If DeJulius can’t beat out Brooks, that’s not a good omen.
Patience young Jedi.
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I don’t see how that would necessarily be a bad omen. It’s not like a freshman to sophomore explosion from a Beilein PG is exactly rare. The only ones who really haven’t were Walton and Grady, the former catching the injury bug his sophomore year and the latter being potentially a developmental failure, but perhaps just being too focused on wanting to play football the next year.
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A player has to perform in GAMES, but practice time is very important. Not only do players build upon their skills and develop new ones, especially with our coaching staff, but practice is where players EARN playing time. To be perfectly honest, whenever Beilein speaks, I listen.
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I’m with you, ole silver one. I posted yesterday that I expect Brooks to take the biggest leap of anyone for the coming season. He has talent, but had to make a big adjustment coming out of high school to D1 level. Fans tend to write off players based on their freshmen year, even after seeing the dramatic improvement if Simpson and Teske this year.
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Some thoughts here on what’s been discussed…
If I had to bet I say Moe leaves but I don’t think it’s a lock. I think he understands that he may likely go second round at this point, so there’s no guarantee for him. One more year of college likely doesn’t push him into the first round but I don’t think it hurts him much either. I think he is what he is at this point. I think he’ll have a better NBA career than DJ Wilson.
Matthews isn’t even close. Very good defender but nowhere near the shooter he needs to be at that level and really needs to develop his handles as well. I don’t think he will be able to get to the basket as easily at the next level and without those skills he’s never going to make it.
I think we really struggle early next year to find our offense (like most years) especially if Moe leaves. That’s arguably our three best shooters on a poor Michigan shooting team. I think Poole can be a big part of the offense but I have major concerns about him defensively. I really like our freshman class too but they’re still going to take time.
I can’t pinpoint what it is but I still think Brooks is going to be a decent option for us. I know he’s a bit undersized but Dejulius really is a scoring guard. I can see him playing at the 2 as long as he doesn’t struggle against taller guys guarding him. I think Johns is a future NBA player so my expectations for him are very high and Iggy should contribute right away as well.
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I know most folks on here are agreeing that Matthews isnt ready for the NBA, but we all expect him to declare without an agent still right?
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Watson is the guy who could seemingly come out of nowhere next year. Phenomenal leaper, excellent looking shot, strong work ethic. If he develops his handle, continues to mature, he could surprise many, including me. I would love to see it
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I recall that it was JMo that gave the scouting report on Donnal’s performances in practice.
Yeah, Charles wants to get to the NBA. He thought he was a one and done. No-brainer for him to try and get to the combine and get evaluated. However, I’m not convinced he’ll end up getting an invite. 67 players invited to the combine last year. Is he a top 67 American prospect right now?
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“He’s becoming a force,” Morgan said. “He’s hard to guard down there in the post, and he’s definitely come a long way.
“Over the past couple months, he’s just become really good. Really dominates, shoots the ball well.”
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Could be. I only remember Beilein commented on Bielfeldt “not guardable” in practice, had to be an exaggeration but unlike Donnal who never panned out, Bielfeldt was named all BIG sixth man of the year eventually. I don’t see Beilein’s comments on Eli all silver lining.
To be fair, I bet Donnal did look great in practice. His problem wasn’t talent, it was timidness and passiveness. He had the tools to be a very good player. He just always got gun shy in games.
When he wanted to play assertive and confident, he was pretty good. I fully remember his game at Maryland when they almost pulled the big upset.
In Eli’s case, Beilein has mentioned multiple times it is indeed confidence with him.
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I hope one of the skills that gets developed in next year’s team is the ability to feed the bigs. Yes, part of this comes from my standing in the Austin Davis fan club, but this has been a problem for a while, both in the ability to feed the roll man and to feed a big in the post.
If teams are going to think that switching everyone on D is poison for Michigan’s offense, you have to be able to identify the mismatch and feed the post in a way where the big can go to work or kick it out once the defense collapses.
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Ball handling, play making, consistency and defense are all still things he can improve next year that would impact his draft stock. He’s gotten much better as a passer and if he could add a drive and kick to his patented behind the back move that would be good. I mean, everyone but Nick Ward knows it’s coming and will start to collapse on it. Showing the ability to have counters would serve him well.
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Not only are post-ups viewed as inefficient in today’s game, but we don’t really have personnel that I would consider to be proficient at posting up (Teske and Davis).
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One thing to remember about Austin Davis is that he’s pretty young, especially for a big man. He’s still only 19, just 20 days older than Livers, a full fourteen months younger than Teske. He still might have some development ahead.
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We just have no one good at it.
Note that I’m not talking about Teske posting up Haarms, I’m talking about Teske posting up Clayton Custer.
Teams are also most likely not going to switch pick and rolls with Teske or Davis, FWIW.
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