Dawkins needs a lot of work with lateral movement, moreso than strength in my opinion. His defense left a lot to be desired based on the Italy film.
What gives me hope though is that early in their careers, I remember JMo and Horford having some issues in some of these areas, especially finishing. It's remarkable how good of a finisher JMo became last season. Hopefully someone out of this group of bigs improves enough to be at least adequate this year, because the reviews from those that were there last night are not pretty.I think this is probably the most important part… These are things that can be learned. Jordan Morgan grew an incredible amount early in his career and Michigan is going to need all four bigs to learn on the fly. It’s possible… There will be some bumps in the road though.
Problem I have with this - yes the bigs will improve, but will their improvement be congruent to the guards/wings? In other words, we should have a pretty good frontcourt 2 years from now, but what type of talent will we have in the backcourt by the time that improvement translates to the game? This is where recruiting is absolutely crucial…only time will tell
What gives me hope though is that early in their careers, I remember JMo and Horford having some issues in some of these areas, especially finishing. It's remarkable how good of a finisher JMo became last season. Hopefully someone out of this group of bigs improves enough to be at least adequate this year, because the reviews from those that were there last night are not pretty.I think this is probably the most important part… These are things that can be learned. Jordan Morgan grew an incredible amount early in his career and Michigan is going to need all four bigs to learn on the fly. It’s possible… There will be some bumps in the road though.
I can see potential in Doyle to be as good as JMo or even better. Both Donnal and Wilson seem to prefer playing away from the basket.
To those proclaiming in the season projections thread that we're going to make the final 4 or win 28 games, win 13-15 games in the big ten..........im taking bets in whatever amount you would like. I projected 22 wins/10 in the big ten. After viewing tonight's practice I think we're more likely to win 20/8 and barely squeeze in the tourney. The frontline is a MAJOR concern. Also, for those thinking we will improve on D.........yeah we'll see about that
This is based on an hours worth of drill practice and situational game scenarios designed for fans. I would hesitate to look into something like this too heavily as you seem to be doing… you as well as the rest of us have no idea how this team is going to fair when the year starts and the competition heats up. Reminds me of the football scrimmage posts about the defense being “dominant” turns out our offense is just terrible. I would hesitate to make rash judgements on any of the guys on the team after only seeing 1 hour. You just might end being surprised when the season starts
Well the fact that our interior defense is universally accepted as being below average at minimum, in conjunction with the fact that said players REALLY struggled against those below average defenders, would seem to work against your argument. In other words, it’s probably best to take optimistic thoughts/projections in a scrimmage/practice setting with a grain of salt, but if someone is struggling against a weak defense, it’s probably a huge red flag. So while you may hesitate, I don’t, because I’m pretty confident that our frontcourt is going to struggle mightily on both ends of the court.
Well the fact that our interior defense is universally accepted as being below average at minimum, in conjunction with the fact that said players REALLY struggled against those below average defenders, would seem to work against your argument. In other words, it's probably best to take optimistic thoughts/projections in a scrimmage/practice setting with a grain of salt, but if someone is struggling against a weak defense, it's probably a huge red flag. So while you may hesitate, I don't, because I'm pretty confident that our frontcourt is going to struggle mightily on both ends of the court.
Could it be that maybe they just had an off day? Tired legs, out of sync, etc… these guys are all freshmen and none have played any games at the college level only 1 of them has been through the programs off season conditioning and practice format for a whole year and that was during a redshirt year. It’s an adjustment practicing at this level everyday, I don’t care what the competition looks like. You maybe be right the Bigs might struggle all year, but don’t you think it’s possible that going against each other everyday in practice and by playing the likes of Oregon(Whoever else they play in that tourney), Cuse, Arizona, SMU, and their Big Ten conference schedule that these guys you know do something that good coaching staffs(Like the one Michigan has now) get players to do and IMPROVE AS THE YEAR GOES ON BY PLAYING HIGH LEVEL COMPETITION… kinda like how last years team did. Novel concept and I think it’s more likely to happen then you want to give credence too.
Of course they will improve, because quite frankly, they were so poor last night, the only direction to go is up. The true question is this, can they improve engough to be serviceable to the extent of Jmo/Horford on defense/offense - which is by no means great if we’re looking at it in totality. Even if they reasonably improve from what I viewed last night, the answer to that question is no. They are very, very, behind the curve on both ends of the court.
Of course they will improve, because quite frankly, they were so poor last night, the only direction to go is up. The true question is this, can they improve engough to be serviceable to the extent of Jmo/Horford on defense/offense - which is by no means great if we're looking at it in totality. Even if they reasonably improve from what I viewed last night, the answer to that question is no. They are very, very, behind the curve on both ends of the court.
Doyle and Wilson have excuses. I am surprised that Donnal does not look any better than two freshmen. My prediction is that Doyle starts not too long into the season and Bielfeldt will get a good amount of minutes.
Go look at Geoff Clarke’s thread about season predictions…I have to say after viewing the open practice, a good portion of those projections are downright silly.
All of that sounds good with the exception of the Tourney seed…if any B10 team gets a bid, its going to be higher than 10 unless we’re in a play-in seed. The only thing that gives me hope is the relative weakness of our B10 schedule…it does set up favorably. That being said, I honestly think we may lose every conference road game we play with the exceptions being PSU, NW, Rutgers. At home, I think we’ll drop a few games that we would expect to be victories. In retrospect after viewing our schedule again this morning, I think 9-9 is most likely, but in no way do I think this is an 11 win B10 team. 8-10 is the realistic range in my opinion.
What?
2014: Nebraska 11 seed, Iowa 11 seed (play in)
2013: Minnesota 11 seed.
2012 Purdue 10 seed.
You said that you expect Michigan to just “barely squeeze in” the NCAAT. Teams that just “barely squeeze in” are usually put on the 10, 11, and/or 12 lines. How about we call the 8/9 seed a push. I’ll take anything higher than an 8 seed, you take anything lower than a 9 seed.
I think 9 to 11 wins is the realistic range. So how about 9 or 10 wins, we push. 11 or more, I win. 8 or less, you win. If Michigan is “in no way” a 11 win team, you should have nothing to lose.
You’re the one that brought up taking bets, so show how confident you are with your predictions. The bet can be an avatar bet, a temporary ban bet, a permaban bet, or a monetary bet.
I’ll certainly take you up on the 11 win terms, seeding I’m not so confident on to be honest. Bans/monetary/avator - your call
Dawkins will benefit from more time with Sanderson. He's wiry right now.I doubt that Sanderson can do too much to Dawkins, who should’ve had access to some of the best trainers for years. Maybe he can reach 200lbs, but his dad was 165lbs or less through his playing career.
Not sure why you’d say that. Dawkins had a growth spurt in the last year. He can fill out some. He can add upper body strength for sure. Just because dad was a college coach doesn’t mean that Aubrey was getting conditioned by his dad’s staff. When dad played, players did not train like they do today.
I'll certainly take you up on the 11 win terms, seeding I'm not so confident on to be honest. Bans/monetary/avator - your call
The avatars are too small to get something funny squeezed in. Monetary would be pretty hard to carry out, since we don’t know eachother.
2 week minimum ban and then 1 week for every additional win/loss?
11 wins = 2 weeks no posting for you.
12 wins = 3 weeks.
13 wins = 4 weeks.
8 wins = 2 weeks no posting for me.
7 wins = 3 weeks.
6 wins = 4 weeks.
Ya?
Hail - pretty creative and I actually like it. Let’s do it. Good luck! I’ll say this - I honestly hope you are correct…I would love to look foolish in this context.
Hail - pretty creative and I actually like it. Let's do it. Good luck! I'll say this - I honestly hope you are correct..........I would love to look foolish in this context.
I know what you mean. A friend of mine, who is the biggest homer I know, predicts a 4 seed for Michigan. That is REALLY asking a lot. If it happens, the guy will rub it in my face for the next year. I’d love for him to be right, but at the same time it sucks that I wouldn’t hear the end of it.
For me, sure I would have to hear the flack of everyone here that I underestimated the team/JB…but I can take that if it means I get to stick my chest out to Sparty at the office. I’m willing to make that trade any day of the week. Not to mention, hopefully I’ll get to spend a little extra $ on tourney based vacations (can’t tell the wife though) with my daughter.
Ricky has been dinged. He’s not 100% and was held out of practice Fri, didn’t participate in scrimmage Sat and didn’t practice Sunday. They had Monday off and they are bringing him back slow.
It’s a minor ankle issue but they are being cautious and he didn’t fully participate yesterday as a result.
So any judgment of Ricky should be put on hold until they allow him to go 100%, which they didn’t allow yesterday.
Just an FYI.
Maybe that’s why he was so hesitant to do anything when he got the ball in the high and low post.
Dawkins will benefit from more time with Sanderson. He's wiry right now.I doubt that Sanderson can do too much to Dawkins, who should’ve had access to some of the best trainers for years. Maybe he can reach 200lbs, but his dad was 165lbs or less through his playing career.
Not sure why you’d say that. Dawkins had a growth spurt in the last year. He can fill out some. He can add upper body strength for sure. Just because dad was a college coach doesn’t mean that Aubrey was getting conditioned by his dad’s staff. When dad played, players did not train like they do today.
Sane, I agree with you that he can always improve his strength and quickness. but I doubt that you can change his wiry body type by much. Johnny Dawkins was skinny by the standard of his days, even John Stockton weights 175.
Hey guys, it’s a preseason practice with 6 freshmen (and one transfer student) who have been on campus for about 2.5 months. I think trying to make season predictions based on what you see in a practice with 7 total freshmen, and predicting fire and brimstone at that, is fairly myopic.
Try and remember back to the non-con schedule last year watching this team… it was pretty painful. That’s a team that won the B1G by a wide margin and came one lucky 3-pointer short of making it to its second straight FF (all with a first rounder on the bench the whole season).
What you see out of Doyle, Wilson and Donnal now isn’t what you’ll see out of them by B1G season and I guarantee you they will exceed the low, low expectations that have been set out on this board. I predict Doyle’s skill level especially will improve dramatically as the season progresses, though I am less hopeful about Donnal. I think Bielfeldt is a known entity at this point, and that entity is a short moose who hopefully doesn’t play a lot.
I think everyone expects the freshman to improve, that is a given. The real question is will that improvement, relative to where they are right now, be enough to for UM to be on par with last year? In other words, will the improvement between now and March result in our team being an elite 8 team with 28 wins? I think most reasonable people, myself included, would say no.
I always find it interesting when people claim we shouldn’t make predictions about the season because freshman improve over the journey of the season. Yet, how do we know the freshman will improve? How do we know they will be a good fit? In other words, it seems quite contradictory for some to urge that we shouldn’t make season predictions based on preseason practice in one breath, but then guarantee some players will exceed expectations…rather odd, no? I interpret that to mean this - don’t make predictions unless said predictions translate to what is perceived as positive/upbeat.