Does the position really matter? You have to replace Zak Irvin and Derrick Walton so there’s obviously minutes available.
If you bring in a guy that’s more of a two-guard but can create offense, there’s probably still a spot for him to play big minutes, right?
I am all for signing him up. Even if Matthews starts, Alstork will push him.
I’m sorry to put it this way. People may not want to take what I say seriously regarding Matthews since I know him personally, he’s starting and playing 30+ minutes a game. He was a top 20 prospect at one point for a reason. He’s going to be a great player for us.
I’m right there with you. I think with CM and if Moe/DJ come back, Michigan may have one of, if not the, best 3-5 in the country.
That’s why I think the only starting position open is PG, if they would even go that route. Like what was mentioned above though, if the transfer is good enough they’ll get the minutes. I just think the starting 5 is set in stone, from there yeah definitely the minutes are all in question.
Wow this kid is very very good. The donlon connection has me giddy. If I’m belein I got donlon on the phone telling him look if moe passes your in and you offer him immediately, this kid is a game changer.
I love Maar as those on this board who follow know. I’d have to say this kid is probably better off those highlights. Hes also superior to Duncan. His skill set might be a better fit then maars , unless MAar really improves his handle and outside shooting. They shot the same percentage but this kids shot is superior. Looks like he’s hitting much tougher threes at a greater rate. He really would be a great fit between x and and Mathews.
I really want this kid. As much as I love bamba in terms of need this kids skill set is very important and what we need. Jordan or ibi would redshirt and Brooks maybe too. Their not passing this kid.
I tell MAar to really work on his handle heavy and I think you rotate MAar x and this kid 24-30 minutes for all three with Maar playing pg 15 minutes a game. MAar and him 28 and x 24 a game. Ball handlers can be interchangeable in beleins system as we saw over the years. Late in the clock you could have this guy running the p n r alongside MAar when x is out. Seriously guys if donlon pulled this off for us all our question marks for the season are pretty much answered. Really big run could occur.
I’m very impressed . he could take us to the next step. His perimeter shooting and perimeter shot creation is exactly what we need. Big ten champ contenders with this addition . I’m that excited. B
I agree but this kid is superior from what I see on these highlight reels. I’m the president of the MAar fan club but this kid is straight up one of the best scorers in the country off this film.He can score from every possible way you can imagine.
I love Mathews too and I think he’s gonna be a star but I wonder if he is ready for this kid either, he could very well come in and be the best wing we have.
When you add up the fact that perimeter shooting and perimeter shot creators might be our weak point then this guy could be the solution and starter. Pair him with Mathews or MAar and our rosters balance is greater. I mean wow would we be dangerous.
X/elit
Maar/alvork/jordan
Mathews/Duncan / ibi.
Dj/livers
Moe/teske/ davis
Honestly adding this kid would mean a bunch of guys should redshirt. Teske, ibi, Eli or Jordan maybe both. I could see guys transferring or being quite bitter. Maybe even livers. Man we’d be very very good. All the belein haters would really look stupid. He can’t recruit? That roster is filthy.
Then we got three 18s plus a handful of red shirts. We’d have like 7 guys in that 18 class lol.
I really want to disagree with you on MAAR playing more than 1-2 min per game as our nominal pg, and I still think it’s unlikely; but we did play stu Douglass there a decent amount and he wasn’t a blow you away ball handler or passer. So I guess it’s possible.
No one redshirts 4 guys in college Bball. I hope our scholarship guys want to play and compete. I’d be disappointed if anyone other than Teske was a planned redshirt. Then only bc of the development timeline for bigs, we also haven’t seen Davis play at all.
Sounds like Michigan could be an option if the NBA draft process doesn’t work out for him. Probably looking at mid May anyway till the roster is sorted out with current players potentially testing the draft waters, Bamba’s decision and then grad transfer moves.
“I’m really taking it as I’m going to the NBA draft and NBA team workouts and potentially get signed or get drafted that’s what I’m going to do,” he told the Free Press Tuesday. “But if not, I just want to have my options open and that’s why I got my release papers.”
“Oh definitely, I’d look at Michigan,” Alstork said, repeating if the NBA wasn’t going to work out this year. “I know they’re a high major, I know they made it to the (Sweet 16). As soon as we were out, I told everybody, I’m (rooting) for Coach D, I’m going for Michigan and I know Derrick Walton and Zak Irvin.”
Given that Alstork is also waiting after his NBA workout, looks like a real possibility if we miss on Bamba. Both he and Cam Johnson, would be a wonderful addition to the team.
The position potentially gives us an idea of where the coaches think minutes could be available and how comfortable they feel about the current players. If they’re not going after a PG, then it could mean either that the coaches are pretty confident about X and the freshmen and less so about the SG spot or that they think MAAR could play some minutes at PG. Of course it’s all speculation.
I guess my point is that what a guy does on the court (create off the pick and roll vs. catch and shoot vs. whatever else) is the important part rather than what actual position he plays. The void that Michigan has to fill doesn’t necessarily have to be tied to a spot.
You could fill the things people think of as a ‘point guard’ with an ‘off guard’ and still make the whole thing work.
Absolutely. Like in Derrick’s freshman year, he was the PG but Nik and Caris did a lot of the PG things. Alstork, for instance, could come in and create off the PnR and shoot. DJ could be a creator/facilitator next year. So could Matthews.
But Alstork did have an assist/TO ratio of under one last year. Is he going to replace all of Walton’s responsibilities if he shares a backcourt with MAAR? They could be more evenly split or other players could take them on (although we’re also losing some from Zak’s position too).
In other words, it doesn’t matter which position is doing the PG things. But there needs to be enough players who can do PG things, especially in Beilein’s system, and there’s some necessity in having backcourt players with sufficient PG skills (press-breaking, etc.).
Cam Johnson seems to be a perfect fit that shores up the main weakness of the roster. He can shoot, rebound, and pass, and can play both 2-3. I don’t see him starting, but he can easily be the first off the bench to spare either MAAR, X (with MAAR sliding to one), and Matthews. With our roster right now, either Brooks, Poole or Ibi Watson has to play even they are not ready, and there is really no ideal option to backup Matthews at 3.
Cam wants to be part a team that has good chances of winning next year, and our returning roster is very solid except some uncertainty at backcourt, which clearly presents 15-25 minutes playing time for him.
With a 3.9 GPA, he seems to be the guy that Beilein will go after.
What weakness does he shore up?
Admittedly I have not watched much Pitt basketball this past season, but his stats & bio sheet seem to profile similarly to Duncan Robinson. Volume 3pt shooter who hit over 40% in ACC play. Stats would indicate a better rebounder than Duncan?
That type of profile wouldn’t be the worst way to use a scholarship for 2017-18 & 2018-19.
But for 2017-18 it still wouldn’t answer UM’s concerns about proven level of play from the PG position.
I don’t know, I think a guard who can create for himself and others is just such a glaring hole on the roster in terms of sure things that I think he’d be a backup to the backup options. That being said, I wouldn’t be upset if we did land him.
Johnson is graduating at the end of this semester, so he is eligible next season as a Grad Transfer — but still has 2 seasons of eligibility remaining instead of one.
From the Pitt press release
The Moon Township, Pa., native will earn his degree in three years at Pitt and have two season of eligibility remaining after receiving a medical redshirt for the 2014-15 season
cam johson is better than robinson.
He basically looks like a Duncan Robinson clone to me by the base numbers. Looks to be a bit more athletic and a little bigger, but don’t see him as a big PNR threat or anything like that.
Played significantly more minutes and made three more twos than Duncan in conference play. Defensive rebounding rate does appear to be a slight uptick. Seems like a guy you take if DJ goes pro to have an additional option at the four, but if not… I’m not sure.
Maybe Johnson is better defensively than Robinson? I haven’t watched Pitt so I don’t know. But a Duncan clone that is good at defense generally sounds pretty good. And that’s the kind of redundancy that can be useful – it’s not like having two back to the basket posts that need to be in the same spot.
The two-year eligibility is interesting. On the one hand, two years of a Duncan clone that plays better defense sounds pretty appealing with no year lost to having to sit out. On the other hand, you start having to assume that DJ or Mo are gone for '18 (or someone else leaves) to get to even a three-man class. But that’s probably not going out too far on a limb.
In the end I’d be a little surprised if it happened, especially if DJ stays. It’s probably not option 1 for us, and on the flip-side, he’ll have lots of options and given our roster we might not be option 1 for him…
