Lol. Who would draft Gabriel
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Donāt get me wrong, I totally agree with your concept. It would be amazing FOR Michigan. But imagine using that pitch on a top 5 recruit: you can enter the game once Wagner is in foul trouble. Do you really think the sales pitch is going to work?
We are fighting UK and Duke, with a guy who is going to the NBA as soon as he can. He wonāt come to Michigan over the blue bloods if someone tells him he can enter the game when itās convenient for us
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There are plenty of minutes available for the three to average 28-30 mpg.
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No doubt. Texas is the answer if playing time is a real concern. He would get 20-30 minutes at Michigan. Probably the same at Kentucky. Texas heās a crucial piece. Duke he very well might not play at all (see Marques Bolden) or he may play 20-30 if everyone leaves.
But if Iām JB, Iām telling Bamba heās our star and he wonāt have any PT concerns whether or not thatās true. I would assume Coach K and Cal have made many promises to 5 star studs that they donāt keep. Is JB doing this, who knowsā¦
Based on interviews Iāve seen from him, he wonāt be a guy who is ok coming off the bench. He will be the star or the team, and based on his talent, I donāt blame him.
With that said, I donāt think that we can or should say that he would be a perfect fit to come in when Wagner gets in foul trouble. Obviously it would be amazing for our team, but in no way he is going to come to Michigan to be that guy.
So if we have any chance of landing him, we should consider other approaches to our roster. Honestly, as much as I love Wagner, having him come off the bench seems like a better option (given the foul trouble). Butā¦ do we want to disrupt the flow of this team, and how close they are? My feeling is Beilein would not start Bamba over Wagner early on, and that might just seal it into his decision.
Just my opinion, but I would love to be proven wrong and find a way that works for all the talent that we have or may have next year
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I think itās easy if Bamba comes. Start all three bigs. Keep everyone happy. As soon as one makes a mistake or is an obvious defensive liability, make the change.
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I donāt disagree, but then who is the odd man out between X, MAAR, Matthews?
I think you go with experience and run MAAR at the point to start games. X and Duncan off the bench first. Rotate Wagner, Bamba and DJ at the 4/5 with DJ getting a little more run at the 3. Should, in theory, be able to get them each 30 minutes a game.
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Ok so letās assume Bamba is coming to Michigan with nothing less than being a starter (which I think isnāt that big of an assumption). Then if we would want to play all of our best players at ounce it would look like this:
5. Wagner
4. Mo (4 and 5 could switch on defense)
3. DJ
2.CM
- Xavier
Obviously this is a terrible lineup based on skills. So the obvious lineup that would happen if Bamba would come into the mix without high expectations of starting every night:
5.Wagner/Bamba
4.DJ/Bamba
3.CM/Robinson
2.MAAR/Poole
1.X/Brooks
But this isnāt that appealing for a top 5 prospect. So Iām very excited to see Dylanās take on our lineup next year. I feel Bamba might change so many things if it would happen
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Bamba could learn a lot from both Wagner and Wilson, plus get plenty of minutes. Defensively he going to earn minutes from the jump. To paraphrase a wise man, āwhy not Michigan?ā
If Bamba comes, seals the deal on a Teske redshirt. Highly beneficial
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More Mos = more problems (good ones for us, bad ones for our opponents). We could call our Zone the Mozone layer.
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It is not at all obvious to me that the first lineup is undesireable. But I think when Bamba and Wagner are on the floor together, Wagner will absolutely guard 5ās because Wagner canāt guard 4ās. Wilson at the three is not a problem.
The second lineup you offered assumes Bamba backing up Wagner. I donāt know, Bamba would be a huge upgrade over Wagner in terms of defense, from day 1, I think.
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I guess Iām just not that worried that Bamba will be concerned about playing time. Other schools will have similar issues. For instance, KY has a five star center and two five star forwards committed, plus Gabriel and Killeya-Jones, two former five stars, coming back, then Humphries and maybe Adebayo. Dukeās got a five star center coming in and a bunch of returning players who can play the 4 or 5. Maybe Texas has an obvious path to minutes (if Allen stays in the draft) but they also won 11 games last year. I donāt think weāll have to play MAAR at PG to get Bamba on the court if he wants to come to UM.
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You can ask the same thing about Duke or Kentucky ā there isnāt a wide open path to 30+ minutes in either of those programs either. Texas is really the only one of the four programs with big-time minutes handed to him. But if the goal is the NBA, scouts will be all over Kentucky, all over Duke, and all over Michigan (presuming Wagner & Wilson return) = lots of opportunities to showcase his skills in front of NBA talent evaluators (even in 20mins per game)
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seems like going against wagner, dj, teske, davis and the big ten would be a great way to develop, while learning to shoot from one of the best in the game.
he wont come here though
kentucky has so many bigs he would be a fool to go there, or the others would be fools to stay. If Gabriel leaves heās a moron.
Maybe a side benefit of this is if bamba goes to Kentucky sacha and others will look to transfer. Letās just take all the Kentucky rejects and form a squad. All ranked 25-50 still. Sounds good to me.
If bamba comes in I think the smart maneuver is bring dj or moe off the bench. Moes foul trouble issues will create lots of minutes. I think you could sell moe or dj on coming off the bench. Letās be real it would be more of a starting six. Is anyone going to forget their pro prospects just cause their coming off the bench? I think one of them could be sold on this possibility. Iād lean toward. Moe starting because a lineup without him wouldnāt be very good on offense. It would be too defense oriented ( did I just say that???).
Honestly weād need an 8-9 man rotation next year. If he doesnāt come Iām quite confident in teske and davis. Besides the one game teske was pretty solid. I think we should be planning for other options and feeling guys out on the wing who are unsigned or looking to transfer.
Bamba would start if he comes. full stop. i donāt know how any other scenario can really be envisioned. I like Mo and DJ, but lets be clear that we arenāt talking about the same level of player when Bamba enters the discussion in terms of how they can impact the outcome of a game (net of O and D). If you are trying to build your best team for March 2018, he plays every minute he can handle.
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I think thatās the strong assumption, but itās just that, an assumption. For all the talk about the recent Duke big man busts, I think itās hard to assume anything. Thereās no proof Bamba can come in and would be better than Moe at the 5. Who knows how heāll react to the college game and better competition. Itās not a sure thing.
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youāre right that it is all presumption/opinon on all sides, maybe Mo and DJ develop a better game playing into contact. Havenāt seen it, but maybeā¦
That said, 1) i dont think Bamba would show up if the bench was the role envisioned for him esp when heās on record as being a 1-done guy, 2) his tape against other top 10 type guys (like ayton) gives the impression that he is at a different level defensively than others of similar star rating in years past save for maybe noel, and 3) I think we would be more willing to design around him as both a centerpiece to the offense and defense more than any of the other programs (except maybe TX) given UK/Duke have to keep a half dozen guys happy and we are losing such a high percentage of our mins/offense.
Odds that he comes at allā¦ 10%? maybe 20%? Is that debatable? break that down into odds he comes and is willing to play behind Mo/DJ, maybe 10% of that? (1-2%). Of all the what-ifs, it seems the least likely to me at least.