Mo will be on the team next year. I have heard him mention that he will be going to summer workouts.
The quote you are referencing is referring to the two different summer terms that UM has during which offseason workouts occur. Freshmen are required to be in for both summer terms. After that players are only required to be on campus for one of the two semesters. Mo is apparently not decided whether he will be in Ann Arbor for the spring term (semester 1) because he has not been home since he arrived at UM, so if he goes to spring term, heâll only have about two weeks at home for the whole year.
Question in regards to Mo. Could he play the four alongside a Donnal, Doyal, or Davis? I know heâs not a great ball handler but he can dribble a little. He can shoot it a little from the outside as well but if he can shoot 30% from 3 and make 40% from 12-15ft I would love to see what the offense is like with him at the four. Those numbers might be lofty i know know but one can dream. Also didnât beilein initially say Wagner was not a 5 and he might have to play there out of necessity but heâs not a true 5?
I think the original intention (and maybe it still is?) was for a depth chart that looked like this
PG - Walton - Simpson
SG - Rahk - Ibi
SF - Irvin - Robinson - Dawkins
PF - Chatman - Wagner - Wilson
C - Donnal - Doyle - Teske
Way more balanced than what we have now and very much explains why Beilein took so many posts. He wanted some guys who could provide some size at the 4 and still play his style of offense, but it hasnât turned out that way. In response heâs demonstrated that heâd prefer to get guys out there who can provide what he wants on offense as opposed to providing size and rebounding (Irvin at the 4 over everyone).
I think Beileinâs dream right now is for a starting 5 of Walton - Rahk - Irvin - Chatman or Wagner - Donnal, but the developmental issues prevented that from working out. Also, at this point our best 5 man lineup is probably with Wagner at 5 and Duncan at 3. So, itâs tough to say what Beilein thinks about that.
TL;DR: I think the original plan was Wagner at the four and that seems like itâs still a possibility, but I canât tell what Beileinâs current thinking is.
Yeah his name is Karl Anthony Towns, Ben Simmons etc⌠In other words guys we will never see at Michigan. McGary might be the closest but what helped Beilein is McGaryâs existing relationship with some guys on the Michigan team.
When we watch the tourney this week nobody can tell me that the bigs remaining in this tourney like Boucher, Jones, Spangler, Stone, Carter Jr, Ellis, Niang, McKay, Gill, Wiltjer, Sabonis, Auguste, Johnson, Meeks wouldnât help this program.
Whatâs interesting is JB is searching for that unicorn big man that can shoot from outside, rebound, and pass. Well everybody is searching for that guy. If Michigan had a big with a back to the basket game he could actually command double teams and open things up for the shooters behind the arc. Whatâs interesting is that currently Michigan doesnât have many players that can put the ball on the floor, create their own shot. This is where a solid back to the basket presence could help.
For some reason I was watching a Michigan/Purdue in the inaugural Big Ten Tourney championship. I see an athletic big who moves well, finishes at the rim, rebounds and can play D like Maceo Baston and realize itâs quite possible Beilein would never recruit a big like that.
However, A guy like Swannigan immediately makes Michigan a sweet 16 caliber team IMO. Swannigan may not be elite but heâs a notch below it and it would be nice to land one of him every 3-4 years. Thereâs no reason a school like Michigan canât.
The post above that names all the big men left in the tournament should open every Michigan fanâs eyes that quality post players are out there and they arenât all going to blue bloods or cheaters.
This is exactly where my head is at. I wonder how much the programâs perception of not utilizing Big Men was damaged/verified when we only got to showcase Mitch for a brief time (2013 tourney). I truly think that perception is what has hurt us the mostâŚbut even still, youâd think a guy spurned by Izzo or Painter or Matta would end up here just by accident every once in a while.
It is too easy for opposing coachâs to negative recruit Michigan for post players. Negative may even be too harsh of a word. Basically, all an opposing coach has to do is point to JBâs 30 year career on how he will use his bigs. Set screens, occasionally get the ball on a roll and rarely if ever get the ball on the block.
So even if a recruit is spurned by MSU or OSU, the picture of how Michigan will use said recruit is already painted.
One 5 game stretch in 30 years wonât sway too many kids and parents.
Completely agree - even worse when you have the Horford family making public remarks about how we use our bigs, and seeing Biefeldt succeed at IU as well.
I guess thatâs why I bring up the Mitch situationâŚbased on the early part of the '14 campaign before he was shut down (I think the Iowa State game is the one that comes to mind), I think JB was truly trying to find offensive sets that got Mitch the ball in different situations than standard PnR. Heck, they even used JMo in some post-up situations early that year. But once Mitch was gone from the equation, we went back to that PnR offense and here we are.
Right and itâs not like Purdue played bad in that game they were terrific until the final 3 minutes. I get it, they lost in the final 3 minutes because of their strategy of playing 2 bigsâŚ
I donât watch the NBA. Is the tendency to go smaller in the NBA nowadays going to help Beilein? I am not sure how the âgoing smallâ teams use their big men. Any body have an opinion? Do they use big men In a way that is similar to what JB wants to do? IF so, it seems like the DRaymond Green types would be lining up to get in.
Going small with Draymond Green is successful because he can defend and rebound against multiple positions. There is no down side for him to guard a bigger guy he is that good.
Everyone always wants to look at the offensive side on why it works.
I think both Davis and Teske will be solid eventually, but Wagner is the guy that Michigan needs to developâand fast. I actually liked Donnalâs development this season, and even he gets stronger defensively and develops a more consistent offensive game, he could turn out to be not just an average big man, but a pretty good one. Doyle needs some stick 'em on those hands.
The bigger question to me is whether the small 4 men can improve their defense even slightly. I feel like thatâs been one of the primary defensive issues of this team the last two seasons. I love Irvin, and a lot has to do with being outsized, but I think that developing the fundamentals of post defense will do wonders.
Actually I did not say that so try again. Purdueâs guards werenât any good which I already said. I see your statement about elite bigs is already changing.