I wrote in my preview of the center position about the lack of depth at the post position but I’m starting to wonder if John Beilein is that worried. I took a look at players 6′8 or taller on Beilein’s teams at West Virginia to see how many post guys were on the roster each year. I haven’t seen a lot of these guys play but D’Or Fischer is one of the only guys who seems to be a “true big man” in terms of size and rebounding.
2003 (14-15; 5-11)
- 22   Josh Yeager   F   6′ 8″ (14.2mpg,4.8ppg,1.2rpg)
- 34   Kevin Pittsnogle   F/C   6′ 11″   Fr (26.6mpg,11.6ppg,4.8rpg)
2004 (17-14; 7-9))
- 34   Kevin Pittsnogle   F/C   6′ 11″   So (22.7mpg,10.2ppg,3.7rpg)
- 40   D’or Fischer   C   6′ 11″   Jr (27mpg,10.8ppg,6.2rpg)
2005 (24-11; 8-8)
- 1   Luke Bonner   C   7′ 0″   Fr (4.2mpg,1ppg,1rpg)
- 34   Kevin Pittsnogle   F/C   6′ 11″   Jr   (19.3mpg,11.9ppg,3.7rpg)
- 40   D’or Fischer   C   6′ 11″   Sr (19.2mpg,7.8ppg,4.3rpg)
2006 (22-11; 11-5)
- 33   Rob Summers   C   7′ 0″   Jr (3.8mpg,0.5ppg,0.4rpg)
- 11   Joe Alexander   F   6′ 8″   Fr (3.6mpg,1.3ppg,0.7rpg)
- 34   Kevin Pittsnogle   F/C   6′ 11″   Sr (36mpg, 19.3ppg, 5.5rpg)
2007 (27-9; 9-7)
- 11   Joe Alexander   F   6′ 8″   So  (25mpg,10.3ppg,4.3rpg)
- 33   Rob Summers   C   7′ 0″   Sr (21.6mpg,4.4ppg,4.6rpg)
- 43   Jamie Smalligan   C   7′ 0″   Jr (14.4mpg,5.4ppg,3.2rpg)
(Side bar: It’s almost shocking that Smalligan started for Huggins last year and saw his minutes only decrease by 3 per game while his scoring and rebounding numbers were basically cut in half. The drops in his shooting percentages are also remarkable: 50% to 30% and 45.6% to 18.3% on three pointers)
Beilein never had more than 3 guys 6′8″+ on his roster at West Virginia, for comparison Michigan State has 6 this year (Gray, Herzog, Ibok, Morgan, Roe, Suton). Michigan has four on the roster this year Cronin, Gibson, Puls, and Sims (Puls is only a walk on so maybe this could be considered 3). Of course there are still questions swriling about Cronin’s health and whether he will be cleared to play. If he is not cleared, there is only one true center on the team.
First off these lists prove that he has never really had a stable of big men. And even then there are a lot of names on this list that I wouldn’t even call true post players. If you cross Pittsnoggle, Alexander, and Smalligan off the list as not “true big men” you are left with one or two true post players per year.
The argument of course is that the Big Ten is a more physical conference than the Big East which tends to be more of a guards conference. This may be true to an extent, but what dominant big men are in the Big Ten this year? B.J. Mullens at Ohio State and Michigan State’s stable of big men come to mind. DJ White, Sean Pruitt, Kosta Koufas, Brian Butch, and Dan Coleman are just a couple of the dominant post players that moved on. While there are certainly other post players that will step up this year, 8 of the top 15 (6 of the top 7) rebounders in the Big Ten last year have moved on.
So would it be optimal to have more depth in the post? Probably. Will it be critical that this team can master Beilein’s 1-3-1 zone to negate some size concerns? Definitely. It will also help that Michigan has two solid rebounders on the wings in Manny Harris (4.2/game) and DeShawn Sims (5.4/game). Overall I think Beilein is in a situation that he is more familiar with how to adapt to than last years problems and we should get ready to see a lot of 1-3-1 zone this year.
It’s official. Best of luck to Ekpe. Udoh (or Mitch Malone) chose Baylor over Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Arkansas.
Over recent history Michigan basketball has been so close to getting over the hump time and time again until something sets the program back again. Whether it is decommits from Joe Crawford and Al Horford, the injuries and suspensions following the NIT Championship, losing at home to Indiana and to Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament after a huge win over Illinois to fall short of the NCAAs, or Courtney and Dion’s collapse against Ohio State. It’s hard to deny that Michigan has been close more than once. You have to wonder when we can just catch a break.
Last season was undeniably awful but this coming year on paper looked like it would be a huge improvement over last year’s debacle. Losing Ekpe puts a considerable dent in next year’s chances of major improvement that I think many people take for granted. Sure Ekpe only averaged 6 points and 5 rebounds (although 6ppg was good for 3rd on the team) but his contribution to this team was anchoring the defense. Michigan struggled mightily defensively all year. Michigan opponents shot 44.8% from the field (3rd worst in the Big Ten) while giving up 67.6 points per game (also 3rd worst in the Big Ten). Ekpe was Big Ten all-defense and led the Big Ten in blocks and should have contended for the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in my opinion. Taking Ekpe off of an already poor defensive team without adding anyone who is considered an above average defender or even athlete. This is definitely the patented Michigan basketball step back. Continue reading ‘One Step Forward Two Steps Back’
Ekpe Udoh is officially leaving the Michigan basketball team. There has been talk about it for a long time now and he made it official today. Now the only question is where he goes next. Here are the quotes from Beilein and Ekpe:
“Ekpe is a fine young man and we thought he made tremendous improvements throughout the season,” said Beilein. “I will miss Ekpe as a person and as a player and we hope success will follow him in his future endeavors.”
“This was a very difficult decision for me,” said Udoh. “I just feel I need to explore other options right now. I had a wonderful experience at Michigan and I want to thank everyone for helping me the last two years. I wish them nothing but success in the future.”
I’ll have more later with what this does to recruiting, next year, post rotation, and other reactions.
Lacy has the latest on Ekpe, nothing is official but Lacy caught up with Udoh’s AAU coach and it doesn’t sound good:
Udoh’s former AAU coach in Texas, and he might have given me a clue. When reached on his cell phone and asked to comment about the situation, Malone said, “I don’t care to comment until Monday.” What that means is anyone’s guess. I have somewhat of an idea, but as we know, in the strange world of collegiate athletics, it’s hard to speculate until something is official or at least on the record.
Lacy updated his blog and just sent me an email to tell me that Ekpe is in Ann Arbor according to his high school coach. I would think that this could mean one of two things: Ekpe is staying with the team or Ekpe is going to get his transfer papers signed and cleared away and make everything official. At this point I’d still guess the later. Although Ekpes coach explains it like this:
“He told me he’s in Michigan, but he didn’t want to tell me anything,” Hardaker said. “I asked him if he’s there looking to get a release (for a transfer) and he just said, ‘I’m just here chillin,’ just hanging out.”
One thing to note, Miles Plumlee might asked for his release ($) from Stanford and is back on the open market. He would probably play a lot immediately if Michigan were to land him. Beilein is familiar with the Plumlees from recruiting Miles’ little brother Mason.
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