Three UM BB signees on Ohio All-Star Team
Tide turned. Selling jerseys in OH. Etc.
if anyone is interested.
Will not link for obvious reasons - fu snyder.
Hotcakes?
A Warm Welcome to our gang!
...UK had more kids from abroad (5) on their roster than from Kentucky (3).
here somewhere. Are they exiled to the Siberian wilds of North Campus? I thought there was a monorail now? Been a while. . . since the 1850s to be exact.
Beilein can't recruit, doesn't know anything, worst coach in history
/s
Just not selling what the best high-school players are buying
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Go Ohio?
/shoots self in face
...Trey Burke, Caris Levert and Gary Grant.
Hopefully rephrasing it that way will save your face.
/Becomes Renard
Awesome. I love pulling guys from Ohio. Worked well for Trey Burke.
I know the MHSAA is famously strict on travel and all-star teams, but these type of games seem like fun.
Since Ohio is taken, and Indiana would blow our doors off, how about a Michigan-Ontario matchup? I have no idea how good Ontario schools are, but I assume they are quite good, considering all the talent that has gone into the NBA from Toronto and the rest of Canada.
Michigan used to. I remember as a kid going to watch Webber, Jalen, Vashon Leonard and a few others. I think they played Indiana. It was a route from the tip, but very entertaining. It was played at GRCC.
That actually was the Michigan-OHIO All Star Game. I attended that one at GRCC with Webber, Jalen, etc.
Webber went up for a big dunk and spread his legs, literally going over JB Reafsnyder (Syracuse). This move was later made more famous by Vince Carter in the Olympics going over that poor damn 7-foot Frenchman.
Michigan fans will tell you that about nearly every class in every sport, but seriously.
Simpson's a legit top 50 recruit and prototypical Beilein PG. He'll also have the good fortune of learning from Walton, something Beilein wanted to have with the Morris-Burke and Burke-Walton transitions but never acheived. Also - The last time Michigan wasn't playing a walk-on at backup PG they made the Elite 8 in consecutive years.
Watson may not be Battle or Langford, but if there's one position where you can trust Beilein's judgement it guards. Watson isn't a late-flier like Rahkman or Albrecht. The way his stock rose after Beilein offered him, reminds me of Hardaway and his overall rank is similar. My guess is he'll be putting up all-conference caliber numbers by his junior year and will be coming for MAAR's minutes sooner rather than later.
The Cs are both sleepers, that can't be denied. But the reason I'm so excited about them is how well they fit what Beilein SHOULD be doing in the frontcourt.
Say what you want about Davis' level of competition, but watch his highlight tapes and you see him finishing with dunks again and again. This is not going to be a guy who lays it in when he's rolling to the hole. Like Doyle, he looks a little slow to get off the floor, but that can be improved in Michigan's offense, which will keep him in motion more often. For a big-bodied kid, he's got good bounce to his step. Given what we saw with McGary and Morgan's energy in transition and on defense - that's meaningful. Michigan needs that.
As you've all heard, Teske is a legit 7 footer (concerns about his skinniness are getting overplayed, if you ask me he'll play right away). While he doesn't appear to be very long (relatively short arms) for his height he still represents a shot-blocking potential that Michigan hasn't had since Udoh. Again - Michigan needs that.
If Davis can adjust to the speed of the game (I bet it takes a couple years) he offers the potential to be a low-level McGary/big-bodied Morgan. For Teske, the question will be how quickly he can embrace the physical confrontations required to be a Big Ten center. Both probably aren't going to pan out to be great, but Michigan has doubled their chances of landing an impact center. It's smart shift in strategy for Beilein and I believe it's a reflection of lessons learned when his team collapsed after Morgan/McGary/Horford left at once. Beilein can't again be stuck without a veteran center and recruited two guys with legit sized to fill a key role on this team.
The future of Michigan basketball is very bright, and this class is a big reason for that.
"Simpson's a legit top 50 recruit and prototypical Beilein PG."
Does that really exist? To me a prototypical Beilein PG just means a player that really understands the offense and can consistently make correct reads, ability to distribute the ball being the most important attribute. It's not necessarily any type of body or style of play. We won't really know if he is a great "Beilein PG" until we see him play. Look at Darius Morris. Completely different body and game than Burke, but both were extremely effective in Beilein's offense. Walton is more in the mold of Burke, but he is far less effective than Burke or Darius were. I guess one thing that Burke and Morris shared that Walton does not really have is ability to finish at the rim (or at least get there and make a good effort). I wonder how Simpson's size might affect him in that area.
Excellent ball-handling. Ability to run the offense with low turnovers. Unselfishness. Intelligence. Composure.
Beyond that Beilein can succeed with a range of skills. It's not really about body type or skillset, though at this point I think Beilein does prefer someone who can shoot the 3. Morris couldn't, but he made up for it with elite passing and size. Merrit couldn't but he stuck to what he could do. I agree that Walton needs to improve at the rim, but I think Beilein is fine with letting his off-guard run the offense too. Walton worked great beside Stauskas and could have beside LeVert and maybe can along Walton or even Rahkman. He offers enough that he fits the prototype pretty well too - we just know his flaws and (without quality teammates) he struggled to be as efficient as you might want.
Beilein's coaching has also evolved. Morris size was an asset in the 1-3-1 but that's all but gone. I think the new prototype is Trey Burke - someone who can score inside or out and pass capably.
One thing I think he needs to work on there is getting foul calls. He may have to learn a little head flail or something because he seems to draw very few fouls at the rim compared to his peers. If some of those plays are called fouls they don't go down as missed and his FG% looks a lot better.
I disagree a MI HS all-star team would get blown out by Indiana. Growing up right by the border of IN, my hs would play IN teams quite a bit and won quite regularly. "Hoosier" bball at the HS level isn't what it once was.
Illinois would smoke a MI all-star team though.
Not sure how anyone could make this statement without knowing the talent on each team.
It's not like football where depth comes into play. But in basketball, if you have the better top players, you have a great shot to win. Especially if you're talking one game and not a full season.
Now you can say basketball is better in Illinois than Michigan, that's a fair statement, but to say an all-star team would win. That's silly when it comes to basketball. Michigan could have 3 top 15 players and no one else in the top 100, while Illinois has 10 top 100 players and no one in the top 10. Michigan could easily win while Illinois has the better talent state vs state.
So not only can Michigan baketball recruit in Michigan, but also in Ohio