PG: Derrick Walton Jr.
SG: Caris Levert
F: Chatman sf Zak Irvin c: Mark Donnal. no power forward. unless they get a new guy we dont know yet
Not sure if all three will be gone yet, but if so, we will be hurting at the 5 spot. Donnal and Doyle better be ready to roll.
I thought McGary was gone based on the press conference he and JB made when he decided to have surgery. Also I don’t like the chances of him staying when his two close friends/teammates are leaving to go pro. However, I am still going to hold onto hope that he stays for one more year to prove his health and value and earn a better draft pick in the following NBA draft.
Options without McGary: Donnal, Chatman, Irvin, LeVert, Walton.
B1G 6th Man of the Year is Spike.
Options with McGary: McGary, Donnal, Irvin, LeVert, Walton.
B1G 6th Man of the Year is Chatman, and Spike still earns a healthy amount of playing time.
I don’t understand all this McGary talk. The guy has to stay if you ask me. If only playing well in the tournament wasn’t a red flag, then missing an entire season certainly is one. That’s not bashing the guy, I admire him a lot, but he is just too much of a risk for teams. Sure, someone might use a 2nd rounder on him but why not stay an extra year and prove to all the scouts that you can hang and get that 1st round pick that we all know is achievable.
Maybe I’m drinking too much of the Kool-aid that’s left over from the past few seasons, but I’m seeing this whole situation glass half-full. First of all, we’re potentially going to put three guys in the NBA this year, which will make 5 over the past two years and 6 over the past four years. That’s great for the image of the program.
Second, people seem to be forgetting that we’re going to have one of the best backcourts in the country next season with Walton, LeVert and Irvin. I know right now the frontcourt looks scary, but I have high hopes for Mark Donnal. For comparison sake, as a redshirt freshman, Jordan Morgan averaged 24 mpg, shot 63% from the field and averaged 9.2 ppg and 5.4 rpg. Mark Donnal was more highly regarded coming out of high school and is probably more athletic and versatile than J-Mo was at that point. He’s likely not the defender/leader that J-Mo was this past season, but if he can put up the numbers mentioned above to compliment what the backcourt guys will do, we’re going to be fine. The 4 position is a big question mark, but Kam Chatman and DJ Wilson are both 6-7/6-8 and athletic. All we need is for them to play that position by committee (potentially along with Max Bielfeldt) and provide energy and rebounding.
Having said all that, where we really run into issues is with depth. We’re looking at an 8-man rotation and the depth up front is almost non-existent.
I think Chatman is going to be great, as well. I just hope he can get some time at the 3 rather than being moved up to the 4 like GRIII and Zack Novak before him out of necessity.