The pack line defense can somewhat hide a lack of athleticism on the perimeter (relative to other styles of man-to-man defense, at least). Rotations and positional and spatial awareness are important, and I would think that Duncan could pick that up fairly quickly.
Hopefully. His lack of positional awareness and poor switching seemed worse than any limitations that his athleticism showed. But he does seem coachable and Donlon would be the guy for the job.
Itās interesting you say that. I think the ideal 2017/18 roster would have a starting lineup of Simpson/MAAR/Matthews/Young or Tillman (Assuming we donāt land Jackson)/Wagner. Mostly due to defense and one dimensional offense I like Duncan better off the bench. My opinion changes if he shows off a diversified game this year though.
I absolutely agree, I was just saying Id be surprised if that lineup ended up being the best case scenario. Although Jackson stealing a starting spot from Matthews or Robinson seems much more likely than Tillman or Young doing so. But yeah, if a freshman 4 is good enough to start (therefore, more productive than Duncan or Matthews) then that means the frosh is a stud and makes our pretty deep by adding a former starter to it.
1 Like
Any word on when matthews will head to AA?
1 Like
One of the nice things about adding Matthews is that the staff is done recruiting him. There wonāt be a Battle situation like you could get with a 2017 recruit. Add in the fact that he already has a year of college hoops under his belt and another full year to learn the system and develop in practice and it could be a really nice addition.
First article Iāve seen with quotes from Charles Matthews
Sounds like a really good guy. Can never be a bad thing when a reporter says heās the most respectful kid heās covered.
Is he truly a guy thatāll have the ball in his hands in Michigans offense? I didnāt think he was that level of a ball handler.
1 Like
Clear that he feels like that and people around him (coaches, etc.) feel like that. Also obvious that he wasnāt that guy at Kentucky last year.
Should be really interesting to see how he projects though, I think there was pretty clearly a crisis of confidence last year at UK.
2 Likes
Iāve always gotten the sense that Beilein is good at drawing out confidence.
2 Likes
When you are good at the fundamentals and then put in a position to succeed using them, you have confidence. But it helps to have superior innate abilities, and is also partially just how you were born.
As for having the ball in his hands, heāll get plenty of opportunities. Even GRIII, who had a lot of off-ball/residual action offense, had the ball a lot. He basically had as many shots as Nik and Caris in 13-14, with lots of opportunities to rebound and go, get the ball at the elbow off curls, etc. Matthews looks to have a better handle, but weāll see. He wonāt be the guy with the ball like Trey often was in 12-13, but heāll have the ball plenty.
2 Likes
Interesting comments about having the ball in his hands. It hasnāt stopped us from recruiting combo guards in 2017 though so Iām glad the coaches arenāt putting all of their eggs in that basket.
The 1,2,3 all have the ball in their hands a lot in Michiganās offense. If you look at the roster after MAAR graduates, the only ball handlers are really Simpson (1), Watson (2/3), Poole (2) and Matthews (2/3), I think thereās definitely room for a 1/2 in that mix.
Seems like more and more the ideal shake out of 2017 will be adding Matthews/Poole along with another combo and some combination pair of wings/combo forward.
Going to be really interesting to see how Matthewsā jumpshot develops. For a guy that Beilein said isnāt even 100% yet from his hip procedure, he was easily the most explosive player on the floor IMO. If he can hit shots, he could be a steal.
9 Likes
this is VERY encouraging to hear and to look forward to seeing him play in 17ā. If we chalk him up as a 17ā recruit it makes the class look a lot better (not that it was bad in the first place)
The converse of this statement just highlights just how much this team will lack athleticism/explosiveness this year. Not surprising given all that we know, but it just reinforces it when there is only one guy on the court at that level.
1 Like
There is little doubt in my mind he could be as great if not greater than any wing beilein has had yet. It would not surprise me if heās the best player on the team currently.
What did his shot look like in the limited practice Dylan?
Regarding explosiveness: In the video the three players that looked most explosive were Mathews, MAAR and X. X surprised me a little when watching him next to Walton especially, because Walton looked slower and less explosive in comparison. Maybe it is an illusion because X is small?
Matthews is a much-needed addition. As you point out, the fact that ā even at less-than-100% health ā heās far and away the most explosive guy on the court, does speak to the athletic limitations of the roster as a whole, especially since CM will have to sit out this year. This is part of the reason why some of us less-popular posters have harped on certain recruiting misses and decisions to pass on more athletic targets from the 2014 cycle to today, Jamal Cain being the most recent.
Anyway, I am really glad to have Matthews and hope the staff gets more serious about prioritizing explosive, above-the-rim players like him (and at other positions, too).
1 Like
I agree. Itās a lot easier to teach guys skills than it is to get them athletic and explosive. Obviously thereās a middle ground, but Iād like to have 2 guys like Matthews on the roster on most of our teams.