Ehhh, Caris only played about 350 minutes all season and shot 32% from the field. Wasn’t the same caliber prospect as Bajema out of high school though.
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Well, Caris was also trying to break into a lineup that included Hardaway Jr., Stauskas and Robinson at the wings. By the time the tourney came around, he gave us some valuable minutes, especially in the Syracuse game.
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And Caris also missed the first handful of games because the coaches originally wanted to protect his red shirt eligibility. Ended up averaging a little under 11mpg in conference play… with Burke/Hardaway/Stauskas averaging 103 of the 120 minutes per game at the 1-3 spots during B1G play. So, in my opinion, to even carve out that many minutes in that lineup was fairly impressive.
Tying it back in to Bajema, if Cole shows as much impact as Caris did as a freshman, our backcourt depth won’t be much of a concern.
(also remember that Stauskas wasn’t the starter at the beginning of the season, Vogrich was … another veteran Caris had to supplant to earn his way into the rotation)
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The one thing I’m seeing a lot here lately is comparing players because there’s something similar about them (i.e. they are skinny or they both are touted as good shooters) and then trying to compare their career tracks. It is definitely easy to do that but I would say that how ready someone is to play early in their careers depends on a lot of different things and those things can be different for individual prospects.
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I know we’re only two games in, with one game being close throughout, but I’m wondering if Cole is marked for a redshirt? Prior to the season, I would’ve guessed that he might be ahead of Nunez on the depth chart. I guess we’ll know more after the Elon on Houston Baptist games but I’m curious if Juwan has said anything or if you’ve heard any talk about the plans for Cole.
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Juwan mentioned him (and CJ) a few times today as a guy who has to be ready. FWIW.
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Yeah, I was lamenting to myself that the next two opponents might not offer great competition, but Juwan is probably keen to see what some of the other guys can do. I continue to believe that if they win these games, Franz’s absence will have had some silver linings.
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Well, that answers that. No redshirt, barring injury.
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I absolutely loved Juwan’s response to the redshirt comment
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I missed that.
Me too, especially his initial reaction to the question. His face said, “Redshirt? What redshirt?!” I don’t think he ever considered Cole as a candidate for that.
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I wonder if it’s a reaction to Nunez struggling
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If what’s a reaction? Him playing one minute of garbage time?
I think he has to play, they aren’t very deep. Not sure how Franz comes back and when. He needs another 20 pounds, has the body of Freshman Caris but not the quickness. I’m really curious to see if Franz can handle the B1G coming over from Europe. I think the transition was tough for MOE in the first year. Of course they play different positions but is he physically mature enough to compete.
I think you’re forgetting what freshman Caris’s body was like. He weighed like 175 pounds as a freshman. Franz is like 205. He’s skinny but much better equipped for the college game than Caris. Also, Moe played a much lower level of basketball than Franz. Franz was playing against bona fide pros, was teammates with guys who were stars in college and performed well under those conditions. He should be as ready as a Euro can be. Only thing that could hold him back is his injury.
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Eh I think the recent trends suggest that red-shirting a guy just preserves a year of eligibility to play somewhere else.
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I hope you’re right, I just don’t buy into the hype until I see it on the floor. This is a big step culturally and style of play. I’m not sure what Franz’s numbers were in the Euro league but if he was tearing it up he wouldn’t be in college, he’d be in the NBA. Don’t get me wrong, I think the kid has a ton of potential and I’m really excited to see him play. I just don’t put hope into any Freshman until they prove it on the floor. The only UM Freshman that I recall handling the rigors of the B1G in his first year was IGGY and he was a year older. I’m not down on Franz at all, I think he will be great, I just want to see the results before we crown him the savior at the two.
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The thing is, we really don’t need him to be the savior at the two. The most encouraging thing to me so far this season is how well Eli has played. He seems to have made a huge jump and looks great in all areas of the game. Not only does he look like a great scorer, but to me he’s emerging as a great secondary playmaker. And the dude can defend pretty well too. To me he’s locked down the starting two spot. Also after a subpar performance in game one DDJ has looked like he will be able to give quality minutes this year.
Now maybe when Franz comes back he plays the three and they slide Livers to the four but in my opinion he will just be able to develop off the bench. That’s part of the reason why I’m confident that Franz will do big things as a freshman. The emerging depth at the two ensures that Franz won’t be asked to do too much right away.
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Agreed that Brooks has been a revelation this year. Fingers crossed that this continues.
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That’s a good point, Eli has made the leap and has experience in the league. Looking forward to the evolution of the team.
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