Unverified Voracity Braces For Departure Comment Count

Brian

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ROAR [Allison Farrand/Daily]

SHERMAN'D. Congrats to Michigan wrestling, which took down #2 Minnesota over the weekend thanks to a dramatic OT win by heavyweight Adam Coon over Minnesota's two-time defending national champion Tony Nelson. Well done, sirs.

Meanwhile, Dave Brandon captured the most important part of the meet:

Kudos to you sir on your triumphant victory.

Well… that sounds not ideal. Michigan's been extraordinarily fortunate to have their supposedly-middling recruits blow up into NBA first-rounders (yes even if we assume that John Beilein is a crazy talent evaluation ninja), but also kind of sort of unfortunate that their super good players have been of the variety the NBA covets instead of terrific college players the pros are indifferent to, like McDermott/Payne/Craft/Berggren etc.

You thought Nik Stauskas might be one of those four year awesome guys, but… uh… you've probably seen him play of late. And unless Joe Dumars clones himself and gets himself appointed to every other NBA GM job, chances are the NBA will think he's pretty good. If they do, don't expect Stauskas to pull the McGary. From a recent SI profile on the most swag Canadian:

“He sees the brass ring, like three inches away from his nose,” [father] Paul Stauskas said. “He knows all he has to do is keep his nose to the grindstone for another couple of months, and there’s a really good possibility he might be able to go pro. He’s working really hard to achieve that.”

Can't begrudge the kid, obviously, but a Stauskas departure would leave Michigan a bit thin next year on the wings. Also they would not have Hypothetical Junior Nik Stauskas, which…

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The ideal is that the Uber-Loaded 2014 NBA Draft™ convinces Stauskas to return for one more year. I would brace for departure impact if Stauskas keeps doing what he's doing, though.

GRANDPA ASSASSIN. John Beilein's version of the Richard Sherman promo in the aftermath of the Wisconsin win:

"I don't care," the Michigan coach said Monday night, later adding, "It will be a good win if we have a great season." …

"Things that happen during the year, yeah, they’re cool and our guys like them. But where people are rated right now is such a projection. You can beat a team (that is) No. 1 in the country and by the end of the year, they might not even be in the top 25. So did you really beat the No. 1 team in the country?

"Here’s what it is: Any road win, I don’t care if we go to Concordia to play, is a quality, quality win. And (Wisconsin) was a quality win."

A requirement given Michigan's next two games. Me, I'm refreshing Kenpom every five minutes.

Tim Miles is okay by me. Nebraska picked up its first Big Ten win of the season last night, beating Ohio State at home. In the aftermath, Husker coach Tim Miles told BTN  that he should probably go jump around during his post-game interview, and then took a selfie with a fan on the court.

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Miles also has an entertaining-for-a-coach, actually-him twitter account and a Beilien-esque track record of success at smaller schools that led him to Nebraska. Viva Tim Miles. Viva Nebrasketball.

Lohan come back. Injured Michigan defenseman Kevin Lohan is badly needed with the Wolverines leaking goals and slipping in the pairwise. He should be back soon:

Right now, Lohan says he’s at about 90 percent — while the recovery process has been long and arduous, he’s progressing well ahead of schedule. On Nov. 5, Berenson said the injury was a “worst-case scenario” and that it would take at least three months until the defenseman had a chance to play again.

“He’s doing really well,” Berenson said. “He’s pretty close to going all-out.”

He won't play this weekend's series against MSU; the next week or the week after are targets for a return. Mike Spath reports that when he does come back, only Bennett, Downing, and Sinelli(!) are safe. This says much about the development, or lack thereof, from Clare and Serville.

Wisconsin takes. They come from the Daily, UMHoops, Maize and Brew, and MLive. Meanwhile, Fran McCaffery lays it on a teeny bit thick in the lead up to Wednesday's showdown with Iowa:

“If you look at John over the years, he’s one of the best coaches of our generation,” said McCaffery, who will bring Iowa to the Crisler Center on Wednesday. “And the numbers bear that out. He’s going to stick with his style of play. They play a certain way. They can beat you in halfcourt, they can beat you in transition, they’re going to guard you.

"His offense is really sound, it’s not easy to guard and he’s going to plug the people into those positions and he’s going to go to those guys."

Meanwhile, Beilein provided an informative update on what's going on with redshirting Mark Donnal:

"He’s increased his strength a great deal. He’s probably like Horford or Morgan as far as a rebounder. Great hands. But he’s so much stronger than he was. He’s country strong anyhow, I mean he’s strong. He’s gaining weight. The one thing he has, which I’m looking forward to coaching, is he can really shoot the ball. He can really pass the ball. When you have big men who can do that, it can really open up your offense. But this was absolutely the right decision, because in all the other things freshmen go through — learning the offense but most importantly, defense — he needed this year to develop.”

Donnal will be Beilein's first post-type substance at Michigan who might resemble Kevin Pittsnogle in any way whatsoever. Will be interesting to see how that works with Michigan's current style of offense, which I assume isn't going away even if Stauskas exits since LeVert and Walton can pick up the pick and roll burden without issue.

Etc: Stauskas on the Journey. Wyatt Shallman shaved his head to look more like a kid at Mott. Michigan much better at offense, worse at defense without McGary, correlation is not causation. Michigan continues to dominate the USA's ice dancing program. Looking at Iowa's success.

Comments

MichiganMan14

January 21st, 2014 at 2:44 PM ^

Our kids seem to always leave a year or 2 early and it literally prevents banners and national titles. We pump out serious NBA talent year in and year out but we will never win the big one if we have to play with freshman and sophomores every year. GR3 disappears often despite his talents. McGary has big injury questions and about a 5 game run of dominance. Stauskas is streaky but very average defensively. I just don't see how these kids are sure shot NBA guys. They are great college players but another year would really solidify them. If we are going to go the "Kentucky" route...we need to recruit 5 stars every year. You can't replace 5 NBA departures in 2 years without big time recruits year in and year out. Chapman looks the part this year but we can't afford to miss on some of the guys we've missed on if we're going to suffer this type of attrition. If these 3 guys returned next season...we could have a juggernaut team. That just never seems to be possible in Michigan Basketball unfortunately. Sparty loves this...because I'm sure Dawson and Harris will make their way back to East Lansing lol.

WolvinLA2

January 21st, 2014 at 3:58 PM ^

Doesn't this happen to just about every team?  It's not like there are other programs who regularly have first rounders skip the draft and stay.  Sparty was in a nice spot last year because their top players were 2nd round-types who made the right choice to return, and they didn't have many seniors.  But it's not like they have all these national titles to show for it.  They also haven't put many guys in the NBA lately.  

This is just how it works, and not just at Michigan.  But I promise you that if it turns out we have 5 first round picks in 2 years, we will have a lot of attention with the top top recruits.  

Jonesy

January 21st, 2014 at 6:03 PM ^

It doesn't matter if they'd be better players when they enter the draft by staying a year or two or three longer, or if they're overrated, or if you think their game doesn't translate to the pros.  All that matters is that the NBA wants them in the first round and is going to give them a giant check.  Anything after that is gravy, and the NBA is less likely to discard their first round picks because they've spent the money, and the kids can always go back to school later.

gwkrlghl

January 21st, 2014 at 6:20 PM ^

Because Beilein is too good at getting and/or developing NBA players?

I mean, last year's team had two guys who returned who could've gone in the draft plus a litany of excellent freshmen. That team might end up having 6 NBA draft picks on it.

This year we had two guys come back who were basically locks to be lottery picks amongst a guy likely to be a 1st rounder someday (Nik) and a few other guys who have every chance to make themselves draft worthy (LeVert, Walton, Irvin).

Guys who are 1st round locks don't often return and we've had three guys who were probably 1st rounders return the last 2 years. Certainly could be worse

Icehole Woody

January 21st, 2014 at 2:58 PM ^

I really hate losing basketball players to the NBA after two years. 

Is it all about money? 

Is there someone somewhere in the NBA that sees a benifit to a player getting a 4 year degree?

1 percent

January 21st, 2014 at 4:21 PM ^

Yes, it almost always is all about the money.

No, there is no perceived benefit from NBA types to being a 4 year college player. Need developed but have potential? Okay. We will send you to the NBADL and keep a better eye on you and if you don't develop then eh.

BraveWolverine730

January 21st, 2014 at 5:50 PM ^

Personally I think Stauskas is probably best served to leave after this year if he keeps up his level of play. His stock will be at its highest and his game won't get picked apart. Selfishly, I hope he comes back to make Michigan better next year. Either way I hope he has great success on the next level so I can marginally care about watching the NBA more (Fire Dumars)

Wiseguy

January 21st, 2014 at 6:05 PM ^

Coach Belein is a great coach but I still wish he would tweak his system a little bit for the B1G. I still think he needs to place more of an emphasis on rebounding. Count me in the crowd that thinks Nik needs to stay for another season. I don't think he is athletically ready for the NBA. Sadly when I think of Nik in the NBA I think of Adam Morrison.

Michigan4Life

January 21st, 2014 at 7:16 PM ^

is top 5 in the country so why tweak it when it works? Michigan was #1 last year. #19 the year before with arguably one of the least talented team to win B1G title.

Face it, JB won't tweak it to emphasize rebounding.  He is recruiting for more size while still having the skills to play in his system.  Donnal, Doyle, Wilson are all good example of big guys with skills.

ca_prophet

January 21st, 2014 at 6:53 PM ^

if Staukas ends up going pro, because that will mean that he's continued to blow up and elevate his game, and that almost certainly translates into wins for the program and probably a Sweet Sixteen appearance.  

It's possible that he could earn a first round grade by being our only good player in losses and/or not make the second week, but most scenarios I can see with where we don't end up in the Sweet Sixteen involved Staukas going cold from the field at the wrong time, which will push down his draft position.

The optimum is that he shoots us into the dance, McGary returns and engages Tournament Mode, and they lead us to a title.  Then he can go pro :)

4godkingandwol…

January 21st, 2014 at 7:38 PM ^

... I appreciate reasons for disliking his approach.  I agree with some of those reasons.  But using a picture he posted from the wrestling match of him is grasping at straws.  A more logical takeaway from that picture by someone who is less obsessed with hating our AD would be, "wow, our athletic director supports all of our student athletes, not just the big revenue generating athletes."  That takeaway would not be achievable if the AD wasn't in the photo.  

west2

January 22nd, 2014 at 11:24 AM ^

be contigent on how Stauskas plays in the Tourney.  If Mich plays poorly and is outed in the first round when lots of scouts are looking then his stock might fall.  The good news is that he will likely play really hard and show his best during March for that very reason.  He has to be watching his buddy, Trey Burke, do well in the pros and figures he can too........don't blame him one bit for wanting to give it a go.  Hey it beats working a real job for the next 40 years!