Yeah I don’t know that he’ll ever be a 40%+ three point shooter on good volume, much less this year. But it’s good his drive game is working as well as it is
Here are complete game Franz highlights. Lots of great plays in here, offense and defense.
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After rewatching a couple of UM tournament games last week, I concluded that, IMHO, Franz is the best all around player in Michigan history. There have been better shooters, rebounders, passers, defenders, ball handlers and those with great game knowledge and some were really good at more than one of those things, but Wagner was very good at all of them. And he did it all as a freshman. Wouldn’t we have loved to see him as a junior or senior.
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There is no way in the world Wagner was a better all around player than Chris Webber.
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Yeah Chris Webber averaged 19 pts and 10 rbs with 62 fg% his sophomore year. He was also a monster on defense. Averaged 2.5 blks and 1.4 stls
I do think Franz can be a better NBA player though
That would be quite the leap since Chris is a HOF. I would also say and this was before Webber as well Gary Grant was probably better as well. I was hard on Franz after his no show at UCLA and skeptical of how he fits in for the NBA. Of course it doesn’t matter to me how he does because he plays on Orlando. Just as I didn’t really care how well DJ Wilson would perform in the NBA etc… I just have a hard time saying Franz was the best all around player in Michigan history when at times he would get shutdown by inferior players if we were to consider him being one of the best of all time. Look at the players Webber would clown in college who made 100’s of millions in the pros.
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‘Franz is the greatest Michigan player of all time,’ ‘Franz will become the greatest Michigan player to play in the NBA’
The takes are mega spicy today.
I imagine if Franz becomes as good as Chris Webber we’ll be anointing him the greatest NBA player of all time.
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I never saw Cazzie play but it’s hard to argue with 27.1 PPG (51%) and 8.5 RPG over his 3 years at Michigan. This is without 3-pointers and without a shot-clock. He was also only 6’5". Pretty crazy numbers when you take all those things into account.
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Better than a HOFer? Better than 5 time All-NBA and being the best player on a team that took a dynasty with 2 top 15 players of all time to the brink?
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Damn. I remember my girlfriend at the time walking in, watching 5 minutes of that and asking what was wrong with the refs. Basketball trauma is not the same as real-life trauma; not life-or-death stuff or serious suffering. But Webber’s career featured way more basketball trauma than one person should have to endure.
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I just hope he has a much healthier career than Webber. It sucks that we’ve had some players who have been great but could’ve been even better with the benefit of health. Caris is the current example for missing out on some opportunities due to health but Webber missed out on 3-4 more all-star bids and at least one more deep playoff run.
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Looking back at Webber’s career and yes he did not stay healthy but one thing he did which you won’t see now. A couple years he averaged over 40mpg, 3 years of 39mpg, 2 other years of 38mpg. With players getting rest days, watching minutes you won’t see a guy playing 70 games in a year 40 minutes a night. That’s unheard of now.
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I was a huge Kings fan back then. That series was painful. The Kings were so much fun to watch. It’s a shame they never could get over the hump
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I was never a big Webber fan, but I took a major contrarian rooting interest to the Lakers and always have…Horry’s game winner in game 4 to save them from going down 3-1 is seated in my memory.
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I did see Cassie play and there is a reason his jersey hangs at Crisler. It is well deserved. I also saw most of the other greats, Rice (my favorite), Grant, Hubbard, RudyT, Webber, etc. In my mind, there is a difference between “Greatest Player” and “Best all around player.” We don’t have to agree since it is, as I stated, a matter of opinion.
I also don’t think Wagner is emotionally or physically mature yet. I would expect him to have a greater professional career than he had as an amateur.
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The travel that wasn’t called and the ensuing 3-pointer released after the halftime buzzer by Samaki Walker that the refs counted stands out from that game, as well. I don’t recall how soon after that buzzer plays became reviewable but it may have been that summer.
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Since you saw Cazzie, can you talk about what kind of a defensive player he was and was he a good passer too? I couldn’t find any stats for assists, steals, and blocks from that era.
That was where my mind went immediately!
Not great D, but contact was called so much closer in those days. Teams scored a LOT of points.
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And in that Finals elimination game if he could have gotten 1 or 2 fair calls on drives to the basket (mugged by Shaq repeatedly) they dynasty would have fallen. I recall being incensed.