McGary goes up strong - Wise beyond his years?

still getting his spring back after suffering a leg injury before the season. I think his post presence will be big for us come the start of B1G play.

I just want to hear Bill Walton saying "throw it down big man, throw it down" in the back of my head every time McGary gets the ball down in the post.

Any way he can get the team going is what I like to see. Whether that means coming in and finding open people after getting the ball in the high post, or whether it means coming in and getting the ball of a screen and roll and slamming it home. I know it's crazy to believe, but McGary may be our 2nd most important player this year behind Burke. There have been multiple times early this season where we look dull, slow and have no energy, and McGary will come on and completely change our energy. Whether it be getting offensive rebounds, dunking, or sprinting to the huddle and getting our crowd hype.

Either way you look at it, this kid is gonna be special.

Isn't he 20 something already?

This team is fun to watch. Can't wait for B1G conference play!

Does anyone have a link to his music video singing a Bieber song? I'd love to see that.

At first my response was this: if the question is whether I'd rather have a strong smart big (a'la Blake Griffin) or a smart big who doesn't utilize his strength, your question's a no-brainer. But then you hint at a mental or "Xs&Os" weakness in Blake Griffin's game, ostensibly a weakness that Mitch McGary doesn't have. Tell me what you're talking about, and I'll answer that question.

But then I thought, maybe a better comparison is simply to compare Oklahoma freshman Blake Griffin to Mitch to see what's up. Here's a LINK to Blake's freshman season stats. Immediate first impression: Blake's usage began at over 25 minutes a game. Mitch hovers 10-15 minutes.

So Blake started his career at Oklahoma as Oklahoma's #1 guy. Everyone knew it, and he thrived under that pressure. His freshman numbers are crazy; his field goal percentage compared to his usage rate are beast-mode, never let your foot off the pedal, never stop scoring, never stop rebounding, score at will, rebound at will. That's not really Mitch McGary at this point, and perhaps the comparison is just unfair because of it.

But as for arguing around the typical disclaimers (system, roles, early in the year): what would have happened if Mitch McGary played for Oklahoma in 2007-2008? Could Mitch have thrived as Blake did? Could Mitch have...wait for it...given that Oklahoma squad a better edge to win more games? And conversely, what would happen if we plugged 2007-2008 Blake Griffin into Michigan's current offense? Would Michigan be better or worse?

My gut-check answer: Michigan would be better with freshman Blake Griffin than with freshman Mitch McGary. The possibility of Burke to Griffin any given play would make playing Michigan unfair considering the available weapons we have. McGary on Oklahoma's 2007-2008 squad would put an onus on the other guys that wasn't there before. McGary at his best would still position Oklahoma to win games, absolutely. But 4 other guys would have to play very well, too.

To address Blaze's question: in my playing days I have never, and never known a teammate, to purposely play soft out of intelligence. You always want your players to play strong. And that is the key. That said, playing strong and dunking are two different things.  A great example of this was GRIII's and-one last night. He was going for the dunk, but because he was playing strong, when he got fouled, he was still able to make the layup. You can also see this in GRIII's rebounding. It's the primary reason GRIII is seeing so many minutes already.

I have seen it from McGary also but it is harder for big men to adapt because typically they have always had an inherent advantage by being bigger than everyone. Watching Jordan Morgan evolve over the last couple years is a great example of a big man learning to play strong.

I think the most impressive play that McGary made last night was the layup that he made when catching the ball down low, but keeping it high near the rim.  He never took a dribble, or even brought the ball in toward his chest.  It was a quick - catch, come down, and then put it in the basket - without bringing his arms back inward.  This is a high basketball IQ type play that you rarely see out of freshman.

that McGary was a more capable mid-range scorer based on the highlights that I saw of him before arriving at Michigan.  That has been the one area of his game that has left me a little dissapointed.  It looked like he had a nice 10-12 foot jumper and I have not even seen him attempt that kind of a scoring opportunity.

on your McGary snowflake Blaze but ruining tailgates keeps me so busy. /s  

I think we're over-analyzing. Kids are taught to "go strong" in seventh grade. When you're 6'10", you better have been "going strong" your whole life.