TJD has consistently shown an ability to improve his game, so you have to think he’s really taken it to another another level.
2 Likes
It’s just so odd.
UM VERY RARELY GETS PRESEASON LOVE FROM NATIONAL MEDIA!
This was a sentence.
2 Likes
Aren’t we less than a year removed from Michigan being overhyped by the national media? 
I actually think the fact that U-M is coming into the year as more of a top 20-25 team will help the team build a bit more naturally in November/December.
I felt like there were times last year that U-M really suffered from the weight of what it was supposed to be.
10 Likes
DeVante hype train was so overdone last offseason, and I agree that the team seemed to play with that burden that won’t be there this year.
3 Likes
Hmmm, of all the hype trains that’s the one that was most overdone? I’d say it was more Michigan being over-hyped as a team and also not realizing that having the No. 1 recruiting class often has more to do with volume.
2 Likes
Best defender at Portsmouth and all that. To me it’s not even close. The usual uptransfer PG caveats were set aside to talk about all-conference-level play. There wasn’t even a counterintuitive voice out there last summer, IIRC. I’d say that Houstan was more overhyped than the class as a whole, even.
1 Like
My preseason power rankings were: HD, Caleb, Eli, DeVante’, Moussa, Johns, TWill, Bufkin, Frankie, Zeb.
I’d say that Eli and DeVante’ were the only ones who moved up from their preseason spot. Individually, guys like Caleb, Moussa, Johns, Bufkin and Collins would all be considered more disappointing relative to expectations last year I would say.
U-M had the #1 recruiting class and only two players were playable, for example.
DeVante’ was pretty consistently Michigan’s 2nd best offensive threat over the last 2-3 months of the year. I just tend to think the reason so much blame was placed on him was because he had the ball in his hands the most.
I also think the scouting reports from G-League Combine (not Portsmouth) were pretty much on point. He gambled for a bunch of steals and deflections and hit a bunch of funky in-between shots. That was basically his game.
1 Like
My key word is rarely. One year being overrated pales to the years that UM gets weak preseason expectations from the National Media. IMO
1 Like
Devante above Eli in last years conference top 25. We heard a lot about on the ball defense last summer.
2 Likes
IMO, it’s literally just because Michigan blew that lead. If IU lost that game their hype would probably drop about 10 spots on consensus and TJD hype would be down significantly
4 Likes
I wouldn’t be surprised if TJD got more AB10 votes than Hunter last year, so I don’t think it is just that.
1 Like
Would have been if we did a postseason list too, right?
1 Like
Not in my mind. I thought DeVante’ was overly maligned, and he was very good offensively late, but defense matters too. Overall, I thought Eli was a better and more important player than was DeVante’.
2 Likes
Yeah, I understand that argument and you can make a guess, especially at the team level to rank Eli Brooks higher. But the reality is that when making a top 25 ranking of players, you tend to look more at individual production and DJ was clearly the No. 2 option on Michigan’s offense.
I think this illustrates a good point about how DeVante’ was not necessarily over-hyped, he was about as productive as everyone thought he would be – I would almost say more productive than I expected. The reality is that Michigan was over-hyped because of how all of its pieces fit together.
It’s something I’ve trying to think about a lot lately because it is the offseason and I try to look back on how we’ve covered teams in other offseasons and how things turn out or don’t turn out.
Might seem like a subtle difference, but I think it is pretty important. A good example would be that DeVante’ was “better” than Mike Smith, but Mike Smith was probably a better fit for Michigan’s system. (Or did he just have better teammates, but that’s another conversation)
4 Likes
For me as well. DeVante pretty clearly turned a corner in January and was a great offensive player from that point on. But it was the defense. Michigan’s defense was never good, and Jones was a big part of that. So were other things, but we thought we were getting a real point-of-attack defender after that summer talk.
2 Likes
My recollection from this time last year was basically caution of DeVante’s defense, because yes he had nice steal numbers and had plenty of highlights turning them into transition points…but we had no idea how he would translate on-ball in the B1G.
2 Likes
If we had 2021 Mike Smith instead of 2022 Devante, where is Michigan ending up in KenPom?
1 Like
I think last year’s team needed DeVante’. Each guy was better suited to the team he was on.
2 Likes
Another good example of why he wasn’t the most over-hyped player on the team. And the over-hype had far more to do with team fit.
The things that were wrong with last year’s teams were things like: tough to defend the perimeter with two bigs, lack of shooting at the 4, 5-6ish scholarship guys who weren’t ready to contribute, Brandon Johns didn’t just not get better he regressed and had his worst year, had a bad breaks early, not having a great wing defender, etc.
1 Like