Kam Chatman Reportedly Transferring

Submitted by GoBlueinMN on

Barring a last-minute change of heart, source told ESPN that Michigan sophomore Kameron Chatman will transfer.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) May 3, 2016

ak47

May 3rd, 2016 at 3:14 PM ^

People on here acting like making the ncaa tournament is some huge accomplishment.  I get the late 90's -2008 sucked for michigan basketball but 68 teams make the tournament every year.  Teams that finish .500 in their conferences make the tournament, teams ranked in the 60s make the tournament as at large bids.  Our primary competition on the bubble this year was valparaiso.  Setting the making of the tournament as your baromater of success is like setting the benchmark for the football team at 7 wins.  Yay we were slightly better than average.  

lbpeley

May 3rd, 2016 at 3:22 PM ^

Not to mention we fucking backed into a play-in game against a shit bag team that we beat by 2 baskets. Then got outscored by 20+ in the 2nd half against Notre effing Dame. Forgive me for not shooting a wad all over the mirror about the future of our mediocre bball team.

Pepto Bismol

May 3rd, 2016 at 3:20 PM ^

They made the tourney by the skin of their teeth and got bounced in the first round.  They finished 8th in a 14 team conference.  Anybody who watched this team last year knows that outside a Maryland or Indiana win, they were generally crap and often got run off the court by any team with a pulse - home or away.

Once again, unbelievably low bar for basketball around here.  Drives me crazy. 

Since McGary tested for weed, this program has been a steady toilet flush.  And now (besides two empty coach chairs) we're looking at two empty scholarships.  THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN BASKETBALL team can't fill out a 13 man roster.  This is okay with you? 

 

But yeah.  Awesome game against Tulsa.  I'll tell my kids some day.

BornInA2

May 3rd, 2016 at 2:52 PM ^

This is turning into a bigger shit-show every day. It's hard to not see this as people jumping off a sinking ship. But I guess when people see that you don't stand behind your players (Spike), they feel less inclined to stand behind you.

taistreetsmyhero

May 3rd, 2016 at 3:02 PM ^

none of the players that are leaving are any good (with the exception of spike who was a fucking back up that people are losing their shit over like he was an All-Americna stud).

We have lost a below-average back-up center, an average back-up wing, a broken back up pg, and a below-average bottom of the bench wing.

If we kept all those pieces, we would still have a shit team, it would just be a shit team with solid depth. Now we have a shit team with crickets for a bench.

edit: this is quite the hot take, as our "shit team" made it to the ncaa tourney. point still stands that this team didn't look very good for large swaths of the season when playing good teams.

taistreetsmyhero

May 3rd, 2016 at 3:17 PM ^

Beilein is a great coach. He's a mediocre recruiter. Hoke was a mediocre (at best) coach but a great recruiter. Beilein reached a level of success with his own players that Hoke never did.

If we're gonna make any rough analogy work, JB is more like RR who brought in a totally new and finese scheme in a conference that otherwise relies on traditional studs. Plus, he can't recruit centers (like RR didn't recruit offensive line). Both defenses suck. Only (small) difference is that JB had great success here.

taistreetsmyhero

May 3rd, 2016 at 3:34 PM ^

some of the most efficient offenses in NCAA history. When a Beilein team is on, it's fuckin on. The game has evolved my friend. There's a big difference between this year's team (shoot terrible three's with no time left on the shot clock) and peak Belein teams (shoot wide open three's, shoot 53 fucking % from 2, all created by unbelievable on and off ball movement).

I don't doubt Beilein's ability to coach a great bunch of players. I just doubt his ability to recruit a great bunch of players. Finding diamonds in the rough like Trey and LeVert is beyond impressive, but that's the smallest sample size man.

BigBlue02

May 3rd, 2016 at 7:22 PM ^

Is it really that small a sample size though? We won the B10 with Burke, Hardaway, Novak, and Morgan starting and Douglas coming off the bench. Every one of those players was not recruited heavily. I think Beilein has proved he can win games with non-stud recruits

BigBlue02

May 3rd, 2016 at 6:55 PM ^

Lol. Do people still think that Beilein's offenses are as simple as "shoot threes-make them and win, don't make them and lose." It's amazing that a 10 win b10 season while missing a lottery pick is now a one-dimensional team

ST3

May 3rd, 2016 at 3:02 PM ^

If it was a sinking ship, someone like Kam (0.382 FG%, 0.265 3PCT) would be starting. Instead, he's struggling to get minutes. There are better options available. It sucks for us fans if the guy transfers, but if he goes to another program that better suits his game, good for him.

The Mad Hatter

May 3rd, 2016 at 3:14 PM ^

That's right, John Beilein.

I think he's a very good coach, but that's just not enough anymore.  To compete with the best you have to recruit at an elite level, including going after one and done players.  Beilein has proven that he is either unwilling or unable to recruit at an elite level, and it will eventually cost him his job.

jmblue

May 3rd, 2016 at 3:29 PM ^

I don't think Beilein's recruiting ability (or the lack thereof) is related to the number of transfers he's had.  Thad Matta and Tom Crean are considered strong recruiters and they've also had a lot of transfers.  

The fundamental issue is that you carry 13 scholarship players but are probably only going to play about eight guys in your rotation.  It's hard to keep the benchwarmers happy and frankly, in a lot of cases it may not even be worth keeping them around.  Big men can be late bloomers, but if you're a perimeter guy and haven't made an impact by the end of year two, odds are you probably won't.

 

 

jmblue

May 3rd, 2016 at 4:25 PM ^

I don't think the sky is falling here.  I'm not sure any of Chatman, Dawkins or the post-surgery Albrecht would have made that much of a difference.  I wouldn't compare this at all to losing LeVert, which was obviously a terrible break.

 

taistreetsmyhero

May 3rd, 2016 at 2:53 PM ^

Now when we have another terrible season people will be able to chalk it up to all of these transfers and claim that you can't evaluate Belein to decide whether or not to fire him.

/ducks.

Trader Jack

May 3rd, 2016 at 2:55 PM ^

This is one really hurts. It's a giant blow to our wing depth, obviously, but I also hate to see someone with so kick potential leave. He'd struggled so far here, but Kam started showing flashes of solid play towards the end of the year. Plus, his combination of athleticism, size, and skill has always been apparent.



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Ty Butterfield

May 3rd, 2016 at 2:56 PM ^

So excited for Kam to end Michigan's season with 3 pointer as time expires when he plays for Indiana. Beilein has got this. Nothing to see here.

Avon Barksdale

May 3rd, 2016 at 2:57 PM ^

There is a pretty good chance the basketball team is going to be, well, no easy way to say it -- below average next season.

PG - Walton, X. Simpson

SG - MAAR, Ibi Watson

F - Robinson

F - Irvin, DJ Wilson

5 - Wagner, Donnal, Teske, A. Davis

JB might want to do that thing where he gets a late bloomer like LeVert/Maar and add a grad transfer. The 2 and 3 spot looks WEAK right now.

ST3

May 3rd, 2016 at 3:10 PM ^

Thanks for the hot take. You realize you claim the team is going to be below average next season and back that up with the depth chart. I can do that too.

There is a pretty good chance the basketball team is going to be, well, no easy way to say it -- above average next season.

PG - Walton, X. Simpson

SG - MAAR, Ibi Watson

F - Robinson

F - Irvin, DJ Wilson

5 - Wagner, Donnal, Teske, A. Davis

Let's see, that's 5 returning starters from an NCAA tourney team plus Ohio's Mr. Basketball and 2 bigs with experience off the bench. I'll take that.

Yes, there have been some transfers, but no one wants to be the 9th man in an 8 man rotation late in their career.