DePaul grad transfer Jalen Coleman-Lands lists Michigan in top five

Is AA the closest to home for him?

It feels like Iowa State is in on every available transfer, especially guards. They got Tyler Harris from Memphis and have two open spots according to Verbal Commits.

1 Like

If you are going to take someone who is currently available, he plays the right position and adds depth. Heā€™s experienced and a HM-caliber shooter.

I donā€™t think Iā€™d really change my outlook for Michigan in 2020-21 based on his addition. Heā€™s not going to answer a lot of the questions people still have about the backcourt specifically: playmaking, defense, etc.

2 Likes

I would feel better about the team. Doesnā€™t change the ceiling, but this season could easily be a sub .500 disaster if things go wrong, so having more options raises that reasonable bottom.

6 Likes

No iteration of our team with Franz is going to ā€œeasily be a sub .500 disaster.ā€

2 Likes

He might be tired of being #1 on every teams scouting report, seeing being a part of a balanced attack as a better fit. He might not mind a more limited role if it means a tourney run. He might see playing for a coach with NBA connections as desirable. If Michigan was his first choice at one time, maybe he is attacked the chance to relive what might have been. Just saying.

1 Like

Iā€™m sure you would have said that in 14-15. :upside_down_face: Say that Mike Smith or Eli gets injured for a stretch (not even the worst-case scenario). Nunez gonna be playing a ton of minutes in the case, and our defense is likely going to be pretty sub-par even in the best case. There is a vast vast floor with this team.

1 Like

Iā€™m not sure what 14-15 has to do with this season? Like yeah season altering injuries are always possible but I donā€™t think thatā€™s something you can say is likely.

He didnā€™t say likely. He said could easily be sub .500 if things go wrong. Aka they donā€™t have the depth to withstand any key injuries for an extended period of time. A team with X and Teske almost went off the rails when Livers went out last year. Itā€™s easy to see how a team without those two guys could be in for even more trouble with an injury.

1 Like

Very few teams do in college hoops.

1 Like

Yeah I know that I just feel like that is the most pessimistic way you could choose to look at the situation. Like if it isnā€™t likely then why complain so much. The team will most likely be deeper than last year and if last yearā€™s team was just a little bit deeper I think they would have been competing for the conference title all year.

If Livers, Wagner, Brooks, Johns and Dickenson get about 30 minutes each (Dickenson under, Johns right there and the first 3 slightly over) that leaves 50 minutes a night open and minutes particularly available at guard and center.

So Coleman-Lands, Smith and Jackson would give us 3 shots at finding a surprise starting quality guard to cover at least half of those and either second place finisher there or Williams or a surprise final Davis leap at one of the floor into either a very good offensive player or a fairly good one defensively.

But he wants to be a starter who gets a lot of usage?

If heā€™s good enough defensively and hits 3s at a good rate you can live with some ugly mid range possessions if the alternative was worse, so Iā€™d bet if he came here heā€™d have a real chance to be our starting 2 guard as a 3 and D kind of nominal starter but 7th in minutes. So hard to know if Smith or Jackson will survive defensively.

Seems like a pickup weā€™d be like 6.5 excited for but then weā€™d have an injury and heā€™d have some good shooting runs and be a 7.5 at the end of the year. A high-floor pickup when depth is shaky would be real good.

1 Like

Smith or Eli are not our top playersā€¦ Yet a lot of loss of them for even a little bit would likely be devastating to the team, demonstrating our lack of depth. Michigan will face some injuries during the season. Acting as if no one will get injured is strange. Coleman-Lands being on the roster preventing Nunez from needing to play 25 minutes a game for a 2-3 week stretch in conference play is probably pretty huge for this teamā€™s chances.

4 Likes

Right, Iā€™m saying that nobody I know views a potential season for how it will look like when injuries happen. I donā€™t think assuming there will be injuries is a normal thing to do.

And yeah I obviously think JCL would be a great pickup for the team I never disagreed with that.

JCL or DeJulius?
If JCL picks us my pick is JCL mainly because he wants to be here. I think they are pretty comparable. Iā€™d be very happy with the pickup. We need more bodies that can handle the ball. Your not going to get much better than him at this point. That said - I think he is Very solid and would get A lot of run with Michigan.

3 Likes

I agree with this take, and I think JCL would be an upgrade over DDJ. But thatā€™s just my opinion.

As to playing time for JCL, if he comes, Eli will get 30-32 minutes per game, maybe more. That still leaves 48-50 minutes for Smith/JCL if JCL comes, maybe a couple of minutes less. So at this rate we are talking about potentially 24 minutes or so a game. His primary competition for a starting position will be Smith, who I think is going to be quite good, by the way. Nevertheless, if Iā€™m JCL, Iā€™m thinking I have a great opportunity to start at Michigan, and even if I donā€™t win the starting spot, I should definitely play at least 22-24 minutes a game. I mean, itā€™s in Jalenā€™s hands. Does he want to play, and play potentially a LOT, at Michigan for Juwan Howard? Or does he want to go elsewhere?

If Isaiah comes back youā€™re talking about a team that can contend in the B1G and play in the NCAA Tournament. What do those other schools have to offer? Oops, I said I wasnā€™t going to do my ā€œrecruiting pitch.ā€ Interestingly, when I start talking about Juwan, and the value of a Michigan degree, and the alumni and NBA connections, and the value of an NIL at MICHIGANā€¦OK, Iā€™ll stop now! :smile: :blue_heart:

2 Likes

Donā€™t forget about Zeb either. I think when itā€™s all said and done heā€™ll be able to give 7-10 good minutes a game.

I would certainly take JCL, as he adds a proven, functional D1 player with lots of high D1 experience at a position where we lack depth. However, I strongly disagree with JCL being an upgrade on DDJ, or likely Mike Smith, especially as to fit with Michiganā€™s other guards. JCL at his best is ā€œjust a shooterā€ā€“he isnā€™t a great defender, he doesnā€™t handle it well for a guard, and he has 113 total assists in almost 3,000 minutes, which is bad for anyone, much less a guardā€“and he hasnā€™t shot it all that well over the last 2 years. I thought DDJ was overrated by some, but he handles and passes far better than JCL, and based on my watching a fair amount of JCL in college, theyā€™re both mediocre defenders albeit JCL is longer. Also, starting JCL would make Eli a focal point handler and initiator or decrease his minutes, neither of which seems optimal to me. Again, Iā€™d be happy to have JCLā€“we need the depthā€“but I see him as a rotation player, not a starter over Smith. Just one manā€™s take.

Reminds me of Josh Langford.

1 Like

I think JCL fits a need which is depth at the SG so I am fully on board for that. But I donā€™t think he starts over Brooks or Smith at this point unless Smith just isnā€™t ready to play at this level which I donā€™t expect to be the case.

That said, JCL should be able to get 20-25 minutes and hopefully that is enough to get him.