Miles Bridges to Visit Campus Today

This is per Sam Webb. Good news, and pretty big development here.

I don’t see us landing him, but at least he is finally visiting. Always good to get guys on campus and see what happens.

Land Cassius and chances go up for UM, down for MSU

WHOA that is the first good news around here in a while. I hope they have space for a couple of the best players from the state of Michigan.

Wonder if he got an offer.

I think what I am going to take away from this for now until we get something more formal from one of the sites is that Winston really is likely deciding between MSU and UM, and Bridges is sincere in wanting to leave his options open to be able to play with him. Hard to get past the fact that UK is there, but if we somehow land Winston, I will increment my hype a bit.

I live in Lexington, KY and last night I went out for beers with one of my good college buddies. He is one of the most devoted UK fans I know, and reads anything that’s posted about them or their recruiting.

I asked him about Bridges, and how hard UK was after him. He seemed to think that Bridges fell towards the bottom of a group of about 6-7 guards they are recruiting actively. So, take that for what it’s worth. It may partially be his opinion, too. He thinks Bridges is the second coming of James Young, who he wasn’t very high on.

Not sure how you compare James Young to Miles Bridges other than both being from Michigan and playing for The Family.

Bridges is a high-motor, undersized but super athletic forward. I really think he projects more to the four in the college game.

Young was a volume three-point shooter. Bridges will take the three (a bit too often IMO), but don’t get the comparison at all.

Projecting to the 4 is yet another reason why Bridges may be a tough fit here. Somehow (given past guard development), we are super deep at the 4 and 5 for the foreseeable future. Bridges would be a better fit as a Beilein wing.

As for Kentucky fan saying things that don’t make sense…I’ll go ahead and guess that’s just Kentucky fan being Kentucky fan.

Obviously Kentucky has a near-insurmountable advantage just because it’s Kentucky.

-)
But in terms of what position he wants to play, I’m not sure I agree. While he could play the four in a Branden Dawson-y way, it seems his true NBA position is on the wing. And wasn’t the problem with GR3 that we needed him to play the four when he wanted to play the three? Don’t guys want to play their NBA positions as much as possible? The mere fact that he is strong enough to play the four in college doesn’t make it his ideal position, as I assume that Izzo would slot him at the three between Langford and Davis (a scary image!). I would assume he plays the three at Michigan too, with Chatman/Robinson/Wagner at the four and maybe Dawkins sliding over to the two if his ball-handling improves.

Not sure how you compare James Young to Miles Bridges other than both being from Michigan and playing for The Family.

Bridges is a high-motor, undersized but super athletic forward. I really think he projects more to the four in the college game.

Young was a volume three-point shooter. Bridges will take the three (a bit too often IMO), but don’t get the comparison at all.

I guess that is what I was trying to highlight about my friend’s opinion. Basically, that he irrationally underrates Bridges, because of James Young’s time at UK. I don’t think they are all that similar either, other than being left handed wings from Michigan.

So, I just started watching a full game of Bridges.

8m16s because apparently the autoembed doesn’t handle that.

And this play is wow

Obviously Kentucky has a near-insurmountable advantage just because it's Kentucky. >-) But in terms of what position he wants to play, I'm not sure I agree. While he *could* play the four in a Branden Dawson-y way, it seems his true NBA position is on the wing. And wasn't the problem with GR3 that we needed him to play the four when he wanted to play the three? Don't guys want to play their NBA positions as much as possible? The mere fact that he is strong enough to play the four in college doesn't make it his ideal position, as I assume that Izzo would slot him at the three between Langford and Davis (a scary image!). I would assume he plays the three at Michigan too, with Chatman/Robinson/Wagner at the four and maybe Dawkins sliding over to the two if his ball-handling improves.

On offense, the four might as well be a three. They’re both on the perimeter and both see many of the same motions and get the ball in similar positions. The distinction matters more on the other end because you could end up guarding a traditional four man if you play a Kansas or Michigan St.

Yes, but we get what other people call threes that play four, whereas Bridges is what other people call a four. That doesn’t mean he can play three here.

Voltron, I think they are more or less offensively interchangeable positions at Michigan. Bridges has the body type that would be good for defending strong and athletic 4’s and 3’s. I don’t see an issue other than Bridges might have a psychological Hangup about guarding a 4 or a hangup about being called a power forward. It would be a mistake on his part, however…GR3 was not drafted to play a traditional power forward spot…Yet he often guarded 4’s.

I think what I am going to take away from this for now until we get something more formal from one of the sites is that Winston really is likely deciding between MSU and UM, and Bridges is sincere in wanting to leave his options open to be able to play with him. Hard to get past the fact that UK is there, but if we somehow land Winston, I will increment my hype a bit.

I don’t see being able to pull both of them in. As is Austin Davis has to officially reclassify to make to room for one of them. While I do see a transfer from the frontcourt between Chatman, Wagner, Wilson, Duncan (my guess would Wilson or Chatman) due to playing time concerns. But that won’t come until after the season if at all. I don’t know if I see both Winston and Bridges waiting until Spring or Summer to make their commitment.

Bridges look like the kind of athletic talent that could play 1 and 5 in a pinch and could play 2,3,4 effectively on a nightly basis. So yeah, 4 to 3 is not a big leap in my mind.

Bridges could certainly play on the wing here that’s not what I meant at all. Just his style of play is very much athletic and physical than it is shooting or skill.

In a lot of ways he’d be a perfect four here because he can get it done defensively against about anyone and has improved his skillset quite a bit to play on the offensive end.

Question for the board. How do redshirts affect recruiting classes. If both Davis and Teske redshirt does that open up both scholarships for 2016 or are they still considered scholarship players for 2016?

Reason I ask is it seems to me like both could possibly be redshirted. Davis needs to work on agility and stamina and Teske needs to add weight. Plus if no one transfers we would still have Donnal, Doyle, and Wilson. I’m all for adding better players but idk how I feel about pushing out players like Indiana.

Regardless of the functional interchangeability of the positions, I think a lot of elite guys DO have a hang-up about the numbered position they play. Perhaps this is based on the perception that ceding “their” preferred position to another guy is evidence of being a lesser player. I may be in the minority here but I am an advocate of giving elite instant-impact guys the position they want and letting the other guys work around it.