(Edit: Alejandro just posted video from the practice so you can just watch that and see if you agree).
I had the chance to attend the open practice at 6:00 today, and I would simply like to share some observations about most of the players. The format was 30 minutes of drills of various sorts, and then the last 30 minutes was a scrimmage. Keep in mind that this one hour long practice cannot paint a full picture of what a player is going to be like during the season, and that I can’t see everything and might have missed something that somebody else that was there caught. If that is the case, feel free to share it in the thread!
Zak Irvin: To be honest, I don’t think he did anything differently than one might expect. He shot, and did it well. During the scrimmage, he didn’t take any two pointers. On defense, he was solid, and didn’t get blatantly beaten during his time on the floor. Really nothing else to say about him, and I still expect him to be mostly a 3 point shooter.
Caris LeVert: Caris was similar to Zak, in that he didn’t attack the basket much and we didn’t run the offense through him, but it was clear that we were just giving other players opportunities as it was still a practice. He did nail a clutch three pointer in the scrimmage, and looked to have more vertical hops in the drills. Another positive is that his defensive instincts seem to have improved. He had a lot of tips that could have been steals with some luckier bounces.
Derrick Walton: He had the ball in his hands a lot more in the scrimmage than he did last year, and he made some nice drives and dishes for open threes. His court vision has improved, and he looks stronger and more athletic. He still has the problem of stepping into his shots with a foot on the 3 point line to make it a statistically poor long mid-range shot. He too, along with Irvin and Levert, didn’t try to create much. I won’t post anything about his defense here, as he was facing Dakich mostly.
Kam Chatman: Here’s where things start getting good. Chatman, both during the drills and in the scrimmage, was on fire from deep, nailing numerous 3 pointers from the corner, which appears to be “his shot.” In my opinion, his vertical athleticism has been underestimated as well, as he showed several times with nice alley-oop finishes. His defense was solid, although nothing special. Didn’t create any shots off the dribble, and I wouldn’t expect him to much this year. He had an open lane to the right but went left into traffic, a sign that he needs to work on his right handed layups and ball handling.
Mark Donnal: Donnal definitely had his good moments during the drills, but he struggled in the scrimmage, missing 3 layups, although they were challenging. He looked fairly athletic for a during drills. He was a little bit lost on offense, as I noticed spacing errors and bizarre pick locations. He didn’t take any mid-range shots during the scrimmage, and we never even tried a pick and pop with him, but I noticed during the drills he was making a decent amount of them. Defense Rebounding appears to be an issue, as Max Bielfeldt got numerous offensive rebounds against him in the 3 on 3 drill.
Ricky Doyle: Interesting to say the least. He had a great roll of of a pick which led to a powerful dunk, but other than that, he didn’t make much of an impact. People are excited about his post play, something Beilein hasn’t had since he’s been at Michigan, but Doyle got only 2 post touches, and neither went well. In the first, he got the ball just below the elbow, and after the first 2 passes got denied, he awkwardly pivoted around for about 7 or 8 seconds until he passed it and it got deflected out of bounds. Next he got the ball at the low post, pump faked, and immediately got the ball stripped and stolen. He definitely needs to work on this as right now I would NOT trust him with post moves in a game. Rebounding he was mostly a non factor, with no Offensive boards, and defensively, he was solid, but against poor competition.
DJ Wilson: DJ was actually a very nice surprise. First of all, he is far more athletic than I would have thought, and he definitely uses this defensively, getting a fantastic block in the 3 on 3 drill. He had a nice spin move and mini-hook shot and it rimmed out, but if he could get that shot down it could be a real weapon. He has much better lateral agility than he did in the film from high school, and I could see him as a huge asset in fast breaks. Also, he used his athleticism in rebounding, which is something that can be used for put backs and such. Although he is mostly known as a defensive enforcer, I can see big things on offense too in his future, especially with some more muscle.
Side note: He had a chance to shoot free throws with the game tied and less than 30 seconds left and he missed both of them.
Aubrey Dawkins: Dawkins continued to surprise me with stellar outside shooting to go along with his insane athleticism. In both the scrimmage AND drills he knocked them down, even with a hand in his face. I think that he might be the biggest surprise in the Big Ten, and I see him as a legitimate 6th man if he can get a little bit better lateral agility for defense. Expect him to fill a GRIII type roll for this year though, as he doesn’t have the ability to create his own shot off the bounce yet.
Spike: I don’t have much to say about Spike, and I think that he will be about the same as last year, a solid backup point guard who can shoot and won’t turn it over. He did have a couple nice drives finishing with passes for open shots. Defensively he wasn’t great, but he didn’t make any obvious mistakes.
MAAR: MAAR was interesting, as he really wasn’t used much in the scrimmage, so the only offensive look that I got of him was in the drills. It is very obvious that his shooting is something that needs to be worked on, and until then I see him as a poor man’s Dwayne Wade, not in terms of skill, but just style of play. I’m guessing he’s going to be solid in the pick and roll if he can improve his court vision, and he won’t be taking many outside shots. He has defensive potential, but it is raw.
Max Bielfeldt: Surprised me a bit. He seems to be working very hard for a spot in the rotation, and it is showing, as he beat Donnal multiple times for offensive rebounds and put back layups, where he made both of them. He is still undersized for the 5 though, and that is simply not going to change, and with Donnal, Doyle, and DJ all at the 5, I don’t expect much more playing time this year than he had last year.
Duncan Robinson: He was definitely underwhelming, and he forced a few threes in the scrimmage that might have been alright shots if he was the best player on the team as he used to be, but were far too early in the shot clock. He did struggle a bit on defense, especially when there was a pick set on him. He made a few layups in the drills and didn’t do much in the scrimmage in terms of shooting off of screens, curls, etc. I think he is just going to be a spot up shooter without much else, as MattD said, but if he can do it while shooting at least 40% from deep, I’ll be ok with that. It’s good that he’ll have the year off to improve his game.