Tyus Battle Piece from MLive
Solid write-up this morning from Brendan Quinn on Tyus Battle's recruitment. Most notable part for me was the stuff from Battle's dad on Beilein, just for all those "Beilein can't recruit elite-level talent" people still in denial out there.
http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2015/05/tyus_battle.html
Wasn't sure how to do the blockquotes:
"They, like everyone else, figured Duke or Syracuse," Gary now says.
They figured wrong. During the visit, Battle clicked with U-M players from similar backgrounds and saw an offensive system tailor-made for his skill set. Then there was the pitchman.
"Man, him and Beilein, they were like, arm-in-arm," Gary Battle said. "It was obvious that Beilein really liked him as a person."
This is a link to the Mgoblog Pretty Posts Sticky: LINK
It's really informative, a good thing to bookmark for later use.
The short version is, switch to plain text editor and paste quote between the middle arrows of
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"They, like everyone else, figured Duke or Syracuse," Gary now says.
Well, I'll be damned.
I'm feeling a bit unnerved about Tyus because he doesn't seem to have elite athleticism. Somebody tell me that I'm dead wrong. I want to be dead wrong.
You're dead wrong.
And you want to be dead wrong.
To me, Tyus reminds me of Nik with a better jab step and fall away for his age. I think he has plenty of athleticism.
To me, Tyus reminds me of Nik with a better jab step and fall away for his age. I think he has plenty of athleticism.
Much better athlete than Nik.
Neither does James Harden, or Steph Curry. You don't have to have pogo sticks for legs to be really really ridiculously good at basketball.
[meant to be a reply to East Coast]
What is he great at, though? Again, I'm not trying to denigrate. I'm just trying to figure out what I'm missing, since he is obviously considered a great player by everyone who knows anything about the sport.
If you, in fact, know that he is considered "a great player by everyone who knows anything about the sport," then why are you worried?
By his own words, he doesn't know anything about the sport. I'm thinking that may be a contributing factor.
Let me rephrase: I'm not a good amateur scout.
I know basketball and I've been following it since I was 7 or so.
Not to further denigrate our players (...as I go on to do just that) but I had that same feeling about Derrick Green. Everybody thought he was a stud, except for me, the untrained observer.
The OP asked in a very passive and respectful way about what he may have missed about Battle. There is no harm in that. People are way too defensive and reactionary. If Battle had committed to MSU, you would not have had that reaction. The herd mentality always bugs me. Before you pile on the bandwagon, ask yourself if you genuinely disagree with the person, or if you're disagreeing because that is the expectation on this site. Had OP said that Battle sucks and he will suck at Michigan, then I agree, neg him. But that was not the case.
So you're saying you have given up on Derrick Green?
/s
No. Just saying that sometime the experts try to project too much. They spend too much time analyzing every aspect of a subject, and try to convince themselves that there are things below the surface. I guess it would be a similar phenomenon to the HR benefits coordinator winning the NCAA bracket because they pick Duke, since they have heard of Duke. Sometimes people with a rudimentary knowledge can project things more accurately, as experts get too wrapped up in explaining why Davidson is going to make a good run. I may not know the ins and outs, but I know Northwestern basketball when I see it.
I've shared your skepticism about Green from the beginning, too. I've never seen anything either in his HS highlights or in college that shows he's a real difference-maker. Hope he proves us both wrong.
Thank you 1484. I'm generally very hesitant to express skepticism on the boards because people tend to attack you for it. That's not a Michigan thing; just a sports fan thing. The attacking here is relatively intelligent, so it's not as bad as "You're a scUM fan. Go back to Walmart."
That said, I come here in part to learn about the sports I follow, and so I decided to risk the attacks in order to get some feedback on an area of weakness for me. Stud prospect, I don't see it, I want to figure out what I'm missing, etc.
EDIT: I was a bit skeptical of Green as well, but I thought he could be a bowling ball.
I still have some hope for him. Give him five yards to get going and he's dangerous. How often has he gotten that chance with our line? He really needs to improve his balance and lateral power.
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Can I ask the same thing about Cassius Winston?
I haven't really been blown away with what I saw on film. He doesn't look terribly fast, his shooting motion looks really slow, and - while I'm clearly not a bball scout - it seems like he dribbles really high, exposing the ball regularly.
Am I missing something?
He definitely needs to tighten his handle, but here's what I see...
He is being recruited as a PG, so the main ability he needs to have is court vision. You can see when he drives that he doesn't go straight all that often. Instead, he is always looking for the better angle. That shows tremendous court vision to me. He knows where he is, where the defenders are, and where his teammates are.
Also, his passes are crisp and quick. While he won't be able to convert some of those passes in college, he clearly can get the ball from A to B in a hurry, and he has a strong sense of knowing where to go with the ball the second he touches it.
He isn't tremendously fast, but he's fast enough. Also, his shooting will be used to keep defenders honest. He will be a facilitator in college.
I agree with your assessment that he'll be a facilitator, but his lofty rankings would have me believe he can be a viable scoring threat, and I just don't see it.
I think he can be good, but Walton looked far more polished coming into college, and I'm not convinced that CW has what is needed to take/lead a team to the Final Four
Winston is more skilled than Walton at the same age.
Winston is farther as a passer, has a floater, better footwork, etc. You don't lead the EYBL in scoring on great efficiency ifyou are not good.
I've never heard of the EYBL. Someone please tell me it's called the "eyeball."
FWIW, I wasn't attacking him. I was just making a joke based off of conclusions that you could logically come to from what the OP had written.
Basically,
Understand basketball -> Think Battle is great
which leads to
Don't think Battle is great -> Don't understand basketball
Therefore
OP doesn't think Battle is great -> OP doesn't understand basketball
It just a nod back to my discrete mathematics class.
My post was more pointed towards the negs he was getting. None of the replies to his post were bad or anything.
Great post, 1484.
Everybody except for you, eh?
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Because (1) I'm a worrier and (2) I want to get psyched up about the kid. I also want to be able to evaluate players better, and that's impossible if I can't see Top 10 talent when it is presented to me.
Chill out, man. Just close your eyes while repeating over and over "He'll be a great player at Michigan."
Thanks for the clip. Helps to show what makes him special (ability to create own shot / incredible initial burst).
I think the biggest thing with Battle is that he is good at almost all of the traits you would want from a wing player. He may not be elite in any one of the categories, but he is probably an A or A- in most of them.
He has great shooting form, and really great balance in the air whether he's shoot off the bounce, catch and shoot, step backs, or fade aways. The same is true when he's driving, while he's not physically put together the way he will be in two to three years, he maintains control in the air, even while getting bumped by bigger players. His handle is pretty strong, though not crazy, and he seems to keep his eyes up while on the perimeter to assess his options. He seems like a good passer, but to be honest, it isn't featured enough in his highlights to know how good he really is. My biggest question is if he can finish with his left hand at all. I don't think I've seen even one left handed finish in any of his highlights.
In summation, chill out, and know you'll get a guy who as a freshman will play like a top 100 recruit will in their third.
Basketball.
"What is he great at, though?"
Basketball...
Beaten to the punch by an ..... HOUR? How did this comment not show up when I just logged in for the first time today? Oh well, massive fail on my part. Carry on.
"...he looked for a trifold of influence: books, ball and no BS."
So returning to Edison that Sunday, Tyus Battle decided to get it all over with. He says the Michigan winters and being far from home are the "sacrifices" that come with "finding the perfect fit."
That's an interesting aspect of his decision though, and I am glad that he sees it as such. The winters can be harsher in Michigan than really any place he could have gone save for maybe Syracuse, but I like that his seeming immediate draw to the team and Beilein led the way here.
I feel it's kind of strange that Bacari Alexander not only felt like Battle would not come to Michigan, but stated it to the parent or loud enough for him to hear (hard to tell who Alexander was talking to with how it was phrased in the article). I hope he doesn't give up on recruits normally or that it doesn't effect his recruiting efforts. Maybe it was reverse psychology.
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At my BBQ yesterday, I was approached by one of my good friends (someone who knows I’m a huge Michigan fan) and he started a conversation around Tyus Battle. He let me know that his father is very involved in Tyus’s life, almost as a surrogate family member (we didn’t get into the details around why this was the case). Anyway, his message to me was that while Tyus is great, that we shouldn’t necessarily count our chickens with him quite yet because both his parents were very surprised that he committed (kind of confirmed in the article). What I was told that isn't in the article is that both parents are currently pressing him hard to re-open his recruitment and to consider other schools. I guess the parents are divorced so while one parent wants him to go to Duke, the other wants him to look somewhere else (not Michigan). The dad recognizes that from a basketball perspective his game will fit really well with what Michigan is looking to do, but he wants Tyus to see what its like in Winter, wants him to still consider other schools and generally re-open his recruitment. So basically, Tyus is the only one strongly backing UM, most everyone else in his life is pushing other schools. This guy said that while Tyus is still strong in his commitment; with both parents pressing hard that he is starting to give in a bit and will likely humor them to continue to consider all options.
Kind of a downer, but its the first time I've had actual relevant recruiting information, so figured this was the right thread to share it... Here's hoping he stays blue!
Sorry but unless you reveal how your friend would know this kind of stuff, I don't think anyone is going to take this information seriously.
I did. We'll see if anything comes of it, but it didn't seem falsified to me. I'd be more sceptical if it was good news about an uncommitted prospect.