I really like Castleton footwork and bet it’s improved a ton in his short time on campus. That drop step he had was pretty sweet.
Castleton actually Rolls the correct way on PnR. Teske was Rolling the correct way too. M bigs imo have habitually Rolled the wrong way in the past. Kudos to Saddi Washington
“It’s been all year long,” Beilein said. “(Assistant coach Saddi Washington has) done a great job. His footwork, it was — big guys, coming out of high school a lot of times their footwork is not great, especially when there’s a big guy on them. They stumble, they fall. I think we’ve been working on it like crazy. I mean, like crazy. He worked out today for 45 minutes, basically all footwork offensively and defensively.”
Great choice to focus in on Castleton after last nights game. He was clearly the breakout star for the minutes he played. Nice piece!
Saddi has been under appreciated. All M big men under him have shown great development: DJ, Moe, Teske, now Colin.
This just goes to show if you stay and work hard youll see growth. I also am excited for Dejulius to continue to get minutes. That take to the rack was quick and explosive. Great job by Coach B and his staff on these young guys!
Necessity is the mother of invention. I think if Matthews was not injured last night, we wouldn’t have seen much of Castleton. Livers would have been the first Big off the bench.
I have been impressed with Colin from day one, starting with selfie night. He was active and aggressive on both ends of the court. He knew how to play center, even if he didn’t know the Michigan system, he knew how to ball at the 5.
I assumed CC was going to be a finesse/ skill big man and therefore too slight of build to contribute much at first. He has that side to him, but I am really excited about how CC is surprisingly aggressive. He does not seem afraid of contact at all. When he adds strength and muscle he is going to be awesome. ( I am surprised by just how long he looks out there too.)
I’ve thought since before the season Castleton has the highest upside in the class so last night was fun
When CC shot free throws, I thought “wow! nice stroke, this guy can shoot”. I see a bright future as a Mo Wagner inside/outside guy. And when he stood next to Livers, he was 3" taller or so, so a legit 6’10’" guy. All good.
We are going to be insanely good next year. My hunch is that last night may mean he is gone, but I wish Charles would stay.
Given how well the team played w/o Charles, I can’t be too upset if he leaves (which he will).
I am now wondering if the team isn’t actually better with him on the bench. It was great to have all those 3 point shooters in there. OK, the defense won’t be quite as good, but CM is incredibly inconsistent (and exasperating) on offense.
Someone at mgoblog noted that Beilein tweeted that they said goodbye to Charles last night. Obviously, having a Senior Night and bringing his parents carries a strong air of finality anyway. . . Just have to make a deep run in the NCAAs! I don’t find Charles exasperating; I think he would probably vie with almost anyone as one of the best Michigan defenders ever.
As we wrote about earlier this week, Michigan celebrated Matthews yesterday for a reason. He’s close to graduation and all signs point toward him playing basketball for a salary next year.
Also, I wouldn’t use Thursday’s game as proof that somehow Michigan is better without Matthews. I’d look at Thursday as an example of just how bad Nebraska is this year away from home.
Agree. Strongly serendipitous, however, if Castleton thrives into the late season and it gave Livers a boost.
I, too, was very impressed with DDJ. I especially like, near the end of the game, maybe four minutes or so to go, when he tried for the steal against James Palmer. He just had that “dog” that fight that X has. I think he can really defend and when he starts hitting shots, watch out! Hopefully he can play consistently “good” (Beilein’s word for DDJ’s performance last night) for the rest of the season.
I feel like DD, Johns and Castleton have all now shown they will likely develop into very good players. Feeling very confident about this class of 2018.