Thanks. I love hearing the Wagner tidbit. I hope there can be enough of a pro-player interests/ pro-program interests balance here. Can Michigan really wait for deadline decisions as in the past here? If we wait forever to hear decisions, can lose both player and recruit in process.
FWIW I think Wagner is the most likely to come in of anyone. Would you agree Dotman? Departures happening for that to happen of course.
Michiganās odds for Beverly are low even if they put on a full court press now. Which they most likely wonāt obviously. Have heard the chances with Quinones are relatively low as well as of now. So Iām guessing grad transfers will become the most likely way of bringing in new players this spring/summer.
I think Wagner has to be Plan A. Parents already know us. Kid can be a star here.
The rules and options surrounding draft exploration are more complicated than ever. Hopefully, any player who wants to explore the early-entry option is able to get the advice they need to make a good decision. If I were a 19 year old, and I read the current rules surrounding the process, I would definitely need an interpreter. My understanding is that Beilein has always been accommodating, and has made it clear to his players what the process entails. I believe that allowing potential early-entrants to be represented by NBPA-certified agents is a positive step, in theory, but we all now that in practice, agent self-interest will skew some playersā decisions. College coaches, as well as players who are definitely staying in college, are basically held hostage while this all takes place. There has to be a simpler, more fair way to do this, but I have no idea what that is. The NBA is probably the source of the eventual solution, because āsimpleā is definitely not a word that the NCAA understands.
I think youāre significantly understating his ability to score off the dribble, which he did quite often. Frankly, against Texas Tech, he was the only guy who showed up.
Again, we have had plenty of players drafted - some quite high - who were not on the NBA radar after their freshman year. Stauskas and Levert are probably the two most obvious examples, but DJ Wilson and Mo Wagner are two more.
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Stauskas was not a better player as a freshman. He was a great shooter, but totally disappeared in the Final Four against Syracuse and Louisville, as he wasnāt effective against long, physical defenses. After a summer of Camp Sanderson, he and Caris were both ready to hold their own against physical defenses.
Walton? He was the fourth or fifth option as a freshman on a team loaded with NBA players. Not very comparable IMO. Thereās no way he could have taken on the scoring load Iggy did this year.
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But he also gets to the rim a lot more than Charles and Poole did.
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I am curious if hypothetically Poole leaves but Iggy stays do they still take Wagner. The need for a secondary ball handler increases immensely if Poole leaves. No matter what happens this is unfortunately going to carry on for a bit. Tough spot for the coaches.
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IMO, Wagner is a take regardless of the type of attrition. He seems to have positional versatility and there is enough versatility in the folks returning that you can make him and his skill set fit
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Is there an alternative to waiting for deadline decisions? Iām not seeing any. You can recruit for them and try to convince recruits to wait. You canāt make the decisions for your players.
Yup. Gotta have thick skin to play at a big school. If he doesnāt want to or cant handle itā¦then both parties better off.
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It should also be mentioned that we donāt know that these are Michigan fans. What better way for a spartan or buckeye to sow the seeds of division within the Michigan program than to use social media to attack players and their families with supposed friendly fire. Thatās one of the first things I would do if I were so inclined. Perhaps Iāll join the twitter and begin to express my discontent with certain opposition players and their family members, under the guise of fandom.
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Donāt do that man. Enough folks in the gutter already.
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Draft Express has a database of stats that includes things like FIBA, EYBL, NCAA, international leagues, etc.
I would suggest Pooleās father stay off of social media if he reacts like that. I never saw anything on this forum other than fair criticism of players this year. Do some in the fan base go too far online? Sure, but itās not coming from here.
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I know this is going to be off the topic of NBA Draft Projections & Mock Drafts 2019, but the discussion has already seemed to veer off that topic, so Iāll just leave this here. Read or donāt read. Care or donāt care. Criticize if you wish. Agree or disagree.
In response to the earlier ādisingenuousā comment and the implication that some of us are saying this is exclusively a Michigan fan problem, or more a Michigan fan problem than it is elsewhere, let me just say Michigan fans are FAR from the worst offenders. The treatment of Foster Loyer over on RCMB, for instance, was pretty cold, in my opinion. And itās not just State. Iām sure it exists on Peegs, etc.
Itās my personal belief that whenever we call out players or criticize them, perhaps, again in my opinion, unfairly or excessively, that is over the line, and not appropriate. That is JUST my opinion. Plenty of folks donāt agree with me. Iāve been told that several times, mostly in the pastā¦on this message board.
Iāve even been told that I canāt criticize posters when THEY criticize players. In other words they CAN criticize players, but I CANāT criticize them for criticizing kids. And, you know what, thatās fine, a bit hypocritical, but fine. I will continue to live my life trying to be positive about our kids, and to lift them up rather than point out weaknesses or mistakes. Itās just who I am.
Again, this is generally a GREAT forum. There are informed and supportive fans on here. Everyone here loves Michigan basketball. But we come from different perspectives.
I come from the perspective of a little old silver haired 72 year old former teacher and coach. I believe in building kids up, and thatās what I try to do, everyday, in my life, and not just on here.
I didnāt grow up with social media, thankfully. If I were still teaching and coaching today there would be some major discussions in my classes about what is acceptable and what is NOT acceptable on social media. As an older, hopefully wiser, teacher, coach and mentor, that was a role I felt was important for me to play in the lives of my kids.
My position with my kids was more of, "If it were you on the receiving end, how would you feel? If it was your little brother or sister, how would you feel? and not ādo this or that, donāt do this or that 'cause I say so, in my infinite wisdom and I am your teacher/coach, gosh darn it!ā I think that kind of discussion, they way I phrased it and presented it to them had an impact on a lot of kids.
Finally, I get the comment about developing a thicker skin, but, just so weāre clear, is the players developing a thicker skin if they want to play at a program like ours or Stateās, or IUās, or Purdueās the only answer here? Does that, thicker skin, render the decorum of posters on message boards unimportant? Is the notion of players having a thicker skin the problem or is behavior of message board posters, letās say, at least equally as important? More important? To me, the decorum of posters is very important, but I canāt control it, and I probably shouldnāt, or even try.
Again, off topic? Yes. Important discussion? I think so. Perhaps you agree. Perhaps you donāt. In any case have a GREAT day! And GO BLUE!!!
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It is most definitely coming from this site (and others). I have read plenty of reader comments here that would upset me if I were the mentioned player or his parent.
Reposting here what someone else has tweeted or expressed elsewhere is just as bad as posting the original comment yourself.
Edit: Scroll up and you will find examples in this very thread.
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When a player at the University of Michigan in the billion dollar industry of menās college basketball isnāt playing well it should be expected that the fan base is going to discuss that online. If constructive comments and fair observations from a forum or social media are too much for a playerās psyche then they most certainly are nowhere near ready to play professional basketball for a living.
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And what about all the negative comments that are neither fair nor constructive? They appear everywhere and if you combine various sites, Iād put them as the majority. Those are the comments players and their families are most likely to react to.
Iād also be willing to bet theyāre a lot more prevalent for a player at a prominent school like Michigan than for most NBA teams.
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I think for the most part the comments on this board are very fair. The vast majority of posters, even when they are critical, are not malicious and donāt say things like that guy who Pooleās Dad responded to. I donāt think a message board is very good or enlightening if everything is rainbows and butterflies all the time. Discussion is good as long as itās done in a respectful manner (aka player X needs to work on this as opposed to saying player X sucks and should leave).
Also, the issue is that there is an endless amount of people that post online in this day and age. You canāt control what everyone else says. I know itās easier said than done, but you just have to learn to either ignore the comments from the people who are clearly morons or just stay off of social media altogether. That stuff wonāt stop just because you leave Michigan. Hell, people like Kevin Durant and Bryan Colangelo have been caught responding to people on their burner accounts and they are super rich and successful people. Itās unfortunate that there are so many out there like that, but itās the age we live in.
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