Aubrey Dawkins transferring to UCF

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on
Per MGoBlue. On mobile so i can't embed. But wow.

JCV16

April 6th, 2016 at 10:41 AM ^

We have 4 wings - Irvin, Robinson, Chatman, Wilson. 

We have 3 guards - walton, maar, simpson. 

If one of our wings gets hurt we will be fine. If one of our guards gets hurt we will be screwed and in the exact same situation we were in this year. 

Spike is the obvious answer. He can play the 1 and 2. It is beyond obvious. It is insane to let him go. We are going to let him go.  We are going to need him, and he is going to be paying well somewhere else. Max 2.0. 

JCV16

April 6th, 2016 at 10:50 AM ^

who is a wing guard, more of a 3 than a 2 as a freshman most likely. Also, MAAR can play out on the wing.  Irvin "can play the two," yes, but not as well as he plays outside. If you look at the roster balance we need another backcourt focused option more than anyone else. 

 

 

ijohnb

April 6th, 2016 at 11:25 AM ^

Spike will be back, personally.  I think he was given his "release" because Beilein did not want it to appear that he was pushing players out the door when they transfered.  That is why I think he flip-flopped on the Spike restrictions, because he did not care one way or another because he assumed he was going to be back when the dust settled.  If not, I am extremely confused.  If Spike leaves at this point and plays for somebody else, I am left to believe that it was genuinely his choice to do so because nothing else makes sense (except that there are major problems within our basketball program and I don't want to believe that to be the case).

Raoul

April 6th, 2016 at 1:08 PM ^

lilpenny1316

April 6th, 2016 at 10:49 AM ^

I don't disagree that we need a guard more.  But if Irvin gets hurt again, we'll have one wing who has trouble creating his own shot (Robinson) and two other wings that have been disappointing through their first two seasons on campus (Chatman and Wilson).  Do you mean Ibi Watson and not Wilson?

I would also take Spike.  I don't know how well X can shoot from three, but Spike seemed to be a more consistent 3-point shooter.  And if he's only playing 10-15 minutes a night, he should have fresh legs to raise up and nail some daggers in clutch time.

JCV16

April 6th, 2016 at 10:51 AM ^

Wilson is a perimeter player - probably a 4 in this offense. That is how JB plans to use him next year, I think. If you look at the numbers, we are going to have 4-6 guys who can play the 3-4 positions, and only 3 guards. You can include Irvin or Watson as guys who can play the 2, but I really don't think that works well for either one of them. Spike is the best guy to add. Plus, he is a 5TH YEAR SENIOR with GRIT. Can we get some grit? For once?

umumum

April 6th, 2016 at 11:21 AM ^

Wilson is certainly a 4 in most offenses, but not necessarily Beilein's.  You must have a handle to play the 4 here.  He may have one, but we haven't seen it to date--we haven't even seen him really try.  Chatman probably has a better handle and might actually have the best vision on the team and yet he struggles playing the 4.  Too many unproven 5s; not enough stretch 4s.'

And I'd much prefer keeping Spike than adding a decent, but one-dimensional Ivy League player.  Plus it frees up a scholarship one year earlier.  [now if a stud suddenly becomes interested, that's different]

JCV16

April 6th, 2016 at 11:26 AM ^

But he has to be a 4 this year. Otherwise we are going to have 5 centers on the team. And, even though he's 6'9'' or 6' 10'', he really does not play like a center. It is not goign to work to have him there. If he's going to be successul on this team it will be out on the wing. 

umumum

April 7th, 2016 at 12:10 PM ^

I like DJ.  And I'm not saying Wilson can't play the 4--I'm just saying he hasn't demnstrated the necessary skills to date to fit into Beilein's system at the 4---cuz Beilein won't be tweaking his offensive scheme to accommodate DJ.  Also, if Chatman and Wilson somehow split the 4, then Robinson has to play the 3, which is, of course, no problem on offense.  But while I personally think Robinson did an adequate (even better than expected) job defensively at the 4, I am concerned that he may lack the quickness to defend the 3.  If true, then there may not be much free  time available at the 4.

JCV16

April 6th, 2016 at 10:53 AM ^

we get a grad transfer from Columbia, he might not be able to pick up the offense, he might not be able to defend, he might be too garbage to play in the big ten, or he might get hurt as well. Spike is coming off the same surgery Max did and we saw how much better Max was this year. He is the best guy we can add. It is insane not to bring him back. Insane. 

His Dudeness

April 6th, 2016 at 11:06 AM ^

Different skill sets are needed for forwards and guards and I am not sure I agree that they had the exact same surgeries, but even still Spike cant play basketball right now. Why would we dump a scholarship on a basketball player who can't play basketball?!?

That seems insane IMHO.

His Dudeness

April 6th, 2016 at 11:22 AM ^

OK since we are using football analogies;  you remember how we didn't take Matt Falcon because we weren't sure he could play at a D-1 level after his injuries? It's like that.

Do we all hope Spike comes back better than ever? Absolutely. Is it a risk to plop a scholarship on a kid who cant play right now? Absolutley. Can we take those sorts of chances right now? Not IMHO.