Iggy gets B1G Freshman of the week for 4th time (most in program history)
As reported by 247, Iggy received B1G Freshman of the week for the 4th time this season - the highest for any Michigan player. Previously this record was held by Hardaway and Stauskus who received this honor 3 times each.
January 28th, 2019 at 3:47 PM ^
Iggy>Romeo
Iggy has already surged past the typical freshman slump. The latter part of his first (of multiple hopefully) B1G season is going to be a lot of fun to watch...
January 28th, 2019 at 3:50 PM ^
I still don't understand why NBA experts are so high on Romeo Langford as an NBA prospect. I've seen him as high as the 5th pick in the draft. Maybe Indiana is just that bad it is hard to notice him
January 28th, 2019 at 3:52 PM ^
I agree. His lack of a 3 point shot is really going to hurt him at the NBA level. Pretty much the only things I've seen him do well are finish at the rim and draw fouls.
January 28th, 2019 at 4:59 PM ^
"I still don't understand why NBA experts are so high on Romeo Langford as an NBA prospect."
Two words: Up. Side.
January 28th, 2019 at 5:20 PM ^
ya, Kwame Brown had a huge upside too. Id rather see results
January 28th, 2019 at 5:49 PM ^
Yeah, I haven't watched Langford a lot but his athleticism doesn't leap out as elite to me. When he can't create his own shot against Matthews, and that's literally his only supposed strength, I am baffled by his high draft projection.
January 28th, 2019 at 7:15 PM ^
This is really quite simple. Langford is 18 years old. Matthews is an elite college defender. End of story.
Otherwise, Brazdeikis is a year older and a helluva player. His understanding of the game is elite, he is good enough physically and he is, mentally, as tough as nails. I haven't seen enough of the other freshmen around the country to judge where he stands in this class but I want Brazdeikis on any team I am playing on or coaching.
January 28th, 2019 at 7:22 PM ^
All I know is that Iggy needs one or two more years of development (#pleasestay!)
January 28th, 2019 at 11:21 PM ^
I understand he's only 18, but there are lots of 18 year olds playing college basketball and very few of them are considered lottery picks. So I struggle to see what about him screams lottery pick.
I'm now looking at his numbers and overall they're pretty good despite horrible three point shooting. He's good from two, good at drawing fouls, and good at making his FTs and he does all this with high usage and doesn't turn it over too much. So I see the foundation there.
I think the saving grace about his 3pt shooting is that he's a pretty good FT shooter so the assumption is probably that he'll get better at threes pretty quickly.
January 29th, 2019 at 8:32 AM ^
I think what you are experiencing is good old-fashioned bias. This kid has great skills and athleticism...he simply needs to figure out how to employ them better. Teams, like Michigan in particular, can make life hell for him because he really does not have a lot of help-to give him room to operate offensively. The kid is a player...he's only 18...he will get a lot better...the NBA loves potential.
January 29th, 2019 at 8:37 AM ^
Trouble with Kwame was that he went from high school straight to the pros. Any estimate of his upside was based on sketchy evidence. I call this the Darko Effect.
January 28th, 2019 at 11:39 PM ^
Well if you draft Mathews you immunize your team from anything Romeo can bring to the table.
January 28th, 2019 at 3:57 PM ^
He needs two more years.
January 28th, 2019 at 4:01 PM ^
at the very least
January 28th, 2019 at 4:37 PM ^
Or 10....ya 10 would be great!
January 28th, 2019 at 4:38 PM ^
aka - The Aaron Craft Scholarship
January 28th, 2019 at 4:01 PM ^
Couple games he hit the “wall” but looks to have busted right through it
January 28th, 2019 at 4:14 PM ^
247sports really fucked that one up because that's not even close to the truth.
Trey Burke was named B1G Freshman of the Week seven times in 2011-12.
January 28th, 2019 at 4:19 PM ^
So he did. Did not know that. Well then Iggy has some ways to go but if he keeps playing the way he is right now, I can see him breaking that record.
January 28th, 2019 at 6:44 PM ^
Yep, very down year for freshmen in the conference so that combined with his awesomeness means he should win this a few more times.
January 28th, 2019 at 4:21 PM ^
On to the next one...
January 28th, 2019 at 4:45 PM ^
Well see, there you go. That record doesn't count. It was before Rutger joined the B1G.
January 28th, 2019 at 4:53 PM ^
Obviously a honor for Iggy, but this freshman class in the Big Ten seems particularly weak. Obviously there's Iggy and Romeo (who has looked less impressive as Indiana continues to tailspin). I believe Maryland has a high four or five star named Smith who's been ok? Haven't watched him at all admittedly. MSU has Bingham who has ridden the bench because he's a freshman at MSU and wanted to throw away a year of his life to sit on the bench and not develop at all as a basketball player (aka The Izzo Method). Any other freshmen I'm missing in the conference?
January 28th, 2019 at 4:57 PM ^
Ayo Dosunmu is a freshman @ Illinois - he is a real player who is starting to emerge.
January 28th, 2019 at 8:45 PM ^
And that dude is lucky to be alive after what he pulled on Iggy at the end of the Illinois game. He's lucky Iggy didn't just snap his fingers, all 145lbs of him would've turned to dust.
January 28th, 2019 at 5:36 PM ^
Maybe in terms of the number of guys making a significant impact on the court this year. But you have to see what all of them do in another year or two to really make a judgement. Your example of Bingham, plus the other 4 Michigan freshman all have a lot of upside, but can't see the court due to the logjam in front of them.
January 28th, 2019 at 11:29 PM ^
Not many making an impact as a freshman = particularly weak. Many of them will certainly develop. The conference just didn't recruit many, if any, ready-made NBA players that are sure-fire lottery picks.
Not that the B1G frequently has many. The main difference is this year MSU doesn't have a Jaren Jackson or Miles Bridges. And OSU hasn't had a good freshman in a while but they used to have a fairly steady stream of one-and-dones.
January 28th, 2019 at 8:59 PM ^
Bingham wasn't even the best player on his high school team last year. He is a project. Very tall and skinny with a nice outside shot. I see him getting a redshirt.
January 28th, 2019 at 5:18 PM ^
Do it Iggy.
January 28th, 2019 at 6:08 PM ^
January 28th, 2019 at 9:21 PM ^
I can’t believe that not a single member of the Fab Five was BIG Freshman of the Week at least 3 times.
January 29th, 2019 at 5:38 AM ^
Amen.
Did they not give that award out back then?
January 28th, 2019 at 10:11 PM ^
Imagine where this team would be if Iggy didn't come in and take over as a freshman. Without Iggy our scoring slumps would be long. We'd probably be one of those Big Ten teams fighting to stay just inside the Top 25. Its no coincidence Iggy had his worst game vs Wisconsin and we lost
Would be nice if he comes back for another year
January 28th, 2019 at 11:43 PM ^
Iggy has been great but he does have the best backup on the team so he's probably the least important starter on the team. It would be worse to imagine the team without Z or Poole or Matthews or Teske, because of who would have to play more minutes.
It would probably be a team in the teens in terms of rankings.
Wisconsin ALSO held Matthews to his second worst game of the year. Z and Poole also had bad games. And it's not really a coincidence because Wisconsin is the best defense Michigan has played this season (a top 10 unit) AND M had to play them on the road. Michigan could have easily won despite a quite game from Iggy if the rest of the team didn't also play so poorly - but Wisconsin and the refs had a lot do do with that.
January 28th, 2019 at 10:33 PM ^
Trey Burke 7 times.
So, not most