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• Last year’s off-season was the epitome of stability and optimism. I spent the summer blogging about which national reporter had Michigan in his preseason top 15 and how Michigan was hot on the heels on Casey Prather and Trey Zeigelr. This summer is the polar opposite — the news continues to revolve around a mass exodus of bodies out of Ann Arbor. One early entry. Three assistant coaching departures. One dismissal. Just four returning players who have played in a collegiate game.
• Each and every change was for a different reason. They can all be explained or justified on their own merits. However, all of these changes in one summer is an ominous harbinger.
• Many people, myself included, have thrown out the team chemistry meme when discussing last season’s struggles. The issues that have surfaced over the last three months certainly lend credence to those theories. It is painfully clear that no one in the program was on the same page.
• John Beilein would not boot LLP for no reason. Yes, Laval was going to be in his last year of eligibility this year. He was also on thinner ice than most, but from what I hear it’s not that this move was some sort of cold blooded unjustified hatchet job.  You can argue whether Laval would have been a contributor this year but removing him from the roster at the end of June doesn’t help anyone. Michigan wasn’t out of scholarships and can’t do anything with Laval’s vacated scholarship.
• Laval Lucas-Perry was not going to morph into a superstar over the summer. He was an inconsistent, streaky player. He’s had his moments (at Minnesota ’09 or at Penn State ’10) but he’s also been nearly invisible on the court for just about every other game.
• What a crazy, frustrating, career for Lucas-Perry. He committed to Arizona before transferring before he could get his feet wet after Lute Olson’s retirement. He waited patiently to start playing his first year in Ann Arbor amidst excitement from fans. A local guard who could shoot the rock was a great addition to a team that had already knocked off Duke. Then he shot the lights out for a month before going extremely cold. The next year and a half would be up and down. Struggles with confidence and inconsistency riddled Laval throughout his career and he could never seem to get it right.
• It becomes clearer by the day just how much of a rebuilding year we are bracing ourselves for. Douglass, Morris, Novak, and Vogrich are the only returning players with college experience. Blake McLimans is dealing with playing at a new weight. Jordan Morgan is still recovering from injury. Evan Smotrycz and Tim Hardaway were likely to play significant roles but this ups the ante.
• Like it or not, attrition has been a staple of John Beilein teams. The list of players that have left the program under Beilein now reads: Reed Baker, Kendrick Price, K’Len Morris, Jerrett Smith, Ekpe Udoh, Kelvin Grady, and Laval Lucas-Perry. In five years at West Virginia, 5 of the 17 players that Beilein recruited left the program.
• Michigan now has two additional scholarships to give in the class of 2011. Assuming they use both of them, they’d have two more in the class of 2012. The scholarship breakdown needs to be updated but you can find it here.

It was by all accounts a successful weekend for DeShawn Sims at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. The Portsmouth isn’t the most glamorous event but it is a chance for fringe players like Sims to prove their worth in front of NBA scouts.

Production wise, Sims did the job: he averaged 18 points (4th) and 7.7 rebounds (7th) per game while shooting 52% from the field (16th).

Of course these events aren’t always about stats and production, they are about how players look and who is impressed with their game. Sims managed to impress most of the media there, most called him the most consistent player at the tournament. I put together a sampling of what some major NBA scouting websites had to say about Sims’ performance which you can find after the jump.

Continue reading ‘Recap: DeShawn Sims at Portsmouth Invitational’

Photo credit: Ann Arbor.com

Press Conference Audio: Press Conference | Manny Harris | John Beilein | DeShawn Sims

It’s finally official. Harris announced at his press conference today that he will enter the NBA draft and has no plans of returning to Michigan. Harris has not yet hired an agent but plans to do so in the near future.

Here are the quotes from the U-M Athletic Department press release:

“After long discussions with the U-M staff and my family and friends, I have decided to pursue my dream of professional basketball and leave U-M early for the NBA,” said Harris. “It is important for me to thank the University of Michigan, Coach Beilein and his staff, my teammates, my professors, as well as all those in the athletic department who have helped me over the last three years. My growth as a person and player wouldn’t have been possible without them.

“I will always appreciate the college game and what it has done for me, but playing professional basketball has always been a goal and I feel it is the best time to pursue that. I will always be a Michigan Wolverine at heart and bleed Maize and Blue forever.”

“Manny believes it is his time to move on to the NBA and we fully support him,” said U-M coach John Beilein. “It was a tough decision for him and we are prepared to assist him in every way we can as he begins this new chapter in his life. Manny has assured us he plans on successfully finishing this semester, which would put him in a position to graduate from Michigan with just one more academic year.”

“In three short years, Manny has compiled outstanding career numbers in points, rebounds, assists and steals — milestones many very good players do not reach during a four-year career. I have many fond memories of Manny’s time at Michigan. He has been clutch in so many big wins we certainly will miss him however we wish him nothing but the best in his professional basketball career and beyond.”

Draft Express has Harris projected as a late second round pick but NBADraft.net has him going undrafted. Tim has more notes from the presser over at MGoBlog.

This amplifies the importance of landing at least one more wing player in the class of 2010. The two targets remaining on Michigan’s board for 2010 are Mt. Pleasant guard Trey Zeigler and Detroit Denby’s Isaiah Sykes. Looking at the scholarship breakdown you can see that Harris’ departure has little effect on the situation because any scholarships used in 2010 will count against the 2011 class.

Rumors have been swirling that Manny Harris has decided to enter the NBA draft. At this point nothing is official however Harris gave this quote to Terry Foster of the Detroit News when asked if he was declaring:

“How did you find that out?” he said. “I will get back to you later on that.”

He told the Michigan Daily that he would make his decision on Monday:

“I’m going to make my decision on Monday,” Harris told The Daily this afternoon in a phone interview.

Obviously most signs point toward Harris entering the draft. The real question, is whether he plans to sign an agent. Signing an agent would rule out any potential withdrawal from the draft.

DraftExpress has Harris slotted as a late second round pick, they also have a lengthy scouting report that is very well done.

I’ve been routinely pointing out Manny Harris’ struggles over the last several weeks. Michigan put the ball in his hands down the stretch in Madison and he let them down. He’s shooting just 23 of 68 (33.8%) over his last five games. He was suspended for an incident in practice. In short, it hasn’t been the best stretch for Manny Fresh and many, myself included, have been wondering “What’s wrong with Manny Harris?”

There are plenty of potential explanations for Harris’ struggles. First, he has been nursing a hamstring injury all season. It’s clear that he lacks that extra explosive burst that separates truly elite players from the rest of the pack. It’s also apparent that Manny is starting to let some of the frustration from the disappointing season catch up to him. Over the last month, it’s been easy to spot the angst on Harris’ face as things just don’t go his way.

Despite the mental and physical ailments affecting Harris, there is also something else to consider. Manny Harris has never been particularly efficient in Big Ten play. Most players see a drop in production from non-conference play (cupcake city) to conference play. In the case of Manny Harris, this drop is amplified by the drastic differences in style of play.
Continue reading ‘A Closer Look at Manny Harris’