Vecenie’s new mock is out.
Iggy #50
Poole #53
Wouldn’t expect much movement for either until the combine, of course. Glad everyone got invites. Hopefully Charles can get drafted as well.
2 Likes
Also…hadn’t realized that Tyus Battle (who is not in this mock) didn’t even get a combine invite. Wow.
Vecenie said this (though honestly you could say the same about Charles):
I’m not surprised. He was there last year, and hasn’t really changed much in the year-over-year. There are other players that evaluators want to get their eyes on that they’re less familiar with. Honestly, didn’t really expect him to be there given that he was kind of a borderline invite to begin with.
1 Like
An example of how the notion “you don’t really have anything to lose by testing the waters” isn’t completely true.
5 Likes
The statement attributed to Izzo is not dissimilar to what Coach Beilein would also say. Beilein does what he should do as a coach counseling players. To be fair, it is not a one-sided discussion. Both he and Izzo believe that there are advantages and disadvantages to leaving and staying. When Beilein says that he doesn’t want his program to be one where players come just to quickly leave, he’s screaming that he believes that there is value in going to college. Izzo can’t make or coerce a player to stay no more than Beilein can.
Know that might not fit with some of the partisan influenced narratives that some prefer to advance but it is true.
3 Likes
Vecenie says that Brazdeikis was a pretty big issue defensively for Michigan? I don’t agree with that at all. Do I think he will struggle to defend wings or 4s in the NBA? Yes. But to say he was a fairly big issue this past year isn’t really accurate to me.
6 Likes
Had the exact same reaction.
Wasn’t a strength that’s for sure. Iggy’s issues stemmed more from the fact that he was often assigned to bigger guys and also from UM’s penchant to auto switch which also leaves guys in mismatches or looking around for somebody to check. The latter might give the casual or infrequent observer that a UM defender is deficient.
Izzo a few weeks ago said he wasn’t all that up for the feedback process. I don’t know what pressure he actually does bring to bear on his kids, and I think the bigger factor is that he recruits more players who don’t fit the NBA profile, like Ward. But one clear difference is that Beilein says he recommends the feedback process to kids seriously considering it and helps them through the process. That’s good.
1 Like
I think that the term “feedback process” gets a little tangled. There’s the one step of entering your name to receive a Undergrad Advisory Committee grade which almost everyone does. Then there’s another step of declaring for the draft, potentially hiring an agent, doing workouts, etc.
Discouraging Winston from even going through the process - if, for no other reason, to get feedback on how the pros view him and what he can improve upon - is coaching malpractice IMO. And frankly, Tillman too. If he becomes a three point threat next year, which seems very possible, the NBA is going to be interested. We’ll see what sort of cajoling Izzo does to get a fourth year out of him.
5 Likes
I’d have to go back and find the quotes to see specifically what each were referring to. Memory fades, as this was weeks ago already and therefore ancient history at this point, but pretty sure each were referring to the process that results in the written feedback, and not beyond.
But you can go through the workouts, get meaningful feedback, and return. That’s what Mo did - they told him he needed to rebound better. He didn’t play well at the combine, but came back and made himself a first rounder.
Not sure I agree here. Especially given preseason expectations, I thought Brazdeikis was a positive on the defensive end this season.
As far as I remember, the quote wasn’t all that clear. I took it to mean actually declaring and going through workouts. I’d be surprised if they didn’t get the feedback from the committee, but could be wrong.
He did a really nice job on Nova’s Paschall, and on Nassir Little. It’s not his strength but he wasn’t a liability either on that end of the floor. Against MSU, Poole was.
1 Like
I certainly could have read it wrong, but do recall a clear difference in answers from the two.
Your feedback can start to define you, though. If you aren’t going head first into the draft prep process as if you are going to enter the draft, you are going to get exposed. Tyus Battle is an example of that where he came back, had a similar year and now isn’t even a combine invite anymore.
Everyone else is lining up agents, specialists, practicing combine tests and drills, etc. They are going to be more prepared if you are just working out at your school.
In Winston’s situation, he played 39 games, played 35.3 minutes per game over the final 19 and was battling knee tendinitis all year.
It is fairly easy to put together an argument that the best way to eliminate some of his weaknesses (speed, agility, athleticism) is to spend some time getting his body recovered and then improved this offseason before being tested and judged based on his measurements.
1 Like
He encouraged both Ward and Winston to get the initial feedback. Not sure if they did or not. But it was publicly revealed that Izzo preference was that they seek feedback from the committee. See link below.
The follow up to that is much more demanding and requires a significant “prepared to leave college mindset.”
Winston under the circumstances wasn’t.
Commend you for being a discriminating and objective reader. Too often people prefer to stop with the reading most favored. And as a consequence peddle bad or incomplete information. And given how some of these posters on message boards operate, often falsities become truths by repetition and indifference to being accurate.
That raises the question – is Iggy still attending class? Anyone know? I know that second-round picks are increasingly signing multi-year deals, but I’m not sure if Iggy’s going to be looked at as a guy a team wants to lock up like that, or if it’s a clear financial win to come back and get into the first round next year. If it is clearly more lucrative to be in the first round even a year later, I hope somebody makes the financial case to Iggy to do that.
Izzo’s tendency to ramble and give the occasional 90 minute press conference doesn’t help this, either. 
A lot of nuggets to latch onto and read in x, y, z direction.