This means we’re going to out-rebound them, right?
Top 20 small forwards list is out. No Zak. And I officially think we are being slept on
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I don’t really know what to think about a lot of these lists… Not because Michigan players aren’t on them, but just because they just seem off. Maybe just a down year talent-wise, not sure. I suspect they’ll look very different than the year-end lists.
Agree they seem off…lots of very average veteran guys on all three so far, which is why I’m shocked not to see Walton & Irvin. There’s at least 5 guys on this SF list I’d take Irvin over.
MSU is hurting. Who will be the big when Ward needs a breather? That is going to hurt
They terrify me this year. They may take lumps early, but by the time we get them…I wish I felt we had a player who would will us to a win like Novak. Walton or Irvin’s leadership will be big in that one.
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I don’t see the problem there? Irvin isn’t a top-20 player nationally at the SF position. SF/SG are usually the two deepest & most dynamic positions in college hoops. I think Irvin is a good solid veteran player and I think he is Michigan’s best player — and gives versatility with his ability to defend both wing spots or even the 2-guard spot — but if I objectively look at all the SF candidates across the country, I couldn’t in good conscience say Irvin is top-20.
All that said, I still think Michigan’s top-6/7 players make the Wolverines a good candidate to rank in the 20-30 range as a team. And I think the experience on the roster makes Michigan a good pre-season bet to win a first round NCAA Tourney game and be a toss-up to win a second round game/advance to the Sweet16
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I think the problem is that he is arguably better than a handful of players on that list.
Player A
6.6 ppg / 3.0 rpg / 0.6 apg
Player B
7.4 ppg / 3.3 rpg / 0.7 apg
Player C
11.8 ppg / 4.5 rpg / 3.1 apg
Player A and B are on the list, player C isn’t. I think that’s why he thinks Irvin is being slept on. Even Irvin’s down year was statistically better than a few players listed. If you just looked at Irvin’s Big Ten numbers (13.3ppg / 5.1 rpg / 3.3 apg) it makes it even more of a head scratcher.
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I can see that. And without looking at the list of players, so asking this totally blind, I would ask how many minutes Player A or Player B averaged last season (or to normalize those stats per 40mins). Additionally I would ask what role Player A or Player B played for his team last season vs projected role for his team this season.
For example, Mo Wagner played fewer minutes last season than I would expect him to play this season and was in much more of a support role last season than I would hope he is asked to shoulder this season.
But, yes, I very much get the crux of your point — when a few head-scratchers are included on a list it becomes easier to ask why “our guy” wasn’t included.
Worth noting that “Player C” also had a very low 48.8 TS% and 97.7 ORtg. For comparison, out of all the players on Wisconsin, Michigan State, Maryland, Indiana, Iowa, and Purdue (Picked because they were the best teams in the conference last year) who played at least 25% of available minutes only two(!) players had a worse TS% than Irvin: Tum Tum Nairn and Mike Gesell. His offensive rating was also the third worst out of all those teams with Caleb Swanigan and Khalil Iverson of Wisconsin being the only ones behind him. I think it’s more than fair for award people to be skeptical of him, at least until he proves he can be efficient for an extended period of time.
Yep, I wasn’t expecting Zak to be on the list but as I’m reading the names I’m like wait a second. Even the big ten guys on there, JaeSean Tate and Vince Edwards I feel Zak is on par with. Then you’ve got three or four guys that averaged 6 points a game or less last year. I just think the team as a whole is extremely under the radar right now, and even a small level of improvement to our defense or a few of our individual players could make things really interesting.
How does someone like OG Anunoby make the list when he has had around 6 solid games and Zak a more experienced player is not. Zak Irvin has had way more solid performances than OG Anunoby.
Big quote dump from Michigan’s All-Access radio appearance on the Huge Show yesterday.
One thing to keep in mind is you’re just comparing a 15/16 frosh to a junior. On the list there are only 3 seniors and one rs/senior. Out of the seniors on the list I don’t believe Irvin is better than Bradds/Blossomgame/Hart. Beachem really took huge steps forward last year and took it to Irvin last year in the tournament. So out of the guys in his class I don’t think Irvin belongs on the list. If you want to put 20 seniors on the list maybe Irvin is on it but when you start including frosh/soph/junior Irvin should probably be left off.
A lot of quotes about DJ Wilson here. Cautiously excited for what he can bring to the team this year. I will be happy as hell if he can just play solid defense, be a decent rebounder (considering his height/hops) and use his freakish wing span to get steals, blocks, arms in passing lanes. Hopefully it’s more of that and less of DJ of last year who was clanking jumper after jumper.
Another thing - I hope our bigs aren’t afraid to foul this year. Too many times last year I felt like they were afraid to foul players. Especially against some of the stronger bigs like Diamond Stone, Haas, Swanigan, etc. Rather make them earn it at the line than giving up easy layups. Because of that, I think our 3rd big (Davis or Teske) might be more important than we think.
SKnight
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Good stuff there. I really really want to believe the DJ talk because he is our biggest X factor. If he can defend and rebound at the 4 he will be hugely valuable.
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Does Michigan have a “secret scrimmage”?
Reportedly @ Akron.
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I remember the DJ Wilson hype last year had one or two posters speculating whether or not we could lose him to the NBA. We all know how that worked out. I’m going to remain cautiously optimistic…
I think it was Dawkins who was potential NBA material, but maybe I’m misremembering.
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