Welp, mark me down as one that no longer has the same level of appreciation and respect for Trey Burke.
Who gave you the opportunity to expand your game and become an NBA player - aka, multi-millionaire? Michigan and Coach Beilein.
Jail food? Came in with nothing? Give me a break. Talk about entitled.
Preparation regarding your post UM financial situation? It’s basic math! How much you earn minus how much you spend = how much is left. Did you want JB to setup a meeting with Dave Ramsey? Maybe more beneficial would be JB helping you find your 3 point shot because you lost it somewhere in the rafters of Crisler…
@gtfomycourt I don’t necessarily agree but I completely get where you’re coming from. We can end it with that.[quote=“WindsorBlue, post:191, topic:1245, full:true”]
Since you have divided loyalties, I’ve got to ask:
If Michigan meets UNC in the ACC challenge, who you got?
Seventh Woods or Xavier Simpson? Who would you rather have?
As a follow up question, Tony Bradley or… actually, nevermind this one.
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Michigan all the way. I have the UNC avatar because I think it’s a unique fandom here (I have a Michigan logo on UNC sites) but a couple years at the college hasn’t been able to overcome the 18 years I spent in Ann Arbor going to probably hundreds of Michigan football, basketball, and hockey games throughout my childhood.
Seventh Woods has freaky athleticism and speed and uses it quite well on defense when he wants to. He’s also really young for his grade, as he turned 18 in mid August. I think if he adds shooting he’s a potential star in the fast break UNC offense. I love what Xavier brings to Michigan but stylistically I don’t know if we’ll use him in the most effective manner. The issue with Woods is that Roy cannot teach shooting so it’ll be mostly on him to improve. I’ll still go with Seventh, mostly because of the name.
At midnight madness Tony Bradley looked quite awkward in the scrimmage. I actually wouldn’t be surprised if Wagner has a better year than him.
Yeah, I can definitely see the point you were making too…A lot depends on the individual student/athlete…Plus, college is so much more expensive now, so taking out loans today is a much bigger decision than it was 20 years ago…
I’d take Seventh too, although my bias towards athleticism is well documented. He’s a notch below Dennis Smith but still a freak. His stock fell later in his recruitment but I think he has NBA upside.
I have always had a soft spot for Carolina mainly due to a hatred for Duke… and the argyle uniforms are cool, too. But I remember the 1993 final – that was painful. Don’t think the schools have played since then… would love to have a rematch.
They have a restaurant here called “Timeout” where the entire wall is covered in different pictures of Weber calling it. I still haven’t eaten there because of that…
I generally agree with your posts, and I realize you’re only conveying what you think is Trey’s position, but the part about college not being so great for the scholarship athlete is odd to me.
With Burke especially, here is a kid who committed to Penn State first, a kid who hometown OSU didn’t even want. He comes here and flourishes, turning into the National Player of the Year. I think it’s insane to believe he could have just gone anywhere and done that. We have a great system, and surrounded him with great players. As we see now in the NBA, it wasn’t just elite natural talent that did that for him.
If the journey from unheralded recruit to NPOY, title game, and lotto pick in two years wasn’t a great experience, well, he might have deeper issues.
I agree with you regarding Burke. UM worked out really well for him. I admit I really have to stretch hard to come up with theories as to why he would have any complaints. UM helped him reach his very profitable goal–the NBA.
I also agree that being a student / athlete can be an awesome experience. However, generally speaking, I just don’t think it is a situation that is conducive toward being an awesome academic experience because too much time is required for sport related activities. Although, it is not a problem at UM, some dirty programs give the student athletes opportunities to skip out on meaningful class work so they can focus on sports (?). … I also believe it is better to keep part-time work to a minimum while going to school.
I admit though, I may have a biased opinion due to my own limitations, because I am a slow study and I needed every second of the day for studying…
College athletes do provide the spectacle–and perform the labor–that nets (some) universities millions. But it’s such uneven terrain. And so hard to explain to fans–to people who may just need a job–why the athletes are being exploited. It’s really all the others who are ground up and spit out and DON’T get the glory that are hurt most. . . in much the same way that having a reserve army of labor of billions keeps planetary labor costs low. If you’re going to have someone like Trey help make this complex case (one I am personally sympathetic to) you gotta be more sophisticated than this–only becomes an excuse for the naysayers to pile on. Relatively small potatoes, but still a bit of a PR nightmare.
A kid chasing his dream can go to Europe or the NBADL rather than college. Most of course don’t do this, usually because of the benefits of college (level of competition and exposure). That most don’t realize their dream doesn’t mean they are exploited. They get their shot along with a college education to fall back on which doesn’t seem like a bad return for the bet they chose.
Thought I would add some info here based on my own observations this season. I have watched all 4 Wizards games this year, two of them against the Hawks, so I have gotten to see my fair share of Trey and Tim. Trey does not look good. At all. He has major struggles running the team on offense and his shot isn’t going down. The Wizards have trouble moving the ball or even getting inside the three point arc with him running the offense. Trey has a terrible -29 in the 40 minutes he has played. To his credit, he has been trying hard on the defensive end, but is just way too small to guard in the NBA. He has almost been completely passed over by Tomas Satoransky, a 6’6 rookie from Croatia (drafted a few yrs ago, but has been playing in Spain), already. I fear for his NBA career after this season, when he is a RFA, unless he can really turn it around. On the other hand, Tim has been fantastic in the two games I have watched this season. He is shooting the ball well and making quicker decisions on offense, previously a knock on him. I have also been impressed with his ability to attack the basket off the dribble, mostly on straight-line drives. He still isn’t a great ballhandler and needs to be consistent throughout the season, but I think he is definitely a rotation wing in the NBA and will stick on a good Atlanta team. Just my thoughts, wanted to share with the board!