Ye I thought that video showed a lot more then previous. I was very impressed
Bottom line is that motor is a key attribute that most people on this board fail to account for. When you have a guy that plays the game fast, most likely he is going to succeed if he has any type of skills or athleticism.
Generally speaking guys that play the game at a very slow pace have the biggest transition in college. That is a concern I have with Ibi Watson, his motor isn’t very impressive on top of his skills being average. Its the reason why I don’t like the idea of taking guys like Austin Davis and DJ Wilson…it takes years before guys like that are ready to play meaningful minutes
Well Watson had better be ready, because we are super thin on the wing currently so he has to play.
Regardless of how this plays out, there will be some unhappy guys. Why? Beilein only plays 8-9 guys. That means that four or five of these guys probably won’t be happy.
We all want instant impact guys yet it will take some of these guys 2-3 years to potentially make an impact. It’s one of the biggest challenges coaches have right now. If guys aren’t happy with playing time, then they transfer. It’s one of the reasons why I don’t mind the Davis pickup (I never said I liked the pickup. You can make a “mistake” with a big but it’s a lot harder when you make one with a guard), he won’t be a factor for at least a couple of years, and that’s ok with the other guys that are there.
Cain drastically changes the complexion of the team with his athleticism. If you can get him and Bamba, with the addition of Matthews, the team is VERY different than it has been. Would be fun for us but maybe not the 11th-13th guy.
The thought of Matthews, Cain, and Bamba banging out on defenders rather than the soft layups that constantly get blocked is intoxicating for me personally. Would love to see that happen.
To be fair, most of Beilein’s teams only had 8-9 people worthy of playing.
Here’s how the rotations have played out with a cutoff of 12% of available minutes (>10% is what kenpom uses to define a non-rotation player but I’ll bump it up to 12%).
2008: 10
2009: 11
2010: 9
2011: 8
2012: 7
2013: 9
2014: 9
2015: 10 when healthy
2016: 10
Looking at the years with less than 10 it’s clear that Michigan didn’t have anyone else on the roster who was worthy of being in the rotation. I think if he has players who prove themselves to be good enough to play then they will get minutes.
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Completely understand and thanks for the stats. What I should’ve said Beilein and almost all other coaches don’t go more than 10 deep. Making for at least three unhappy campers.
Agree that 10 is generally the cutoff. I still think some of the young guys will have minutes normally given to one bench player split in half between a couple guys, at least early in the season. Then once Beilein figures out what lineups work best we’ll trim the rotation.
247 Post Summer Rankings Update - Jamal Cain now #82/4 star in the country. Looks like my 60-80 assessment from 1 year ago was spot on.
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You’ve had me convinced that he’s a take for a while now, but it is nice to see some consensus. Along with the talent, it would be great to get Cain and Livers, two of the best (if not the two best) 2017 prospects in our own state.
So after all the flack I took from some people about Cain (John Miller lol) in terms of being the only one to think he was that good, he would hypothetically be the highest ranked player of any of our current commits with Livers dropping to 144. Go figure.
Had to get that one in JM lol. I know you don’t mind
No, I don’t mind one bit. I’ve told you my original take on Cain had changed. I still see him around 100-120 but 84 isn’t too outlandish. I think we need a 5* star talent with the players we have committed. We agree on that. We have nice role players currently committed.
We need an upper tier creator every year, but the truth is we just aren’t very likely to get that around these parts for various reasons. That said, I think Jamal has NBA potential if he can add weight/strength and develop his handle a bit more. He has ideal height and length at 6’7, is a good shooter, with an above average handle at that size, and can jump out of the gym. There’s a lot to like about Mr. Cain that we haven’t had in A2 in quite some time.
He’s got a long way to go before nba talk can be brought up. A 5* center helps this team a lot more than a 4* sf imo.
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JM - here’s my small gripe with you (not really a gripe lol). How can you be a rankings guy and like the additions of Poole, Livers, and Brooks…and not be on board with Cain who is ranked higher than any of those aforementioned players? Doesn’t make a ton of sense to me.
We have Matthews to play the 3. He was ranked higher and will be 2 years removed from high school with the muscle to be a great player. Long term, Cain can be good. I don’t think he wants that though. I see Matthews as a better 3 and livers a better 4.
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That’s basically my point - you’re looking beyond the rankings into your own personal assessment, correct? Just food for thought
Well, yeah. I don’t only look at rankings but use them as a starting point, then use my own judgement. Cain can be a nice player with a lot of room to grow and maybe be great. Our roster needs a great player and I’m not sure we have that. Jackson/bamba manning the 5 would make our team great. I’m probably dreaming with those two but they make a much bigger impact than Cain imo. I honestly feel Cain to Marquette with the other players they’ve got coming in could be great for him to go and grow with those guys and most likely start with those guys for years.
Is it safe to assume that you think Cain will/could be a better player, and more productive player, than Matthews, for Michigan? I think it’s clear you (by most accounts, rightly) think Cain is the superior shooter. Just wondering how you compare the two, since theyre essentially both 2017 recruits/additions and will be competing for minutes in their first eligible years.
Looking beyond 2017, Poole, Cain, and Matthews would be filling in the minutes at the 2-3, which I think is extremely solid. The redundancy argument only comes into play with Ibi, imo. And we’ve already rehashed enough times that you think Cain will be a much better player than Ibi.
Edit: caveats of Matthews having already played a collegiate season AND having a year to practice with UofM obviously apply. Also a knock on Matthews, in a way though, because he only has 3 years of ‘production’ to give the program.
There is no way Jamal is starting at Marquette with Cheathem there, as he’s only a sophomore this year. He’s an established player that Cain may play 2 years behind. Compare that to UM, where Jamal has no established player that he is behind, and the opportunity for early time is much greater in my opinion. Much easier to beat out a freshman that needs tons of physical development (Poole) and a guy that has not proven anything in the way of skill at the college level (Matthews). In essence Cain would be on equal footing at UM as opposed to clearly stuck behind an established player at the college level.