Griii

Am I the only one that is happy with GRIII’s season? He is having a relatively quiet season, but I still think he is a huge part of Michigan’s success. Michigan fans on a different board have been calling him out for not being any good, and I just can’t wrap my head around it.

I think he is having a solid year given how our offense is run. He’d be a star and putting up crazy numbers in the Pac 12.

I think he’s been great on defense. He’s not an emotional guy like a Zach Novak.

I think he needs to shoot more mid range jumpers.
After the 1st two games and not counting the games DNP or Left Early due to injury:

Stauskas has taken 10+ shots in 14 of 17 games.
GRIII has taken 10+ shots in 8 of 17 games.

I also expect as Walton learns, that will help Robinson’s game most.

I think he has been okay, not great. I don’t think he is happy with his own performance to date. Right now he is probably our #4 option on offense and has difficulty creating his own shot. He needs to get to that spot around the free throw line where he is deadly.

The one thing I’d like to see more of from Robinson is defensive rebounding. He is our most athletic player and I think he needs to be a more consistent force on the glass.

The one thing I'd like to see more of from Robinson is defensive rebounding. He is our most athletic player and I think he needs to be a more consistent force on the glass.

A lot of times him and Morgan have to box out guys much larger than them and it’s up to the guards to actually go down and get the rebound. Doesn’t show up on the box score like last night.

He’s our second leading scorer, and he’s been very consistent. Not a lot of eye-popping stat lines, but few if any really poor games, either. Only 5 games out of 20 where he hasn’t been in double figures, and two of those were games where his minutes were limited (Charlotte and Minnesota). His rebounding has been a bit light, but the only stat where he’s been really off is three point shooting.

Is his level of improvement over last year disappointing? Perhaps, but if so, only mildly. I expected he’d be more of a go-to option this year, and a guy with at least the potential to take over a game, even if he didn’t do it all the time, but overall his contribution has been positive.

GRIII has been ok, but not great. I expected more improvement, but maybe he has held back by Nick’s taking over the lead dog role so successfully? On the plus side it might convince him to skip the draft and stay another year to improve his game ala Hardaway.

As it stands right now I would much rather draft Nick if I was an NBA team, but of course there a number of stupid GM’s who go solely on measurables. If two out of McGary, GRIII and Nick come back next year we could be just as good.

If two our of the three return, Michigan will probably be preseason #1 or #2 and be better than this year. If just one returns, I expect to be about the same. If all three leave, I expect to regress a little bit.

OT: I wonder why it shows “Posts:” for some of use but not others.

Not sure if we are that highly ranked even if we return 2 or 3 players

very happy with what he is giving the team, but to the extent I want him to be a lottery pick and NBA all star, both for him and for the program, I am disappointed he has not emerged as a more dominating player.

very happy with what he is giving the team, but to the extent I want him to be a lottery pick and NBA all star, both for him and for the program, I am disappointed he has not emerged as a more dominating player.

That all could still happen for Glenn, it just might be a year later than many people assumed. Nothing wrong with that. Timmy is doing just fine after staying for a 3rd year.

Bottom line - as Guestavo implied to a certain extent, GR3 is not going to thrive in a half court offense, which is the dominant style of play in the big ten. He needs pin down screens to create the separation for him. He’s never going to be a guy with the requisite footwork and ball handling to break down a defender one on one. He has the ability to be effective as a pinch post player in addition to hitting elbow jumpers off pin down screens.

Gr3 is better suited for a team with great perimeter defense that generates turnovers that allow him to better utilize his athleticism in the open court. He is playing out of position on both ends of the court, and that does have an impact.

That being said, I do think he lacks the aggression needed to be a top flight scorer on a consistent basis. He is far too passive at times.

If we couldn’t see the name next to the box score, we could objectively say that this is a good player who is very valuable to the team, and makes positive contributions in each game. Some games it’s with offense, some it’s defense, some it’s rebounding. I think the only reason people get down on him is because of the expectations that were set for him after last season. It’s possible that all the talk of being a lottery pick has put a lot more pressure on him than even he expected.

Yes, I’d agree that, in some ways, he seems to have regressed, most glaringly behind the arc. He’s as aware of it as anybody. I don’t think his skill-level has regressed. I think it’s more just in his head. I have no doubt he’ll come out of it as the season progresses, and he’ll be huge for us come tournament time.

Otherwise, I’m very much in agreement with you, MattD, that he is too passive in the offense. I’d love to see him take the attitude that many great players take when their outside shots aren’t falling; go more aggressively to the hole. He’ll draw fouls, and gain confidence, and the jump shots will eventually come again.

I also think he can draw on THJ’s experience of coming back for a third year. There are some parallels between the two players’ Michigan careers. Both performed above expectations as freshmen, and both seemed to fall back a bit as soph’s. Timmy really came into his own in his third year under Beilein, and is thriving now in the NBA. Love to see what a third year can do for GRIII.