Depth and future rotations

Step-back NBA threes off the dribble? Yes, please.

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Yes, he does. He certainly wouldnā€™t be my first choice as odd man out, but he is probably the least promising of the 2018 class (which is still pretty good).

I think Mo stays. Heā€™s not chomping at the bit to leave for pro hoops. Probably wonā€™t be a first round pick. He actually likes being a student/athlete in Ann Arbor.

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Yup, I donā€™t know the guys so I wouldnā€™t speculate.

Well, and he doesnā€™t seemed to have stepped his game up in any way that would make him more attractive as an NBA prospect than he was last year.

His defensive rebounding rate is 19th in the country. That should count for something.

Heā€™s grabbing more rebounds because Wilson isnā€™t there any more and Duncan Robinson is in his place, but he is not hugely better as a rebounder over last year

Heā€™s a top-20 defensive rebounder in the country. For the first two years of his career he rarely looked like he had any interest in rebounding. Say what you want about his defense (has been very bad, as it was last year), but he has definitely improved his rebounding significantly.

Think about it this wayā€¦ the two things you said are true (no DJ and Duncan is on the floor) yet Michigan is a better defensive rebounding team.

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NBA projections can all change with a great conference tournament or NCAA tournament run like we saw with DJ Wilson last year. I donā€™t believe that Moe or Matthews have the same kind of ceiling that DJ was projected to have so itā€™ll be a lot harder for them to make that kind of jump on the draft boards.

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Good call. Heā€™s got a way to go on D. Hardly means he canā€™t get there.

Heā€™s been very bad, has some physical limitations and hasnā€™t made a lot of progress. I think it is very fair to be critical of him defensively. Just donā€™t know when it will click and even if it does how much better he can be. His role at the professional level will be as a scoring specialist off the bench IMO.

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Tim Hardaway was a guy whose D sometimes drove you nuts, and he has apparently improved enormously. Whether itā€™s plyometrics or whatever, I am continually amazed by how stick-like figures like Teske develop so many dimensions. I also remember Robinson looking so lost at times. But whether Mo ever got there. . .

Hardaway and Teske are good examples of guys who have some physical abilities that translate to defense (Hardawayā€™s athleticism, Teskeā€™s length) that Moe just doesnā€™t have in his arsenal.

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Mo has the ability to be a really good pnr defender, thatā€™s a very important skill to have these days. Has good feet and quick hands.

Ok. Wilson being there decreased the amount of defensive rebounds he was able to get. Heā€™s still a good defensive rebounder.

It is pretty obvious that Wagner improved his rebounding a lot. He deserves high praise for the improvement. I only see modest improvement in other areas defensively. He is fouling a lot less so that is good but he seems to have some hard to overcome limitations if we are talking about him guarding in the NBA. His standing reach is not very impressive for 6ā€™11ā€ and his lateral movement is still not very good, imo. I donā€™t think of him as someone who has ā€œgood feetā€ if we are talking about the different aspects of speed and agility. He does have a very good straight forward first step, however, and runs the floor well, imo.

Still young. Anything is possible. Definitely rooting for him to meet his goals.

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IMO, last year he was always in really good position hedging out front, heā€™d just usually commit a stupid reach in foul. I think he feet are more than good enough to be a good defender in that regard.

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I can see that aspect being pretty good.

I donā€™t agree. Someone made a Trevor Ariza comparison not long ago, and I thought it was pretty spot on. Ariza does not have a great handle by any stretch.

Ariza is 3inches taller than Matthews. 6-8 with the athleticism to play SG/SF opens eyes among NBA scouts & coaches; allows coaches to overlook ballhandling concerns.

NBA doesnā€™t get too excited for 6-5 prospects with an inconsistent jump shot and ballhandling concerns. Matthews needs to either improve his handle or his shot to hit NBA draft boards.