McGary said himself that there was no guarantee he would stay but the suspension made it easier to leave .
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Huh. I thought he had decided to stay and then the bombshell. . . Do you have some proof of this? I poked around but didnāt come up with anything very definitive. Itās all wouldcoulda, but with him in the middle last year is a decent season, this year looks quite different.
He was on the fence due to the fact about his back bc his circle , after he was lost the appeal on his suspension he declared saying" there was no guarantee I wouldāve stayed but the NCAA made my decision easier bc I donāt think the punishment fits the crime".
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Wagner is not a fourā¦
I donāt know about that. Iām thinking that the plan with him is to be a fluid, tall, athletic, smart kid who can shoot 36% or better from three. I think heāll definitely play some five, but I think weāre seeing the beginning of the evolution of the 4 under JB.
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A decade later? Bugs evolve faster than JBās 4 spot if thatās the case.
Iāll take it though.
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It is amazing how poorly JB has recruited for the 4 spot. He either gets guys who have to play as undersized 4ās (Novak, GRIII, Irvin) or less skilled and/or athletic guys who are more like 5ās (Smote, Max, DJ, Mo).
Wish Wagner was a 4 but I donāt see it either, also interesting that our two outstanding offers are to 4s. Young and Jackson so tells me he doesnāt.t see one on the current roster. I would like to see him go to a 3 and D guy at the 4, some long and athletic who will rebound/defend and can hit the spot up three then get more playmakers at the 1-3 positions with athleticism. Really hope JB makes some tweaks a to his system and the traits he values on the recruiting trail.
Leaves the Teske and Davis signing even more perplexing considering we have 6 guys for the 5 position. So even though I never wish for attrition there has to be a couple at least and that still leaves us with 4 guys which is still too many.
Itās really hard to find a guy that can shoot from distance and handle the ball a bit, while also being big enough to guard a post player and rebound well. Those players usually can go to whichever school they want.
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Beileinās 4 have ALWAYS been bigger wings. That has NEVER changed and probably never will. Will he put some bigger guys in those spots? Sometimes, but for the majority of time itās a natural 3 that is there.
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I would argue that GR3 was a pretty ideal fit as a modern-day, or āBeilein fourāā¦ I loved the way he could drift along the baseline and finish and we havenāt really seen anything similar to that since.
Yeah, he was a 31% three-point shooter for his career and thatās not great, but he was a damn efficient player n the offense.
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His athleticism is sorely missed, let alone his basketball IQ. GR3 was great at finding passing lanes and even better at improvising when the passing lane wasnāt there.
I went back and watched some clips you had posted in another thread and he could score effortlessly 10 feet and in.
We got away with playing him at the 4 defensively because he had the athleticism and strength to make up for the height advantage. Unfortunately, Irvin has neither and is more of a 3 even though heās a couple inches taller than GR3.
Yes, they usually end up at the blue bloods like Duke, Kentucky, Wisconsin, and Iowa.
Really hard to fault Beilein for not being able to compete with the bright lights of Iowa City.
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Iām sure everyone on this board would be thrilled if Beilein landed the #116 player in the country.
I can just imagine the comments now: lacks lateral agility. No athleticism. Soft. Another suburban kid. We need moar Detroit.
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GRIII was a decent fit and a really good player, except for the fact he didnāt want to play that position.
GR3 was a terrific player all around, especially alongside top-tier creators like Burke. Unfortunately these days he seems like an aberration.
Re your earlier point about Blueitt and having to prioritize on players who want to play here, I agree in principle that it would be ideal to focus on such guys, but how did Beileinās decision to focus on other players help us in 2014? We ended up with a few very late signees who had no other high-major offers. Probably could have gotten those guys anyway. Seems like whenever a big school gets involved with a guy, JB just quits rather than putting up much of a fight.
Like he backed off Booker or Blackmon? Or McGary. Hell, they were recruiting Blackmon while he was committed to IU. Perhaps the staff backs off a recruit when it becomes clear to them that their interest is not reciprocated. What would you rather they do?
I would rather they get the kid interested.
You know, recruit.
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Cherry picking examples aside, I would rather they cast a wider net of top-tier recruits so they donāt risk ending up empty-handed. Sell the program hard using the fantastic resources at your disposal. Whip out a glossy coloured document showing Izzoās track record of getting guys into the lottery. Loosen up some of the self-imposed restrictions ā entirely possible to do without risking non-compliance or being ādirtyā ā and stop subjecting every guy to an elaborate personality test. If few top-tier guys want to come here, then thereās a problem that needs to be fixed. And the problem isnāt necessarily with the kids or their priorities.
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I agree that they should cast a wider net. I disagree that they back off when blue bloods start recruiting.
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