Hey guys… Practice was open to the media today. We’ll have a bunch of content on the frontpage and here. Just wanted to keep you guys updated as I get everything together.
Italy trip...guessing he is going to play sparingly?Not sure what you are referring to, but I would expect him to play from watching today. Beilein mentioned him when talking about the guard rotation.
Unless my page isn’t rendering right, I see no mention, outside of a simple “vying for time”…where as, JB was more thorough and descriptive with everyone else.
Italy trip...guessing he is going to play sparingly?
Not sure what you are referring to, but I would expect him to play from watching today. Beilein mentioned him when talking about the guard rotation.
I sold Aubrey Dawkins short describing him athletically to be poor man's GR3. Not yoked like GR3, but he has his hops pic.twitter.com/lmka0lrRgk
— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) August 13, 2014
Back at it. pic.twitter.com/5kap0De47u
— Michigan Basketball (@umichbball) August 13, 2014
Noticed MAAR wasn’t mentioned in that preview.
Which preview?
Italy trip…guessing he is going to play sparingly?
Aubrey Dawkins can get up a little bit
A few quick impressions, I’ll have more later including some videos, photos and more interviews.
LeVert didn’t look 100% to me. I think he’s still getting back up to steam and has only been practicing for a week. Italy will be a great chance to start to get his legs back for the season.
Zak Irvin… He might not be a creator off the bounce this year, but mostly because he only needs two dribbles to get his shot off.
As for Walton, I’m not too worried about his development. He looks improved athletically and should be ready to run the team.
Kameron Chatman’s body looks really improved to me since last summer. He’s playing on the right side of the floor and I think he’ll fit in nicely there. He’s kind of the opposite of Irvin where he can make an impact without shooting – good cuts, good passes. He also shot the ball very well.
Aubrey Dawkins… He’s the best athlete on the team. He can finish above the rim and that’s something this team needed. He’s not even as strong as GR3 was as a freshman though, so playing the four might be tough for him. Beilein hinted that it would probably be Irvin that would spend time on both sides of the floor, with Dawkins playing more on the left (three).
Muhammad Ali looks to me like the the No. 4 ball handler behind Derrick, Caris and Spike. I think that puts him in the rotation. His handle is good, but the information overload will probably take a while.
As for Doyle and Donnal… They both went at it head to head quite a bit. If I had to pick a starter now I might go Doyle, but they are both going to play major minutes. I figure DJ Wilson will factor in here once he’s back.
–
Let me know if you guys have any general questions, etc.
This is the reason why I see Dawkins beating DJ out for the backup 4 mins - he has the athletic versatility to guard the 2,3 or 4 spots and is a much better shooter. I think Dawkins and MAAR will be the ones to flourish in a few years rather than Wilson
Is there any underlying concern about Caris’ injury? I know they have been very careful with him, but will anybody remember Italy come conference time? I sure hope this isn’t going to be reoccurring in any way. Crossing my fingers.
I see the rotation probably something like this right now:
1/2: Walton, Levert, Albrecht, MAAR
3/4: Irvin, Chatman, Dawkins
5: Doyle, Donnal, Wilson
@chezaroo : No I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure that’s why they shut him down. He says he feels good, but just isn’t back up to his full conditioning.
A few quick impressions, I'll have more later including some videos, photos and more interviews.LeVert didn’t look 100% to me. I think he’s still getting back up to steam and has only been practicing for a week. Italy will be a great chance to start to get his legs back for the season.
Zak Irvin… He might not be a creator off the bounce this year, but mostly because he only needs two dribbles to get his shot off.
As for Walton, I’m not too worried about his development. He looks improved athletically and should be ready to run the team.
Kameron Chatman’s body looks really improved to me since last summer. He’s playing on the right side of the floor and I think he’ll fit in nicely there. He’s kind of the opposite of Irvin where he can make an impact without shooting – good cuts, good passes. He also shot the ball very well.
Aubrey Dawkins… He’s the best athlete on the team. He can finish above the rim and that’s something this team needed. He’s not even as strong as GR3 was as a freshman though, so playing the four might be tough for him. Beilein hinted that it would probably be Irvin that would spend time on both sides of the floor, with Dawkins playing more on the left (three).
Muhammad Ali looks to me like the the No. 4 ball handler behind Derrick, Caris and Spike. I think that puts him in the rotation. His handle is good, but the information overload will probably take a while.
As for Doyle and Donnal… They both went at it head to head quite a bit. If I had to pick a starter now I might go Doyle, but they are both going to play major minutes. I figure DJ Wilson will factor in here once he’s back.
–
Let me know if you guys have any general questions, etc.
Kam - first thing that stood out to me in the most recent pic of the freshman was how much better his physique looked. Does Kam seem more agile with the decrease in body fat and increase in muscle?
How did Doyke look in terms of rebounding, and did we run any ISO post sets for him or strictly jumpshots off PnR?
10 man rotation, hard to see that, unless you think 5 mpg or less is in the rotation? 10 man rotation = bad season imo.
Well, obviously the rotation could change. The Final Four team was arguably a 9 man rotation with LeVert at the back end. I think those 10 will all get a shot in Italy and then we’ll start to see how they progress. With so many question marks it will probably be tough to trim down the rotation right away.
There wasn’t a lot of true five on five play, but there were a lot of half court ball screen drills. There were also some five on five post up drills where post players battled for position. Doyle has a great feel down there with the ball and is a surprisingly adept passer.
Kam is a bit more agile, but he’s not going to blow anyone away with his athleticism either.
Dylan - I have to say that Donnal looks a bit flabby in a few of those pics whereas Doyle looks to have shed a lot of bad weight. I was skeptical of Doyle potentially passing Donnal to say the least because of his lack of mobility and athleticism in general. Can you shed any insight as to how Doyke looks athletically/physically in relation to Donnal?
From the pics, it appears MAAR has a lot of work to do in terms of his shot mechanics. Lower body is off balance and the follow through isn’t straight, glad to see the staff working with him on that. I think MAAR has more upside as a 2 way player than our entire incoming class save Kam.
I see the rotation probably something like this right now:1/2: Walton, Levert, Albrecht, MAAR
3/4: Irvin, Chatman, Dawkins
5: Doyle, Donnal, Wilson@chezaroo : No I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure that’s why they shut him down. He says he feels good, but just isn’t back up to his full conditioning.
Even with Wilson’s injury? I think with the injury he gets the Caris treatment where he is a presumed redshirt until he forces his way on the court.
I think Dawkins, Chatman and Wilson all have more “upside/potential” then MAAR as 2 way players go…
MAAR > Dawkins long term. Wilson I can’t call.