Wolverines in NBA Discussion Thread
Hi everyone,
This is my first board post so please be gentle... But I have definitely taken a larger interest in the NBA this year over years prior in large part to the influx of Wolverines in the NBA. The season started out rough for Stauskas, McGary, and Robinson as they weren't seeing very much playing time and Trey Burke seemed to be struggling a bit as well.
Lately, McGary has capitalized on his minutes given and has developed into a strong role player with a bright future. With Sacramento out of the playoff race, Stauskas seems to have been given a few more minutes lately and he's hitting a better percentage of his shots. His minutes are still quite limited. Burke seems to have gotten things back in order though he definitely seems to be turning into a high volume shooter (for better or worse). GRob is still riding the pine in Philly which doesn't seem to bode well for his future.
Jamal Crawford is still doing Jamal Crawford things in LA.
March 26th, 2015 at 10:28 AM ^
March 26th, 2015 at 11:04 AM ^
Yeah he's shooting .370 from the field and .322 from three, both worse than last year. His assist numbers are down from 5.0 to 4.4. And his FT shooting has tanked, from .903 to .761. What's going on, Trey?
EDIT: and now this, a freak neck injury. Shit.
March 26th, 2015 at 10:59 AM ^
I live in Utah and have for the past 7 years. There may be a few irritated Jazz fans on the internet, but I can say the majority of the fan base likes Trey Burke. The majority are pretty realistic in accepting that he is an above-average player and good scorer, but is not the next Chris Paul.
He has to take a lot of shots with the current Jazz team in order for them to have a chance. The rest of the team are very good defenders, but that's about it.
March 26th, 2015 at 11:15 AM ^
Good first Board post. Congrats! I was a pro sports fan long before I became a Michigan fan, so I like the topic.
As a Sixers fan, I am very disappointed about Robinson. Philadelphia was probably the ideal landing spot for him. Brett Brown has done a very good job in developing NBA-fringe wing-type players, and the team is so bad that there is plenty of PT available for raw prospects. The fact that GRIII can't get on the floor either means he is just the bad, or that he is in Brown's dog house for whatever reason. Neither would be a good sign.
Hopefully he can get it together.
EDIT: GRIII got 3 minutes last night and put up all zeroes except for 1 turnover and a minus 2. Oof.
The way I see it, he came out of college as a super athlete but not very skilled or good at defense. To make it in the NBA going off of raw atheticism and limited shooting/dribbling, you better be a strong defender and rebounder. He's going to have to develop either defensively or REALLY develop his shot.
March 26th, 2015 at 10:41 AM ^
Yea, he was basically Brent Petway, but a little better at shooting.
Burke had a nice game last night but had a scary moment with a neck injury out of nowhere.
will end up being a player, there is no doubt in my mind. If the Kings are looking to deal him at some point I would love him to land in Detroit.
I am so tempted to downvote you (which I won't) only because I want the Sixers to get him.
March 26th, 2015 at 10:59 AM ^
He probably would already be a Piston if not for that idiotic Ben Gordon trade a few years back that wiped out our first round pick. He landed in that exact spot where our pick was supposed to be.
...he's scoring 8.4 ppg and hitting 46.7% from three. The points obviously aren't anything great, but it's nice to see him having at least some success.
How can you not appreciate John Beilein and his team concept after seeing his players struggle at the next level. Eventually in the NBA's eyes they will begin to question the value of Michigan's NBA-eligible players. It's the age-old question of "Is it the player or the system that is working".
Trey's game and size has not translated well to the NBA although he is smart enough to figure it out.
Nik will get there eventually but probably not in Sacramento.
The Big Puppy was a top recruit out of HS so it's no surprise that he is starting to excel. His playing time was limited in AA so he is still learning but his ceiling is pretty high.
Tim is Tim and can eventually turn into a sixth man type scorer off the bench.
GRIII is athletic. That may not be enough to cut it without some team giving him a serious shot at playing time to develop a game.There aren't many opportunities like that out there.
March 26th, 2015 at 11:06 AM ^
I agree, Tim is a 6th man scorer which is a great thing to pick up at 24th overall.
Nik was probably picked too high and is a victim of "New Owner Syndrome." Thought it would have been great for him to go to Chicago.
Mitch is doing Mitch things unsurprisingly.
Glenn just doesn't have the requisite skills to be a NBA player. He's not a plus shooter, not a plus ball handler, not a plus defender and not a plus rebounder. I hope he figures it out because if he become good in even one of those categories with his athleticism he will have a long career.
March 26th, 2015 at 10:28 AM ^
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll do a little research in the future to substantiate my wild postulations. First one out of the way, so it only gets better from here...
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
March 26th, 2015 at 10:00 AM ^
Stauskas will be fine, his skillset absolutely translates to the NBA, and we know about his work ethic. I hate to play on this particular stereotype, but it's the same thing that happened to JJ Redick early in his career. It took a while for him to adjust to the level of athleticism, but once he did, he turned into a valuable NBA player...and Stauskas has even more talent than JJ does.
Tim Hardaway Jr is a streaky shooter in the same vein of a JR Smith, Nick Young, Jordan Crawford, etc. He'll never be a star, but his ability to get hot is valuable. He's just in a horrible situation.
Everyone who was skeptical of Trey Burke's skillset/athleticism translating to NBA have been justified. The Burke/KCP argument should be dead now...especially with KCP looking like he's finally figuring it out.
GRIII is a 6-6 tweener who can't create his own shot. Should have stayed. He's athletic, but can't put it to use unless he's finishing alley-oops.
Mitch McGary is what we thought he was. Being a skilled, pretty athletic big with an extremely high motor will usually translate.
March 26th, 2015 at 11:18 AM ^
in Stauskas's sophomore year, he reminded me some of Chauncey (who took some time to develop), so there's a comparison you can maybe feel more at ease with...
March 26th, 2015 at 12:52 PM ^
and Chauncey? A 6'7 wing pure shooter and a 6'3 combo point with a streaky shot. I am not sure a see this.
March 26th, 2015 at 10:00 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
March 26th, 2015 at 10:00 AM ^
Morris signed with the Nets early in the season and he's stuck on their roster as the 3rd guard. He doesn't get many minutes, but it's nice to see him stick on a roster after bouncing between teams on 10-Day contracts.
March 26th, 2015 at 10:00 AM ^
March 26th, 2015 at 10:01 AM ^
March 26th, 2015 at 10:03 AM ^
I still see McGary as having the highest ceiling of the five rookies/sophs. With his motor, his passing skills, his talent, he'll be a starter one day for sure, barring injury. Especially if he develops a midrange game, which he began to do even at Michigan. Outside of him, it's hard to imagine anyone other than maybe Stauskas becoming a starting-caliber player, though I'm still optimistic Trey can become a steady 6th man-type player. GRIII won't last in the league barring a complete renaissance, for reasons we M fans already know. And Tim will have a role somewhere if he can rein in his gunner instinct and actually, you know, play defense.
Stauskas/THJ/GRIII have probably developed some bad habits playing in crappy environments (especially Tim), but it'll be years before anyone ought to make definitive conclusions about any of these guys. They're all still so young.
March 26th, 2015 at 11:57 AM ^
The celebration put on my Hardaway after that sinks is fantastic, in my opinion. More players should develop something like that for threes or otherwise difficult shots.
To the OP, well done on a first thread - like someone said, some recent game history and a little more detail and you're right there. Good work.
March 26th, 2015 at 10:25 AM ^
I see McGary developing into a Joakim Noah type of player (with a prettier shot). High energy, reliable with the ball and solid rebounder.
I think Trey has to become more of a distributor. Perhaps as his team adds more talent he will start to play more in the Chris Paul/John Wall vein rather than Brandon Jennings/Kemba Walker/Damian Lillard. He just isn't tall or athletic enough to generate on his own as effectively.
March 26th, 2015 at 10:39 AM ^
March 26th, 2015 at 11:17 AM ^
The Jazz are 15th in the NBA in ORtg. I'm not sure the team, or Exum specifically, is really to blame for Trey's shooting woes. Burke shoots .340/.345 with Exum on the court and .374/.319 with him off. He hasn't shot well either way.
March 26th, 2015 at 12:42 PM ^
I was surprised to see how much Gary Harris has struggled, though. In 12 min/game, he's been shooting just over 25%.
March 26th, 2015 at 11:00 AM ^
March 26th, 2015 at 11:11 AM ^
March 26th, 2015 at 11:11 AM ^
March 26th, 2015 at 11:29 AM ^
Seriously how does Jamal Crawford play so well at 35 years of age?
March 26th, 2015 at 12:17 PM ^
I thought they all should have stayed, but the best landing spots for most of our guys would have been on OKC type teams - teams on the verge and teams that will have success and can bring them along slowly.
No surprise to me that Mitch McGary is having a lot of success - OKC was the perfect landing spot.
Love wolverine.....