been through the past ten years. However, I believe your reasons are unfounded.
Beilein did not have a Manny or Deshawn type player at WVU until the last year really when he had Alexander who was not even that great that year. He had a lot of solid college players but no one who went on to NBA success or even to the NBA at all. I dont know what kinds of players Manny or Deshawn will be at the next level but I know that both will get the opportunity. Gansey, Pittsnogle or whoever else never had that shot – they went undrafted. So yea, the talent is much better here at UM then it was at WVU.
Top 25 once in a blue moon? Cmon. If by blue moon you mean just about every year, then yes I agree. I really think with the quality of players that are coming in and Beilein’s ability to coach (which I dont think can be questioned), this program will be in or near the top 25 every single year. Yes, every single year. Sure there may be a year here or there where things dont fall right or the team loses some tough games and does not make the top 25, but they will be around it. Next year is a great example assuming Manny leaves early. That team might not be great, but they should be solid. Similar to last years team in terms of success and last years team was around a top 25 type team.
As far as Izzo dominating recruiting in the Midwest, well that is just not a concern at all. Detroit and Michigan as a whole is one of the best states for basketball recruiting. The problem for UM has not been Izzo taking all the great players, it has been all the great players going out of state. Horford, Crawford, Hairston, Roberson, Brandon Jenkins, CDR, Wilson Chandler, Ramar Smith, Tajuan Porter, Tory Jackson, those are all players that I can remember being four stars or above and going some place out of state. If UM lands just a couple of those guys, they are just fine. Izzo does a great job at State, but one thing about him that does not worry me, is recruiting. And its not because he cannot recruit, its because there is plenty of talent to go around. If UM wins, kids will come. Especially now that Beilein is here and proving what he can do with players.
In terms of national championships, well that takes a special kind of team or an amazing run. Hell State was not a national championship quality team last year, but they made one of the most amazing runs through the tournament. Beilein’s WVU team that made the elite 8 was not an elite quality team, but they were a basket away from making the final four. In order to win titles (unless you get an amazing run), you need to have a ton of talent. Usually a couple of NBA players supported by some other high level recruits. I dont know when, but it would not shock me at all, if Beilein lands a couple high level guys and UM puts a team out there with a lot of NBA talent.
The guy can flat out coach and UM is a hell of a program to play for, once this thing gets established, the potential is there for a title. I just hope it comes before Beilein decides its time to retire.
Solid logic goin on here.
Gabey…Fab Five? 4 of the top 15 recruits in the nation that year. Don’t have to go back to Lincoln.
Gabey, I agree UM has not landed a top 25 player in quite some time. I think Horton may have been up there but I am not positive. My point was more to UM recruiting against Izzo and State. I dont think basketball recruiting is like football recruiting. Especially considering how talented this state is in highschool basketball. There is enough talent in this state for both programs. Whereas in football there are usually only a couple guys from the state that are really high level talents.
Like I said before, I dont think national titles are necessarily in the future. It takes a lot to get to that level. But I would also not rule it out. Beilein has the ability to bring in top level talent. Now whether that means continuing to get high 4 star guys or landing a coupel 5 stars here and there, idk. The program, the coach and now the facilities all seem to be coming together. That tells me that there is a chance that they can bring in the type of talent that it will take to be succesful nationally. If the pieces fall together at the right time, then perhaps they can make a run at a title.
Either way though, I believe the program will compete year in and year out for Big Ten titles and be in the tournament consistently.
I also dont see why they couldnt land 5 star type talent down the road every year. I dont know if it will happen, but i dont see any reason why it couldnt. Its all about success. If the team wins and continues to improve its national image as it has done every year so far under Beilein, then recruits will follow.
Abe’s crew was overrated.
I think something being missed here is the role that the football team plays in bball recruiting. When you bring a recruit in and can take him to the big house and see a good team on the field, it puts an image in the player’s head about what UM is and what he could be a part of. I don’t think by any means it is the most important part of recruiting by any means but it for sure plays a factor.
Another thing I am curious about is whether Beilein turns UM into white boy U, like he did at WV. Problem with that is that many top 25 players are not of the Caucasian Persuasion.
Moving away from ridiculous speculation about recruiting and back to last night’s game:
What troubled me was the terrible defense and poor free throw shooting. HBU scored too easily in transition and got too many chances inside. I really hate to see that many missed free throws. Most of all, I hate to see a good team play down to a weaker opponent (a regular feature of Ammaker, Ellerbie, and Fisher teams). I hope they get out of that mode quickly.
I hear what you are saying, Gary. In my mind, this game is a huge step up from last year. Last year we would have been down by 15-20 points early and would have struggled the whole game. This year, we were down, but not by as much and then took control of the game (even though we still played sloppy).
I’ll worry about sub-par games against crappy teams early in the season when someone can demonstrate empirically that teams that go on to win titles never have off nights.
The last time Mich had top 25 recruits was the class with LaVell Blachard, Jamal Crawford, and Kevin Gaines. They didn’t have the ranking system, (4 star 5 star etc.) but they did have a top 100 and Blanchard was #2,Crawford #6, and Gaines was #20. That team was no where close to as good as last years team. The point I’m trying to make is that talent is what you make of it. What good is it to have a bunch of 5 star guys if they don’t gel together? This is why I think this years Kentucky team will underachieve. Another thing with the top recruits is that most of them are one and done. It takes time to learn the college game, especially in a system like Beilein’s. I think we are a program on the rise and I don’t think we’re going anywhere soon. Now if the f’ball team could get a great coach…I’ll leave that alone.
Obviously I, along with most of you, are not pleased with the majority of last night’s game but I want to throw out a few things that have not been mentioned yet. This was Houston baptist, who the hell cares about HBU? We won and that, much like Savannah State last year, is all that matters. Games like this are not resume builders, they are an opportunity to have the freshmen mesh with the upperclassmen and vice-versa.
If you are Manny Harris or Matt Vogrich, how the heck can you get pumped up for this game? An opponent located over a thousand miles away, just before a huge tournament and whatever class issues they have before the Thanksgiving Break.
I hate excuses but a win is a win and no one should be concerned about a game that ended in a 22 point cushion.
Ellerbe’s first class was indeed very good. Ellerbe was NOT most qualified for the job, but he definitely got screwed by NCAA big time. Had Crawford been allowed to play, it would have been a good team, and he might’ve had better luck and had controls over his team.
Did not watch the game. I was complaining laud about BTN broadcasting games stream only even with 5 channels they have. Anyway, no reason to be over-optimistic after one game and over-pessimistic after another game. A good example is the up and down of Syracuse in this very short season.
Ellerbe was screwed by the NCAA but he was still a horrible coach. I remember when Amaker was hired there were player quotes in the media and some said they didn’t even know how to run basic layup drills.
For the record, I knew Tyrelle Pryor’s ability to commit unforced errors would keep Michigan in the game.
What’s all this about a big man like Cronin stepping up? Just Watching him I don’t see the potential everyone Is talking about. He’s slow and only good for blocking and picks. Gibson will be the 2nd big man to step up this year
“White Boy U” … didn’t Duke win 30 games last year and Tyler Hansbrough lead UNC to a national championship? Nice take, dude.
I didn’t say you can’t win with “white boy u” i’m just saying Beilein seems to recruit them.
Don’t even bring up Hansboruogh, he was the only main contributer who was white. Now duke has a couple and so does msu, it was more of a point of who beilein recruits. Look so far, Cronin, Douglas, Novak, Vogrich, McLimans, Smotrckz, then Morris, Morgan, Hardaway. That is very disproportionate compared to the college scene. Just saying.
Darris Nichols, Frank Young, Tyrone Sally, Wellington Smith, D’or Fischer, Joe Mazzulla, John Flowers, JD Collins, DeSean Butler, Carlton Brundidge, Darius Morris, Tim Hardaway Jr, Trey Zeigler (?)
What do all those players have in common?
Only Morris attends Michigan?
You guys are reading into this too far…..I was merely trying to state that Beilein disproportionately recruits white shooters over black athletes. Take that as racist if you must but I think most can generalize it to be more true than false. If you don’t agree with me, talk to Brian at MGOBLOG.com who has similar feelings. Some things in the universe just happen to be true. Of course their are exceptions to the rules. I am not looking up WVU’s recruiting classes to find this information but I bet the number of white recruits is proportionately higher to other “major” programs
as well as tim hardaway jr jayrich. but it really doesn’t matter a whole lot. he’s only had two recruiting classes and he clearly recruits white shooters. but he also tries to recruit black players as well. whatever beilein does i think he knows what he is doing.
Okay you’re stating the obvious. What exactly IS your point?
I didn’t include Tim Hardaway because he isn’t there yet, same with carlton. My point is…..at WVU, your recruiting is limited because well….it’s West Virginia but at Michigan there are a lot more athletes available and I was more talking about will Beilein continue to go for the shooters or push for more of the athletes.
And sorry Matt for wasting your quality time…lol
It seems to me like he’s going for a mix of both. As we go from the classes of ’08-’11, it seems to me like he’s getting more athletes on board. First you have Douglass and Novak, pure shooters. Morris in ’09 is a little better athlete than those two. Hardaway and possibly Zeigler will be decent athletes. Brundidge is pretty quick, so chalk one up for another “athlete”.
Then you have guys like Smote, McLimans, Morgan who look to be big guys who can shoot. (Smote with a little handle)
That’s kind of what I’m hoping for. I would like at least two players in the Manny mold (not saying they have to be as talented but the slashing, get the rim, create their own shots sort of guys) and two pure shooters to prevent defenses from collapsing too much. Also, a big guy, that can shoot from 12-15 feet would be ideal so that, the slashers can dive to the basket and kick to the elbow and wing for jumpers. Hopefully, Evan S. can get some big man help from wither McLimans, Cronin, or Morgan because I don’t think we want him playing “center” like Sims has to now.
Great debate going on. On a different tangent….here is a nice SI link that involves Manny. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c.....index.html
From what I hear, Smote is sort of in the same mold as Joe Alexander. Probably not as athletic or close to the upside, but a guy who can put the ball on the floor. He’s a better long-range shooter than Joe is. Hopefully Cronin is 100% by B10 season or at the latest next year. With him, McLimans, and Morgan… we’ll have 3 guys that can compete for the 5 spot.
I would like to see UM add Amir Williams so we have a legit big man in the future. I am hoping Cronin is the guy that steps up since he has so much size comparatively.
I think Evan S. will be a small Sims, I like your comparison to Joe Alexander. Like you said, not as athletic but my guess is he will be a better shooter. Anyone know how well he rebounds? I am wondering if he goes to the 3 spot (which doesn’t mean too much in Beilein’s system, since we are 4 out 1 in) since he can handle the ball a little. I guess it probably depends on if we get Zeigler. All speculation..
how bad will our post play be next year…
Sorry, but Evan Smote is nothing like Joe Alexander. Alexander is an athletic freak who could jump out of the building but was very raw heading into college. Evan, on the other hand, has okay athleticism but is highly skilled and has great ball-handling, passing, and shooting for a big man. The only thing Alexander and Smote have in common is their height, the coach they committed to, and their skin color, and any comparison of the two is based solely on these three factors.
Hey guys, sorry for the delay on the post-game. OSU Weekend… I’ll have something up today sometime.
Well ZRL, you know more than I do. I’m gonna throw names out there and you tell me if these are good comparisons skill-wise. Curtis Sumpter, Robbie Hummel, Tyler Smith, Gordon Hayward, a young Tayshaun Prince.
I think it’s unfair to say beilein only recruits white guys. That is basically implying that he’s racist which is untrue. I think the more accurate thing to say is that Beilein values tall lanky shooters. It just happens that most of these tall shooters are white. It’s not his fault that this seems to be the trend. But those are the guys for his system. If vogrich or smotz were black thereis no doubt in my mind Beilein would sign them too.
Who cares what skin color the players have? Nine players on scholarships right now were brought into the program without Tommy Amakers influence. Five are white four are black. Two of three verbal commitments for the next two years are black. Totals six and six. With a population that’s only what? maybe 12% black it seems he must flavor the blacks. The true is he doesn’t care, niether do I and niether should anyone else.
lol…this just turned comical…In my opinion. no one implied racism by beilein. More of the skill set of some players can be generalized to a race. If that’s racist, so be it…it’s also true. I don’t think the population black players at high levels of basketball is 12% either….lol. Some people just will never understand this conversation because they automatically assume when race is brought up….everybody involved is racist or non-racist. Never should have brought it up…my bad
JayRich Im looking specifically at your post where you said Beilein prefers “white shooters to black athletes”. I am sorry but race does not belong in that statement unless you are trying to imply Beilein is racist. It really is the ONLY way you can take your comment. As I said, Beilein prefers SHOOTERS with good basketball IQ. Race is irrelevant. Note I’m not calling anyone racist, just trying to get you to understand that your comment implies something about Beilein that is untrue, whether it was intentional or not. Maybe you just need to word it differently.
This race, recruiting, talent, athleticism, basketball IQ, white, black, argument has been played out. Not to mention it’s basically been eliminated by Beilein’s recruiting.
Let’s let it die guys.
Dylan, I agree. Sorry to anyone I offended or who simply didn’t understand the point of the comments. Go Blue!