Something I totally agree with. A lot of Michigan fans were talking Sweet 16 last year before the injuries and now we have everyone back and the offense will be completely implemented from the start of the season.
There has been a few great articles recognizing the bigger picture with our team. Its good to know people see what we have developed.
Go Blue!
No, judge them on the fact that they have no elite players returning and no elite recruits coming in. Lots of other teams do, so we’re at a disadvantage compared to them right off the bat. We’ll be better than .500 almost certainly, but at this point we project as good, not great.
So Levert was an elite player last year, but not this year? You’re wrong of you don’t think Levert was “elite” coming into last year.
No, judge them on the fact that they have no elite players returning and no elite recruits coming in. Lots of other teams do, so we're at a disadvantage compared to them right off the bat. We'll be better than .500 almost certainly, but at this point we project as good, not great.
LeVert is projected to be a 1st rounder and is a very popular 1st team all Big Ten pick.
Zak Irvin noticeably improved by the end of last year. Over the final month of the season, he was putting up All-Big-Ten-like numbers (17.3 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 3.3 apg on 40% from 3ptFG).
So that’s at least two players on our team capable of playing at an All Big Ten level.
Other teams are at a disadvantage right off the bat because they don’t have the experience or depth that Michigan has. See, I can say it too.
No, judge them on the fact that they have no elite players returning and no elite recruits coming in. Lots of other teams do, so we're at a disadvantage compared to them right off the bat. We'll be better than .500 almost certainly, but at this point we project as good, not great.
Drugs are bad, mmkay.
No elite players returning… http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2016/
They have at least one.
So Levert was an elite player last year, but not this year? You're wrong of you don't think Levert was "elite" coming into last year.
I don’t think Levert played as an elite guy last year.
It’s hard to play at an elite level when your 2nd best player is playing at 20% and no one else is near where they were at the end of the season developmentally (with the exception of Spike). From NJIT to when he went down, LeVert was pretty much the only guy opponents keyed on. It felt like that was the main reason why he struggled.
Now that he has help and more importantly, depth behind that help, I think LeVert will really pick it up this year.
I hope LeVert continues to improve his passing the way Stauskas did in year two. I do think he’s elite, but not the kind of player who can win games single-handedly.
“Not a guy that can win a game single handedly” …ok? What’s that even suppose mean? What player can win games single handedly?
Considering he was trying to carry a team with two gimpy PG’s, an inferior Zak Irvin to the one who finished the season, and an all freshman front court I’d say Caris was pretty damned good.
He’s going to have so much more help this year it’s crazy.
I can’t wait for the season to start.
No, judge them on the fact that they have no elite players returning and no elite recruits coming in. Lots of other teams do, so we're at a disadvantage compared to them right off the bat. We'll be better than .500 almost certainly, but at this point we project as good, not great.
How many teams return an elite player and have elite recruits coming in? Kentucky, Maryland, Duke, North Carolina, Indiana, Arizona…Some other schools have no elite players returning but an elite recruit or two coming in (LSU, Cal etc). There are a handful of teams that are unquestionably more talented up and down than Michigan. But it’s not like it’s 20 teams. Michigan has a wide range of possibilites this year. They can sneak into a Final Four or they could get knocked out first weekend. But I think you could say that about alot of teams (including some that have both elite returnees and elite recruits). We are not in the top 10 range, but I don’t think you can make an incredibly convincing argument about any of the teams in the 11-25 range, which is where Michigan sits. So I don’t see the big disadvantage you’re seeing.
Having the two closers on our team (Caris Levert and Derrick Walton) makes a world of difference -especially when after they went out, nearly every game without them was there for the taking or had us leading for large portions of games, including very late in games.
Both those guys made clutch plays to get us off to a great start in the Big Ten. Literally right after both were hurt, we began stretch of games that were basically all there for the taking WITHOUT them. We faced teams that had their “guns” and played straight up for the most part. Players like Levert and Walton close out games in which you lead throughout.
Having the two closers on our team (Caris Levert and Derrick Walton) makes a world of difference -especially when after they went out, nearly every game without them was there for the taking or had us leading for large portions of games, including very late in games.Both those guys made clutch plays to get us off to a great start in the Big Ten. Literally right after both were hurt, we began stretch of games that were basically all there for the taking WITHOUT them. We faced teams that had their “guns” and played straight up for the most part. Players like Levert and Walton close out games in which you lead throughout.
Agreed 100%
Games to name
at Michigan st
at Indiana
at Illinois
at Maryland
at Northwestern
all road games too
"Not a guy that can win a game single handedly" ....ok? What's that even suppose mean? What player can win games single handedly?
Put another way, he’s not a guy that can put a team on his back, fighting through double teams while remaining efficient. He is not Burke or Stauskas. He needs to be part of an ensemble cast, and he needs to develop his passing game rather than relying on so many difficult, contested shots. As a soph he had a terrific dynamic with Stauskas in the backcourt, but early on last year there was more than a little hero ball going on. With Dawkins, Irvin, healthy Walton, and an improved roll man in Doyle, he should have plenty of good passing options this year.
I know the wagon circlers will think this is demeaning his talent or pro prospects, but it isn’t. It’s being realistic.
"Not a guy that can win a game single handedly" ....ok? What's that even suppose mean? What player can win games single handedly?Put another way, he’s not a guy that can put a team on his back, fighting through double teams while remaining efficient. He is not Burke or Stauskas. He needs to be part of an ensemble cast, and he needs to develop his passing game rather than relying on so many difficult, contested shots. As a soph he had a terrific dynamic with Stauskas in the backcourt, but early on last year there was more than a little hero ball going on. With Dawkins, Irvin, healthy Walton, and an improved roll man in Doyle, he should have plenty of good passing options this year.
I know the wagon circlers will think this is demeaning his talent or pro prospects, but it isn’t. It’s being realistic.
I agree with this, but that applies to almost all “elite” players. Very few, if any, can put a team on his back and win games without other quality players on the court. Nik certainly had a great cast around him. So did Trey. If we stay healthy, we have enough pieces to prevent teams from just focusing on stopping one guy. And Caris will have to be ready to share the ball when the defense helps against him.
"Not a guy that can win a game single handedly" ....ok? What's that even suppose mean? What player can win games single handedly?Put another way, he’s not a guy that can put a team on his back, fighting through double teams while remaining efficient. He is not Burke or Stauskas. He needs to be part of an ensemble cast, and he needs to develop his passing game rather than relying on so many difficult, contested shots. As a soph he had a terrific dynamic with Stauskas in the backcourt, but early on last year there was more than a little hero ball going on. With Dawkins, Irvin, healthy Walton, and an improved roll man in Doyle, he should have plenty of good passing options this year.
I know the wagon circlers will think this is demeaning his talent or pro prospects, but it isn’t. It’s being realistic.
“Early on last year there was a more than a little hero ball going on.” …Maybe because he was playing with a beat up and inexperienced supporting cast? I cringe thinking how bad this team would have been early on without LeVert. The freshmen and Irvin ended up developing, but early on they weren’t helping LeVert’s cause.
Oh, and Burke and Stauskas couldn’t win games single handedly either. They had more scoring-centric playing styles, but they still utilized significantly better supporting casts that LeVert had last year. Having a healthy Walton, LeVert, and GRIII helped space things out for Stauskas.
The whole “win games single handedly” fallacy is a bit ridiculous.
I’m not concerned about hero-ball from Levert. I think it was a function of the freshman simply not knowing the offense. We’d attempt to move the ball, but the freshmen would make the wrong reads (either cutting or passing), and nothing would be created, resulting in Levert having to ISO at the end of the clock.
I don’t think he was bogging down the offense, he was just forced to chuck at the end of the shot clock.
"Not a guy that can win a game single handedly" ....ok? What's that even suppose mean? What player can win games single handedly?Put another way, he’s not a guy that can put a team on his back, fighting through double teams while remaining efficient. He is not Burke or Stauskas. He needs to be part of an ensemble cast, and he needs to develop his passing game rather than relying on so many difficult, contested shots. As a soph he had a terrific dynamic with Stauskas in the backcourt, but early on last year there was more than a little hero ball going on. With Dawkins, Irvin, healthy Walton, and an improved roll man in Doyle, he should have plenty of good passing options this year.
I know the wagon circlers will think this is demeaning his talent or pro prospects, but it isn’t. It’s being realistic.
“Early on last year there was a more than a little hero ball going on.” …Maybe because he was playing with a beat up and inexperienced supporting cast? I cringe thinking how bad this team would have been early on without LeVert. The freshmen and Irvin ended up developing, but early on they weren’t helping LeVert’s cause.
Oh, and Burke and Stauskas couldn’t win games single handedly either. They had more scoring-centric playing styles, but they still utilized significantly better supporting casts that LeVert had last year. Having a healthy Walton, LeVert, and GRIII helped space things out for Stauskas.
The whole “win games single handedly” fallacy is a bit ridiculous.
Do you believe Michigan has the supporting cast where Levert won’t have to be an elite guy? His supporting cast didn’t exactly play that well last year.