Michigan head coach John Beilein watching '14 G Javon Bess (per @ZachFleerLGHL). Recent update on Bess here: http://www.umhoops.com/2013/09/13/michigan-watches-late-rising-combo-guard-javon-bess/ …
Beilein also stopped by Northland watching Seth Towns where Trey Burke got a new floor for his old HS.
Bess would be a strong recruit to land. He is painfully underrated. Great athleticism and developed skillset
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Bess would be a strong recruit to land. He is painfully underrated. Great athleticism and developed skillset
Great athleticism? Developed skillset? No offense, but what does Bess do athletically that is great? What one skill does Bess have that is developed, let alone an entire skillset?
I actually like Bess’ fit a lot more if Grantham doesn’t pick U-M. He can do so many of those little things, defend multiple positions and give U-M a versatile guard option.
His shot is my question, but reports are that he’s improved significantly in that regard.
Dylan - in all seriousness, I know it is in your job description to be semi-optimistic when discussing recruits and their respective skills, but can you honestly say Bess has the ability to be a wing player at the high major level. At this point I think you’ve probably conceded Grantham to Clemson as well, so it is natural to generate excitement about a potential commitment from Bess, but I think we’d all be lying to ourselves if we said Bess wasn’t a downgrade from Grantham.
Not trying to blow sunshine. Bess isn’t a top-100 kid and I don’t think he should be or anything like that. He’s not going to replace JB, Booker or Chatman if Michigan strikes out there.
However, he’s a nice piece to add to the mix and I think he brings some of that tough natured physical play that you would get from Grantham (albeit at a different spot on the floor).
What don’t you like about Bess’ game?
Not trying to blow sunshine. Bess isn't a top-100 kid and I don't think he should be or anything like that. He's not going to replace JB, Booker or Chatman if Michigan strikes out there.However, he’s a nice piece to add to the mix and I think he brings some of that tough natured physical play that you would get from Grantham (albeit at a different spot on the floor).
What don’t you like about Bess’ game?
In a nutshell - Bess strikes me as a poor man’s version of Novak, meaning he does provide some toughness/rebounding, but he can’t shoot nearly as well as Novak and has limited range with a setshot. Can’t create his own offense, and will struggle to finish at the high major level because of size. He’s really just a PF in a SG body.
Im really struggling to see where he would fit in, what position would he play? Opposing defenses would be able to pack the paint if Bess were to play the 2 or 3, and we would get killed on the glass with Bess at the 4.
He’s a much better athlete, longer and a better ball handler than Novak. I agreed above that his jump shot is a concern but this is a kid with a handful of high major offers that Michigan saw a lot of this summer while they were following Vince Edwards.
EYBL averages of 9.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 2.4 steals per game aren’t bad either.
In a nutshell - Bess strikes me as a poor man's version of Novak,
That is a weird sentence. Not saying right or wrong, but a weird sentence. Novak already seems like a poor man’s whatever as far as when he was recruited.
The fact that it is weird, and could be true, would seemingly indicate my exact point.In a nutshell - Bess strikes me as a poor man's version of Novak,That is a weird sentence. Not saying right or wrong, but a weird sentence. Novak already seems like a poor man’s whatever as far as when he was recruited.
The fact that it is weird, and could be true, would seemingly indicate my exact point.
I guess I did not properly get my point across. I don’t really see how anyone could be a poor man’s Novak coming out of high school based on what we have seen so far. Novak was the prototypical poor man’s whatever, and I see Bess as having no worse a recruiting profile than Novak. Different spokes…
Your original point was well taken - you were essentially conveying that a “poor man’s Novak” doesn’t exist.
Bess is more athletic in comparison to Novak, I think most would concede that point. However, I’m not sure we can definitively state that Bess does ANYTHING else better, or even to the same degeree relevant to Novak.
To counter that I would ask, does Bess rebound better than Novak, does he shoot better than Novak…if answers to those questions are in the negative, then certainly an argument can be made that Bess is a poor man’s Novak if he does those things to a lower degeree in comparison to Novak.
I don’t want to get in the middle of your comments, but I think any Michigan fan would be happy to have Bess, if we knew he would put up the same emotions, toughness, points, and numbers that Novak did. But I am not sure anyone can bring the same things that Novak did when he was at Michigan.
If your question is comparing a HS Bess to a Michigan Senior Novak, I won’t comment as that’s an unfair comparison. If you are comparing HS Bess to HS Novak, then I see equality in rebouding at worst, and as you said improved athleticism coming in. I will grant there is less proof on film that he can shoot.
So, from my perspective that would be better athleticism, worse shooter, equal in rebounding. I wouldn’t personally say that he’s a poor man’s Novak in that case.
Edit: All that said, I would still take some convincing to come around and be excited for Bess. But the “poor man’s Novak” comment really got me 
I don't want to get in the middle of your comments, but I think any Michigan fan would be happy to have Bess, if we knew he would put up the same emotions, toughness, points, and numbers that Novak did. But I am not sure anyone can bring the same things that Novak did when he was at Michigan.
I think maybe more of what MattD is getting at is that Novak was indeed a unique case of a poorly touted recruit developing into a huge contributor over four years. His grit, heart, and toughness will always be remembered. I would say though that his case is an exception, not a rule. We have no clue if Bess would develop at all along the same path, particularly if he doesn’t have the opportunity for early PT like Novak did. I would certainly be happy if Bess brought Novak’s intangibles to the team.
Your just reading way to deep into everything.
I probably am.