I'd play the best 5, even if that meant Brown at the 5. I'm pretty pessimistic on Ricky Doyle, I just don't think the footspeed will ever be there to play adequate defense in the Big Ten, hopefully the rebounding improves. Brown would probably be a better rebounder than any of Doyle, Donnal or Wilson.
lol Doyle’s like 12 years old. Let him grow up. The team as a whole was rough this year.
I think he’ll be fine. He does need to work on going after the ball and being more fluid in the offense but again, he’s a freshman. He’ll learn.
“lol Doyle’s like 12 years old.” Agree-Doyle may never be a consistent B1G top performer, but he will be more than adequate, starting in his sophomore year. You people are sometimes crazy harsh. Not convinced that Donnal will ever contribute much, though. . .
You can’t learn footspeed/lateral quickness. That’s not a skill, that’s not something you develop in the weightroom, that’s something you’ve either got or you don’t
Does Dawkins even get minutes? or MAAR? Obviously still a size able hole at center but does our perimeter talent matchup with the best in the country?
That’s a talented lineup with good athleticism, but size and defense are still problems, as they are with pretty much all Beilein teams. Rebounding would be adequate, but that’s about all. Probably a top 3 team in the BT, and 10-15 in the country if injuries were avoided, but not sure if we can break through to anything better unless we get more than expected out of our bigs.
Dawkins would get the most minutes of the bench guys, probably followed by Spike, with the rest of them fighting over 10-15 minutes a game total. If Wilson is healthy and any good at all, Donnal will not be significantly involved. He just doesn’t seem to have much of a game, inside or outside.
If Wilson is healthy and any good at all, Donnal will not be significantly involved. He just doesn’t seem to have much of a game, inside or outside.
I disagree. I think the fault lays more on JB than Donnal. Donnal has shown that he has offensive skills in previous games; JB just doesn’t have ANY offensive sets for Donnal like he did with Evan Smotrycz. Donnal has proven he can score from beyond the arc and he has proven he has a good face up jumper. Obviously he still struggled with defense and he could be a better rebounder too, but the exact same could be said about Doyle.
At the next level, I see LeVert as similar to Jeremy Lamb when Lamb entered the draft. Lamb went in the lottery. I don't see a healthy LeVert falling out of the 1st round.
I openly admit that my projections for Levert not being first round worthy are based on my objective opinion, but also my subjective want for him to stay since Brown is a longshot. More than anything, I just want him to make a decision by this weekend at the latest.
At the next level, I see LeVert as similar to Jeremy Lamb when Lamb entered the draft. Lamb went in the lottery. I don’t see a healthy LeVert falling out of the 1st round.
Levert down to #29 on Basketball Insiders. Starting to think there is a realistic chance he comes back, the kid just doesn’t have an NBA skillset that warrants a first round pick in my opinion.
Levert down to #29 on Basketball Insiders. Starting to think there is a realistic chance he comes back, the kid just doesn't have an NBA skillset that warrants a first round pick in my opinion.
His stock dropping has next to nothing to do with his skill set and everything to do with his injury. He wasn’t great early on in the season, but I think JB could have turned it around just like he did with our Macguyver squad by the end of the season. IMO, he’s still solidly in the first round if he wasn’t injured. He’s sliding down because he can do nothing to improve his stock while injured.
Levert down to #29 on Basketball Insiders. Starting to think there is a realistic chance he comes back, the kid just doesn't have an NBA skillset that warrants a first round pick in my opinion.
His stock dropping has next to nothing to do with his skill set and everything to do with his injury. He wasn’t great early on in the season, but I think JB could have turned it around just like he did with our Macguyver squad by the end of the season. IMO, he’s still solidly in the first round if he wasn’t injured. He’s sliding down because he can do nothing to improve his stock while injured.
Obviously the injury plays a role, but Caris just isn’t very good at much besides catch and shoot if we’re being honest.
Levert down to #29 on Basketball Insiders. Starting to think there is a realistic chance he comes back, the kid just doesn't have an NBA skillset that warrants a first round pick in my opinion.
His stock dropping has next to nothing to do with his skill set and everything to do with his injury. He wasn’t great early on in the season, but I think JB could have turned it around just like he did with our Macguyver squad by the end of the season. IMO, he’s still solidly in the first round if he wasn’t injured. He’s sliding down because he can do nothing to improve his stock while injured.
Obviously the injury plays a role, but Caris just isn’t very good at much besides catch and shoot if we’re being honest.
I see a kid that has improved multiple aspects of his game every year he’s been at Michigan and still has plenty of potential left in the tank.
Levert down to #29 on Basketball Insiders. Starting to think there is a realistic chance he comes back, the kid just doesn't have an NBA skillset that warrants a first round pick in my opinion.
His stock dropping has next to nothing to do with his skill set and everything to do with his injury. He wasn’t great early on in the season, but I think JB could have turned it around just like he did with our Macguyver squad by the end of the season. IMO, he’s still solidly in the first round if he wasn’t injured. He’s sliding down because he can do nothing to improve his stock while injured.
Obviously the injury plays a role, but Caris just isn’t very good at much besides catch and shoot if we’re being honest.
I see a kid that has improved multiple aspects of his game every year he’s been at Michigan and still has plenty of potential left in the tank.
There is no doubt he has improved…but so has Spike. Improvement doesn’t mean you are fit for the NBA, or worthy of a first round pick. If Caris could finish, I think it would be a much different story…but he can’t. Just not in his nature to go up strong for a dunk.
Levert down to #29 on Basketball Insiders. Starting to think there is a realistic chance he comes back, the kid just doesn't have an NBA skillset that warrants a first round pick in my opinion.
His stock dropping has next to nothing to do with his skill set and everything to do with his injury. He wasn’t great early on in the season, but I think JB could have turned it around just like he did with our Macguyver squad by the end of the season. IMO, he’s still solidly in the first round if he wasn’t injured. He’s sliding down because he can do nothing to improve his stock while injured.
Obviously the injury plays a role, but Caris just isn’t very good at much besides catch and shoot if we’re being honest.
I see a kid that has improved multiple aspects of his game every year he’s been at Michigan and still has plenty of potential left in the tank.
There is no doubt he has improved…but so has Spike. Improvement doesn’t mean you are fit for the NBA, or worthy of a first round pick. If Caris could finish, I think it would be a much different story…but he can’t. Just not in his nature to go up strong for a dunk.
If you want him to be a top 2-3 scoring option, than yeah, that would be a big issue. But I don’t think that’s what he is going to be. He doest have to have a complete game to contribute in the NBA. Not sure what Spike has to do with Caris, completely different floors/ceilings, size and game.
MattR - are you seriously going to allocate your morning to disagreeing with every post I make, much the same you did last night? Seems you would have better things to do, no? In any event, disagree away.
Levert down to #29 on Basketball Insiders. Starting to think there is a realistic chance he comes back, the kid just doesn't have an NBA skillset that warrants a first round pick in my opinion.
His stock dropping has next to nothing to do with his skill set and everything to do with his injury. He wasn’t great early on in the season, but I think JB could have turned it around just like he did with our Macguyver squad by the end of the season. IMO, he’s still solidly in the first round if he wasn’t injured. He’s sliding down because he can do nothing to improve his stock while injured.
Obviously the injury plays a role, but Caris just isn’t very good at much besides catch and shoot if we’re being honest.
I see a kid that has improved multiple aspects of his game every year he’s been at Michigan and still has plenty of potential left in the tank.
There is no doubt he has improved…but so has Spike. Improvement doesn’t mean you are fit for the NBA, or worthy of a first round pick. If Caris could finish, I think it would be a much different story…but he can’t. Just not in his nature to go up strong for a dunk.
If you want him to be a top 2-3 scoring option, than yeah, that would be a big issue. But I don’t think that’s what he is going to be. He doest have to have a complete game to contribute in the NBA. Not sure what Spike has to do with Caris, completely different floors/ceilings, size and game.
Your initial point was improvement…which is essentially irrelevant to NBA fit type debates, hence I included the fact that Spike has improved as well. With regard to Caris, it’s not that he doesn’t have a complete game, he is honestly a kid that is one dimensional for NBA purposes. Will be a below average defender, can’t shoot off the bounce, not a great passer by any means, doesn’t finish well. I also question whether Caris has 22-23 foot range on his jumpshot as opposed to 20-21…if he can’t hit 3s consistentlly in the league, I don’t know what purpose he serves in the league to be honest.