Michigan struggling with LeVert, Walton, and Irvin early in the season doesn’t mean much to me. It was clear, then, that the team was LeVert and then everybody else. The supporting cast was weak and that forced LeVert to press. The LeVert and Walton injuries allowed MARR, Irvin, and Dawkins to really develop into their roles. Plug LeVert and Walton back into with those newly developed roles and it’s a night and day difference from the team we saw last December.
Michigan struggling with LeVert, Walton, and Irvin early in the season doesn't mean much to me. It was clear, then, that the team was LeVert and then everybody else. The supporting cast was weak and that forced LeVert to press. The LeVert and Walton injuries allowed MARR, Irvin, and Dawkins to really develop into their roles. Plug LeVert and Walton back into with those newly developed roles and it's a night and day difference from the team we saw last December.
I agree. I think Irvin was a completely different player at the end of last season then he was at the start of it. I have no doubt that we’ll see an efficient running offense at the beginning of next year.
Now out depth chart looks like
PG Walton, Albrecht
SG LeVert, MAAR
SF Irvin, Dawkins
PF Anyone could start here Chatman, Robinson, Wagner, wilson
C Doyle, Donnal
Agree on the guards, and we’re solid there. But based on how they played last year, I see Dawkins and Irvin at 3/4, with Chatman and Robinson backing them up. Irvin playing like he did the last month of 14-15 has to pull 30+ minutes a game, and I’m not sure how you put a guy who looked as good as Dawkins (including a 31 point game) right behind him, and only let him play 8-10 minutes. Fall practice will tell the tale ultimately, but at this point, based on the hard evidence of how they actually played in real games, I don’t see how you project any of Chatman, Wilson, Robinson or Wagner to jump ahead of Dawkins (or Irvin) for PT. Granted, Irvin is not an ideal 4, but neither was GRIII. At some point, talent and productivity have to decide.
And unless Beilein drastically changes his lineup philosophy, we will see one C/PF on the floor at a time, which means Doyle for probably 25 or so minutes a games, and Wilson, Donnal and Wagner left to fight for the other 15.
I see us as a top 5 team in conference play and potential Sweet 16 team. The ceiling could be higher, but a few guys at the 4&5 would have to significantly improve for that to happen.
Top 10? Hard for me to see that as viable assuming Brown goes elsewhere. This teams future success/failure is predicated on two unknown variables at this time. Who if anyone can emerge as a legitimate post presence and solidify the defensive glass, and how will the health concerns play out re: Walton and LeVert?
Now out depth chart looks likeOn the video recently posted on umhoops, Beilein said Robinson can play three positions, the one, two, and three.
There is no way that is correct. No one will have a 6’8’’ PG.
Now out depth chart looks likeOn the video recently posted on umhoops, Beilein said Robinson can play three positions, the one, two, and three.
There is no way that is correct. No one will have a 6’8’’ PG.
Not about size, Robinson simply doesn’t have an adequate handle or athleticism to play PG. Plenty of PGs have been in the 6’7 - 6’8 range
Now out depth chart looks likeOn the video recently posted on umhoops, Beilein said Robinson can play three positions, the one, two, and three.
There is no way that is correct. No one will have a 6’8’’ PG.
Not about size, Robinson simply doesn’t have an adequate handle or athleticism to play PG. Plenty of PGs have been in the 6’7 - 6’8 range
I don’t understand why you are disagreeing with me. I said I can’t see how JB said Robinson can play the 1, 2, and 3. I said I can’t see Michigan playing Robinson at the PG position - because of his size (not to mention Walton and Spike). Now you are saying he doesn’t have a good handle on the ball so why are you disagreeing?
Now out depth chart looks likeOn the video recently posted on umhoops, Beilein said Robinson can play three positions, the one, two, and three.
There is no way that is correct. No one will have a 6’8’’ PG.
Not about size, Robinson simply doesn’t have an adequate handle or athleticism to play PG. Plenty of PGs have been in the 6’7 - 6’8 range
I don’t understand why you are disagreeing with me. I said I can’t see how JB said Robinson can play the 1, 2, and 3. I said I can’t see Michigan playing Robinson at the PG position - because of his size (not to mention Walton and Spike). Now you are saying he doesn’t have a good handle on the ball so why are you disagreeing?
Your exact quote was "no one will have a 6’8 PG’ without reference to skill or depth. In other words your original statement is paramount to claiming that players above a certain height are precluded from playing PG…which is false.
Now out depth chart looks likeOn the video recently posted on umhoops, Beilein said Robinson can play three positions, the one, two, and three.
There is no way that is correct. No one will have a 6’8’’ PG.
Go watch the video–it’s not my responsibility to link to it. You should check before giving your opinion or else you’re wasting time. Edit–I re-watched it and he’s almost certainly saying Caris can play the 1, 2, 3. They asked him where Duncan would play and he said it’s hard to know b/c it depends on whether or not Caris is coming back and then he said “he can play three positions” and he was almost certainly referring to Caris, not to Duncan.
I just hope now that the other guys have experience and showed a lot of promise, ability to put the ball in the hole that we can get better movement/less dribbling from levert while everyone stands waiting for him to make something happen. I expect it to turn out well, as levert is a good team player as shown his first few years. In fact just for fun I am going to put a futures bet in on Michigan to win the national championship. Is it likely to happen, maybe not but I expect to be there on the second weekend, so forty to one is good for me.
You guys think were going to start irvin at the four? Obviously Brown would change things, but barring any one coming in who could jump into the starting rotation, I feel like having dawkins starting might still be the wise move to get our best five out there without being too undersized (spike) by having irvin at the four. We will be deep, thats for sure.
I think we start Dawkins and Irvin, and that Irvin guards the 4. That’s how we ended the year.
You guys think were going to start irvin at the four? Obviously Brown would change things, but barring any one coming in who could jump into the starting rotation, I feel like having dawkins starting might still be the wise move to get our best five out there without being too undersized (spike) by having irvin at the four. We will be deep, thats for sure.
That’s what’s so fun right now…there are a lot of different combinations for the starting 5. Going to be an extremely intense off season. Guys are really going to have to step up to get mins
I think we start Dawkins and Irvin, and that Irvin guards the 4. That's how we ended the year.
I agree. Dawkins had a pretty poor rebounding rate and didn’t seem too adept at guarding larger guys, but he certainly plays more of the 4 role on offense.
Hopefully one of the guys at the 4 like Chatman or Wagner makes a push this year.
Ideally its Walton, levert, Irvin, and Doyle 1-3 and the 5 with one of kam, dj or Wagner locking down the 4. With an experienced bench ready and waitig
Here’s how I would project the depth chart for 2015-16:
PG Walton, Albrecht
SG LeVert, MAAR
SF Dawkins, Robinson
PF Irvin, Chatman
C Doyle, Wilson/Donnal/Wagner
Not too much guesswork at the guard spots, but a good, fairly versatile group; with some reasonable F-Soph improvement from MAAR, you could probably put any two of those four out there and not do too badly, though with LeVert back, hopefully the Walton/Albrecht combo will be used sparingly.
As I posted above, I think it’s reasonable to project Dawkins and Irvin both starting, based on how things looked at the end of last season but, as with the guards, we could see a lot of shuffling there and a lot of potential combinations. If Wilson comes along really well, could he slip down and steal some minutes at the 4, playing at the same time as Doyle? Maybe, but as noted, it would be a significant change in how Beilein does things. More likely, he will stick to playing just one big at a time and go with a generally smaller lineup, without a true PF. The 5 isn’t likely to be a strength (as usual), but looks to be less of a concern than last year, at least if Doyle stays healthy and improves just a smidge.
One nice thing about next year’s roster that I don’t think anyone has mentioned is, for the first time in a while, we won’t be depending on any true freshmen to play even minor roles (partly because we only have one). We’ve got experience everywhere for a change, which hopefully will yield dividends.
Overall, we’ve got good to very good players, but what we’re lacking is anyone who stands out as dominant, someone who can take over a game. We’ve got some guys who are capable of a big performance on a given night, but nobody who looks like that kind of player game after game, consistently. I’d say this team will have a relatively high floor, but maybe not too high a ceiling the way things look right now. Top 25, probably, though I think we’ll settle not much above 20th, unless we land Brown, or someone else really breaks out. 11-7 BT is not unreasonable, maybe a little better, and 5-6 seed in the tourney.
First off, I love Caris, one of my favorite M hoopsters ever. Kid is a warrior! His offensive rebounding at the end of the Kentucky game was inspiring.
I fully expect this team to reach the Sweet 16, so I guess I’ll put them in the top 16.
Very comfortable in Coach B having so many options at his disposal. This team is not dependent on any one player, and Coach B will find a potent rotation, though I don’t pretend to know what it will be.
The Skinny: M will put a prodigious offense on the floor, one that most teams will be unable to keep pace with.
Here's how I would project the depth chart for 2015-16:PG Walton, Albrecht
SG LeVert, MAAR
SF Dawkins, Robinson
PF Irvin, Chatman
C Doyle, Wilson/Donnal/WagnerNot too much guesswork at the guard spots, but a good, fairly versatile group; with some reasonable F-Soph improvement from MAAR, you could probably put any two of those four out there and not do too badly, though with LeVert back, hopefully the Walton/Albrecht combo will be used sparingly.
As I posted above, I think it’s reasonable to project Dawkins and Irvin both starting, based on how things looked at the end of last season but, as with the guards, we could see a lot of shuffling there and a lot of potential combinations. If Wilson comes along really well, could he slip down and steal some minutes at the 4, playing at the same time as Doyle? Maybe, but as noted, it would be a significant change in how Beilein does things. More likely, he will stick to playing just one big at a time and go with a generally smaller lineup, without a true PF. The 5 isn’t likely to be a strength (as usual), but looks to be less of a concern than last year, at least if Doyle stays healthy and improves just a smidge.
One nice thing about next year’s roster that I don’t think anyone has mentioned is, for the first time in a while, we won’t be depending on any true freshmen to play even minor roles (partly because we only have one). We’ve got experience everywhere for a change, which hopefully will yield dividends.
Overall, we’ve got good to very good players, but what we’re lacking is anyone who stands out as dominant, someone who can take over a game. We’ve got some guys who are capable of a big performance on a given night, but nobody who looks like that kind of player game after game, consistently. I’d say this team will have a relatively high floor, but maybe not too high a ceiling the way things look right now. Top 25, probably, though I think we’ll settle not much above 20th, unless we land Brown, or someone else really breaks out. 11-7 BT is not unreasonable, maybe a little better, and 5-6 seed in the tourney.
I can not see Wilson playing a ton of the 5. He just does not have enough strength for the 5. I think the same goes for Wagner. I see it being Doyle/Donnal as the 5’s. I think that Wilson would be solid at the 4 but he probably will see more time at the 5. It will be a battle between Donnal and Wilson for the backup 5 and I think Donnal has a edge in that battle.
Now out depth chart looks like PG Walton, Albrecht SG LeVert, MAAR SF Irvin, Dawkins PF Anyone could start here Chatman, Robinson, Wagner, wilson C Doyle, DonnalAgree on the guards, and we’re solid there. But based on how they played last year, I see Dawkins and Irvin at 3/4, with Chatman and Robinson backing them up. Irvin playing like he did the last month of 14-15 has to pull 30+ minutes a game, and I’m not sure how you put a guy who looked as good as Dawkins (including a 31 point game) right behind him, and only let him play 8-10 minutes. Fall practice will tell the tale ultimately, but at this point, based on the hard evidence of how they actually played in real games, I don’t see how you project any of Chatman, Wilson, Robinson or Wagner to jump ahead of Dawkins (or Irvin) for PT. Granted, Irvin is not an ideal 4, but neither was GRIII. At some point, talent and productivity have to decide.
And unless Beilein drastically changes his lineup philosophy, we will see one C/PF on the floor at a time, which means Doyle for probably 25 or so minutes a games, and Wilson, Donnal and Wagner left to fight for the other 15.
I think having Dawkins off the bench would be great. He would be a great 6th man. Just because he is on the bench does not mean he can not get starters minutes.