93Grad

April 4th, 2012 at 9:18 PM ^

after losing Ryan Mallet.  This team will fortunate to make the tourney next year.  Just when I was getting excited about college hoops again.  Blurg

93Grad

April 4th, 2012 at 9:39 PM ^

making the tourney in a conference like the B1G is no easy feat.  Even if we win 20 games, that does not guarantee we make it if we can't go .500 in the B1G.  Look at all the years Amaker came 1-2 wins short with pretty decent talent. 

 

We have now lost 4 of our top 6 players.  Sure we have talent coming in, but we will once again be a team of underclassmen including 6-7 freshmen or sophomore eligible players amongst our top 10. 

 

Sorry, but we are not Kentucky.  We can't afford to try and reload every year.

wesq

April 4th, 2012 at 9:56 PM ^

Justin Feagin without the issues (hopefully) seems like a fair comparison.  His highlights suggest he is going to have a real tough time getting into the lane in the B1G.  IMO he won't beat out Akune for playing time.



I will say this about the team overall, Belien adjusted his offense to work take advantage of Morris and Burke the last two years.  HIs base offense actually doesn't call for a point guard that  dominates the ball.  If they can get enough ball handling to be able to get the ball up the floor and the freshman are as good as advertised I think this team will surprise people.

wesq

April 4th, 2012 at 10:31 PM ^

I've seen them.  Go look at Justin Feagin's tape or better yet Carlton Brundidge.  It's a high school highlight tape.  I am not saying don't offer him, I just doubt he plays much next year.  Looks like the kid can shoot and handle the ball, but he is really small and doesn't appear to have much explosion to attack the rim at the next level.  Until he gets more strength he will be over matched on defense.   How much you want to bet Akunne gets more minutes next year?

SamIam

April 5th, 2012 at 8:00 AM ^

very fluid with his moves and uses his body well for seperation which gives him options as a point gaurd to pass or shoot. If he can consistently knock down that stop and pop the highlight showed he should be able to draw out the defenders even more leaving back cuts and oops for the bigs and GRIII.

MichiganMan14

April 4th, 2012 at 9:24 PM ^

What rose is there to say. Maybe he will come in and so work. Can't blame him for our previous pgs leaving us in bad spots.

umchicago

April 4th, 2012 at 11:24 PM ^

we couldn't say with certainty that burke was going to be much help this year.  i know i've seen several starting point guards at UM who had less talent than this kid; starting point guards at that; some on pretty good teams.

dan pelakoudas; avery queen; dugan fife (started for 3 years) to name a few.  like many have said, UM just needs this guy to take care of the ball, make good passes, hit the occasional open 3 and play decent team D.  he doesn't need to be burke or morris.

bing24

April 5th, 2012 at 9:27 AM ^

You don't think with "Certainty" that Burke would help the team next year!?!? Great argument, how could a player that pundits were stating was in the top 7 freshman in the nation help our team without 1 viable option to handle the ball. You guys are in happy land if you think walk-ons & whitey whitertons who had 4 years of high school ball, years on a high profile AAU team & an extra year in prep school that plays a number of high profile recruits but still have no offers are going to step in and we won't miss a beat.

The world isn't over, but anybody that says Burke leaving won't hurt UM hoops with certainty is a fool. Without him this year they don't win the B10 Ship. This kid was handling the ball and not getting a break every game with Stu, Akune & Brundidge available. Now there is just Akune how didn't see the floor when Burke could barely breath from playing so many minutes.

With Burke, could be a special team. They're not going to tank or anything, just a major major hit.

bacon1431

April 4th, 2012 at 9:57 PM ^

Someone on another board said they saw that Nino Jackson is possibly visiting Michigan soon. He'd be a big time get this late in the recruiting game. No idea if true. I know this is kind of a "heard it from a friend who heard it from a friend who heard it from another" type of post so TIFWIW

CorkyCole

April 4th, 2012 at 10:09 PM ^

Look at it this way... The kid played with McGary and GRIII on their AAU team.  They already know how to play together.  I would like to think this gives Spike a little bit of a boost at least in team chemistry.

He may not be highly touted, but it sure sounds like he can play the point (of course this is based off of "coach speak" in the linked article, but still). Is he a Trey Burke? No, but who says we even need a Trey Burke on this team to be successful? We will have enough playmakers in Hardaway and GRIII, a shooter in Stauskas, and a crash-the-boards type in McGary as far as touted talent goes.  We need a guy who can distribute to them. Granted, he'll just be a freshman, but it sure sounds like he has the tools to be a true point guard as someone who can control the ball and distribute.  Maybe that's all the team needs to perform at a high level - a Steve Nash type (not comparing ability, just the type of player). 

If we get this kid, I will be very happy.  Even if it just means we actually have a true point on our team.  Which... yeah.  I'd say we could kind of use a little bit of that.

Jeff09

April 4th, 2012 at 10:09 PM ^

Hey you guys know what's a great idea?  Let's all bash him on the board he's probably reading a few days before he visits.  Who needs him anyways. 

If Beilein is recruiting him at a position of serious need, we should try and show him at least a little respect.  Guy is a genius when it comes to uncovering underrated talent...

KAYSHIN15

April 4th, 2012 at 10:25 PM ^

Have you seen the highlight film? He didn't look as good as Brundidge and you see how slow and uncomfortable Carlton looked with the ball in his hand. I'm sure he is a great kid, but let's face it. If the coaching staff was really that high on the kid he would have recieved an offer a lot earlier. This feels like a Reed Baker type move from a few years ago...

Jeff09

April 5th, 2012 at 6:51 AM ^

Watching highlight film from ones couch does not make one a talent scout, that much is obvious. Also obvious: this board is a casual gathering of sports fans, not experts. Also obvious: Beilein is a very strong talent evaluator. Also obvious: we could not have offered him much earlier as we just learned a few weeks back of the three departures.

Cronan the Barbarian

April 5th, 2012 at 9:54 AM ^

bashing him really makes that much of a difference. We will be the only big-time program (or any program?) who is going to offer him. This is probably a move for depth. Stauskas will most likely start at point before him. This is not a "late bloomer" as his season is done and still nobody has offered. Burke had a bunch of other D-1 offers.

aaamichfan

April 4th, 2012 at 10:19 PM ^

I didn't realize it until now, but this board may have the biggest collection of self loathing vaginal posters of any site on the internet.

Burke leaving isn't the end of the world. This kid is pretty good.