Caris LeVert Returning
[Bryan Fuller]
High five. Let the playing time knife fight begin.
LeVert will obviously be largely exempt from it, as he's a lock to get 30 minutes. Normally you'd say he's a lock to get 35-38, but with the depth on this roster they can keep their main guys fresher until true crunch time.
With LeVert in tow Michigan looks set to be a serious contender in the Big Ten once again.
April 21st, 2015 at 11:36 AM ^
The "neato gang" gets me every time.
April 21st, 2015 at 11:04 AM ^
me.
I am pleased.
April 21st, 2015 at 11:04 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
April 21st, 2015 at 11:05 AM ^
I'll take a proven senior over an unproven freshman any day.
April 21st, 2015 at 11:08 AM ^
April 21st, 2015 at 11:30 AM ^
to be fair, Caris wouldn't be around after his senior season either.
April 21st, 2015 at 11:16 AM ^
pardon the cliche, but a bird in the hand. . .
April 21st, 2015 at 11:04 AM ^
Oh happy day! bball boner!
April 21st, 2015 at 11:05 AM ^
Great news for next year...
I would have liked to see Jaylen Brown in maize and blue, but I think this is better for continuity and leadership. Who knows, maybe we could even have both, but I think this seals it for Brown.
Looking forward to getting back to kicking sparty's ass next year and putting another guy in the first round
April 21st, 2015 at 11:07 AM ^
Hell yes. MSU bragged about beating our injured and not so great team last year. Let's see what they say next season when we have a (assumingly) healthy team and not so many freshmen playing.
April 21st, 2015 at 11:11 AM ^
That kid dancing - he inspires me with his self-confidence.
April 21st, 2015 at 11:07 AM ^
So glad he didn't LeAve.
April 21st, 2015 at 11:07 AM ^
yes, yes, yes, I am pleased with this good news. thank you
April 21st, 2015 at 11:09 AM ^
Muppets? Muppets.
And for all you Jaylen Brown sad-facers, this has no impact on him. Insiders have repeatedly said the Caris decision has no impact on his decision, especially when it has been clear Caris was leaning towards a return for weeks.
April 21st, 2015 at 11:37 AM ^
Kermit the Frog is pleased with this news!!
April 21st, 2015 at 12:55 PM ^
With all the attrition we have dealt with over the past 5 years, having a NBA caliber player deciding to return for his Senior season calls for some muppet dancing!
April 21st, 2015 at 11:10 AM ^
Conference champs. I actually thought they'd have a good chance at it without him too.
April 21st, 2015 at 11:15 AM ^
I agree. That will silence all of the Beilein doubters. I never understood those fools. Look at what Beilein was working with. Two of his starters missed significant time, there was not a lot of upperclassmen leadership, and he was playing a lot of freshmen. Of COURSE we were going to have a down year.
April 21st, 2015 at 11:31 AM ^
We still went 8-10 and won a game in the BTT. Despite a number of close losses, we were just one game worse than the first two Beilein teams that made the tourney.
Now we add LeVert, Walton, Robinson, Wilson, Wagner, and maybe one more guy to the mix while everybody gets a year older/better. This team could be a monster.
April 21st, 2015 at 11:47 AM ^
That could be a plausible, or even downright good, starting 5 in itself for many teams out there.
April 21st, 2015 at 11:13 AM ^
April 21st, 2015 at 11:14 AM ^
YESSSSSSSSSS
April 21st, 2015 at 11:15 AM ^
This seems like the best outcome for both parties.
Last year was obviously a bummer in terms of results, but we probably end up better off this year as a result as Caris likely goes pro without the injury. This year's team should be better able to compete for a conference championship and Caris should be able to play his way back into the middle of the first round.
At the moment, I think we are a likely top 5 conference team and a possible Sweet Sixteen team. With some solid improvement across the board, the ceiling could be higher.
April 21st, 2015 at 11:20 AM ^
April 21st, 2015 at 11:25 AM ^
I laughed at that one. Great news and we have a pretty good football coach now. Good times ahead.
April 21st, 2015 at 11:31 AM ^
I'm as happy as a puppy with two peters.
April 21st, 2015 at 11:31 AM ^
April 21st, 2015 at 11:35 AM ^
Well this is exciting news!
I like LeVert's game a lot. He can create space, and get to the basket. He senior leadership will come in handy too...
Not sure what this means for Brown but I'm certain this is a win for us!
April 21st, 2015 at 11:37 AM ^
I know we're all excited to get to see Caris for one more year in the maize & blue. I truly hope he's happy with his decision too, and that he doesn't feel it was forced on him by circumstances that leave him disappointed to be here.
April 21st, 2015 at 11:46 AM ^
April 21st, 2015 at 11:48 AM ^
Great news with Caris returning. Even if we don't get Jaylen Brown, will be interesting to see how the minutes breakdown next year. To try to do a prediction, I think you have to differentiate between spots 1-4 and the 5 spot.
5 spot = 40 minutes split between Doyle, Donnal and Wilson
Let's say Doyle gets 20 minutes and Donnal and Wilson each get 10.
1-4 spots = 160 minutes split between Walton, Levert, Irvin, Dawkins, Spike, MAAR, Robinson, Chatman and Wagner.
I think it is safe to say that Walton, Levert and Irvin will each play at least 30 minutes per game. That's 90 total minutes.
I also think it is safe to expect Spike (assuming full recovery) and Dawkins to play at least 20 minutes a game. That brings us to 130 minutes.
That leaves 30 minutes per night for MAAR, Robinson, Chatman and Wagner. Robinson sat out last year due to transfer, so he no longer has the redshirt option. But it may be in the best interest of the program to redshirt 1 or more of the other 3 guys, rather than have them only play a few minutes per night.
April 21st, 2015 at 11:57 AM ^
Doyle was at 18 MPG his freshman year, and he was battling health issues for parts of the season. I think he gets 25 MPG easily next season as a more experienced soph. I can see Wilson getting the other 15 at the 5. Donnal can be a stopgap at the 5 if Doyle and Wilson both get in foul trouble or have health issues, but he's really better suited to the 4. That being said, I don't think there are many minutes for him available next season unless his 3 point shooting improves just a little. He was at 0.368 last season. If he can nudge that up to 40+%, Beilein has shown he'll give him minutes.
April 21st, 2015 at 11:50 AM ^
We need you to be like REALLY good...if that happens this is a Sweet 16 team.
Time for a random guess on rotation...
Death to going in increments of 5...
I also agree that minutes for key players will be lower than usual (UK formula) to keep players fresher...
I am not assuming Spike will be out until he's officially out...
I am assuming Wagner qualifies and this recent stuff is just noise...
Minutes? Minutes.
PG: Walton - 20 / Albrecht - 20
SG: Dawkins - 19 / Walton - 12 / LeVert - 6 / MAAR - 3
SF: LeVert - 27 / Irvin - 8 / Robinson - 5
F: Irvin - 25 / Chatman - 12 / Wagner - 3
C: Doyle - 19 / Wilson - 9 / Donnal - 6 / Wagner - 6
- LeVert: 33
- Irvin: 33
- Walton: 32
- Albrecht: 20
- Dawkins: 19
- Doyle: 19
- Chatman: 12
- Wilson: 9
- Wagner: 9
- Donnal: 6
- Robinson: 5
- MAAR: 3
April 21st, 2015 at 11:54 AM ^
Man, this is one stacked team when you look at the lineup like that top to bottom. Next year could be special.
April 21st, 2015 at 12:06 PM ^
- We'll NEVER have a 12 man rotation - but it's impossible to predict without any of us knowing how good Robinson or Wagner really is. If Robinson is a freshman Stauskas Jr., he gets more minutes, if Wagner really is a Top 50 kid, he's going to get more than 10 minutes per. But we just don't know.
- Redshirt MAAR - this is a no brainer...no reason to waste a year on 3 minutes a game. Give those 3 mpg to Robinson or one of your stars.
- Too guard heavy - we don't have a C nor a PF type that is in the top 5 in minutes (oddly enough, the next 5 are ALL C/PF types)
- Redshirt Wagner if he's NOT HS Top 50 calibur - he should be this year's "coaches wanted to redshirt, but he was too good" story like LeVert or Dawkins. If not, sit him and let him get acclimated. Those are 9 minutes you can spread out and get guys to more realistic PT numbers. You add in the 3 from MAAR and you have a nice 10-man rotation with realistic minutes spread around.
If Wagner and MAAR redshirt...
PG: Walton - 20 / Albrecht - 20
SG: Dawkins - 19 / Walton - 13 / LeVert - 8
SF: LeVert - 26 / Robinson - 8 / Irvin - 6
F: Irvin - 28 / Chatman - 12
C: Doyle - 20 / Wilson - 10 / Donnal - 8 / Chatman - 2
- LeVert: 34
- Irvin: 34
- Walton: 33
- Albrecht: 20
- Doyle: 20
- Dawkins: 19
- Chatman: 14
- Wilson: 10
- Donnal: 8
- Robinson: 8
This seems very realistic IMO...
I'd only consider it if we're 100% certain of Spike's good health. Otherwise, we need another ballhandler out there, to say nothing of his strong defense.
Comments