Why do you say that? White is a very good shooter and a pretty good rebounder, but in the games I saw (and in the opinion of NBA scouts), he’s a minus defender who doesn’t create either for himself or teammates. Remember when we used to laugh about Zak Irvin’s 13 assists in 568 minutes as a freshman reserve before he learned to pass the ball? Well, Irvin looked like John Stockton that year compared to White, who had 20 assists last year in 1,010 minutes as a fourth year junior. 20 assists. For the season. For the guy who played the most minutes on his team.
To me, White is another shooter without other aspects to his game. I don’t think he’s as good, as talented, or as versatile as Irvin or Walton. A pretty good player, yes, and if there was no baggage, I’d want him a lot, but he’s not special in anything other than shooting from 3, and based upon the article Dylan linked, there is some definite baggage there.
White averaged 16 and 6 per game last year on 48% overall shooting from the floor and 41% from three. In comparison, Irvin scored 11 a game last year on 40% from the field and 29% from three. Walton scored 11 per game and shot 37% from the field and 38% from three. The biggest problem with our team last year in my opinion was the inefficient and inconsistent scoring from our top two players. White is a great shooter but more importantly he is a high usage, high efficiency scorer.
Agreed there is definite baggage there, and he is not as versatile as Walton or Irvin have shown. But he would instantly be the most talented natural scorer on the team, something we were sorely lacking once Caris went down last year
On paper, I’d be all for White. Guy can fill it up and would pencil into a position of need. He’s not a creator for others, but he can rebound pretty well.
If Michigan were interested and he took the bait what would be his first reaction after blowing a couple of defensive assignments and JB planted his but on the bench (see Aubrey Dawkins). Has some skills but do we need another non defender on the team.
Lol, as if Beilein benches someone everytime they miss a defensive assignment. White would play 30+ minutes on our team and it’s ridiculous that people are trying to downplay him because there’s a zero percent chance he comes here.
I wouldn’t draw that much from assist numbers Robinson who played similar minutes only averaged 1 more assist per game than White. I would definitely entertain the idea of having White here even though it’s extremely unlikely. Give me talent and let the players/coaches figure it out. Considering how inconsistent Robinson/Walton/Irvin were getting a player like White would be a coup.
This sounds like a Horford type situation where the family has super high expectations. I think he would fit the team well from a basketball standpoint, but he doesn’t seem like a Belein type kid, based on those reports.
There were 28 starting Big Ten forwards last year–2 per team. White’s average assists per game ranked 28th out of 28. This includes guys who played vastly fewer minutes per game, guys who played on teams which couldn’t score, and guys who were relied upon to be inside scorers and not to pass the ball at all. They also include Shavon Shields on his own team, who led the team in scoring per game and yet averaged about 4 1/2 times as many assists per game as did White.
I said White is a pretty good player and he is because of his ability to shoot and rebound, and that absent baggage (which he appears to have), I’d go after him. However, to think that a guy who doesn’t create for himself and never creates for others would be a coup seems stretching things. Sometimes statistics lie. But when you have over 1,000 minutes in a season with 20 assists, and you rank dead last in the league in assists per game, drawing from those statistics the conclusion that you are purely a gunner on the offensive end seems pretty clear to me.
But the most important question is: is he better than the alternatives? Is he better than leaving the scholarship open? Yes. Is he better than taking a 2016 project? Yes. Is he better than the other “potential” grad transfers? In my opinion, yes. I think it is safe to say that he is both a better-than-average player, but also a better-than-average fit for our scheme and need(wings/small-ball 4). Looking at him for what he is: a stop-gap for 2016, rather than looking at him in a vacuum, I think shows that we should be happy to take him.
The baggage is the wildcard, and that’s still a lot of speculation at this point. This all also rests on the caveat that he would have interest in us.
Not saying I fully subscribe to this, but can at least give it some credence… one devils advocate argument for the empty chair is that White not coming gives minutes to players (DJ for example) who may be stronger contributors in 2017 b/c of it. there is absolutely no way to know if this is true, but I’d be hesitant unless he ups us to something like a guaranteed second weekend team. Maybe he would if he culturally fits. Maybe Wilson hasn’t shown he deserves that protection…?
One thing I hope to see next year is much better ball movement. Not everyone can dribble with both hands, not everyone can get their own shot, not everyone knows what to do when action breaks down, but everyone can keep the ball moving, and if our correlation on assisted 2s to wins holds, then the number of passes probably does as well. Not a comment on White, but the 28th/28 did raise an eyebrow on that front.
(and i’d be happier with any one of you playing for a year before using a 4y “reach” scholarship on the 16 slot, so i think we all agree that would be the worst outcome)
On the other hand right now the current situation Michigan is in. Irvin struggled at times, was up and down and didn’t take to big minutes. He was coming off an injury but there’s no guarantee he can sustain a good performance level at 30+ minutes per night. You’re now left with Wilson a guy that hasn’t shown the ability to play at the B1G level and Ibi who hasn’t even had a practice with Michigan. If Irvin struggles again or even gets hurt Michigan is really hurting. I don’t worry about that 28th out of 28th. If we looked at it that way Michigan probably had the 7th or 8th best PG in the conference but there are still big fans of Walton out there.
