Not super relevant but I know there wasnāt a ton of raw film on Girard when Michigan was recruiting him. He dropped 60 earlier today at the City of Palms event down in Florida. He looks solid but Iām ok with us passing or missing on him. Real good shooter obviously but I donāt think heās going to do a ton at the rim at the next level. At least not right away. Nor is he a PG. But he does look solid nonetheless.
how tall is #13, 5ā4"?
Not sure. The competition didnāt look great compared to the rest of the other City of Palms teams. I think Girardās team was a part of the consolation bracket or the smaller school bracket.
Was just checking in on Girard to see what kind of a season he had. Not a bad year for a freshman guard in the ACC. Syracuse wasnāt great but still managed to go .500 in conference play and he was a big part of that. Wouldnāt hurt to have this guy on the roster next year. I donāt recall, was it more of us backing off or him? I felt like we had a good shot and short of walked away from this one.
So I live just outside of Syracuse and end up watching a lot of Cuse games so Iāll give you my 2 cents. Girard is a gamer - never was afraid to take big shots. His 3pt % was low 30s, but he hit some big shots. Shot always looks pretty good, just didnāt get them to go at times. Not afraid to take it to the rack or pull up. Not always athletic enough to finish in the paint. The biggest glaring weakness is defense - not quite long enough or athletic enough to have a huge influence in Cuseās 2-3.
But his maturity and confidence are sky high for a freshman. And really can see him having a Gerry McNamara type career at SU - 4 years, fan favorite, big shot taker.
Oh, and I think he wouldāve been a great fit for next yearās Michigan team based on our lack of PG/G. Down the road, itās tough to say with Juwan going after more high 4-5 stars recruits.
I mean hindsight is 20/20. Even if he did commit thereās no guarantee heād have stayed committed once Beilein left. He probably would help next year with his offensive ability and heās a quality 4 year guy but Iām not super worried. Michigan will be just fine. The only year we could use him is this next season now. I think Michigan will have better players in the following seasons and Brooks and Simpson were great this year.
I watched him a lot, too. I agree with everything you said, the only thing I would say is I donāt think heās a point guard - he was kinda playing there out of necessity for them. I think if they move him off the ball, that will be the best thing for him. We could really use him - he would be a guy who could knock down open three point looks for us.
Maybe, but along the way weāre going to need some solid three or four year contributors in the backcourt. He would be that type of guy. Hopefully Bajema can do that for us instead.
Yea, pretty good synopsis. I actually always liked him and Iāve said it a few times on here he was a curious case where over his recruitment/eybl career he went from pretty overrated to criminally underrated over a season. Not sure how that happens but he was getting a decent amount of hype and then he wasnāt even ranked in the top 300 in a lot of places if I recall. Seemed very odd and I knew that wasnāt correct.
His d is terrible, but maybe thats why cuse is good for him? Maybe they can figure out how to hide him. I do think he will be a really nice offensive player, particularly as an uppderclassmen. Kid will be a sniper with range. Buddy and him will be a nice shooting combo but I wonder if they can counter their defensive woes.
We finally going to get him?! Who says no?
Narrator: They could not.
Itās fun to see old takes that hold true. Also, not a take here - Girard can score, but not a great fit between Dug and Transfer Player X (defensively).
really hard pass
Agreed. Iāve had some arguments with my three Cuse buddies about this,
He raves about how trash he is and I think thatās absurd. He only is trash when you try to make him into your go to player on a horrendous team.
As a guard off the bench heās legit imo. Iād take him if that was his role for a program.
IF we need a guard (Kobe replacement) how 'bout Cormac Ryan?
Definite possibility
Think weād still be looking for a second guy who can dribble
NDās top 7 were 5 24 year olds (two of whom were top 100 recruits), a top 20 freshman and a top 50 freshman and they won 1 ACC game
Thatās mind boggling
I may favor avoiding anyone associated
Hey, Notre Dame won 3(!) conference games!! You put some respect on that name!!
Steve is my official ombudsman