By the way it’s a fore gone conclusion he’s not coming back right?
People still ignoring Levert had the best game of his career and Michigan still got ran off the court against a legit team.
We are no where near a contender with or without levert. The talent isn’t there.
Referring to that game is a strawman. It’s not unusual for a good team to lose a game where their best player still played really well. I am not arguing that we would be as good as MSU or Maryland, if we had Caris; but I am arguing that we would be a much better team with him playing. To say that we wouldnt have a better record if Caris had played every game (which I cant tell if that is what you are saying or not) is just wrong. Saying that we wouldnt be a Sweet 16/Elite 8 team with him healthy is probably true. If those are your standards, then it’s a completely different argument.
I think we would have the exact same record with Caris in the lineup.
That’s bold. It’s tough to say. Things don’t stay equal. Who knows how many games ge alters and why. Certain guys may have broke out of a slump after seeing a few of his shots go through. Lots of the game is confidence And mental. His game and leadership may have had others step up yo have big games in games they struggled. Momentum ect…
Replace Robinson with senior Lavert in the lineup and you see the same record??
I guess arguing that point with you seems redundant, because of your general pessimism. Considering your constant slights at our talent level, though, it seems like you would at least acknowledge the gravity of missing the most talented (an inarguably NBA-level talent) player on our roster, and top 5 player in the conference.
Think we probably beat Maryland on the road, and MAYBE Iowa on the road. I tend to agree though, the record wouldn’t be much better. Certainly don’t think Caris would make a big difference in terms of win/loss in the tourney in terms of a S16. Will say I think we would be comfortably in the dance rather than in a vulnerable spot right now
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Who do you think they would of beaten with Levert that they haven’t beaten in the B1G?
I know this is impossible to debate either way with certainty. I’m sure people would think Iowa and Purdue on the road. Others will argue Michigan still would of lost.
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If Caris is enough to help us win those games, that how would he not be enough to help us win enough tournament games to get to the Sweet 16/Elite 8? Maryland and Iowa will both be teams that expect to get to that level of the tournament. And I dont think we lose the Ohio State game, with Caris.
What about with levert and a healthy spike? I think our offense could be a top unit in the nation. I really believe with both we’d be much better
Spike from 2 years ago would help but Michigan was never getting that
To many ifs obviously, but if MAAR develops like he has and Lavert is fully healthy, then this would be a much different team. Record may only be improved by 2 or 3 wins but the qaility of the team would certainly be different.
Re-read what I wrote. I clearly mentioned Caris in the same sentence as Trey & Nik. A healthy Caris is that stud. He’s hopefully a first round pick even if with his injury history.
My point was without Caris or an injured Caris (like against Purdue), we don’t have that alpha. Next year’s roster there is no Caris regardless.
SKnight
Ooooo that’s the next question does MAAR get the minutes???
Even just talking about adding spike, Caris aside, is the replacement level of Spike coming in vs Dak. And that would directly lead to a more rested Dwalt. The difference between 5 minutes of Dak + a tired Dwalt vs 15 minutes of Spike and a rested Dwalt is exponential (even if that is largely because of how bad Dak is).
Either answer is a net positive. If he does get minutes, it’s because he and Caris are both outplaying whoever gets benched (probably Duncan). If he doesnt, it is because we are already getting better minutes from Caris and Duncan.
Ok well then you can’t use that as complaining about this years roster because not many teams have two 1st Team B1G level players.
Next year it’s looking like there isn’t an “alpha” that we know of yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see MAAR or a senior Irvin become a 16-17ppg level scorer.
I make “slights” at our talent because they are warranted. I expect better talent than what we have.
I don’t think Levert makes a difference in any of our losses. We would still be a giant screen door of a defensive team. When we need to get stops, levert wouldn’t change anything. Heck MAAR is probably the better defender and he wouldn’t be getting close to the minutes.
But this is a pointless argument. Neither of us can be proven right or wrong. What we can talk about is the position the team is in now, and that’s fighting to get into the dance. A place I believed we would be at regardless.
Spike can do more then just test Walton. He can be a real dangerous player out there. Very consistent shooter. Crafty.