I think Smith becoming an average B10 PG unlocks just about everything on offense. Everyone settles into their natural positions, we become harder to defend, our shooters are getting open looks, etc.
We may have to cringe a lot watching the team play defense though…
If we’re talking about raising the floor, I’d rank Smith as the biggest key. If we’re talking about raising the ceiling, I’d put Franz becoming a star #1, Brown being eligible and Smith being a Big Ten quality starter next.
If some of those questionable shots he takes don’t go in early in the season the open threads here are going to be a disaster…
Important to remember just how bad the team around him was. I wrote about this a bit earlier, but Columbia’s offense was basically: a) look for an early Mike Smith shot b) hope Mike Smith can create a chance for someone else c) throw the ball back to Mike Smith and let him try to score.
He has the reputation of a shot jacker because of the situation, but he looks like a very good passer to me on film.
What is it about Smith at PG and Davis/Johns at C that leaves us to believe that they cannot at least be average Big Ten defenders?
Smith has to be fast enough and smart enough for defense. Is his height definitely makes him terrible on defense?
Is Davis so slow that he cannot defend? He seems to be pretty fast on offense around the basket. He also is smart enough to improve his defensive strategies.
Saw Smith play at Columbia once this year well before him coming to Michigan was even a thought. I honestly was surprised that he wasn’t jacking it up more given the limited talent on his team. He seemed very self-controlled and patient.
I don’t think we’ll see that as much. He had to be hunting non stop because his team was pitiful. He knew it was on him to make it happen or it wasn’t happening at all.
I’d like to here Xavier thinks of the pick up. His dad said Smith and X had some pretty good battles as kids if I recall when we signed him. Don’t think I imagined that. Wonder what our former leader projects.
Interesting note that most waivers have been run-offs. I assume those are the quickest and most straight forward.
What is a “run off” waiver?
Basically you’ve “lost” your spot on the team. Most commonly used to be for oversigning, seems it’s being used more for team and player agreeing to move on from one another.
It means the coach says they think you should move on and want to use your scholarship for other players.
Essentially the original coach backs the waiver.
Or a coach knows a player like DJ Carton is going to transfer so he recruits for that scholarship and when it comes time that Carton actually transfers and applies for a waiver, there “isn’t a spot” for him at OSU anymore because the scholarship was filled.
The details really don’t matter… A coach can sign off on a run off waiver and it will usually be approved.
I believe Calipari does this for everyone who transfers out.
Yeah I know the details and true reasons for the “situation” don’t matter. Carton isn’t the first guy to use the runoff excuse when the place he was transferring from clearly didn’t run him off and actually would have loved to have him stay. It’s the most surefire way to get waivers though. Almost like a “get out of jail free” card - it’s a “get a no hassle NCAA waiver approval” card
I guess another qu
I don’t know if this is the right spot for this question but does anyone know if some version of Camp Sanderson is happening this summer? He hasn’t posted anything on Twitter since May but I would think some form of outdoor workouts (or even indoors) could be happening, unless there’s some NCAA restriction on having it.
In the past, Camp Sanderson referred to people staying for the spring and summer sessions. This year, that obviously didn’t happen.
Michigan has been conducting voluntary workouts for the past couple weeks and also now on-court team workouts for the last week and a half or so.
So, right now players are on campus and working out. There are various limits as far as time on court (small group only) and time with the strength coach, etc.
I wasn’t sure if it happened when the Freshman arrived each year in June. Thanks!