Thursday Links

Chad Ford watched Darius Morris work out in California along with Jon Leuer, Chandler Parsons and Malcolm Thomas and was very impressed: “Darius Morris looked really, really good in workouts today. He’s got a great work ethic and attitude. He’s going to be a first rounder.” Ford echoed those sentiments in his column today and has Morris slotted at No. 23 in his first mock draft..
U-M’s John Beilein wishes Darius Morris well in the NBA
Quotes from John Beilein on Darius Morris from his appearance on WTKA this morning. Here’s the audio on MVictors.com as well.
Scout’s 2012 Top 100
Glenn Robinson III moves up to No. 90 in Scout.com’s latest rankings
Scholarship Breakdown
I updated the scholarship breakdown to account for Morris’s departure. The U-M staff could use Morris’s scholarship in either of the next two classes.
Yes, recruiting changes are here again
The recruiting calendar will shift again…
How to help fix college hoops recruiting
Telep shares his thoughts on how to properly construct the recruiting calendar.
NCAA basketball rules committee recommends implementing charge circle
Josh Bartelstein tweeted that “this will help us” but I’m not too sure. Michigan takes a lot of charges, a good portion which probably fall right around the basket. Conversely, this team doesn’t have a lot of drivers or players frequently called for charges.
NBA Draft.net Mock Draft: May 5th, 2011
NBA Draft.net has moved Morris up to 23rd, headed to the Houston Rockets
AAU Preview: Run ‘N Slam Classic in Ft. Wayne
An Indiana-centric preview of this weekend’s event. Many of the players (including Trevon Bluiett, PJ Thompson, VJ Beachem, Zak Irvin, Sean Sellers, Drake Harris, Gary Harris, Jalen James, Sherron Dorsey-Walker and Mark Donnall) mentioned are Michigan prospects. I’ll be in Fort Wayne covering those guys as well as numerous other U-M prospects at the event.
Zak Irvin with today’s “In Their Own Words” entry
Zak Irvin posts a journal entry on the Indy Star

Chris

If Darius ends up going from roughly a borderline HS Top 75 Player to the #23 pick in the NBA draft, well that shows a great testament to both his own work ethic and to the coaching and developmental abilities of Coach Beilein and his staff. Well done job, all around.
*JD*

Somebody on another message board brought up a pretty darn good idea and I’m wondering why this isn’t instituted.

He brought up that both MLB and the NHL draft high school and college prospects and then it’s up to the players to decide whether they want to stay in (or attend) college or sign with an agent and a team.

Is there a reason why the NBA does not have this type of agreement? I know they can keep the rights to players that stay overseas (ala Ricky Rubio) and back in the day, the Celtics did draft Larry Bird a year before he went pro. Can they, in theory, do the same with prospects?

It seems like a much better deal for the player. They he knows his value and doesn’t really have to risk anything. NBA teams are mostly drafting on potential over the last 10-15 years anyway and a lot of these guys would be better off developing their skills and their minds in college.

Kenny

Good point. NCAA has no problem with hockey and baseball, it has to be NBA and NFL that prevent this happening. But it is up to NCAA to judge a player’s eligibility to play NCAA, awfully confused. Anyone can explain? Why a player will loose their eligibility once drafted by NBA and NFL but not NHL and MLB. Is that because a player must initiate to enter the draft in the cases of NBA and NFL but not in the cases of NHL and MLB.

Brian W

In the Sports Illustrated that came out today, there’s a Dan Patrick interview with David Stern. He asked about the ‘one and done’ rule and the NBA working with colleges. You can read the whole thing at the link below, but Stern said that it’s a collective bargaining issue and that the NBA doesn’t work with the colleges.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1185042/index.htm

The NHL and Major League Baseball both have farm systems, and the teams use them to call players up and send them down as needed. Players can opt to go pro and play in the minors or go to college. The NFL doesn’t have a farm system, and college is the farm system. The NBA won’t admit it, but college is pretty much its farm system too. The D-League is treated more like a league for the lesser-thans, rather than a farm system for nurturing talent. You’ll have big-time talent (number one picks) developing their skills in the minors for baseball and hockey, but you usually don’t see the big time talent in the D-League.

Tom, Too

Robin B from Germany going in second round…
Adam

Way to go Darius! Prove everyone wrong who says you won’t make it in the league!
Phil

Dylan,

Do you think we would sign someone for 2012 or use it towards 2013?
Paul

Javonte Hawkins is now getting the love from ESPN and his recruiting prospect score there just shot up into the High Major star category! Would be a nice land for Michigan if we got him. Go Blue!!
billiam

Am I the only one freaking out about D-Mo leaving? It seems like losing a point guard sunk us two years ago…remember that was ALL we lost. Now we’re losing the teams best player…who also happens to be a PG. I…am negative.

Nancy

ScottGoBlue

Billiam, I think your rationale here is spot on. Like 2009-10, we’ll have “only” lost our PG(s) and return a good amount of talent. I think this coming year will be rough as Burke (and perhaps Brundidge) adjust to the college game. It will negatively affect the team in a significant way to not have an experienced PG.

But no need to freak out, bro. It’s bad for next year, but good for the program. Morris becomes a good recruiting tool: Beilein takes a decent 4* recruit and turns him into a 1st-rounder in two seasons. Best-case scenario it’s a happy ending with Morris making a nice NBA career for himself. Worst-case scenario you can still brag on Morris’s ascension AND use him as an example of why not to leave too early. Either way it’s a good thing for Beilein, and a good thing for UM.

Burke will get there eventually. We’re still trending in a great direction. Take a deep breath.
Section 30, Row 28

We lost more than a PG two years ago….. at the time we didn’t appreciate the leadership that Merritt and Lee brought to that team. We have that leadership for next year with Novak and Douglass. While we are losing our most talented player in Morris, I still think we are in better shape than we were heading into last season. Remember, it was just 12 months ago when we thought the team was doomed for 2010-11 with both Sims and Harris leaving, no proven veteran scorers and likely having to rely on a lot freshmen. No question next year’s team would have been awesome with Morris at point, but the remaining team has veteran leadership, multiple guys who have shown they can score and defend, a few decent ball handlers and a couple of guys who can adequately distribute the ball (Douglass and Burke).

Sam

Really good article from Mike Rothstein on Burke hearing about Darius’s decision and his great work ethic:

http://www.annarbor.com/sports/um-basketball/in-an-instant-trey-burke-went-from-michigans-future-point-guard-to-its-current-one/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WolverinesSports+%28Michigan+Wolverines+Sports%29&utm_content=Googl

SteinerBlue

The more I read about Trey Burke, the more settled I become with Darius’ departure. We’ll miss Darius, especially early on. But, Trey just seems like the real deal, from skill to work ethic to his approach. I believe that by mid to late season, the 2011-12 team will be better than the 2010-11 team was.

MikeSal

I’m glad to hear that Trey is putting in the extra work necessary to contribute right away. If he keeps working like this maybe he will figure it out faster then normal.

My question is who is going to be the guy with the ball? I think we will be competitive enough to play close games down the stretch especially in conference. My worry is there’s 2 mins left in the game and they’ve double teamed THJ who’s taking the shot? Because if I was drawing up the plan to stop us…it starts with #10. Can we dump the ball to Jordan and let him post up? Do we let CB or Trey come off a screen and let them decide? Do we drive and kick it out to Stu, Zack or Evan? Anybody else have some insight because I’m a little stumped. I’ll be interested to see who steps up in those situations and actually gets it done.

*JD*

From what I’ve seen of those videos, it certainly looks like Trey has the handle and the quickness to either create his own shot or draw attention and create a shot for somebody else. Running a play for Tim will probably be option #1, Trey taking it himself will be #2 and I’m guessing Morgan will be the 4th or 5th option down the stretch unless we really change our philosophy.

A big factor will be how Smot develops over the summer.

*JD*

I’m surprised Nik Stauskas didn’t make Scout’s Top 100. He seems pretty versatile and lights out as a shooter.

ToBlav

Yeah, JD, ratings are over rated.

mitch

Indiana has an amazing class coming in. I never realized how much talent they have in that state.

http://1991onehundred.tumblr.com/ MattM

I’ve always lived in Indiana and it is pretty wild how deep the talent pool has become. When I was in high school (’95-’98) Luke Recker was the only big time recruit of the era. And between him and Glenn Robinson in ’91 I’m pretty sure only Bonzi Wells and Bryce Drew made the League. But now several guys go to elite level programs every year, with several more making various levels of D-1. I now live close to Indianapolis and there are several games with D-1 prospects to watch here every weekend.

DMoney

Video of Darius interviewing with Chad Ford and working out:

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6487288

http://1991onehundred.tumblr.com/ MattM

Maybe I am putting too much stock in him, but Chad Ford giving showering all that praise is a big deal in my eyes. Great work Darius! Keep it up. Judging by what seems to be lackluster work ethic on the part of a lot of NBA players, that attitude could keep you in the League a long time.