More Hoops Info TweetStorm
Tony Paul of the Detroit News (@TonyPaul1984) tweeted the following (at work, can't embed tweets, sorry for the formatting):
UM coach John Beilein says there is a possibility for more player(s) transferring out. Should know within next two weeks.
Beilein says he's OK losing an assistant to a head coaching job. Speculation about Bacari Alexander to Detroit
UMCJB says it was Ricky Doyle's decision to transfer "but we were very transparent with him." Crowded frontcourt
UMCJB says he doesn't mind the national heat over his stance on Big Ten transfers. "I'll take the bullets".
UMCJB says the team is open to Spike Albrecht returning. Notes team wants defense, and he can defend.
I'll update the OP if more comes
I can mostly agree. Donnal is a 5 in Beilein's "4-out, 1-in" system, though. He is best to keep developing at that position since he doesn't have the ball-handling or outside shooting that are consistent enough to play 4. It took Jordan Morgan a while to get to where he was in his final year. I hope Donnal can make those same steps
Life is happier when you see the glass half full.
It's possible for playeres to improve continuously throughout their carerrs, but in general players improve the most between their 1st and 2nd seasons. We just saw that with MAAR. Can he improve more? It's possible but it's more likely that he's nearing his maximum capability.
Irvin and Walton are maxed out at this point, what you saw this year out of them is what you'll see next year.
Robinson and Wagner are the prime candidates to make a jump since they will be entering their second years. Beyond them I don't see much improvement happening anywhere else.
If was going to happen for Chatman it would have happened this year.
We saw decent improvement from Donnal who finished his second season but like MAAR he's probably near his maximum capability.
Wilson is a possibilty since he is coming off his frist true season, but he barely played this year so any improvement is going to be along the lines of Donnal improving this year.
Simpson looks to be a good recruit, but he is rated lower than Walton and Irvin were and those two played complementary roles their freshmen seasons. Watson is rated even lower. It's wshful thinking to expect him to make an impact right away. The incoming big men are projects, file them away for another 2-3 years.
You add all that up and it's hard to be optimistic for next year. Advacning to the Elite 8 as you suggest is entirely dependent on Wagner and Robinson making big jumps and Simpson making an impact on day 1. Those are all big question marks and it doesn't even address the team's most glaring weakness: a lack of athleticism. A far more realistic expectation is getting off the bubble, being solidly in the NCAA, then winning a game to advance to the 2nd round.
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Belein is a brilliant X's and O's coach. We saw what he could do with talent over that 3 year stretch. Unfortunately we won't be able to recruit with the big boys, as Belein doesn't seem to want to get dirty, and AAU basketball is about as shady as it gets.
He is not the brand name that Harbaugh, Coach K, Saban, Meyer, Calipari, Pitino, etc are....and football of course is a different animal and we know Cal and Pitino have gotten dirty....so, unlikely recruiting changes.
With Belein you build a program around guys staying 4 years and hope to have a great run now and then and a few hits in recruiting.
Jay Wright and Nova were left for dead the past few years after early tourney exits. I believe this was only his second Final Four, but it was a team with juniors and seniors. The one and done model isn't happening here.
I hope neither one transfers. I think both have the potential to be effetive players on a good basketball team. I like Beilen. However, he has a bit of Coach K in him when it comes to using the bench. Harbaugh pulled the redshirt off of Kinnel and Newsome because he said you get better by playing in games. It's awesome if a guy comes out and dominates right from the get go. However, Michigan hasn't been recruiting that kind of guy, and I think Wilson and Chatman need more time to develop but that includes on court time. Hell. Everyone thought Donnal was garbage until he got more minutes. I think the sample size for Wilson, a dude who can shoot the 3 and who has a 7 foot 3 wingspan is a wee bit small. Coach B needs to play him. Plain and simple. Irvin shouldn't be relied on for 35 mintues a night. But that's one slight shift in philosophy that I'd like to see happen. Guys need to see the court, so they can start trusting what they see out there. I think people are underestimating this when they hope that y or z transfers because they "just don't have it." It turns out, we don't have enough sample size to know.
Not really. See the end of the Tulsa game.