NashvilleMaize…

April 5th, 2015 at 4:41 PM ^

He chose to play college ball over a professional contract - he's not coming here with any intention of redshirting when he could could have gotten playing time in Euro pro ball and gotten a paycheck while he's at it. Probably not coming for the degree either. He's gonna play. Now the minutes breakdown will be downright fascinating. And throw Brown in the mix for kicks and "fascinating" gets redefined.




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M-Dog

April 5th, 2015 at 2:39 PM ^

How are we going to make a recognizable German flag in Maize and Blue?

Just change the red to blue?  

This presents quite an important challenge.

gwkrlghl

April 5th, 2015 at 3:38 PM ^

I hope he gets the Hagelin-Stauskas-Chris Brown treatment where we wave his home country / region flag when he does cool stuff, play German songs for fun, and then play his national anthem on senior day (assuming Beilein does Beilein him and he's in the NBA in 2 years)

sasmjjsly

April 5th, 2015 at 2:39 PM ^

Love the pick up. Just really want to get Jaylen Brown too! Sam Webb just tweeted "Yes" in response to a question of whether Beilein was still going after Jaylen Brown. So either Beilein knows that Lavert is leaving or they are sure he's coming back and will medical Hatch. I don't think it took that long for Wagner to decide to come to Michigan. Either way, I think it's a decent sign regarding Jaylen Brown.That's just my opinion.

Generic MGoBlogger

April 5th, 2015 at 2:51 PM ^

I think he and Robinson are taking all the minutes at the four this season.  I personally think these are the guys JB has wanted at the four for years now, specifically guys who aren't overbearing presences underneath the basket, but guys who can stretch the floor with their outside shooting ability and grab some rebounds here and there.  GR3 was solid at this, but he definitely wasn't a 3 point specialist.  Robinson and Wagner look to be solid guys from beyond the arch and could definitely be huge difference makers.

On the other hand, this gives JB plenty of reason to bump Chatman and Irvin back to the three slots as guards, and depending on whether Caris returns, I think JB goes back to playing two PG's at once with Spike, MAAR, and Walton rotating between the one and two.  Doing this allows JB to spread his talent out all over the floor.  

My only concern at this point is the power forward position.  Donnal and Doyle really need to show some growth for me to feel confident about the position.  We aren't going to have Max to give us the scoring and rebounding bumps he gave us at some points this past season, so these two are going to need to grow tremendously in the offseason.  

As long as the power forward position continues to show growth, I think this team should be top four in the conference with OSU, MSU, and Maryland surrounding them.  I really think this season was flukey, and not to mention, we showed enormous growth without Caris and Walton for the majority of the season.  I am confident that we would have closed out games with those guys and snuck into the tourney as an 11 seed.  I think we have the full capability to surprise a bunch of people next season and be scary good.  Hell, we might even find ourselves in the Sweet 16 or Elite 8 again. 

snarling wolverine

April 5th, 2015 at 3:10 PM ^

The big question: will he definitely qualify academically?  Remember that Robin Benzing fell just short a few years back.  Taking the SAT or ACT in your second language has got to be pretty stressful.

 

MichiganMAN47

April 5th, 2015 at 4:09 PM ^

Doyle, Irvin, Dawkins, Rahkman, Robinson, Walton, Spike, Chatman, Wilson, Wagner, and Donnal. This team has the potential to be VERY good, maybe even Final Four good if Dawkins can continue to play like he did the last few games. I'd be absolutely shocked if this team is worse than a 7 seed.

bacon1431

April 5th, 2015 at 4:56 PM ^

I don't think the team you listed is quite Final Four good (caveat that anything can happen in single elimination tournament). MSU, Indiana, OSU and Maryland will all have more talent than the personnel you've listed out. But I do think we will be back to an efficient offense and quality team next season even if Caris departs. Team looks top 25 to me, but not top 15.