Any evaluation of Winston and his choice is incomplete without consideration of him and his personal priorities.
He will graduate early and aspires to go to grad school. Academics have long been a priority. He is not listed on a single mock draft board that I’ve come across. When convenient for fans, arguments are easily made as to why players are not nba ready. Here is a guy who hardly anyone would consider nba ready, yet his decision to return to a place he enjoys is question.
Other than straight up partisan rhetoric I don’t get it.
Then it makes a hell of a lot of sense for him to go back to school, take a run at National Player of the Year, win a lot of college basketball games and get his degree.
Well, the guy is super productive in college. His perceived weakness - a lack of quickness and athleticism - is not something that will improve with more college basketball. Under those circumstances, guys often turn pro, as another year of college just leads to the NBA picking their game apart.
I didn’t know he was that dedicated as a student. That’s cool and a real reason to stay.
This year’s candidates really do kinda illustrate an odd difference in perception. Matthews with a 3 ball is a first-rounder. There’s a logic to him coming back that isn’t there for Winston, because it’s more likely an athlete can learn to shoot than it is that a shooter can suddenly display athletic ability he doesn’t have. But, still, it’s not at all controversial that Matthews is leaving and Winston is staying. Which goes to show that, ultimately, it’s a personal decision and there’s a degree of respect for that. Which is fine. It’s not just a matter of having nothing left to prove, or whatever. As far as I’m concerned Winston’s team has no better shot at a ring than Simpson’s team – projections for both teams seem to be reliant on MSU’s question marks blooming into answers, and Michigan’s not doing so. But IMO Simpson can just as likely elevate himself into the ranks of Rice and Russell as Winston can Cleaves and Magic. People just say stuff.
Michigan loses more players than MSU, but in the era in which that’s happened Michigan has clearly outperformed MSU in March, whereas MSU has done the same in conference play. Clearly there’s more than one way to get to your goals. It’s to Michigan’s credit that it puts players in the pros, and hopefully we’ll see more recruits or transfers like Pierce start to say it’s a factor in their thinking.
Yeah. I think that Michigan’s school calendar (and the fact that it wraps up pretty soon after the season) helps get guys out the door while still keeping the APR okay.
Exactly. I’ve been done with class for almost a full week now. Factor in the study days for finals and I can’t imagine class is something that’s going to loom over possible early entries.
On Matthews, this was supposed to be the year he came back to improve his shot.
I feel pretty good about our team next year. I do think MSU be will be very good, as Winston is Winston and I see Tillman becoming a star. Henry, too, has some game, and you figure Langford will have a big senior year.
And Poole has been in California, I believe, for a while as well. They were also all at the banquet two weeks ago and probably could have worked out how to leave in acceptable academic standing FWIW.
Sure. Agreed. I think the point still stands though. regardless of what happened this year, both Matthews and Winston are too old to be considered upside picks at this point. In a general sense, it said that if a player is not seen as a first-rounder, but could be next year if they addressed a weakness, that it makes some sense for them to go back to school.no matter what happened this year, Matthews has a higher chance of developing a reliable 3-point shot then Winston does suddenly becoming an NBA caliber athlete. certainly Matthews free throw percentage improve this year, and that said to be a better predictor of 3-point success in the NBA. So my point is just that it’s some of these cases the general take revolves around the soft considerations and personal differences rather than the player’s actual NBA stock, which is ultimately just anyone’s guess at this point. An educated guess, but you don’t know until draft day.
I’d probably grade everyone who played big minutes like this, defensively:
Teske - A, Very good at everything basically, if only elite at a few things and at times average as a post defender. Switched better than expected and you do need one big guy at least.
Matthews - A, denied an A+ for not being a special help defender in halfcourt, great season
Livers- A-, Basically Iggy but better, comfortable guarding everyone but fast point guards and giant 5s, that’s pretty damn useful.
Simpson - B++, denied an A- for not being as shut down a guy as he was the year before on PGs like Winston and because he’s too small to guard multiple positions, which limits his upside generally as compared to a Matthews
Bradzeikis - B, pretty good at both forward spots, few freshman moments
Brooks - B, as good as Livers but smaller and again, everyone should really be at least 6’5 or so and very mobile in modern basketball on the defensive end to be a plus, with only a few exceptions
Poole - C+, would absolutely have been a B or B- if he hadn’t repeatedly lost McQuaid and Moretti in the biggest games.
Our D was great, so I don’t think I’m being too generous. 2nd overall in the country, held a team in the 2nd round to 49 points and was eliminated in the S16 after giving up points per possession at a rate that would have put Texas Tech (25th on O) around 150th in the country.
Your Livers and Simpson grades don’t compute for me. Nor does the idea that Matthews wasn’t an elite helpside defender. He was one of the best in at least the conference.
Too generous on Poole for me. Regularly got lost and at times lost energy and focus. I don’t doubt his offensive ability at the next level but I seriously question his ability to play D at the next level. In a lot of games Michigan could hide him, won’t be an option in the league.
Nor does the idea that Matthews wasn’t an elite helpside defender. He was one of the best in at least the conference.