What you just described is and energy guy and that is exactly what his focus needs to be because until proven otherwise there will be no plays run for him.
2 Likes
Just pre-season fluff, but there’s kind of a good read about the friendship between Irvin and Walton at mgoblue. Both seem to think that, after a lot of setbacks, they are ready to shine:
http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/092916aaa.html
2 Likes
“We’ve been through a lot, and I’m excited, grateful and blessed to be in a position to accomplish everything we want this year. I’ve got some really good intuition about what’s going to happen this year. I’m excited and confident.”
D. Walton
1 Like
I hope Walton is right. He and Irvin have suffered through not only their own injuries but through those to Caris and Spike. They really haven’t been in great positions. What they do have though is enough experience for Beilein’s offensive genius.
Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, a different player for Michigan, is starting to feel different
We may be overlooking MAAR a little, it is true. Walton, Irvin, MAAR, and Moritz ALL have shown the potential to be stars.
1 Like
I don’t think being pessimistic about the future of this team is not well-founded, especially when it comes to the recruiting process. Are we in a better place than we were last year? Yes, but just a little bit, are we going to be an ap top 20 teams any time in the future? Not for a while at least. I understand players sometimes take time to develop and we haven’t gotten into any trouble, unlike UNC and some other schools, for the last couple of years but the question still remains: can we recruit top talent to come and play and it’s been a big NO, especially after 2010.
troll alert.
1 Like
2010 seems like a really bad cutoff to set for when we stopped getting top talent… I would accept it if you said 2014 but in terms of talent the 12/13 classes were number 1 and 2 in the Big Ten respectively and both top 15 in the country.
BTW, hope you guys are liking these position previews. They’ve been fun to write. Over the offseason you kind of just stop thinking about the details on some of this stuff and fun to kind of go in depth.
6 Likes
I was so caught off-guard by the footage of that OSU game haha. Screw ESPN for basically taking a game away from us.
1 Like
One thing I hope that Simpson takes over from Albrecht is the ability to grab sneaky steals off the opponent inbounds after U-M made baskets.
1 Like
This one is an all time classic.
3 Likes
CBS ranks Michigan 43rd
The Wolverines bring back necessary pieces – Zak Irvin, Derrick Walton, Duncan Robinson, Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman – but this team was lost without Caris LeVert relatively often last season. It’s going to be methodical and reliable, but is it an NCAA tourney group? Walton should take a jump, and Duncan Robinson might wind up as one of the biggest offensive threats in the Big Ten.
Basically in the same boat as OSU 39 and Maryland 42
1 Like
http://mgoblog.com/content/2016-17-b1g-basketball-preview-michigan-st#more
This article largely sums up how I feel about MSU this year: returning so little, but bringing in so much, making them very polarizing. Just a matter of when, and to what degree, Izzo can get a bunch of teenagers to play cohesively and acclimate to the college game. It’s hard to bet against Izzo, but it sure does seem like they’re due for a drop off. Games against Arizona, Kentucky, AND Duke is just insane. Baptism by fire, I suppose.
Clearly all of the talking heads favor MSU to outperform UofM, but it will be interesting to see Izzo coaching kids, and JB with a veteran team.
Gavin Schilling out for MSU. Woof. They have three forwards now in Bridges (6’7"), Goins (6’6") and Ward (6’8"). Only MSU players over 6’5" and 215 lbs.
3 Likes
Izzo will have a bunch of excuses to use at his pressers. He’ll be playing a bunch of weird guys until Schilling gets back.
1 Like
Bridges is gonna play 40 a game
When do rosters become set? Any chance Izzo finds some JUCO kid? I just dont know the rules.