Duncan’s sudden drop off in shooting might be the most depressing part of the second half of the B1G season, but Aubrey is the most frustrating member of the team. The kid has all of the tools (except handles) and usually his 3pt shooting, alone, would keep him on the court; but his defense is horrendous. I know JB (and co.) aren’t the best defensive coaches, but Aubrey puts us so close to playing 5v4 on defense. Do you guys think there is a shot at improvement? And how much? And do you think “Aubthree” can stick?
No. He is what he is. He may improve on what he can already do and His D may improve some. To be that athletic with that height, having no handles is just horrible. Don’t get it. I would have him all off season just be working on driving the ball. Taking that ball to the hole and working on dribble drive game and that can hopefully improve his handles at same time.
i don’t know but I think our coaches need to hold him accountable for his mistakes. He seems undisciplined to me. Not lazy. Just full of bad habits. Maybe we could send him to lansing for the summer and let IZZO chew him out on a daily basis? I will say this: He should be on a short leash, in my opinion. The coaches should disregard his offense. His playing time should be based upon whether or not he is able to play average defense. Average defense would be a huge upgrade.
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You guys might want to listen to Beilein’s post-game interviews. Nine times out of ten Beilein is speaking to the stuff people come over hear to bellyache about. Your brain grows listening. Nobody ever seems to watch those or comment but they’re great. Also check out the highlights at mgoblue. You’ll note that Aubrey’s second three came after a beautiful defensive rebound. Working it at both ends.
Either Aubrey or Duncan are going to start. Both play atrocious defense at this point in their career. You might as well play the one hitting shots.
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Unfortunately this is true.
I can’t believe the D3 kid has struggled in B1G play.
The solution to this problem is get a kid better than both of these two!!
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I am wondering what others think. My sense is that Robinson is a below average defender but still significantly better than Aubrey. I actually think Robinson is a better defender than Stauskas was. What are other people’s opinions?
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And I agree his ability to rise above the defense and get a pretty good shot off every time is impressive. I think Dawkins is pretty good offensively. Not too worried about his handles as others seemed to be worries
JB does not seem to hold Dawkins accountable within games. Some Coaches are too afraid to put a guy making insane mistakes on the bench. Sends a bad message , in my opinion. Can you imagine how demoralizing it is to the guys on the bench when a guy stays in after mistakes. So yeah, JB knows he is making defensive mistakes–everyone knows! short leash. There is always a guy on the bench who wants to prove he can do better. Healthy competition.
Duncan got to a point where he ok and not a complete liability for a stretch. Irvin plays solid D at moments too. Nobody in this roster can do it consistently for whatever reason. Hit the wall? Bad principles on D as a coaching staff? Not tough enough? It is probably a combination of the 3 why nobody can play D with any consistentcy.
The way Duncan had been playing defensively at the moment, he is of no use unless he is hitting shots. He is a better passer than Dawkins, but they don’t run offense through him enough to make him useful if he isn’t hitting shots.
I think Duncan can serve an important role on any roster. The kid is an upper echelon shooter when he has his legs. Hopefully he can settle into a 6th or 7th man role next year. His best role is an unapologetic gunner for 15 or minutes a game off the bench IMO.
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I do not think it is fair to call him a D3 player. Weather or not he is a quality Big Ten player is another story but he has put up games where he has proven he is worthy of a D1 scholarship. To the point of the post, Aubrey’s D is what it is, but it is between a 6-8 shooter who when he is cold (which he is) is a liability on both sides of the ball, an athletic shooter who is more proven and can jump out of the gym but struggles majorly on D, or a 6-8 iso guy who is timid on the court and looks scared to mess up. I would take Aubrey but it can go any way there.
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You’re right he has proven he is a mid major D1 kid through this year. A school like Oakland would love him.
I still don’t believe he belongs at Michigan. Maybe he gets better but I think he has reached his ceiling.
Reached his ceiling?? He is one of the best pure shooters in the country and has 2 years left at UM.
From and X’s and O’s standpoint, even thought he is not shooting well right now, he is spacing the floor offensively and other teams have to defend him closer than anyone else on our roster. Which opens up the lane for drives in the lane and limits other teams ability to double the post. Now that should be your complaint… why are our other players not about to get into the lane or our bigs able to get any post touches when the opposing team defense isn’t helping off Duncan.
I believe most D1 coaches in the country would take Duncan over Aubrey if they had the choice.
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Duncan is athletically at his ceiling. He’s already a great shooter though in a slump. What exactly is he going to improve in the next 2 years?
What we need are people who can beat their man off the dribble, force help, and let Duncan spot up.
Or
Develop a back to the basket guy, force defenses to collapse, then kick it out to him.
Duncan is never going to break someone down off the dribble consistently and get to the rack or break someone down and pull up on them. That’s just not in the cards for him.
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He will do nothing else well the rest of his career except be able to shoot. With teams already figuring out how to shut him down I feel he has reached his Ceiling.
What do you feel he will get better at? Quicker, be able to drive, rebound, play a lot better defense, get a ton stronger??
I’m sorry Michigan fans love the mid major talent which is exactly what he is.
I hate the mid major talent (which is alot of our roster) but I disagree about Duncan. Just having a “shooter” on the floor changes everything for the other team defensively. Knowing we have always been pretty efficient offensively and have always had really good offensive spacing, having a guy like Duncan should strengthen that even more.
I think he has already improved at getting to the rim. I know you remember Stauskas being nothing but a shooter his freshman year, and he improved aspects of his game obviously. Do I believe Duncan will be the next Stauskas… I wouldn’t go that far, but I do believe the stronger he gets, and continues to improve getting in the lane and too the rim, he will be a solid piece to the puzzle we need.
As stated above he is a 10-15 min guy if we had better talent. Being forced to play more is a reason we are a bubble team. I think that trend continues
The only 2 things Duncan and Stauskus have in common are they are white and they are shooters.
Stauskus athleticism as a Frosh was light years above Duncan.
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This is where you are wrong. Stauskus his freshman year showed signs of being much more than a shooter. You could tell he had the skill-set necessary to be a complete offensive player.
It’s a myth Stauskus was only a shooter as a Freshman. Stauskus ONLY needed to be a shooter on that team, however, he was capable of being much more and showed it.
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I find it really odd that a D-1 coaches son that is really athletic would struggle on defense. IMO that’s just laziness. All mental/effort - he has the physical tools to be a defensive stud.
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It is unfair to say Duncan has reached their ceiling players can improve out of nowhere. People were saying the Mark Donnal last year is the player we will always have and he has improved. To say someone hit his high point already and won’t get better is unfair.