Burke will replace Morris quite nicely

Agree with all of this with the small caveat that we should wait and see what Burke does against actual competition. He certainly looks like he'll handle it just fine.

My concern at this point is Jordan Morgan. He looked out of sorts last night, and couldn't hold on to the ball if his life depended on it. Really needs to work on a few things if he's going to get back to where he was last year.

Does anyone have a link to a highlight video from last night other than the 40 second one at ESPN.com?

I couldn't watch last night but heard he looked good from people at the game.

 

Burke looks like he may be a bit turnover prone at this point. When he faces a legitimate defense they may take advantage. That said, I loved what I saw from him last night. He needs a little polish but thats expected for a freshman starter and time and coaching will lead to marked improvement.

Hoops is gonna be a lot of fun ot watch the next couple of years. 

FWIW, the recruit who looked like he was going to be in this class instead of Burke, Kevin Pangos, just dropped 33 points on Wash St last night for Gonzaga. He went 9-13 from 3-point land.

Playing his second game of the year however there are a couple things that stand out right away. Like Blue3 stated, he is a TRUE Pg, and he has elite quickness and handles.

I agree that he will replace Morris nicely and by the end of the year, I think Burke will make the pain of losing Morris completely go away.

IMO, Horford can stand to gain another 15-20 lbs and we still lack elite athleticism and shot blocking on the inside.

 

I think we're a long way from being able to say that the team won't miss Morris.  He was the straw that stirred the drink last year. 

Burke is a freshman, and he will have up and downs.  Looks solid though, and going forward is really going to be a nice PG.  Horford and Morgan look solid underneath.  We will see in the next few weeks against good competition how good they really are. 

Burke can be a facilitator moreso than Morris was by the same time in their career, but I am not sure he will be as much of an individual scoring threat at any time.

I just like how veteran he seems at this stage in his development. That is exciting.

Morris had the height to both post up other guards and to more easily throw the ball into the post / make plays / etc.  Beilein will use Burke differently and effectively, but something to note is that a tall point guard is a very nice thing to have.

I think Morris is/was a better passer.  He created with much less talent than Burke will have going forward  eventhough their stats may end up being similar.  I also feel Burke will be able to put more points on the board on any givin night but once again he will not need to going forward with better scoring options coming next year.  Either way Im stoked basketball is here!

It's great that Burke is coming along and appears to be a good fit at the point, but everytime I see updates on the NBA lockout, I get visions of Darius working out in some solitary HS gym, and I grind my teeth in frustration.

Now i can reuse my Manny Harris jersey at the games I go to.

As I have seem others write if Burke can be as good as Aaron Craft was last year we should be in business.

most affected by Morris leaving for the pros.  Many of his buckets came off of Morris assists. 

     I dont think there are a lot of holes in his game.  I just hope he can develope top-end chemistry like Morris had with Morgan.  If and when that happens Michigan will be better than they were last year. 

 

By the way: anyone know if the game will be replayed at all?  I was stuck at work and could not attend.  Anyone got a dvd they'd be willing to burn for me/a torrent they're willing to post?

I was thinking the same thing. In my opinion after the first three games, he will be better at shooting. Also he showed pretty good awareness last night and made a lot of good passes. I don't think that he's quite as good at seeing the floor as Darrius was, but he's good.

In other words, they're both good, kind of similar and kind of different.

Burke played very well at home against a cupcake.  The true test will be on the road in a hostile environment against a ranked team.  Let's just hope his development continues and he becomes as good as Morris was. He sure has demonstrated that he has a huge upside.  Go Blue!

Towson is one of three teams in the NCAA not returning ANY starters and has a new coach. They suck. Let's see how this team does in Maui.

I've been told this about 5 or 6 times since we beat Ferris State.  However, I simply don't buy into ANY of this hype yet.  I've gone to every game and went to the student open practice.  

Burke is a solid player and will be one, but he's not even close to Morris yet.  The team is doing well at moving around the ball, but they are getting virtually nothing inside right now (excluding Towson, but well, it's Towson).  

I know Beliein's offense "lives and dies" off of the 3 pt shot, but in my opinion the thing that made the team take off last season were the interior shots going down from Morgan and Morris.  Guys like Hardaway, Novak, and Stu are awesome on the outside, but if you aren't getting any 2's, the hill is just oging to be too big to overcome.

Until Burke can get better control of his passing skills and understanding of the game, this team will be weaker than last years

d-mo

I have to disagree with a lot of what has been posted above about the differences between Morris and Burke.

Morris' height, vision, and passing skills allowed him to excel in the pick and roll.  Even though Beilein had not used much PnR in previous seasons, he made it the centerpiece of the offense last year, discarding many of the sets that revolved around motion concepts and that had been effective when Harris and Sims were here.  Morgan got inside shots because he and Morris were so successful at running the high PnR game last year.  

(I'm going to scream if I read any more posts talking about how Morgan or Horford has to score more "on the block."  Beilein designs his office to keep the lane open and to lift the defense off the baseline.  He rarely, if ever, uses sets that put a 4 or 5 in the low post to receive an entry pass from the wing.  In Beilein's offense, bigs get lay-ups off the high PnR or back cuts, usually from the weakside.)

I doubt that Burke wil excel in the PnR, at least not right away.  It will take some time for him to learn the angles and the timing that will work with Morgan and Horford.  

And the PnR will work a lot differently with Burke.  Burke's big advantage over Morris is his shooting.  When Burke is in high PnR, Burke's defenders are not going to go under the pick and dare him to shoot the jumper, the way they did with Morris.  This is going to give Burke opportunities to drive and dish to cutters or to drive and kick for spot-up threes.

This difference will change a lot of things in Michigan's PnR game.  Because his defender typically went under the pick, Morris had fewer driving lanes.  He was much more likely to feed the pick man, often over the top of the defense.  If Burke's defender goes over the pick, to try to take away his jumper, Burke will have more driving opportunities, with a big rolling next to him or with cutters diving to the basket when defenders have to enter the lane to help on Burke.  This changes the situations in which the bigs will get the ball on the PnR, and it will change how they receive it.  It also changes the opportunities that the other three players will have.  Michigan will create a lot more opportunities for players to cut to the basket for easy lay-ups and dunks.

But this is a big transition.  Everyone's role will be different, albeit slightly.  It will take some time for everyone to adjust.  And it depends a lot upon Burke.  If, for whatever reason, Burke struggles and Douglass has to run the point most of the time, Michigan will lose a lot of opportunities and will have to have a very different kind of offense than the one they can have with a successful Burke.  If that happens, the offense will probably be sluggish and inconsistent and I bet Michigan won't make the tournament.

I think it is going to work.  But it could take a while to develop, and Michigan might start this season a little like they started last year.  If everything clicks, this team could be significantly better than last year's.  

Great player

I saw the game as well and while he is a freshman, I thought Brundidge would look better.  I could be way off, but wasn't he rated ahead of Burke?  As far as general game impressions, I thought the defense was good but hope the offense is more consistent as the season progresses.