Robbie Hummel on the B1G network with his way-to-early rank for next year:
- Michigan, 2. Maryland, 3. Nebraska, 4. MSU.
Caveats to what players return or don’t return.
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Assuming Moe and Ward leaves, Maryland would’ve been my pick for preseason B1G #1, before the Bruno news.
Would probably go: 1. Maryland, 2. Michigan, 3. Nebraska, 4. MSU. Nebraska should be really good, but JB >>> Turgeon and Miles. Once again, though, Michigan will likely be replacing 3 starters; and I share Dylan’s worries about our shooting, and the defense could remain elite but hard to make up efficiency-margin-ground on defense, when your starting reference point is #3
Who is the third starter they are going to be replacing? Definitely don’t think Matthews is leaving.
I don’t really see how Maryland would be ranked ahead of us. We are still returning a bunch of guys from a team that was much better than them last year. We made it to the national championship and I don’t think they even made the nit? Losing Wagner would be a big blow, but not THAT big. Plus we have a much much better coach. They have a really good recruiting class coming in, but ours isn’t too shabby either.
MSU losing Ward is probably addition by subtraction.
Duncan played starter’s minutes. And I might just be an especially big fan of Maryland’s roster +Bruno: think Cowan, Heurter, and Fernando could be the best returning threesome in the B1G, Morsell is a nice piece, and they bring in a legit 5 star in Jalen Smith.
I think the offense of Cowan, Heurter, and Fernando vs the defense of Z, CM, and Teske could lay the foundations for the conference’s best offense and best defense.
Jalen Smith and Jordan Poole are really the wildcards, for the comparison; then factor in the obvious JB vs Turgeon advantage.
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I think that’s a tough argument to make when the player you’re talking about would’ve averaged a double double had he been given 25 mpg. Next year, Izzo would pretty much be forced to play him that much. He’s a 65% shooter from the floor. We talk about the post up being inefficient offense unless you’ve got a very good post up player - Ward is that.
He might be a bit of a headcase at times. But I think we’d all go a little crazy if our playing time was mismanaged like it has been under Izzo. He had the best frontcourt by far in the conference and insisted on playing Kenny Goins for 14 minutes a game.
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I would take Teske over Ward going forward
I’m not impressed with his game whatsoever. He can post up smaller opponents and rebound against smaller opponents and not much else…
No range
Poor passer
Poor defender
Out of shape
Not very athletic while packing extra weight
Poor stamina.
Different stroke for different folks. I would put MSU’s ability to overcome the loss of Nick Ward on par with M’s ability to overcome the loss of Richard Doyle or Mark Donnal.
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Maybe I’m the only one but barring an attitude issues, I wouldn’t mind having Ward on our team for a nice change of pace. He’s a legit post up player and when he doesn’t have a tight leash, he can single handedly beat the other team.
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I’d take Ward over Teske.
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That’s a ridiculous assertion that doesn’t warrant serious discussion
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At this point, there’s enough kids from the B10 declared to fill all 64 draft slots…
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Ward was a potentially awesome 4 year guy ruined by Izzo. I’d take him in a heartbeat under almost any other coach.
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So if Ward didn’t play for MSU you’d feel the exact same way about him? I highly doubt it.
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I almost feel bad for him. I’m sure his “camp” or whatever told him that Izzo was the guy to not only get him a ring, but also get him to the NBA. He had some issues, but I have a feeling his situation had a lot to do with them.
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I’m not sure a 6’9” chubby center with no range beyond five feet needed Tom Izzo to hurt his professional chances - what exactly would they be under ANY coach? Isaac Haas - 7’2”, 295 and cut from granite has literally no NBA future. What potential of Ward’s did Izzo “ruin”?
The game - one predicated more and more on shooting - ruined Ward. Just like we saw with Tyler Davis, that profile of player can’t D up a five that can shoot and handle. Look at Enes Kanter’s career.
I’m ready to talk about how he didn’t serve Jackson, or Deyonta Davis before him.
I don’t like Izzo I’m the least, but this seems a bit much.
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You seriously think that he wouldn’t been a killer college player under a different coach? You think how he played this past season was the best his potential had to offer? I couldn’t disagree more. He’d certainly have more motivation to improve under a coach that utilized him properly.
Nobody here said he would be in the NBA (I mentioned his camp probably told him Izzo would give him the best chance), so your first paragraph is referencing nothing.
agree that Ward is overrated by many, he was never a one and done type like JJJ and Bridges, recruited mostly by BIG schools and mid-teir Big12 schools, a 6’8 Center with no parameter skills and slow feet, the later part exposed by Wagner with no mercy in that game. He could be a solid 4 year player but there is no much reason for high expectation for his first two years in college. Izzo was never known to grind out NBA players in 2 years. If Ward thought that Izzo was best for him, then he should go back to school.
Its subtraction for sure
Haas has a nba future
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Nobody is arguing about his NBA potential. The argument is whether Ward leaving MSU would be addition by subtraction, which according to stats - the answer would be an unequivocal no. Losing Ward would also mean more Kenny Goins on the floor. Ward-Tillman would be a solid 1-2 punch in the post if Izzo still insists on playing that way. If he no longer goes big, minutes are split between Ward and Tillman at the 5. That’d be much better for MSU than having to split post minutes between Tillman, Goins and Kithier.