2014-2015 Michigan Basketball Preview
Michigan:
Well, all of you are quite familiar with Michigan for obvious reasons so I will keep this brief. Michigan loses Jordan Morgan to graduation, Jon Horford to transfer and Nik Stauskas, Glenn Robinson III, and Mitch McGary to the NBA. This means losing:
53% MPG
58% PPG
59% RPG
41% APG
51% SPG
82% BPG
That is the most to replace out of all of the teams so far. So what does the roster look like for next year?
# Name HT WT YR POS
44 Max Bielfeldt 6-7 245 RS.JR PF
With Calves as big as a house, and a shot selection worse than bad, Max is by far the oldest player on the team. According to Beilein, nobody can guard him. If that is true, we could be in for another ride this year. It is not, which is very likely he will play 5 minutes a game. Beilein could have meant that none of the coaches can guard him, or that he is very good 2K player.
23 Caris LeVert 6-6 185 JR. SG
Our go-to guy, will pick up some of the possesions left behind by Nik. There is no reason to be believe Caris cannot do the what Nik did if not more. He averaged 12.9 points per game last year so 15 is not unrealistic is it? The starting Shooting Guard.
14 Brad Anlauf 6-4 195 JR. SG
A football walk-on that decided to do basketball instead. Hopefully there will be a lot of opportunities for him to play this season.
2 Spike Albrecht 5-11 175 JR. PG
An experienced back-up Point Guard is a rare thing to have, and we have one this year. He may get the start early in the year next to Walton to ease the freshmen in.
34 Mark Donnal 6-9 230 RS. FR. C
The player that most likely makes or breaks this season. Can he hold his own in B1G play? Can he do more than that? As long as he holds his own Michigan will finish where I have them here. Starting Center.
21 Zak Irvin 6-6 200 SO. SF
After news that he is staying in Ann Arbor for the summer came out, people are pretty much guaranteeing that Irvin will have a Stauskas esque jump. If that happens, Michigan is golden, if not, we will still be fine. Starting Small Forward.
20 Sean Lonnergan 6-5 195 SO. SF
Walk-on with some bounce. I truly think he will be playing real minutes his senior year.
12 Cole McConnell 6-5 200 SO. SF
Walk-on coming off of a broken leg, probably will not do much.
10 Derrick Walton Jr. 6-1 185 SO. PG
Another player staying in Ann Arbor. Nobody expects him to be Sophmore Trey Burke, or even freshman Trey, but he will be good. Starting Point Guard.
5 Andrew Dakich 6-2 185 SO. PG
The best bench celebrater in the country, will most likely continue his cheerleading ways.
Kameron Chatman 6-7 197 FR. PF
I have Chatman starting at Power Forward which really is not that bad. GR3 did it for two years at 6-6 I think we can make due. He is a 4 star and the #11 Small Forward.
Ricky Doyle 6-9 255 FR. C
It would have been ideal for Horford to stay and Doyle get a redshirt, but that is not going to happen. Doyle will be a bench guy that takes about 15 minutes a game. A three star, the #22 Center.
D.J. Wilson 6-8 215 FR. PF
Holy long batman, finally a shot blocker! He will pick up some spare minutes at the 4 and three. Another three star #41 Power Forward.
Aubrey Dawkins 6-4 175 FR. SG
A three star from prep school. I think he will redshirt.
Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman 6-4 FR. SG
A two-star the #102 SG. Most likely a diamond in the rough. He should get about 10 minutes a game.
Austin Hatch 6-6 210 FR. SG
One of the saddest stories ever, Hatch should get a medical scholarship he is a one star and the #141 Small Forward. Most likely will never play.
Projected Starting Line-up:
Point Guard: Derrick Walkton Jr.
Shooting Guard: Caris LeVert
Small Forward: Zak Irvin
Power Forward: Kameron Chatman
Center: Mark Donnal
More information can be found in Brian' post which is really well done. I think Michigan will finish in 5th place goin 11-7.
Next up... Michigan State
You might want to edit Dawkins height and what you have under Spike which is from last year I think... Other than that I enjoy reading your basketball posts keep it up!!!!!!!
Dawkins is going by 6'6 now per his visit a few weeks ago... and Chatman supposedly is 6'8 210ish per the Jordan thing a few weeks ago.
The only reason I have spike starting early on is to ease chatman in. Last year it was to ease Walton in.
While Spike and Walton may play together at times, I really hope we won't go with 3 gaurds and Irvin at the 4. We might as well bite the bullett and get the 4 freshman bigmen as much PT as we can early in the season to get them ready for B1G play.
edit? "He may get the start early in the year next to Walton to ease the freshmen in."
Maybe you cut and pasted that from last year's preview?
No I think that Spike will start at the point with Derrick at the 2. Then caris at the three with Zak at the 4.
but I would be shocked if it did.
That's just my guess for the first games.
Doyle is 255 lbs, not 225.
Your bolded starters and your list of starters at the bottom doesn't agree re: Donnel vs. Doyle.
Thanks for posting these!
Thank you, I would have never caught that.
Why do you think Dawkins will redshirt and not MAAR? Dawkins seems more college ready, physically and mentally. I also agree about #20 getting some serious minutes at some point, he has a nice game to him.
I agree with the poster above that Dawkins is less likely to redshirt after a year in prep school.
But yeah, as others point, Chatman and Dawkins are a bit taller than you listed. And my view of Hatch would be a little different. While his story can be called "one of the saddest," I would also call it one of the most uplifting. He did survive TWO plane crashes after all and returned to play competitive high school basketball. And he probably has a bright future ahead of him outside of basketball. As for basketball, I wouldn't count him completely out yet. Realistically, he may not even play. But he was a high level 3 star recruit (not a 1 star) before the last plane crash and he has a habit of beating the odds.
Before the plane crash yeah he was really good. However after, which is now, he was unable to play basketball for a very long time. Will he play eventually? Maybe. Will he be a guy that plays 30 minutes a game? Most likely not
My expectations are low at this point. It would be awesome if he could just get a chance to suit up and get into a game but I don't even know if that is likely. As a physician, I can tell you head injuries are unpredictable. They can range from mild to severe regardless of outward appearances. Physically, he looks fully recovered but high level athletics is more than just physical ability.
If Beilein has him for 4-5 years, there's some hope he can improve further and eventually make it onto th the court.
Yo can you do a football one?
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