2015-16 Michigan Basketball: Jabrill May See Time at SG (unconfirmed)

WayBackVazquez

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Season (sorta) starts Friday with a friendly against Le Moyne, coached by Beilein's son Patrick.
 
Basically everyone coming back from last year, including LeVert and Derrick Walton, whose injuries in January pretty much sealed last year's team's fate. This is a very deep, but undersized team. In terms of "bigs," 6'9" sophomore Ricky Doyle showed some promise on the glass last year, but was inconsistent offensively. 6'9" junior Mark Donnal hasn't shown much in his limited playing time.
 
As far as intriguing newcomers, we're finally going to get to see what if anything 6'8" Governor's Academy and Exeter product Duncan Robinson can bring to the table after sitting out last year following his transfer from Williams College, where he was D3 freshman of the year. He's long, and will play anywhere from the 2 to a 4, and the talk is his shooting is in the same league as Stauskas. Moritz Wagner from Germany is 6'10" and probably a project. He may play some against Le Moyne before JB makes a decision about his redshirt.
 
Preseason Polls: AP #25; Coaches UR (#26).
 

Zososoxfan

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If there's a better fit for UM Basketball, I don't know who it is. I am thrilled that Beilein will essentially be spending the rest of his coaching career here. One thing I don't understand though, is how he consistently under recruits bigs. His guards and wings are always top notch, but other than McGary, have there been any notable bigs in A2 under Beilein (Doyle has potential, but is still only in his 2nd year at the program)? I get that Beilein uses a smaller lineup than most teams, but this seems to be an issue with all of his teams (again, the Jordan Morgan/McGary year(s) a notable exception).
 

WayBackVazquez

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McGary's a pretty big exception, and true big men don't grow on trees. But we've had smallers bigs like Morgan, Horford, and DeShawn Sims who've done the job. This will always be a 3-point shooting team under Beilein, so I'm sure that makes it tough to recruit elite bigs, as well.
 

WayBackVazquez

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Duncan Robinson had 15 and LeVert looked good scoring 22 in the exhibition last night. Wagner got limited PT and had a couple of points and a few rebounds.
 

WayBackVazquez

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Pulled away last night to beat Elon last night, 88-68. Dominant effort by Walton 25-6-7. Duncan had 19 points on 6-6 shooting from the field (5 threes and a dunk).

Xavier in A2 on Friday.
 

WayBackVazquez

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Pretty interesting article on Jon Sanderson, Michigan's S&C coach today. The increases in vertical leap are something, but the most exciting part about all this is that Coach B and Sanderson are incorporating these ideas into the recruiting process by identifying players who are likely to benefit greatly from the program. Some real Moneyball stuff that is probably one of many factors that explains players in this program frequently outperforming their recruiting profiles.
 

WayBackVazquez

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Really disappointing performance tonight. Xavier dominated this game from nearly start to finish. Unusual to see this team so out-hustled, and defense could really be a problem in a very tough Big Ten. This team won't win too many games if Walton is a complete no show. At least LeVert is still the man; hope he's not going to have to play Superman every night.
 

Clears Cleaver

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LeVert is really f'n good. Rest of the team played like crap tonight. I would pay to watch LV, kid does everything exceptionally well
 

WayBackVazquez

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Time to focus on this team for the next month at least. Good win over Texas yesterday. Mo Wagner may be able to play at this level.
 

WayBackVazquez

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Very nice road win over NC State, 66-59. Another good game (17 points) for Duncan.

On the downside, Walton twisted an ankle and missed most of the game.
 

trotsplits

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I was at the NC State game last night. Not the best college environment but probably a good tournament venue sim: big arena against a bubble team with relatively quiet fans.

On the downside, Walton twisted an ankle and missed most of the game.
LaVert looked pretty good filling in for Walton in the 2nd half. Doesn't sound like the Walton injury is serious.
 

Zososoxfan

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HUGE win last night at home over #3 Maryland. This team has been a bit quixotic thus far this season, with no great wins, but only losing to good teams. Last night's result was a resume builder and provided the season plays out somewhat as expected, should get them into the tourney.
 

WayBackVazquez

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Solid road win over a feisty Nebraska team in front of a fired up crowd in Lincoln. I'm really pleased with the way this team has taken care of business (4-2) with LeVert out. Looking very good for a tournament spot.
 

Zososoxfan

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Welp, that game was great for 12 minutes before it completely fell apart. Bad defense, bad offense, just an utter shitshow. I think the Caris injury is really going to start having a larger effect as the team heads into the meat of the schedule. Need more talent and athleticism on the floor.
 

WayBackVazquez

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HUGE win over Purdue yesterday pushes UM off the safeish side of the bubble back into lock territory for the time being. Caris came back yesterday, but looked very tentative in the first half, was held scoreless, and sat out the second. Let's hope his body responds well and he's good to go for the stretch run.

This is a very strange team, but should be a fun ride to watch next month.
 

WayBackVazquez

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LeVert has shut it down for the season (and career), and this team is probably going to end up on the wrong side of the bubble.
 

Zososoxfan

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I have an irrational love for Levert's game, so I am super sad this is how his college career ended. I still expect him to get drafted towards the bottom of the first round and hopefully he can land in a good spot.

As for UM's tourney chances, it will likely take a win over Iowa and the opening round of the BTT, or 2 BTT wins to get in. I do not like our chances.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Jan 15, 2004
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I have an irrational love for Levert's game, so I am super sad this is how his college career ended. I still expect him to get drafted towards the bottom of the first round and hopefully he can land in a good spot.

As for UM's tourney chances, it will likely take a win over Iowa and the opening round of the BTT, or 2 BTT wins to get in. I do not like our chances.
Chiming in to jump on the LeVert bandwagon. I love this kids game at the next level where his length for his position along with quick first step and versatility really should play well.

My NBA comp for him is Marquis Daniels and Caris would be an ideal replacement for Evan Turner on the Celtics with one of our later 1st round picks on a rookie contract as opposed to the $8-11m per Turner will get in FA from someone.

Also note that Ainge went to the Ohio State-Michigan game for two days and it surely wasn't to sit in the stands to watch Evan Turner's jersey retirement speech as the locals reported. I believe it was to spend time around Caris' people and find out more about his foot.
 

Granite Sox

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Yep... A lot of hate poured over this team. Irritating, as they emerged as the #42 seed despite Gottlieb et al crushing them for much of the past week. I look at conferences like the AAC, ACC (Duke a 4 seed? They're lucky to make the tournament) and others that suck as bad or worse than the B1G.

Gotta believe we can win this play-in game and have something left in the tank for ND, no?

Go Blue!
 

sachmoney

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Tim Thomas' Bunker
Spike has been granted a grad transfer. Obviously, I wish him the best of luck. I do wonder how much he has left with these multiple hip surgeries. I feel strongly that if this is his dream, he should go for it though. Your window is limited and you've got to play while you can. It's been really disappointing to not see as much of him these last two years.
 

Granite Sox

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Also announced today that Ricky Doyle is transferring. Injuries and issues with sleep apnea led to declining play this year.

Good luck to both Spike and Ricky.
 

sachmoney

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Hopefully, Doyle gets some sleep during his redshirt year. I actually was a big fan of his, but I didn't watch much of this year and I know that he's been a source of frustration. The Doyle transfer "solves" the scholarship problem with four guys coming in.
 

troparra

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Spike has been granted a grad transfer. Obviously, I wish him the best of luck. I do wonder how much he has left with these multiple hip surgeries. I feel strongly that if this is his dream, he should go for it though. Your window is limited and you've got to play while you can. It's been really disappointing to not see as much of him these last two years.
What is going on with Albrecht's transfer? Mike Greenberg was just going off on it on Mike & Mike - http://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2016/04/01/michigan-spike-albrecht-mike-greenberg/82507230/

I caught the early part of his rant before I got to work, but according to the article above, Greenberg is taking issue with a graduate of a university being told: 1) there is no spot for him left on the team and 2) to which universities he can and can't transfer.
He calls this hypocritical of Michigan because Jake Rudock was a grad transfer from Iowa who was the starting QB on Michigan's football team without sitting out a year.
 

sachmoney

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I'm not really sure what's going on as far as Spike wanting to play another year or getting pushed out. He has missed the majority of the last two seasons with hip injuries, and it was thought that his career is over. Again, I don't know how effectively he can play, but I fully support him attempting to continue his career.

As far as how Michigan has handled the transfer, I know that Beilein was not happy with Bielfeldt going to Indiana this year. This is seen as the primary reason that he had put restrictions on Spike and Doyle. He has since removed those restrictions.
Regardless, it has been handled extremely poorly. I think it's a combination of poor roster management and injury/underperformance of star players. There was a lot of turnover with Trey, THJ and the Fresh Five, but players that you had expected to go pro like Walton, Levert, and Irvin have not progressed as anticipated. Chatman hasn't been as good as advertised. It's just been one big kerfuffle these last 2 years.
 

Average Reds

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Greenberg is a hyperventilating, smug asshole who doesn't understand 90% of what he's talking about. He wouldn't recognize a clue if he collided with one at 80mph on the highway with the top down.

Notwithstanding that reality, he's absolutely right. Michigan acted indefensibly.

It's not like Beilein to be an ass about these things. Glad he came to his senses.
 
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