Nothing groundbreaking but per JB, Chatman is in the top 5. I think we can assume he is our starting PF at this point, only question that remains is who will start at the 5 - my money is on Donnal. Chatman and Irvin seem pretty interchangeable on offense per JB
John Beilein talking today, says Zak Irvin and Kam Chatman are playing both sides of the wing, both in the top 5
— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) August 13, 2014
Beilein said Wilson’s injured pinky “has kept him from doing almost anything.”
“We found out he can do shuffles, with nobody guarding him, really well,” Beilein said. “But that’s been difficult because we were trying to experiment with him at a couple of positons but we never could do it.”
I’m assuming the plan was for Wilson to learn the 4 and 5. The injury obviously set that back so I don’t know that he will be able to do that now. He has the length to play the 5 but certainly not the girth.
The 5 spot is kind of scary because who knows what Donnal and Doyle can do as completely inexperienced players. Going to need them to be big contributors right away. My biggest concern is defense and rebounding because I think they have enough offense even if they don’t get much contribution scoring wise from the 5.
Beilein was pretty complimentary today of Dawkins too with his athleticism and shooting. I’m interested to see what his role is and how he develops.
Given Wilson’s injury, and the class imbalances. I am wondering if we might be better served red-shirting Wilson.
It might not be a luxury we can’t afford, and I was excited to see him play, but with Irvin, Kam, Dawkins, Doyle, Donnal and Beifeldt we still have 6 guys for 3 spots.
So maybe Wilson gets the Caris treatment where we hold him out until its absolutely clear that we can’t keep him on the bench.
No doubt that DJ is the prime candidate for RS at this point. Even prior to the injury he was the most likely RS candidate
A RS of Wilson and not Doyle will look funny in 3 years.
Maybe, but it won’t look funny this year because Doyle can help now whereas DJ has no utility for this season
I know why they are doing it but a 5th year Doyle > a freshman Doyle. Doyle really has no utility, either.
It sounds like Wilson was not heading to RS before his injury but now likely a midseason decision. We will need his length defensively if the opposing 4 is too much for Irvin and Chatman to handle.
I don’t think Doyle is going to set the world on fire by any stretch, but he certainly has utility as a backup C that can provide some type of impediment to opposing 5s, whereas DJ is basically transparent in the post at this point. Doyle might get a few baskets off iso posts against smaller 5s and hit a few jumpshots off PnR. More importantly, Doyle needs to rebound at a decent rate, that is where his true utility is this year.
he certainly has utility as a backup C that can provide some type of impediment to opposing 5s
This is the assumption, though I’m not sure mass = great post defense and Wilson was lauded as a rebounder and rim protector. Either way, neither are heavy pluses. Wilson won’t be in AA a 5th year, Doyle would.
I totally see Donnal starting at the 5 as well. There has been much talk about not having any experience at the 5 this year, which we can all agree with. But Donnal at least knows the Michigan system much better than the others (not counting Max since he is hurt) after redshirting last year. That alone should make him the number one choice at C, at least until others prove themselves.
Not sure how solid he will be, but in my mind he can provide much more than Max. Sometimes talent is more important than experience. Biefelt provided absolutely nothing last year for us, so I’m not sure his experience will help us this year either.
Not that surprised about Chatman. We all expected it. We shall see how long it will take him to live up to expectations.
I am very disappointed in the DJ injury though. I was really seeing him as our sleeper freshman this year, who would blow our minds away at the end of the season/next season (after gaining weight with the summer programs for example). This slows things down for sure, especially if he ends up redshirting. But the talent is still here, and I still expect him to get there.
he certainly has utility as a backup C that can provide some type of impediment to opposing 5sThis is the assumption, though I’m not sure mass = great post defense and Wilson was lauded as a rebounder and rim protector. Either way, neither are heavy pluses. Wilson won’t be in AA a 5th year, Doyle would.
Actually, DJ was a pretty substandard rebounder in HS, which was one of my big gripes with him. Doyle was a much better rebounder, caveats apply for comp. level though
he certainly has utility as a backup C that can provide some type of impediment to opposing 5sThis is the assumption, though I’m not sure mass = great post defense and Wilson was lauded as a rebounder and rim protector. Either way, neither are heavy pluses. Wilson won’t be in AA a 5th year, Doyle would.
Actually, DJ was a pretty substandard rebounder in HS, which was one of my big gripes with him. Doyle was a much better rebounder, caveats apply for comp. level though
http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/ricky-doyle/BZwEc_TqEeKZ5AAmVebBJg/gendersport/basketball-stats.htm
Not from what I read from national scouts.
What overanalysis can we gather from this photo?? Ready, GO!
What overanalysis can we gather from this photo?? Ready, GO!
One day you will advance past grade school level satire.
he certainly has utility as a backup C that can provide some type of impediment to opposing 5sThis is the assumption, though I’m not sure mass = great post defense and Wilson was lauded as a rebounder and rim protector. Either way, neither are heavy pluses. Wilson won’t be in AA a 5th year, Doyle would.
Actually, DJ was a pretty substandard rebounder in HS, which was one of my big gripes with him. Doyle was a much better rebounder, caveats apply for comp. level though
http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/ricky-doyle/BZwEc_TqEeKZ5AAmVebBJg/gendersport/basketball-stats.htm
Not from what I read from national scouts.
Sometimes there is quite the discrepancy between what scouts say and reality…and this appears to be one of those times