Unverified Voracity Is In, Is Out Comment Count

Brian

The ineffable lightness of McGary. Via UMHoops, Mitch McGary and Jon Horford have different opinions about things.

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Did they play an Adam Sandler movie on the court at some point? Because this is how that would work out.

One in, one out. Injury news for this weekend's state game is a rollercoaster. First, Adriean Payne tells Facebook that he's been cleared to play Saturday. Then:

How did he acquire this injury?

Dude. Just lie. Say you got it caught in a thresher or something. This is not the time for honesty.

Dawson is a beast on the offensive glass and an efficient finisher off putbacks and dumpoffs but not a lot of State's offense ran through him. If Payne is full go and mobile by Saturday I'd guess they play him at the four, which he did plenty of last year with Nix around, and go with Costello and Gauna at the five.

State's other option is to play a lot of Kenny Kaminski. Kaminski is a redshirt freshman stretch four who is Just A Shooter™, with 31 3PAs vs 8 twos attempted on the year. He is hitting 55% of his threes, so, yeah, check him hand in the face etc. Kaminski doesn't have enough playing time to definitely say much about him but from appearances he's not in Dawson's class as a defender or rebounder.

Either way, MSU gets more shooting and less defense on the floor without Dawson.

UPDATE: Izzo says Payne's shot at playing is "slim to none" and that Kaminski is expected to start, presumably next to Costello.

Meanwhile for Michigan. If you're concerned about the prospect of Appling going up against Spike, it sounds like Walton will be just fine by Saturday:

Beilein said that Walton had a high temperature and flu-like symptoms, so there was uncertainty about how much he could play and contribute.

“He got to see the doctor and kept him away from everybody all day, so he didn’t even go to practice or see the game plan,” Beilein said. “The fever broke and he felt good today, enough to at least give us a minute or two. Spike was fine and I’m really pleased with the way he played.”

Again, if Walton is still a bit shaky Michigan can get away with Spike on Travis Trice whenever he's out there, which could keep Walton's minutes down to about 20 if necessary.

Grantland breaks us down. Shane Ryan on the unnoticeable slowness of Michigan's offense:

… unlike other plodding offenses, it never really looks like Beilein’s teams are taking their time. The reason for that is the Wolverines are astoundingly efficient, year after year, to the point that every possession takes on a rhythm and purpose of its own. And the results are so continually positive that there’s drama and anticipation in the lead-up; while teams like Wisconsin (no. 300 in Division I tempo) and Virginia (333) can suck the life out of a game with their effective control of pace, and others like Clemson (348) and Miami (dead last at 351) are clearly taking their time because they have no other option, Beilein’s offenses are so fluid and effective that they retain their sense of drama. Michigan is slow, but never boring.

Also, Stauskas highlights:

And with Michigan's resurgence comes the candy that is Luke Winn saying something interesting about you in his power rankings:

The Wolverines' Nik Stauskas-led offense has an adjusted efficiency of 120.1 points per 100 possessions, which ranks third nationally ... and is pretty much just as efficient as it was last season, when it scored 120.3 points/100 possessions.

They check in ninth, up from 31st(!) last week. It has been a good week.

Chad Ford don't fail me now. Chad Ford's latest mock draft($) for ESPN has zero Wolverines in the first round. Yes, NBA GMs. You are getting very sleepy. You are agreeing with Chad Ford in every way. You have completed your scouting for the season.

FWIW, Stauskas downplayed his dad's quote from the SI article:

“I apologize for my father’s comments,” he said Wednesday. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I haven’t really thought anything about that yet. We’ll just address it after the season.”

I know he's got to say what he's got to say; the dad comment seems like a moment of unguarded honesty. We'll see where he's projected; if it's the first round I imagine he's out.

Mixed reports on Schofield. Mike Schofield's at the Senior Bowl this week trying to establish his draft bonafides. After a couple days moving back to guard didn't seem to go well, they've put him back at his natural position, where he has impressed:

"Not a highly acclaimed kid; a late add [to the roster]," Mayock said. "I thought he stoned everybody in the [1-on-1] drill. Now, he's a right tackle only, in my opinion. They tried him at guard. Right tackle only is not a good thing to be in the NFL unless you're a starter. I think he has the potential to be a starting right tackle."

You can look at this as affirmation that Darrell Funk can develop offensive linemen or further condemnation of Michigan's OL last year as you so desire.

But where is the part where he rescues a bus full of kittens? MLive profiles Andrew Copp:

Copp’s 3.2 G.P.A. wasn’t quite good enough for admission into the business school, so he worries about what lies in store in the future, even if it does include a stop in the NHL. He also said he at times feels at a disadvantage in the classroom.

“I study a lot, but when we have games and practice, some of these kids are still studying the whole time,” Copp says with a palpable stress in his voice. “When there’s a lot of readings in particular, other students don’t have a five or six hour block and weekends taken up by games where they have the opportunity to study.”

That's confidence in a kid: letting a reporter follow him around for a day.

Etc.: Dave Brandon sent around empty planes during the most recent coaching search. I think that means we win. Tom Izzo being histrionic? Never. Sports are supposed to be fun, and Richard Sherman is that. Sacks are lies.

Comments

alum96

January 23rd, 2014 at 4:49 PM ^

Why should Nik apologize for his dad?  Very lame (not on Nik) but on the culture.  I am sure he is getting flack to "stay another year" or more intense commentary on twitter from certain parts of our fan base.  I am sure Nik's goal has been the NBA and his dad said something truthful and now his son has to "apologize"... sad.

Mr Miggle

January 24th, 2014 at 8:31 AM ^

Nik didn't need to apologize, but his dad's statement is a distraction and he needed to address it. I certainly would not assume that his apology was intended for the fans. This time of year the focus is supposed to be on the team, not on individual goals. Nik was going to be asked about his NBA plans by the media at every opportunity afterwards. Beilein and possibly his teammates would get those questions too. Nik is trying to preempt those annoying questions. There's a reason we don't ever hear our players make statements like Nik's dads' during a season.   

remdog

January 23rd, 2014 at 4:50 PM ^

been a reliable predictor of the draft? He seems seriously delusional or ignorant regarding the prospects of Stauskas, GR III and McGary. But hey, if it means more time at Michigan there's a silver lining.

alum96

January 23rd, 2014 at 5:14 PM ^

Is it really out of line?  McGary now has a back injury, not a foot, hand or even knee injury... a back injury.  Those come with a wide variety of outcomes.  Nik has not been a 1st round grade and until recently was not a 2nd round grade - 4 weeks ago no one was talking about him even "potentially" thinking about leaving after this year.   I have now seen him on some mock boards as a 2nd rounder.   GR3 is the one I guess has the most argument for being in the 1st round but IMO he has not taken that grand step many expected this year.  I think both Nik and Caris have taken larger year over year steps than GR3.  That said GR3 is still considered a late teen to early 20s on most boards but a year ago at this time most thought he'd be a late lottery pick by now. 

So if you take a look at this from a non UM fan standpoint it is not that surprising except for GR3.

remdog

January 23rd, 2014 at 5:30 PM ^

GR III has made significant strides since last year. He's stronger and more complete. He's still not as aggressive as he could be but he's a better player than he was when he was projected as a lottery pick. Stauskas has always been underrated. Maybe NBA scouts have a bias against lily white Canadians. Actually, there's no maybe. Anybody who's watched and followed him closely can see he's a special player. His tireless devotion to the game, always learning and perfecting new skills, is unusual. He has very good size at 6"6' and exceptional ball handling/driving ability for a shooting guard. And he's arguably one of the top 2-3 shooters in the country. If any team passes on him late in the lottery or later in the first round, they will regret it. As for McGary, there's more of a case to push him into the second round since his health is an unknown. Odds are though that his back will not be a long term problem (just looking at the statistical probabilities from a physician's perspective). If questions about his health are resolved positively, he should be a late lottery pick. He is a uniquely skilled big man.

umumum

January 24th, 2014 at 12:46 PM ^

There are a million mock drafts on the internet with a zillion guesses.  This one happens to exclude all three.  It is the only one I have seen where GRIII isn't 1st round, McGary is usually late 1st round, and Nik is moving up like a bullet (some late 1st, some 2nd).

If we want to speculate where our three will go in the draft--fine.  But let's not put too much stock in just one. 

FWIW,  I think GRIII goes round 1 for sure--McGary almost for sure (depending on whether he can participate in workouts)--and Nik if (but only if) he keeps playing the way he has the past few weeks.  But that's just me.

And I don't care for the argument that coming back will help them.  They are all as likely to improve their games in the NBA as they are another year of college.  It is the goal of all three.  And look what happened to Mitch--injury-wise.

ClearEyesFullHart

January 23rd, 2014 at 8:26 PM ^

Izzo would sell his soul to win this game. You think he wants the seniors to leave 2-6 against Michigan? If he gave a crap about his kinds pro careers he probably wouldn't have a first round draft drought since the Tommy Amaker era. As we speak Izzo is berating Dawson for not agreeing to shoot up and play with a plaster club. Payne will play. Hopefully it screws up their chemistry.

HipsterCat

January 23rd, 2014 at 5:27 PM ^

i agree that having it as a passing stat gives a better picture of the overall performance of a QB. the counting it against the completetion percentage is interesting and i kinda like it.

maybe tracking the yards (rushing and passing) gained on passing plays would give the best overall picture of a QBs performance though and calculating a percentage of successful plays vs unsuccessful plays. because a quick throw to a wide reciever counts as a completion and a loss of passing yards and is functionally equivalent to a sack  (loss of yards, loss of down). and interceptions thrown at the end of halfs, desperation hail mary style, generaly has little impact on a game overall but counts the same on the stat sheet as a pick thrown while trying to win the game which counts the same as a  crazy bounce of a recievers hands that gets picked. 

MGoManBall

January 23rd, 2014 at 7:06 PM ^

On the video the announcer says the Stauskas has a "plethora of weapons."

I'm pretty sure he's trying not to say "he's not just a shooter"... But he said it anyway.

mgobaran

January 24th, 2014 at 9:09 AM ^

Mitch's prized Corgi just beat Jon's in the halftime Corgi race. 

Man, Jon's Corgi (Truffles, BTW) had Mitch's beat into the fourth corner, but ended up going too wide.