Columbia Grad Transfer Mullins Visiting Wednesday
After visiting Syracuse and Cal, Grant Mullins is visiting us on Wednesday. He shot 43.9 percent from 3 last season, so I'll take that.
http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2016/04/columbia_graduate_tra…
April 18th, 2016 at 10:26 PM ^
April 18th, 2016 at 11:33 PM ^
A much shorter Duncan Robinson. So, Matt Vogrich? Not sure how you can't be optimistic about next season with that kind of talent coming in.
Probably because we have every starter and almost all production returning from a team that was decent - 2 games off of 3rd place in the B1G and one win in the NCAA tournament. We have three players in Irvin, Walton, and MAAR, who will push for All-B1G honors. We also have some pretty good freshmen coming in.
This kid isn't coming in to carry the team, fergodsakes, he's going to supply some depth and experience.
April 19th, 2016 at 10:17 AM ^
we won a stupid play-in game. Man the bar is low around here for some people. We were also a Chatman miracle shot away from not making the tourney and finished in the lower half of the conference.
April 19th, 2016 at 11:10 AM ^
But, we have every player coming back from a team that made the tournament. Why would that not be cause for at least some optimism? Is it likely we regress? Not very. And progression would mean at least making the round of 32 and going 11-7 or better in the B1G.
April 19th, 2016 at 12:29 PM ^
But MAAR isn't going to push for all conference honors. That's a bit much.
During those last 5 games, he averaged just about 15 pts, 1.5 ast, 4 rbd and only 0.5 TO. Those would probably be good enough stats to make a case for Rahk being amongst the top 15 players in the B1G.
And this is all I meant. I don't expect anyone to be first team all B1G, except maybe Walton. Irvin/MAAR could both be 2nd or 3rd team all-B1G. Robinson could be a very solid role player who can chip in 15-20 pts with reasonable consistency. Wagner has a high ceiling and can be spelled by Donnal.
No reason for all this fire and brimstone talk that I see on this blog. We've all been disappointed by the last 2 season, but there's no reason to overreact.
April 19th, 2016 at 12:28 PM ^
I bet this guy can shoot over 35% from 3 in conference play.
April 18th, 2016 at 10:37 PM ^
April 18th, 2016 at 10:45 PM ^
April 18th, 2016 at 10:47 PM ^
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April 19th, 2016 at 12:31 PM ^
This is a beggars can't be choosers situation this late in the game.
April 18th, 2016 at 10:59 PM ^
Do you remember that? Spike himself didn't think he would ever play again, but you would risk a schollie on someone in that physical condition?
April 19th, 2016 at 11:06 AM ^
any player carries risk. I don't know exactly how good spike will be but I also have no confidence that one of the better players on the worst program in the ivy league is going to help us.
April 19th, 2016 at 12:20 PM ^
April 19th, 2016 at 12:43 PM ^
That is nearly identical to the exact same bad decision Beilein made last year, which I complained about at the time and was proven right about.
Yes, we need more athleticism and defense over the long term, but we are talking about one player for one year. Spike will be a 5th year, 24 year old player. He is our captain. He can help us a lot.
You are a very mean and combative person.
Because Michigan would be stuck with zero returning center experience if Bielfeldt started for them last year.
If he would have been better than Donnal it would have been marginally so, and it would have kept Wagner strapped to the bench.
really got into the details there.
I said it was a bad idea to let an experienced player go for no reason. Most people were like, NAH, SHUT UP IT'LL BE FINE.
It was not fine. He was the big ten 6th man of the year, playing both the 5 and the 4, and we struggled at the 5 and struggled with big man play in general.
Now I'm saying it is a bad idea to let an experienced player go for no reason. Most people are like NAH, SHUT UP IT'LL BE FINE.
It probably won't be fine. He'll most likely end up providing quality minutes for a conference rival. We'll be ok in the backcourt only if all 3 of walton, simpson and MAAR are healthy all season. Odds of that - not great.
Mullins cannot play point guard. He is an ivy league shooter. And he is not as good of a shooter as spike. this makes no sense.
Mullins not being able to play PG (which I disagree with you on, but whatever) would be fine seeing as we need at backup at the 2/3 more than we need a 3rd PG anyway. Mullins could do that, Spike couldn't. You're assuming Spike's hips will allow him to get back to where he was when he was injured as a player, which might not be the case. Also, since you mentioned nitpicking, your claim that Mullins is not the same caliber of shooter as Spike is odd. Removing the year both missed due to injury, Mullins is a career 44/39 shooter to Spike's 42/40 on 2P/3P FGs on a signficantly larger number attempts.
I love Spike and appreciate what he contributed to the program but Mullins is probably a better option at this point, especially considering how he'd fit on the roster. And there's a chance he goes to Syracuse or Cal anyway. Let's wait and see what happens before adding this to the list of things you disagree with Beilein on.
(1) mullins' numbers are in the ivy league. the ivy league.
(2) spike can give us better minutes at the 2 position than mullins can. we have a bunch of guys who can play the 2: walton, simpson, MAAR, Watson, Irvin, Robinson. Most of those guys plus chatman can play the 3. We have no shortage of options there
(3) We only have 2 point guards - you can count MAAR but he really struggled there. The PG depth chart is terrifying if we lose one of those 2 guys. Every other position can survie an injury.
(4) I'm not assuming spike's hips will be 100 percent, but the idea that you can "assume" any player is going to be healthy and available and prodcutive is an illusion. Mullins could blow his knee out. He could be totally out of his depth. He could miss new york and cry every day. If consider our needs and the risk/reward Spike is by far the better option.
Edit: meant as response to comment below
with bielfedlt. If you give him doyle's minutes we might win a couple more games, and who knows what woudl have happened in the tourney. It would not have harmed us this season one bit. Donnal and Wagner would still be on the team with significant playing experience. Doyle would still be gone.
All of these excuses for tanking the roster make no sense. You should have the best roster to win now, with the best players you can get. If players don't want to earn their minutes they shouldn't be here.
Doyle played over Wagner most of the year. Hindsight is 20/20 but Doyle was on the roster for a reason. The 4th Center doesn't play (ask Wilson and Bielfeldt) and for most of the year that would have been Wagner.
Truth is Wagner never gets recruited if Bielfeldt is back.
wagner was originally supposed to redshirt - bielfedlt had nothing to do with it.
He didn't leave Europe to red-shirt.
It would be unprecedented to see a guy transfer from a lower league and still produce as a starter. I can't imagine such a thing happening at a school like Michigan. Get real.
It would be unprecedented for a 5th year senior, 2 years removed from hip surgery, to transfer from michigan to indiana and have the best year of his career. I can't imagine such a thing happening at a school like Michigan. Get real.
I wish him all the best wherever he plays. You should too.
Likewise you should hope Michigan can get a lower division transfer to make a big contribution to Michigan.
if we get mullins, I will *hope* he is great, but the odds are we'll get more out of keeping spike.
No, they are not. We don't need a 3rd PG. We could use a 2G (Mullins is 6'4) who can plausibly defend and hit 3s.
Spike is not a combo guard. This guy is.
Spike is best with the ball in his hands, Michigan doesn't need that with Walton, Simpson, and MAAR.
he is an ivy league shooter. What makes you think that an ivy league shooter can plausbily defend big ten 2's? He has better chance of defending a dissertation than a big ten 2.
Spike is a GREAT, not good shooter off the ball. He is a TREMENDOUS shooter off the ball. That would be a great role for him. If he's out there with walton or spike, that guy could guard the 2.
Mullins is just a shooter TM. There has never been more of just a shooter TM than this guy. Spike does a lot more. And he has GRIT. and he's our captain. Spike. Spike. Spike.
2. No, he can't. Spike has never played primarily the 2 and needs the ball in his hands to be most effective. Spike giving us minutes at the 2 is very small backcourt and not one that Beilein has ever used extensively. Mullins, OTOH is a combo guard. Your assertion that Spike would give us better minutes at the 2 is based on... Nothing, really.
3. You're arguing that our backcourt depth is fine, but then saying that we NEED a 3rd PG who can't play the 2 for extended minutes and can't play the 3 at all. MAAR and Mullins could both handle PG duties in a pinch, and can also offer other positional flexibility that Spike can't.
4. Of course, any player could get injured. The idea is to mitigate the risks by staying away from players who more likely than others to get hurt, or whose performance is already affected by a previous injury. Spike would certainly qualify do that.
Considering our roster needs and the risk/reward, a 3rd PG with 2 bad hips who isn't gonna help much at the 2 or 3 is definitely not "by far the better option."
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HE WOULD KILL EVERYONE IN THAT GARBAGE LEAGUE
Michigan would not have been a significantly better team with Bielfeldt in 15-16 and would be in a worse position for 16-17. This is pretty straight-forward.
Bielfeldt helped Indiana a lot because they needed him. Michigan, even though it was an inferior team, did not. Bielfeldt can't play the 4 in Beilein's offense and he didn't have a guy like Bryant to play beside at Michigan.
It wasn't a fit. The only mistake Beilein made was spending 4 years of scholarship on Bielfeldt, because he keeps misevaluating his needs at hte 4 and 5.
There is not "no reason" there is the rest of the team and the future of the program. This isn't about if the guy can win a game of one on one against someone this one year.
Michigan has 2 PGs that are better than Spike. Bringing him back not only might not help, it actively might HURT Michigan basketball going forward.
Spike deserves a shot to start somewhere where that is a feasible option for him. Michigan is not that place.
U-M had a useful player on its roster and let him go for nothing in return. If you want to argue it was worth the possibility of landing Jaylen Brown, that's one thing. But this idea that we were better off jettisoning a healthy, worthwhile player so that Wagner could play more is way overthinking it.
The logic of that assertion makes no sense. If the presence of an elder player would've kept Wagner strapped to the bench, then why did Wagner leapfrog Doyle and (to some degree) Donnal late in the season? And if Bielfeldt had been good enough to keep him on the bench, isn't that a good thing for the 2015-16 team? Isn't the point to win games? I mean, by that rationale, no seniors should play, since they have no future and the program needs to perpetually focus on the future.
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April 18th, 2016 at 11:28 PM ^
Kostas Antetoukounmpo would fit that criteria
April 18th, 2016 at 11:45 PM ^
You know he's not coming to Michigan? What are his Iowa State and Memphis offers too much to beat out?
April 19th, 2016 at 12:35 PM ^
I don't know why that has to be thrown out there as ridiculous. Those programs have gotten a lot of kids Michigan would like and we've lost recruits we wanted badly to Xavier and Harvard the last couple years.
Like the kid from Valpo - there's no indication that kid is a realistic option for Michigan.
April 19th, 2016 at 12:52 PM ^
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Michigan wanted Towns, prioritized him early in the process, but Towns wanted to go to Harvard.
Peters is a different situation. He's testing the NBA draft waters, and if he doesn't go the draft route then he has a very nice landing spot at Vanderbilt, where his coach from Valpo was just hired. Kostas is a recruit with very few offers, and offers that Michigan should be able to beat out
Except he is naming those schools ahead of Michigan. Michigan COULD beat them out, but they could beat out Vanderbilt too. It's pure speculation.
But it's going to be a highly competitive situation and it also means one less '17 recruit.
Michigan is exploring their options, as they should.
I honestly don't think Michigan needs another Guard very badly. While Mullins would help and maybe fit in the lineup better than MAAR, I'd rather see us take a flyer on a high-end option.
Both strategies (Mullin + 17 recruit, '16 wing recruit) are reasonable and have merit.
Kostas is most likely not going to significantly contribute next year. Still very raw and all we really know about his defense is that he is long and can block shots. He needs to add weight desperately. I think he's got some great potential in 2-3 years. But I don't think he's a difference maker for us next season if he comes. JMO
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And we are still recruiting him as far as I can tell. Not a bad idea to have multiple options in case one doesn't go your way.
April 19th, 2016 at 12:37 PM ^
That we shouldn't act like recruiting somebody means we are choosing them over every other basketball player on the planet? Because I'd rather have Khawi Leonard than this Mullins kid or Antekounompo