A recurring theme I've heard put forward over the past month or two is that this is THE year for Michigan basketball. Go for broke, because after this year, Burke leaves, THJ leaves, and even Little Dog may leave. Beilein has pulled out the redshirts this year because it is a year to win it all.
I don't disagree that it is a year to win it all for Michigan basketball, and it's worth putting everything into it. However, I'm wondering if it's true that this is THE year. In that spirit, I thought we could take an early look at 2013 Michigan basketball and what the odds are that next year could be "The Year" too.
First off, lets set a prospective depth chart for 2013. This depth chart will assume that we lose the following players for 2013:
| Player | Reason | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Matt Vogrich | Graduation | Guard |
| Eso Akune | Graduation | Guard |
| Josh Bartelstein | Graduation | Guard |
| Blake McLimans | Graduation | Foreward |
| Corey Person | Graduation | Guard |
| Trey Burke | Draft | Point Guard |
| Tim Hardaway Jr | Draft | Shooting Guard |
| Glen Robinson III | Draft | Shooting Foreward |
That makes our returning curren depth chart as follows:
| Player | Class | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Spike Albrecht | Sophomore | Point Guard |
| Mitch McGary | Sophomore | Center |
| Nick Stauskas | Sophomore | Shooting Guard |
| Jon Horford | RS Junior | Center |
| Caris LeVert | Sophomore | Shooting Guard |
| Max Bielfeldt | RS Sophomore | Foreward |
| Jordan Morgan | RS Senior | Center |
To these players, Michigan is adding the following freshmen for 2013 (others may be added, but these are sure things):
| Player | Position | Stars |
|---|---|---|
| Derrick Walton | Point Guard | 4 |
| Zak Irvin | Foreward | 4 |
| Mark Donnal | Center | 4 |
| Austin Hatch | Shooting Guard | 3 |
Ed: No Hatch. He reclassified. Blame Bourbon
This Gives us a 2013 depth chart that looks something like the following:
| Position | First String | Backup | Third+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Point Guard | Spike Albrecht | Derrick Walton | |
| Guard | Nick Stauskas, Caris Levert | ||
| Foreward | Max Bielfeldt | Zak Irvin | |
| Center | Mitch McGary | Jordan Morgan | Jon Horford, Mark Donnal |
First of all, lets just come out and say it. That's a damn good depth chart. A little light, but damn good. At any rate, to figure out where we're at for 2013, we should look at lost production and minutes first. Per ESPN:
| Player | Minutes/Game | Points/Game | Ast/Game |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Vogrich | 7.7 | 1.2 | 0.3 |
| Eso Akune | 3.0 | 1.3 | 0.4 |
| Josh Bartlestein | 2.0 | 0 | 0.5 |
| Blake McLimans | 2.9 | 0.9 | 0.1 |
| Corey Person | 1.9 | 0.9 | 1.3 |
| Trey Burke | 33.7 | 17.8 | 7.2 |
| Tim Hardaway Jr. | 33.7 | 16.2 | 2.6 |
| Glenn Robinson III | 32.2 | 12.1 | 1.3 |
I am going to discount the top five guys in that list because all put together they average less than 18 minutes per game. That's garbage time that you fill with those guys to reduce the chance of injury to your starters and primary backups and so that they get a chance to play.
PG - 33.7 MPG, 17.8 PPG, 7.2 APG
SG - 33.7 MPG, 16.2 PPG, 2.6 APG
F - 32.2 MPG, 12.1 PPG, 1.3 APG
I know that doesn't cover everything these guys are doing for the team, or even close to it. But if similar production can be put up, it can be assumed that production in other areas, defense, rebounding and general intangibles will be close.
The question is, between the improvement of Freshmen to Sophomore players and the addition of high rated freshemen, do we have it? There is no good math for just how players will perform when their minutes skyrocket (Spike?) or how freshmen will perform (Irvin?), because it varies so much. Therefore, I ask you. Do we have it?
"foreward" *cringe*