Zak could be like K Mart or Rip Hamilton, those guys were draft in the first.
No, actually, nothing about Doyle can possibly be a "concern" after one exhibition game in a foreign country, playing his first minutes as a part of this team. Is 12 points and no rebounds a slightly odd stat line for a guy his size? Sure. So what? Trying to project anything about the rest of his career, or even the rest of his season from that is just silly. Are you seriously worried that this means he'll never, ever be a decent rebounder?
Didn’t project anything…I missed that part. In any event, I simply said that I’m concerned…whenever your 2 centers combine for 5 rebounds for an entire game, I’d say there is some valid reason to be concerned. In my opinion, it’s silly not to be concerned given our historic difficulties in rebounding in conjunction with the youth we have in the frontcourt. Just my take though
@umichbball: What a beautiful experience we had today touring the Vatican. Simply amazing. #ForzaBlu
Ricky Doyle is a large human being…man that kid is big
He is standing on his toes in that picture, this makes him look like a monster
Good catch, I was thinking to myself this kid has to be bigger than 6’9
Good points regarding Doyle. For me this trip will give us a good picture of where he stands today and where he can improve. Good to see he was scoring but need to see how he can handle the next tier of talent on the glass. We should know by the end of the week where he needs work. The good news for the team is they have 3 months to get better.
I believe I read somewhere that it is more the big mans responsibility to clear the glass, and that it may be more optimal to have the guards grab the rebound in order to quickly start the fast break. Now I understand it is completely ludicrous to not tell a big man to rebound, but maybe there are times when a big lets a for sure rebound go to the guard rather than himself, especially the way the current backcourt rebounds, and how well Derrick and Caris can push.
Just by watching the practice footage, it seemed like Ricky was pretty physical, and at the very least would do a good job locating his man and boxing out. Maybe his instincts in pursuit of the ball are not incredibly great at this point, but he does have good strength and length that you should think atleast in theory he would be a decent area rebounder.
I am referring more to something I read in regards to this Michigan team, not big men in general.
He’ll be a fine contributor once he adjusts to the speed of the game.
Worth noting on the video: The 1st and 3rd quarters aren’t included and Michigan outscored them 64-26 in those two quarters.
Liked the ball movement. Liked that Doyle finished with slams instead of lay-ups. MAAR looks like he plays aggressively on man D. Poor competition, but we seemed to be in sync offensively.
My initial impressions from the film:
Have to admit Doyle looks much more comfortable out there in relation to Donnal, at least on offense. Can’t put my finger on it, but it just seems like Doyle plays with more purpose than Marc, just much more aggressive. I like that he’s trying to dunk everything around the rim.
Irvin - I think most of us were thinking it - handle doesn’t really look improved. Looks as though he’ll be capable of straight line drives off shot fakes but I wouldn’t expect to see Zak running PnR any time soon.
Kam - man has his conditioning and physique improved. I know he isn’t the quickest guy around, but he certainly looked improved with his lateral agility. Absolutely love his versatility, can score and create from nearly any spot on the floor. His shoot looks a lot like Micheal Redd - no elevation but the over the head type of release - hopefully it goes in at the same clip
Dawkins - I’ll have to temper my expectations of him on defense, didn’t seem to move all that well laterally and looked a bit tentative on D in general.
MAAR - really a fan of his, he’s a very aggressive player from that limited film. Moved well laterally on D as well. I think he’s the hidden gem of this 14 class
Caris - his ability to change direction is great, you can tell he’s still rounding into game shape with the air balls and some bad shot selection. Looked good on D though
The last two years, the team seemed to be solid for the most part in rebounding. They really only got exposed against Kentucky’s massive front line. Did a pretty solid job against teams like Tennessee and Texas.
It is possible, however, that neither big men is as good a rebounder as Jon, Jordan, or Mitch. However, if Zak’s rebounding really does improve and Kam can become as solid a rebounder as he is reported to be, the team could be the best at rebounding at positions 1-4 that we have seen under Belein. Hopefully, Ricky shuts us up next game.
It is possible, however, that neither big men is as good a rebounder as Jon, Jordan, or Mitch.
I would say that’s likely at this point. There’s going to be a lot of responsibility for guys like Zak, Caris, Derrick and Kam to get on the glass and clean up opposing misses.
I’ll tell you what, if Ricky stays for Camp Sanderson next year and adds 4-5 inches to his vertical, he would be an absolute monster. Would essentially be a much more skilled version of Kaleb T from UA. Only 1 game, but I think I may have underestimated Big Rick
I'll tell you what, if Ricky stays for Camp Sanderson next year and adds 4-5 inches to his vertical, he would be an absolute monster. Would essentially be a much more skilled version of Kaleb T from UA. Only 1 game, but I think I may have underestimated Big Rick
You mentioned Chatman’s physical improvement… Doyle has made a massive leap too. We didn’t see as much footage of him, but people forget that he was on campus all summer working out with Jon Sanderson. He’s made a huge leap in his body. He mentioned before that he’s down to 12% body fat from 18% in the spring. It shows.
Yeah I mentioned in the photos from the open practice than Rick looked ripped in relation to Donnal, who doesn’t appear to be in the best shape. This may be a classic case of one guy wanting it more than the other, only time will tell.
Mostly impressed by Kam and Caris, and think that Spike improved a little bit as well.
Kam’s ahtleticism and length looked good in comparison to how I thought he was before. Will never be an explosive leaper but thought his motor was running, and his feet didn’t look slow at all. Better laterally than I expected.
MAAR can carve out a niche as a defensive stopper. Has the potential to be a starter down the road with improved handle and jumper.
Irvin still seems like mostly a shot maker. Needs to play off his shot and attack closeouts.
Ball movement and unselfishness was great to watch. Not worried that some of the passes definitely need to be tightened up. Looks like the type of competeition they would play in their exhibitions.