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The 2010 class has grown steadily throughout the winter and spring. Michigan has now signed four players for the class of 2010: Evan Smotrycz, Tim Hardaway Jr., Jon Horford, and Colton Christian. Jordan Morgan and Blake McLimans are also going to be freshmen this year after redshirting which brings the count of new players to six.
The larger class has caused some alarm among Michigan fans who wonder “how will we ever sign all of those great players in the class of 2011? 2012? 2013? 2025?” On paper there is now only 1 scholarship remaining in the class of 2011 which means that Michigan could technically bring in only one more player alongside Carlton Brundidge. At this point I expect Michigan to continue recruiting with the intention that they will add two more to the class of 2011.
Ideally you want to have very balanced recruiting classes. In a perfect world you would use roughly 3 of your 13 scholarships every year. The fact that this plan overlooks, one that Beilein knows very well, is that there will be attrition in a recruiting class.
Beilein has never been afraid to use his scholarships. During Beilein’s five years at West Virginia he recruited 17 players and 5 of them left the program. He also didn’t hesitate to bring in large recruiting classes. His 2003 class featured 6 recruits and his 2006 class featured a whopping 7 recruits.
Beilein found plenty of diamonds in the rough. He plucked guys like Joe Alexander, Alex Ruoff, DaSean Butler, and Frank Young out of relative obscurity. But for every diamond in the rough there is a Jerrah Young, Tyler Relph, or Brad Byerson that ended up leaving the program. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it is something to keep in mind when looking at Beilein’s recruiting classes.
In short, I have no problem with the size of this class. Things like attrition tend to work themselves out. There are 13 slots on the roster but Beilein has made it clear that he likes to work with an 8 or 9 man rotation. That’s 4 or 5 unhappy players that want to make a difference but don’t get the opportunity.
Even with the Christian commitment I expect Michigan to add two more players to the class of 2011 if the situation arises where they could take two commitments. Marshall Plumlee, Amir Williams, Kevin Pangos (recent profile), and Eric Katenda all appear to be viable candidates at this point but it’s not like any of them are on the verge of committing and Michigan will have to turn them away. They will continue pounding the pavement and recruiting the kids that they want in the ‘11 class.
We constantly harped on the lack of size on last year’s roster and questioned whether Beilein would adjust his style of play to compensate. I don’t think Beilein ever planned on playing small ball but his hand was forced. His West Virginia teams were full of 6-foot-5 to 6-foot-8 swing men who could play inside and out. With the average height of Michigan’s six added players coming out at 6-foot-8, it’s clear that next year’s team will at least be longer and taller.
I have received a lot of inquiries about how I see next year’s roster or rotation coming together. It’s obviously very early in the summer and this is something we’ll probably discuss for some time but with a gun to my head I’d go with this:
- One: Darius Morris
- Two: Stu Douglass
- Three: Zack Novak
- Four: Evan Smotrycz
- Five: Blake McLimans
I think you would see some versatility though. Evan Smotrycz and Zack Novak both have the ability to slide up or down a position. This should give Michigan the flexibility to play small, maybe with Novak and Smotrycz at the four and five, or play big, with Novak, Smotrycz, and Christian at the two, three, and four respectively. We don’t know how ready a lot of these freshmen will be at this level but some of them will have to play and we can only go based on the style of player they are reported to be.
Lucas-Perry (2), Vogrich (2-3), Hardaway (2-3), Morgan (5), Horford (5-4), and Christian (4-3) all have question marks but the competition is wide open so people will get their chances. In terms of getting a chance to see some of the young guys play together, the first opportunity will likely be during Michigan’s Team & Elite camps near the end of June.
I agree with the “gun forced to your head” line-up. I think Zach is just too tough not to start, and the rest are the best we've got at those positions. (Although the low post guys are inexperienced, we have no returners in the low post.) It's early, but I'm gonna ask you another “gun to your head” question: how many games you think we'll win next year? Also, I tend to think that Morgan will get more playing time as Horford grows into his body, but this begs the question: who are the 8-9 you take in the rotation? (Again, it's too early to tell, but lets just guess for fun's sake shall we?)
Oh, and those questions for for Dylan or any other members.
I agree with the “gun forced to your head” line-up. I think Zach is just too tough not to start, and the rest are the best we've got at those positions. (Although the low post guys are inexperienced, we have no returners in the low post.) It's early, but I'm gonna ask you another “gun to your head” question: how many games you think we'll win next year? Also, I tend to think that Morgan will get more playing time as Horford grows into his body, but this begs the question: who are the 8-9 you take in the rotation? (Again, it's too early to tell, but lets just guess for fun's sake shall we?)
Oh, and those questions for for Dylan or any other members.
I agree with Dylan's starting five. The next three to fill out the rotation? Morgan, Hardaway Jr., and Vogrich.
Darius-1
Stu-2
Novak-3
Smotz-4
McLimans-5
Backups
Stu-1
Vogrich, hardaway-2
Hardaway, Smotz-3
Mclimans, Horford??? (I'd like to see him redshirt, but lack of depth)-4
Morgan-5
Horford or perhaps Christian–and let Horford RS. Its gonna be one or the other imo… assuming Morgan's ready to play.
Yeah, it does look there is a lot of flexibility, especially in the 2-4 spots.
I have to agree with Dylan's starting 5 — although I could still see Beilein possibly starting McLimans at the 4 and Morgan at the 5 — but there are a lot of combinations that could be thrown out there:
1 – Darius (LLP/Stu)
2 – Stu (Vogrich/LLP/Novak/Hardaway/Eso?)
3 – Novak (Vogrich/Hardaway/Smotz/Christian/Eso?)
4 – Smotz (Novak/Christian/Horford/McLimans)
5 – McLimans (Morgan/Smotz/Horford)
Assuming Horford doesn't redshirt, of course, although I also think that's likely. I'm also still curious to see if Eso sneaks in at some point with some playing time.
That would be my best guess line-up as well. LLP can play both 1 and 2 and will likely to keep his 20 minutes per game. Vogrich, on the other hand, really need to step up his game if he wants to play more than 10 minutes per game. I can see one of the two leaving the program after next season. A
Hardaway Jr. has shown a lot of improvement over the last year and I am sure that he will be busy this summer improving his game before he takes his first lesson from Beilein. He has more tools than Vogrich and could end-up play 15-20 minutes, mostly at 3.
Christian, IMO, will get called before Horford or even Morgan. Horford is young and raw and should be red-shirted at any cost. Morgan, misses a lot of practice time during his two injuries and would be very rusty when he comes back.
There are a lot of uncertainties but I am more optimistic than others. I think McLimen will be a stud, Hardaway and Smotz will blend in quickly.
Only problem with this is, that you have a 12 man rotation, I am sure you don't expect them to play much, but I only see about a 9 man rotation with Vogrich and Hardaway being 8 and 9.
LLP is not going to see the floor much if at all. By the end of last year, he was a spectator and I expect that to continue with the addition of Hardaway which means LLP's time at the 2 is gone. Remember Novak will probably play some 2 as well. LLP will be our third PG and probably see 2-6 minutes a game tops.
Dylan, nice. I guess it's good to be proactive and start preparing for 2025.
Since Beilein likes to recruit skilled players, there's quite a bit of flexibility on the team, even if it there isn't a ton of experience. Unless there's some unforseen injury, I think you're right on with the starting lineup.
I'm hoping that an effective second unit of five guys can develop and come off the bench as the season goes on since that paid dividends during Beilein's second year at U-M. The second unit that David Merritt led during year two would play good defense and keep the game close til the starters could come back in. That may not happen this year, but Christian and Hardaway look like they could be good defenders off the bench. Maybe Eso could be the equivalent of Merritt. We'll see.
Inside the Hall posted an update on Zeller a few hours ago.
http://www.insidethehall.com/2010/05/13/an-upda...
According to Hoops World, Manny Harris is participating in the Chicago Pre-Draft Camp. Other notables are Ekpe Udoh, Gordon Hayward (Butler), Evan Turner (OSU) and Devin Ebanks (WVU), but there's a whole bunch of player listed.
http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=16210
Oops. That would be “players” listed as participating in the camp.
Mathis Keita committed to Gonzaga. Still think U-M's involved across the pond for the remaining scholarship.
Alright, Dylan. I think this team is two years and another really good player away from challenging in the Big 10, but I come from three generations of M grads and I'm not going anywhere else with my allegiances. A big part of Beilein's task is going to be maintaining these kids' fragile confidence through some long, tough patches. . .
With as many unproven players on the roster, I think JB plays at least 10 early in the season to see what happens. Maybe by the Big Ten season, he shortens the bench but with so much uncertainty, JB will try different combinations until he finds what he likes. I am somewhat excited to see how the team will look although I am afraid we will have a team that plays teams tough but loses at the end due to no real go to player. I hope I am wrong.
You could be right on. It may resemble Beilein's first year a little when he tried out a lot of things to see what he had to work with.
I'm hoping the returning players get acquainted with the incoming freshmen over the summer, have some informal practices, and play a lot of games together. That would help the progress in the fall.
I've tried different variations of Michigan basketball, euro, european, germany, and other phrases when web searching to find something since you mentioned it a few days ago. No luck finding anything from me. I'm probably not looking in the right places and am kinda hesitant to poke around web sites in languages I don't know (don't need some malware).
Brian– I feel into something, then folks took the info down.
Email me and I'll share what (little) I know. bluebufoon@aol.com
Should have been I fell into something.
i have been going over what their practices will be like and it should be extremely competitive practices………..im looking at the starting 5 of blake, evan, novak, stu and darius vs llp, vogrich, hardaway, horford, and morgan in 5 v 5 and put colton with the walkons just for the sake of putting him somewhere…….thats a pretty damn compeitive practice you can get with those 15 guys right there, there is a lot of variety and options to play with………….just picture this scenario when these guys are a few years older, bigger, stronger, wiser, and better…………could be great
Dylan, I was thinking of asking you to speculate on this topic. Glad you're ahead of your audience.
I think the starting line-up will likely shift from the beginning of the year to the end. If I'm in Beilein's shoes, I start the year with the most experienced guys (generally speaking).
The backcourt has good experience (D-Mo, Stu, LLP, Zack). The frontcourt, obviously, has none. So while JB likes 8-9 guys in the rotation, I think it will be mid-season before he gets there.
We just spent two years with only two legit frontcourt players (sorry, Novak, I love your game, but you're 6-4). So I expect JB to have 4 frontcourt players in his early rotation. Obviously, that will include the redshirted freshmen, Blake McLimans and Jordan Morgan. Evan Smotrycz is the probably the most college-ready of the others. I'm on the Horford-will-redshirt bandwagon. Which leaves Colton Christian, though I wouldn't be surprised if JB tries to redshirt him as well.
The backcourt will need to steady the ship for us. Darius Morris is the 1, no doubt about it. Stu has the edge for the 2 over LLP. And Zack Novak starts at the 3 because he's the team captain, the inspirational leader.
So, at the beginning of the season at least, I'll go with:
1-Darius Morris
2-Stu Douglas
3-Zack Novak
4-Evan Smotrycz
5-Jordan Morgan
I don't mind being wrong about the 5. Maybe Blake is better, but I'm going with the big body. I'm just glad we'll more than two big guys this year. As the year goes on, I think most of these jobs could be taken by other guys on the roster. Hopefully there will be good competition in practice throughout the year.
Prediction for next season's record: 20-12
10-2 non-conference
9-9 Big Ten regular season
1-1 Big Ten conference tourney
NCAA tourney bid
Sykes to Central Florida. Read on Twitter.
freepwolverines
Michigan recruit RT @EvanDanielscout: #SCOOP Isaiah Sykes just gave Central Florida a commitment
Nice to read someone being optimistic. What you've posted is an ideal scenario but I'm afraid our non-coference schedule is going to be very tough. Kansas is supposed to come to AA, then Clemson on the road, Syracuse, Georgia Tech, UTEP might be too much for a young team to handle.
If our veterans don't take a big step forward, it could be a rough year. Who do you think can even average double figures? Maybe Morris?
What's been evident from the past couple years is that we don't have well defined positions on offense, and therefore thinking about who's most ready to play next year I would propose the following line-up:
Morris 6'4″
Douglass 6'4″
Novak 6'5″
Smotrycz 6'9″
Christian 6'7″
I think Christian is ahead of McLimans, Morgan and Horford in terms of athleticism and development. He took a prep year, meaning he's like a RS freshman in terms of age and therefore likely older than Morgan, who was young for his grade. I think his relentless style and defensive ability will be a nice complement to Smotrycz.
i honestly think stu could be around 10 or 11 a game……….he really needs to work on consistently driving the lane off of curls and screens………….but no doubt about it a few people are going to have to step their games up, definitely extremely interested in seeing what the big guys can do
Unfortunately, what you said about LLP is likely going to be true, he might get no more than what Wright got last season and not invited back for the 5th year. But it also depend on how Vogrich develops. One of the two is not going to return after the season.
I just don't see Vogrich leaving. I think he kind of got thrown into the mix last year before he was ready. He is what he is, a spot up shooter and a little bit of a hustler. He will be fine if we have people (Darius and……) who can penetrate to draw the D. If we don't it will be a struggle. Vogrich would work well will a nice low-post game to kick it out to him, but I don't think any of our post players are going to draw double teams as of right now.
Thats scary if only Stu comes to mind as a 10 or 11 point scorer. I agree he has potential to do it, but he needs the bigs to help out so we get some sort of inside outside game going. Maybe a fresman will surprise everyone and be a scorer. Lets hope for the best.
This might be true KJ, but makes it harder still to see where the points come from.
Do you think we ever go big at some point? With the height we have now it might be worth a try. Something like:
1 – Morris
2 – Novak
3 – Smotz
4 – McLimans
5 – Morgan
That type of height could give a lot of teams problems. Just my take, fwiw.
Other than that, I'm wondering if we will be able to surprise some teams early in the season, I'm talking the first 4-5 games. We will be an unknown commodity until later in the year, with so many inexperienced players. We might be a bad unknown commodity, but we will be unknown nonetheless.
That's true looking at the roster as a whole. Not sure what substituting Morgan or McLimans for Christian really does in terms of addressing your concern though. We have to hope that Smote, Hardaway, Vogrich and Morris can provide some offensive punch.
Adding Brundidge next year is great, and hopefully we can get another pure scorer as well.
Christian over McLimans at Center? He's not even going to play the 5.
I think Smotrycz will be the biggest question mark for next year. If he can come in and nail down the starting 4, it will be huge. Our only proven 4 on the roster is Novak and if Evan struggles early like the freshman did last season, we could be seeing more small ball to start the season. The other option would be to slide McLimans to the 4 but that wouldn't be ideal either.
Don't underestimate how important a year in the system is. Everyone had Morris penciled in from day 1 and were putting Vogrich ahead of Stu because he was higher rated. Experience won out at the beginning of the year and Morris had to earn more trust and minutes as the year went on. We could see experience start and the freshman slowly work their way into the lineup.
Since Beilein has thrown out some pretty crazy lineups, I wouldn't be surprised to see him use an experienced lineup to start the season.
Morris
Stu
Vogrich
Novak
McLimans
Smotrycz and LLP first off the bench.
Before you say I'm crazy, think about who played the 3 and 4 last year. Those are our most experienced guys at both of those positions.
I think the goal would be to move Novak down to the 3 as soon as possible but unless Smotrycz tears it up in practice, he might have to earn that starting spot in the first few games.
One thing is for sure though. Stu and Zach will be getting a ton of minutes. Third year starters who played well over 30 minutes a game last year who Beilein trusts in crunch time will almost always be on the floor.
McLimans is supposed to be a great shooter, no?
I don't know about “great” but I've heard he can shoot pretty well from 3.
Word was that McLimans had a great stroke from outside (that's what she said). Maybe he and Colton end up platooning to good effect.
Sorry, mine was meant to be a reply to KJ above, re: where the points were going to come from. As I see it, you're right about Smotrycz–he and someone else need to come up very big for this to be a competitive squad next year.
I actually like Stu for around 13-14 a game, Novak around 10 or 11 and McLimans right on the edge of double digits.
Yeah, there is really no way Christian starts, sorry. Yes, you are right that he had a prep year, but so did Smotrycz and I believe McLimans played a prep year as well before redshirting last year, so by your logic he is basically a junior. No question McLimans is in the starting lineup.
Yeah, I mean I don't know if you didn't go to any games at all last season or what, but he was probably the most money in warmups in just about every game. Now certainly in-game is much different, but if it translates at all, I'd say he will eventually be a great shooter.
The problem I have with Stu getting major minutes at the 2 is, who is going to back up Morris at the 1? Don't tell me LLP, I hold my breath everytime he touches the ball. Stu is the best qualified, even if he is not a natural 1. The only other possibility is Hardaway. You probably need to give Morris 8-10 minutes of rest and I can't see Stu doing that if he is the starter at the 2 and playing major minutes. That is why I see 1. Morris 2. Novak 3. Vogrich 4. Smotrycz 5. Morgan/McLimans. Stu can get a lot of minutes backing up both the 1 & 2, Hardaway gives us scoring off the bench at 2 & 3, Christian backs up the 4 & Horford red shirts. You probably see Morris, Stu and Zack all on the floor at crunch time.
Stu is a two year starter who played over 30 minutes. He's not losing his spot in the starting lineup. He's going to play about 33 minutes a game. Last year Stu played point when Morris was out and LLP slid into the 2, not the point. Morris is probably going to play like 30 minutes a game this year so Stu will need to play 10 minutes at the point and 20+ at the 2. LLP, Hardaway, and Vogrich can all play the 2 so they will cover the 20 minutes he's not at the 2.
We all have talked about different game plans and lineups. What we really are talking about is, can the incoming freshman pick up the basic offense this summer during workouts and team scrimmages. So there isn't a huge drop of wait time for them. I'm pretty sure Coach Beilein has an idea who he will start with at the beginning. It could change during the Christmas break or before.
I don't think that anyone has a starting spot locked up, except Morris. I don't care how many years they have been starting. Beilein just fired 2 coaches, he wants to win now. He is going to go with the guys that give him the best chance to win. I think that he will favor the vets early for their experience and leadership, but will go with the hot hand later on. He has 5 or more guys that can play the 2/3 spots. We might all be surprised to see how much better Novak can score at the 2 position while being guarded by someone 6'3'' instead of 6'7″. The one thing that this team should have is versatility. It should be fun to see what this offense looks like with more length and athleticism.
I don't think that anyone has a starting spot locked up, except Morris. I don't care how many years they have been starting. Beilein just fired 2 coaches, he wants to win now. He is going to go with the guys that give him the best chance to win. I think that he will favor the vets early for their experience and leadership, but will go with the hot hand later on. He has 5 or more guys that can play the 2/3 spots. We might all be surprised to see how much better Novak can score at the 2 position while being guarded by someone 6'3'' instead of 6'7″. The one thing that this team should have is versatility. It should be fun to see what this offense looks like with more length and athleticism.
we will be good this the rotation here and starting five
morris
stu
hardaway
smotrycz
mclimans
rotation will be with novak,morgan,cory person/red shirted last year,jordan dumars jr.,horford,vogrich lot of people will get playing time then we expect watch i guarentee…..and we need the freshman to play really good this year………now we have a lot of size with morgan,mclimans,horford,colton,smortycz………….and by the way we will beat state this year i just feel we have to much size for them right now plus we have a 6'3 point guard that will help we will shoot the three like we did last year….trust michigan will be back on track next year big nix to slow to run the floor with mclimans…..and the rest of the bigs….. and our football program will be back on top too…lol…….go blue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You guys are forggeting about laval lucas-perry he is one the most talented and most experienced players on michigan, Ya he slacked off alittleb it last year thats because he was behind manny but now manny is gone and LLP has a chance to take over i honestly think LLP is the leader of this team. ur also forgetting about walk on phoenoms Corey Person and Eso akune also josh bartlestein next season will be very interesting i cant wait for tip off.
I’m wondering how this class is ranked in the Big Ten. It’s pretty easy to find rankings in football, but I don’t see as much of that in BB. Looking at star rankings, it appears that we’re clearly behind Illinois, MSU, Purdue and Ohio State — so at best we’re 5th in the B10. It looks like we’re also clearly ahead of Iowa, Indiana, Northwestern and Penn State, so at worst we’re 7th. That leaves Wisconsin and Minnesota – it looks to me that with Smotrycz we could argue that we have a better class than either of them, but I’m curious if anyone has seen any analysts’ appraisals
I would say there is essentially no chance of any of those three happening.
Stu may not even get enough minutes to verge on that, and his spot-up offensive game will never be good for 13 per game, and that would be true if he played for a small conference.
Novak doesn't look to score enough to average more than 8, and while I'd like to see McLimans develop that much this season, I can't see it.
Your comment is like so many on this forum: imagine the very best possible scenario in one's wildest dreams and predict it as a likelihood.
Agreed. I think we'll see 4-5 different starting lineups in the pre-season schedule. It will be a mishmash and if they aren't successful it will stay that way all year, with B tinkering and trying to find something that works. Hopefully, he'll find that as early as possible.
I'd imagine Stu and Novak will be somewhat likely to start the first game just because of their experience but I think Stu will face serious threats from Hardaway and maybe Vogrich and maybe Stu at an undefined position as one of the five instead of Stu. I also think that Novak will have to really produce to keep his starting job/coming off the bench but playing more than the starter role. It's anyone's guess what we could be seeing by late Feb–just about every scholly player can be considered a possibility.
if this team is to win, they'll have 7-8 guys between 6 and 12ppg, if things go well you'll see a squad where there's a different leading scorer every game and the young guys (Horford, Christian, Morgan, Hardaway, etc) will have their playing time determined by how much they hustle and how well they are doing right now. I don't think this team will find a solid rotation that Belein is happy with before the 2011-12 season. It's going to be hit and miss and we'll see flashes of the future from Smotz, Hardawy, Horford/Christian, Morgan and McLimans, but Zach, and Stu are what they are, role players having to be the focal players on a big ten team. The only way this team really puts it together is if Vogrich provides the shooting stroke and Belein realizes it's more important to have a pure shooter on the floor then someone who can play D. This team gets a lot of open shots, and Vogrich is the one guy who could excel in this offense.
if this team is to win, they'll have 7-8 guys between 6 and 12ppg, if things go well you'll see a squad where there's a different leading scorer every game and the young guys (Horford, Christian, Morgan, Hardaway, etc) will have their playing time determined by how much they hustle and how well they are doing right now. I don't think this team will find a solid rotation that Belein is happy with before the 2011-12 season. It's going to be hit and miss and we'll see flashes of the future from Smotz, Hardawy, Horford/Christian, Morgan and McLimans, but Zach, and Stu are what they are, role players having to be the focal players on a big ten team. The only way this team really puts it together is if Vogrich provides the shooting stroke and Belein realizes it's more important to have a pure shooter on the floor then someone who can play D. This team gets a lot of open shots, and Vogrich is the one guy who could excel in this offense.
OK junderground, since you know everything that is going to happen next season, tell me who is going to score how many points next season. I am not being optimistic here, only logical. If Stu and Novak don't lead the team in scoring, who will? The only other person with even a chance to do so will be Morris, but his offensive game would have to be drastically improved if this is to be the case. Stu and Novak are our two most seasoned veterans now. They have played by far the most minutes out of anyone on the returning team and have shown offensive flashes. And despite what you call a “spot-up” offensive game, Stu will actually be one of a few guys that will need to create on offense if this team will have any success.
Anyone who knows anything about basketball knows that it would be impossible for a team to go a whole season without someone averaging double digits and highly unlikely for only one player to do so. This is simply the most logical prediction for who will score. I may be going out a little bit on a limb with McLimans, but I really believe that he will be a pleasant surprise based on everthing I have seen and heard. I can't wait to hear your predictions.
OK, so let me get this straight: our two most veteran players (including our team captain) are going to be on the hot seat as far as their starting job goes a couple of games into the season? I'm stunned. I can't believe I even wasted the time replying to your earlier comment. You accuse me of being overly optimistic. You, however, are clearly one of those people who put WAY too much pressure on the freshmen to perform early. Yes, I'm excited to see Hardaway as well, but to even hint that he would start early in the season is ludicrous. He was a consensus three star recruit and is going to be a true freshman in a difficult system. I would compare his game to Vogrich's, and we all know how much he did last year. Now I'm not saying that Vogrich will never be good, in fact I think he will develop very nicely, but to say that Hardaway will give Stu a run for his starting spot is flat out naive.
Corey Person didn't redshirt last year, he is just a walk on and did not play. He redshirted the previous season I believe.
OK junderground, since you know everything that is going to happen next season, tell me who is going to score how many points next season. I am not being optimistic here, only logical. If Stu and Novak don't lead the team in scoring, who will? The only other person with even a chance to do so will be Morris, but his offensive game would have to be drastically improved if this is to be the case. Stu and Novak are our two most seasoned veterans now. They have played by far the most minutes out of anyone on the returning team and have shown offensive flashes. And despite what you call a “spot-up” offensive game, Stu will actually be one of a few guys that will need to create on offense if this team will have any success.
Anyone who knows anything about basketball knows that it would be impossible for a team to go a whole season without someone averaging double digits and highly unlikely for only one player to do so. This is simply the most logical prediction for who will score. I may be going out a little bit on a limb with McLimans, but I really believe that he will be a pleasant surprise based on everthing I have seen and heard. I can't wait to hear your predictions.
OK, so let me get this straight: our two most veteran players (including our team captain) are going to be on the hot seat as far as their starting job goes a couple of games into the season? I'm stunned. I can't believe I even wasted the time replying to your earlier comment. You accuse me of being overly optimistic. You, however, are clearly one of those people who put WAY too much pressure on the freshmen to perform early. Yes, I'm excited to see Hardaway as well, but to even hint that he would start early in the season is ludicrous. He was a consensus three star recruit and is going to be a true freshman in a difficult system. I would compare his game to Vogrich's, and we all know how much he did last year. Now I'm not saying that Vogrich will never be good, in fact I think he will develop very nicely, but to say that Hardaway will give Stu a run for his starting spot is flat out naive.
Corey Person didn't redshirt last year, he is just a walk on and did not play. He redshirted the previous season I believe.