We’ll agree to disagree about Aubrey being perfectly fine at any part of his game at this level.
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Aubrey could elevate with the best of them but was not very athletic in other respects. Just from the videos of Baruti, he looks quicker off the floor, quicker in general, and doesn’t loaf. Questions are shooting and ball handling. If you’re going to take a flier on a kid like that, the intangibles like motor and coach-ability are key. Is he willing to put up hundreds of shots per day? Do the ball handing drills with a purpose? Guys like Nik and Duncan didn’t just magically become shooters. They worked at it. Nik was amazing in ball handling drills. THJ went from a liability handling the ball to competent if not pretty good by putting in the work. Don’t have any personal knowledge of Aubrey’s work habits, but I recall his dad saying something to the effect that he needed to better in the regard.
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Video doesn’t look that bad but he seems to have a different skill set as compared to past recruits of Beilein. Is he actually trying to evolve and recruit a different type of player? If he commits would he actually utilize him? It’s one thing to get a guy to commit but another to actually give him minutes and rely on him.
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Good points. I sometimes wonder about how hyper-athletic guys like Oladipo and Anunoby would look in our system.
They would probably look a lot like GRIII.
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His shot was perfectly fine. Can’t knock his shot.
That’s the beauty of a guy with motor - you don’t need to utilize him or run plays for him in order to get production. Those type of guys get you garbage points and extra possessions just based on pure energy. Kenneth Faried is a guy that comes to mind
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Completely agree. That’s what I was trying to say above with the way he moves with a purpose without the ball in his hands. He seems to find openings on the floor…especially near the basket. That can lead to production in any offensive system, IMO.
One worry might be that his BBall IQ isn’t quite like a Glenn Robinson III (given his lack of experience playing organized ball). GR3 was so good at cutting baseline and understanding where to move as an outlet for the PNR game. You probably would never say that he necessarily played with a great motor, but he was able to basically be a double-digit scorer without running any offense for him as a freshman.
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Fair point. I’ll say this though - I’d rather have a guy that has to be told to slow down/better timing (McGary) as opposed to guy that really struggles with energy plays (Wilson). The ball finds energy IMO.
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Trust me I agree. I don’t think there’s any doubt that Michigan’s roster could use the traits that Baruti would bring to the table. The bigger question is whether he’s actually good enough to play at this level and provide them.
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I think just about everyone agrees that Michigan needs a little more motor, hopefully both from returning players and perhaps especially from incoming/future ones. Baruti does seem to fit the bill on that front, as well as re: athleticism.
The more i watch the highlights the more I like what this guy brings. I like the way he elevates in traffic. That said, I think to flourish he would need ample opportunity both to run in transition and to clean up garbage on the offensive glass. If he’s just finishing the occasional baseline cut I think he would be underutilized.
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He’s only played 2 years of organized ball in the US. I’m not claiming to know anything about the quality of coaching he received in Lubumbashi, just that it’s hard to extrapolate the kid’s basketball IQ from the extremely little information we have about him.
Not saying he has good or bad basketball IQ. Just saying that’s something you can’t really tell from a highlight film and that it is another way to get those residual action baskets – something that has been sorely missing from the U-M offense since GR3.
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We are in violent agreement here.
I completely agree with you but I can’t recall Beilein being able to utilize a guy like Faried. If Baruti isn’t comfortable in a pick n roll style offense does Beilein have much use for him? I would love a Faried on the court but I am not necessarily sure Beilein would.
Fair Question indeed. The closest thing we’ve had to Harold during the JB tenure is probably a hybrid between GR3 and Shephard.
It’s not like our SF position uses the PnR a lot. PG/SG, yes. SF/PF, not nearly as much. Were GRIII and THJ great in PnR? Not really. They were still useful.