Smotrycz, Christian, Brundidge all transferring

The Smotrycz move is baffling to me. 

He must feel like the opportunity to play somewhere else is more important than a Michigan degree.  Any rumors about where he’s headed?

Seems crazy to me, but kids can be a little wacky sometimes.

I wish him well and thank him for his contributions to the team just the same!

had difficulty handling the ball and was always whining when fouls were called on him. Plus he always looked lackadaisical, despite being a decent rebounder.

A 6' 9" sophmore with a deadly outside shot should be a deadly threat, but, alas, he never was. 

I don't understand why he's leaving, and I'm not glad to see him go, but I ain't cryin' either. 

Starters/ 2nd string

PG Burke/ PG Stauskas

SG Hardaway/ SG Vogrich 

C Morgan/ C Horford

SF GR3/ SF ?

PF McGary/ PF ?

Lots of talent in starting 5 and depth at other positions, but we will be thin at forward.

Smotz had his moments offensively-Few-But Defensively was a huge liability.   Terrible on the high screen when showing-Always stood straight up and never moved his feet. Questioned his effort on "D" and hustle.  Hurts Depth depending who does or doesn't step up but I believe someone will and will be an upgrade at both ends of court.

There must be something they are not telling us

So like several others I wish those three luck wherever they end up, but moving forward I'll only talk about guys who play for U of M.  A lot of speculation on the breakdown of minutes took place over the past week, and now that throws it off a bit.

As for backup at PG, the hope must be that either Stauskas can handle the ball well enough to take it when Burke needs rest, or that Akunne will step up as he recovers.

I think the 2 and 3 are all set, though as mentioned above Stauskas may get more minutes than originally anticipated due to his ability to handle the ball....well enough.

It's clearly the 4 and 5 that feel this the most.  Smotz wasn't really a threat to play minutes at the 5.  That should be almost completely divided between Morgan and Horford now, with McGary and Beilfeldt splitting the 4.

It's possible that they go smallish at times with someone like GRIII playing some 4, though I don't anticiate it.  That would open up chaces to have Burke, Stauskas, THJ, and GRIII on the floor at the same time with any one of the bigs.  Depending on foul trouble or injury concerns we may see that more thn ideal, but at the same time there's enough height there that it could end up being something great to see. 

Of course news of an incoming transfer or new recruit would be welcome, but I think it's still a very talented team going into next year.

I would have loved o see some of those guys develop and contribute to bigger things, but if they felt they needed to go than I'll b ok with that.

last Sunday I heard Sam Webb mention this Serbian/Canadian kid Stefan Jankovic that Michigan is interested in. http://www.umhoops.com/recruits/stefan-jankovic/

I thought Smotz was perfect for our offense.  Beilein always likes big guys who can shoot.  He was a huge liability on defense though, and he was very limited offensively.  He needed some toughness and some post moves, and I thought with those additions to his game, he could have been an effective player.  I think this move will def hurt our depth, but hell, we played with a 7 guy rotation most of the year anyway, so next year probably won't be much different.  Hopefully Hortford will come back strong and our freshmen are as good as advertised.  All in all, besides the depth issues, I don't think this will hurt much in the long run.

Colton: Wasn't gunna get minutes anyways

Brundidge: Akune would likely have gotten much of the back up PG minutes anyways.  Assuming Brundidge wasn't in line to have a huge breakout year (which is probably a safe assumption for someone who barely got off the becnh last year) this is not a huge loss.

Smotz: This hurts a bit, more from a depth standpoint than anything.  With GR3 and McGary coming in we will still have a much more talented team next year.  I honestly believe Smotz would have seen his minutes slowly dwindle over the course of next season anyways.  In short, his departure is not that big of a deal. 

A. Who will back up Trey?

Big depth issues at PG.  The general idea is that Stauskas could fill that role, but there is some questioning about whether or not he can handle the ball at the collegiate level.  I have faith that Stauskas can do it with some work during the off-season.  Or maybe Timmy should start working with Sr. on his cross-over...

B. Can/Will Morgan play the 4?

Obviously Beilein likes having 4-5 shooters on the court at a time and it works best with his system.  None of the remaining bigs (besides McLimans) can really shoot it from deep (can GRIII play the 4?).  That's why Smotz was so important, he was that hybrid-type big who could play inside and out.  Having 3 guards and 2 bigs on the court is certainly the conventional style of play, but Beilein doesn't play that way.

smotz was too little to bang in the middle for the big ten so he bailed out.  I think he was more of a 3/4 in beilein system he have to play the 5.  plus he wanted more than 15 mins which he is not going to get here.  it sucks that he left because we were turning the corner.   brundridge would have been on the bench his whole time here. hope to see him go to U of D.  Lets get Trey Ziegler to play with Trey Burke to play with Trey Robinson.

 Michigan Football-  


 What you gonna do when hokemania RUNS wild over you?

To me, this is just a product of the "Kentucky phenomenon" in which guys believe they all should get immediate playing time and make the NBA after one or two seasons.  They need to grow up.  You don't bail on your team because you weren't performing well enough to earn time.  It's times lke these that make me appreciate level-headed leaders like Douglass and Novak.   

Unfortunately, apparently,  something wasn't right.  He was a real contributor and you just have to respect his opinion of the situation.  We'll certainly look a lot different next year.

Does this open the door for Trey Zeigler?

Don't like the loss of depth, but I'm more concerned with why three guys are suddenly transferring. Smotz's tweet basically said he wasn't saying why out of consideration for the staff.

What's going on? Why did they leave?