I sure hope we can land Watts, if Carton falls through. Assuming Saddi is leading that recruitment, I’d like our chances, as long as he doesnt pull an early trigger elsewhere
Carton and McDaniels will both be top 10 by the time this is over
ihe has a standing reach that cannot be all explained by his height and wing span.
McDaniels likely is still in a growth spurt and his weight has not caught up, i think that people will start compare him to KD.
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Watts and Keion Brooks also made the cut to 18. Girard and McDaniels did not. McDaniels not making it surprised me.
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Surprised because of the way he played there or surprised because of the way he has been playing recently?
More surprised that THT didn’t make the cut. Seems like EVERYONE there on Twitter has been raving about him these past couple days.
Carton really looks like he’d be one of the most explosive athletes we’ve had - close to Robinson levels of not more.
Yak has changed things significantly from when Donlon’ was around. It started in the summer when for the first time ever, instead of working on offensive plays, it was dedicated to defensive principles. The gym floors were cut up to reflect that.
Yak has been outstanding, as have Saadi and DeAndre. All three of these guys (and Sanderson, perhaps our most important assistant) need to be paid as much as anyone in their position makes in the Big Ten.
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I absolutely agree with you on this, LA! These guys should not be paid any less than the highest paid assistants and strength and conditioning coaches in the Big Ten are paid.
Appreciate the insight. Was it something that would have happened for Donlon if he had stayed? If not, what was it about JB or Yak that led to the change?
I don’t know. Maybe Donlon loosened things up for Yak. Maybe guys like Mathews and Simpson getting prominent minutes allowed them to play a different style.
Only thing I’m certain up is that they did not play the same type of defense in 2016-2017 as they did in 2017-2018. Look at the articles written by the folks who can get into the technical aspects of the game (not talking about the garden variety beat writer who has to keep things superficial) and appreciate how they detail an evolution in defensive principles within just one year.
Go back to last year and see how Coach Beilein described the hiring of Yak.
And then go back to media day and see how coach Yak said things about defensive philosophies that I had never heard a UM coach speak in terms of before. In fact in an attempt to separate truth from rhetoric I asked him:
“We’ve heard about a new commitment to defense before. As a fan, what will be signs of what you consider good defensive play?”
“How we contest shots. How many times we get our hands on the ball… deflections. How often we get more than 2 stops in a row on defensive. We will chart this stuff because I believe they are good indicators of whether a team is playing good or great defense.”
Heck Beilein talked more reverently about defense in one year than he has in all his other years combined.
Not of the opinion that this was mostly by coincidence.
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Thanks, Dot. There’s certainly no question that Yak’s philosophies were a departure from Donlon’s with regards to contesting shots. Dylan’s done a great job detailing that (and I’m looking forward to the rest of the series).
DJ Carton is visiting Michigan later this month. June 28th I believe.
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Semi unsettling news, carton and some duke assistants have recently started following each other. Hopefully we can lock this one down when he visits on the 28th.
Duke is indeed becoming more a presence in his recruitment.
friends don’t let friends play for duke. don’t let this happen to you dj.
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My hopes in this one will diminish significantly if he doesn’t commit shortly after his visit.
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Seems like he’s planning to commit this summer, after visiting us, Indiana, and OSU. If that timeframe holds true and no one else of any significance gets heavily involved, I like our chances.