MGoPoe

May 3rd, 2016 at 9:12 AM ^

Hate to see him go and happy trails but Purdue just picked up exactly what that team last year lacked: a talented ball handler in the back court.

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Wolverine Devotee

May 3rd, 2016 at 9:14 AM ^

I hope he goes off like Bielfeldt did.

He should still be here and I'm legitimately upset at Beilein for letting him leave.



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BigBlue02

May 3rd, 2016 at 11:10 AM ^

Scenario-Calvin Johnson tells the lions he wants to come out retirement today. The lions tell him if they take him back, they would have way too much cap space invested in WRs or that he would have to take a huge pay cut to play again in Detroit. He signs elsewhere. If I'm reading all of the criticism correctly, everyone would be mad at the Lions because they already signed Megatron's replacement?

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TIMMMAAY

May 3rd, 2016 at 11:45 AM ^

I'm not mad about the Spike situation, just disappointed for a lot of reasons. But your analogy doesn't hold true to our situation either. We don't have a salary cap, and will have an extra scholarship next season anyway... 

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BigBlue02

May 3rd, 2016 at 12:35 PM ^

It was an analogy, so "pesky facts" don't really play into anything. The fact that we don't have a salary cap doesn't mean the analogy is far fetched. We have limited playing time on the basketball team. A player retired, so we started planning the future without him. We have a freshman point guard and a freshman shooting guard coming in next year that Beilein probably wants to get minutes. Those are the two positions Spike would play. We also have MAAR that can play PG and SG, so there is another guy that Beilein wants to get plenty of minutes. Spike tells Beilein he wants to un-retire. Beilein says that may be possible but we are looking into other options and you would be down on the depth chart. Spike decides it is best to go elsewhere. In my analogy, the lions told Megatron he could come back but there were provisions (they already signed a WR and have Tate on the team, so he would have to take a significant pay cut). Megatron decides it is in his best interest to go somewhere he can get a lot of money. Both players decide to do what is best for their career. It is a shitty end result, but I don't fault Beilein one bit for not holding a scholarship for every possible scenario of 5th year seniors, like one coming out of retirement and possibly never playing basketball again

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m83econ

May 3rd, 2016 at 12:24 PM ^

Isn't the situation really about playing time? only 40 minutes a game available at PG and most of that is going to Walton & Simpson. Spike is probably looking for at least 20 minutes a game that was not going to be available here.

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93Grad

May 3rd, 2016 at 10:19 AM ^

right now, we have air occupying the last scholarship.  I like the idea of a having third PG a lot more than I like the idea of having nothing.  What if a PG gets hurt?  Or how about playing Derrick at the 2 spot for a few minutes.  Or what if X isn't ready?  

 

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MichiganTeacher

May 3rd, 2016 at 10:36 AM ^

Agree with WD, 93Grade, and SpikeFan. Spike should still be here.

Basketball situation is a mess. I am not at all confident that Beilein is capable of managing a roster under the (admittedly stupid) elites-are-one-and-done system. In fact, I really don't think he can.

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Rasmus

May 3rd, 2016 at 10:47 AM ^

Purdue is similar to Michigan in that they have one returning point guard and an incoming freshman. Difference is that the returning guy (P.J. Thompson), while ostensibly the starter last year, I guess, isn't the kind of undisputed starter when healthy that Walton is. The incoming freshman (Carsen Edwards) is not bad, but not nearly as ready for B1G play as X is likely to be at Michigan. Spike, if healthy, could easily start at Purdue.

Also, it isn't clear to me which member of the recruiting class WD et al. think should have been told to go elsewhere to make room for Spike to come back (before Dawkins left). Is there some evidence that Spike and JB are not good? I find that very, very unlikely. Maybe they talked about it after Dawkins left, but this is what is best for Spike, simple as that. A no-brainer for Beilien to support it.

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Kramer

May 3rd, 2016 at 9:47 AM ^

Yeah, 8 pts and 4.5 rebounds a game sure is going off...

Bielfeldt had incremental improvement in his game as a senior in a different system playing a couple more minutes.

 

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BigBlue02

May 3rd, 2016 at 10:54 AM ^

Having Caris last year would have also helped, but the same people saying Beilfeldt would have been the difference between a bubble team and solidly in also seem to think Caris wouldn't have mattered much. It doesn't matter if we brought Spike back or not, people will bitch about Beilein no matter what. The same people who bitch about not having enough talent on the team are also pissed at Beilein for not offering a scholarship for a 5th year senior who may or may not play basketball again who retired earlier in the year. Whatever decision Beilein makes will be wrong to some.

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Kramer

May 3rd, 2016 at 11:56 AM ^

No, it's not "going off".

Bielfeldt stats (per 40 mins a game): 57% EFG, 10.3 Rebs, 1.1 Blks, 18.7 Pts

Michigans 5s (40.2 mins a game - Donnal, Doyle, Wagner): 61% EFG, 7.3 Rebs, 1.1 Blks, 14.5 Pts

Bielfeldt scored 4 more points and 3 more boards a game per 40 mins, which is better, but hardly "Going off".  His Effective FG% was worse, and with the way Michigan rebounded (guards crashing the boards) some of the reb's can be explained that way.  Michigan runs a guard focused offense, so Bielfeldt's increase in points could also be atrributed to moving to a different system.

Bottom line the bigs we had this year likekly produced as good as if we'd kept Bielfedt around, however getting young guys minutes last year (Wagner especially) would not have been as likely if Bielfeldt was still around and will hopefully pay off next year and the years after.  Same scenerio with Spike.  We'll likely get the same production out of our young PG as we would have Spike but the playing time and experience will really pay off the following year.

 

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Richard75

May 3rd, 2016 at 6:05 PM ^

I'm sorry but this is overthinking it.

We had an open scholarship last season, and Bielfeldt would've made the team better. (Granted, perhaps only marginally.) Therefore, letting him go was a mistake. Putting together the best team possible is kind of the objective here.

Setting yourself up for the following season is great, but not if it's at all at the expense of the current season. (Playing X over Spike is different—one can reasonably assert that X might be the better player from day one next season.)



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Alumnus93

May 3rd, 2016 at 12:21 PM ^

Its not Beileins fault at all... for Spike said he retired, and then Beilein had to go another way....then Spike changes his mind when it was too late.... i'm pissed about it too, but this is on Spike... i'm wondering if it were deliberate, and wanted to play for another team, ie, said gonna retire, and save face this way.

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MGoBender

May 3rd, 2016 at 2:47 PM ^

"Wondering if it were deliberate..."

If you think Spike magically decided to retire the game before he would have been ineligible for 1 more year of eligibility, then I got a piece of land to sell ya.

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