Way too early top 25 for 2013-14
I finally calmed down enough to muster the motivation to see what ESPN had to say about the game, and it appears that Jason King and crew wasted no time and have already put out a way way too early and pointless top 25. Kentucky, Louisville and MSU are the top 3, and U of M comes in unranked. As expected, he points to the probable departures of Trey, Timmy and GRIII, and the increasing possibility of Mitch taking off as well:
"If all four of the Wolverines underclassmen enter the draft, it's likely Michigan will enter next season unranked. That's how I see the situation playing out, which is why Michigan didn't make the cut for next season's early Top 25."
After this year's wild ride, it will be weird heading into a season without the lofty expectations we briefly became accustomed to, but I'm already getting excited and am ready to embrace the underdog role again (assuming all of the departing 4 do in fact leave). Spike showed tonight that he can have spurts of dominance when needed, Stauskas can only get better, we have 2 veteran big men returning, and Caris with a few pounds added could be one heck of a force. To add to that, Mr. King seems to have forgotten that Beilein knows how to recruit guys that can make an immediate impact and that we have a heck of a class coming in with Irvin, Walton and Donnal.
I can't wait. Go Blue.
ESPN is dumb, and we should ignore all of this until we know our roster's status.
THJ needs to come back. He was good this year but i just dont think he is ready.
If he comes back great, but it's not to get better. It's to lead and get his degree.
THJ was lightyears better this year than he was last year. The fact that he could even get the ball up the floor vs. VCU and L'ville showed this.
His game was A LOT better this year, he just struggled shooting late in the year.
He's reached his ceiling, now is definitely the time for him to go if he wants to maximize his draft stock. That said, he may not care about that as much as coming back for one more year.
He's not going to KILL his stock by coming back, but he's not going to get drafted in the 1st round next year either. He'll be Jon Diebler, Kyle Singler, etc.
McGary later said that he didnt mean that he was for sure coming back next year. He is going to make a decision in the coming weeks. I think after the hype of the tourney wears off there will not be so much buzz about him being a lottery pick. Does he leave early and get picked late first/early second round or stay another year and cement himself as a lottery pick? McGary, GRIII, and Tim should all return (it is understandable if Tim leaves though). Trey needs to go pro.
Watched the postgame locker room vids at UM Hoops (Stauskas was SO SAD, you guys). Based on them, I'd actually lean towards everyone who is not Trey being back.
Glenn was sort of definitive about it and then said he'll talk about it when appropriate, but was referring to next year's team with an implication he'll be on it. It seems like his gut instinct is another year.
Mitch still seems like he'll be back. And since he can probably play his way into the lottery if he does the things he did the last three weeks for an extended period, that makes sense.
Tim said that in addition to the coaches and family, he'd be talking to his teammates about his decision. I choose to believe that's a good sign.
Trey said nothing, and is the only one of the four who should absolutely go pro and go make his money as a lottery pick right now.
Mitch has since backed off of that statement.
Keep in mind that he is a year and a half older than most freshman, and by the time the next NBA season starts he'll be 21. It might benefit him to leave early if he gets a solid 1st round grade, or higher.
A lot of the mock draft websites have him as a top 10 pick for 2014, which is a stronger class, so I would assume he leaves if the evaluations come anywhere close to that.
GRIII could use another year, but it seems like he's a lottery pick, so he'll probably go.
Still, if only Burke and Hardaway go pro, I think that sets us up nicely for next year. Walton and Irvin can come in and essentially step into Burke and Hardaway's spots (although, I think Spike and Caris will have something to say about that).
If they come in as advertised, we could just re-load. Granted, it's impossible to replace Burke, and Hardaway is not easy to replace either, but it definitely wouldn't be a doomsday scenario. Far from it.
Again, Mitch backed off on that statement a little bit. http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2013/04/michigans_mitch_mcgar…
This is stupidity. ESPN at its finest.
Lol at Iowa and VCU being ranked higher than Michigan.
I dunno how their incoming class is, but Iowa is going to be a really solid team next year. I thought that was obvious the way they played down the stretch and they were really good in the NIT.
Definitely a tournament team. Not better than us though.
I'll take McCaffrey over Amaker any day.
they're ranked #23 in KenPom. They're much better than most people think, but their lack of quality wins and weak non-conference schedule doomed them. They are definitely a top 25 team next year.
btw,CBS has us as a final four team next year.
Not sure what they have been watching. I've watched Mcgary, Spike, and even Levert become impressive contributors in this tournament run. I have no reason to think this is the ceiling for them individually. Kentucky has shown that teams can go from champion to NIT, but I don't see that with this team. They are similar teams in terms of age, but Michigan should keep half of their underclassmen, while bringing in some solid players. I'll remember this team for the rest of my life, and I couldn't be more proud. I can't imagine being more happy after a national championship loss.
i would be stunned if this team is not in the ncaa tourney next year.
Looking over their top 25, I can see 15 or 16 teams that shouldn't be projected ahead of Michigan even if we lose several players to the pros. It's idiotic.
Michigan will have a returning PG who had a stellar tourney and has an incoming PG who's rated in the top 50. We have a returning SG who is one of the top 5 or so shooters in the country - and he's not just a shooter. We'll have at least three of our bigs coming back and have another top 100 big coming in. We also will have another guard (Levert) who's shown flashes of great potential as a freshman. We also have another wing player coming in who's Indiana's Mr. Basketball and rated in the top 20-25. That's a stellar 9-deep rotation. And that's assuming everybody (Burke, McGary, GR III and THJ) who can go pro actually leaves.
Of course, the media's recap of the championship game is equally idiotic. There's no mention of the Burke block or other major refs screw ups which were the difference in the game. Instead, the storyline is Louisville "outshot and outfought" Michigan. Of course, it didn't. The refs were the difference. But that doesn't make a nice storyline, does it?
Scott Gleeson over at USA Today puts us at #24 - full list (HERE). He does qualify it, however, with a statement which somewhat similar to King's in that his ranking could change based on who actually departs in the coming weeks. His blurb:
"We'll know in the next few days if this is too high or too low for the Wolverines. What if Trey Burke, Mitch McGary, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Glenn Robinson III opt for another season in Ann Arbor? Then we're looking at the preseason No. 1. It's safer to expect at least three of the underclassmen to opt for the draft, leaving Michigan in somewhat of a rebuilding mode after this year's trip to the championship game."
If nothing else, at least columnists have the courtesy to use phrases like "way too early". Obviously, the fewer departures, the more underrated we would be at #24 by Gleeson's figuring, but I sort of like the underdog role. After all, when Burke decided to come back, as I recall, one of his primary reasons was that he wanted to help Michigan compete for a national title - I don't recall a lot of people in the national media making much of that statement. They seem to remember it this morning.
If Burke is the only guy that leaves, I still think that we are a lock for preaseason Top 5. Maybe #1. If it's just Burke and THJ, probably Top 10.
but Kentucky's incoming class seems scary good. They have like 7 of the top 10 players
So I'm confused, Jason King decided to go with both "ALL POTENTIAL MICHIGAN NBA PLAYERS GONE" and "NO POTENTIAL MSU NBA PLAYERS GONE" for his rankings?
WTF?
We'll be back, dont you worry about it.
Go Blue!
here is mine. Everybody come back and dominate the NCAA ;-)
College only comes around once and college is awesome for many reasons. NBA will be around forever.
Just my two cents
mcgary says he is staying, gr3 needs more time to develop, and i dont really think THJ is a very good nba prospect and he only has one more year until he gets his degree. i think all three stay and if they do we are a top 10 team.
pg- spike / walton
sg- THJ
sf- stauskas / irvin
pf- gr3
c- mcgary