Mr. Yost

April 6th, 2012 at 8:32 AM ^

Kid sounds like a legit backup type player...would love to have him behind Burke.

 

With that said, taking the maize and blue glasses off...if he's the starter, we're going to get pressed to death. We're going to need some of our wings to bring the ball up the floor from time to time to take the pressure off a true freshman PG.

Naked Bootlegger

April 6th, 2012 at 9:24 AM ^

I had this initial worry, too, but do any teams in the B1G really run a non-stop, full-court press?   I'm thinking Arkansas-like "40 minutes of hell".    Not really.   So that alleviates my concerns a bit.   If Albrecht can handle man-to-man ball pressure with relative ease (think Aaron Craft defense) and the occasional trapping defense, I think we'll be OK.    I'm still admittedly nervous, though, with yet another PG transition. 

Mr. Yost

April 6th, 2012 at 3:26 PM ^

Aaron Craft is all you had to say...

Burke had to work like hell vs. that kid. I can't imagine having 90% of the other PGs in the country vs. craft. Or against any team that ramped up even the halfcourt man to man defense the way OSU, Wisconsin and others can at times.

 

bo_lives

April 6th, 2012 at 3:41 PM ^

And they'll especially do it in crunch time. Winning close games like we did this year will be.... challenging.

In 2009-10, with Douglass running point, our primary weakness was that we didn't have someone who could bring the ball up the court. You forget how great of ball handlers Morris and Burke are - that's why we haven't been pressed as much in the past two years.

Jfox1020

April 6th, 2012 at 8:51 AM ^

Go For Spike..I like that we have a kid who is thrilled to be PART of Big Blue.. Youtube video shows that he can play with Highly rated player with no problem..Pass first is also nice considering who will be on team next yr.

 

Jfox1020

April 6th, 2012 at 8:59 AM ^

Also, i have gone to State finals in Michigan for many yrs now and have seen a lot of good player... This yr Michigan missed on a PG from Lansing Sexton.. Monte Morris can drive against class C players ,but has a terrible shot with no rotation. The PG #20 on his team is a better overall player.. In future we need freshman Center from Sexton before the devil(IZZO) grabs him. Kid is Sweet.. Nix was a waste of Mr. Michigan and the best player ive seen in my yrs at finals is Mccallum and Battier.

Cronan the Barbarian

April 6th, 2012 at 9:11 AM ^

I think people might be overthinking this. Most freshman who are not studs do not play on elite basketball teams (at least not more than 5 to 10 minutes). I think this is a good pick up for safety purposes in case of injury, much like how UNC added Stillman White. Michigan will still be better off playing some combo of Stauskas and (yikes) Akunne.

It is almost unheard of for unranked recruits to step into a major conference and be ready to run the show at PG. I see the point that Beileins offense does not need a great PG. That is not exactly true, even at WV he had a PG whose main purpose was to initiate the offense and penetrate.

For Michigan to be elite they need a top notch PG. Burke stays and we are set, otherwise I think next year will be a plateau at best.

 

 

MDubs

April 6th, 2012 at 9:36 AM ^

I dont think this means its foregone that Burke is gone.  This just ensures we will have a returning PG if he does leave, which may be next year too.  I'm sure Belein would rather have a returning PG that knows the offense than banking on a freshman picking up right where Burke left off.  Basically, this helps us no matter what Burke decides to do.  But its not an indicator that he's already decided.  If he's actually decided there's no point in him keeping it a secret from everyone. 

Grit McGritterson

April 6th, 2012 at 10:08 AM ^

Welcome Spike! Great pick up...from the videos he looks to be a smooth pass-first PG.

If Burke somehow ends up staying, it will give us decent backcourt depth. If he leaves, I can see him doing a good job of facilitating our athletic wings/bigs.

I feel like Beilein has us positioned well currently. If Burke stays, I think we stand pat and bank a scholly for next year since six in one class (Bielfeldt, Robinson, McGary, Stauskas, Albrecht, +1) might be a little much. We can then go after a big name recruit for next year.

If Burke leaves, I think we go ahead and pick up Della Valle as well, if he's still available. He will be a nice addition to the back court and has a great offer list. Though honestly, I was not super impressed with his play esp. in terms of handling and shooting form. Perhaps he could develop into what Stu gave us on defense, which is something this team is currently missing.

JamieH

April 6th, 2012 at 10:26 PM ^

Everyone is acting like this kid came out of some class C school in Michigan.  Hello, he was named tournament MVP of the league that McGary played in!  His team took MccGary's team down in the tournament semifinals.  He scored 16 in the semifinals and 23 in the finals, all playing against top talent.   He actually played the entire game in the finals (no breaks) as the primary ballhandler for his team. 

Is he going to be an All-American as a freshman like Burke was?  No.  But this kid is not chopped liver.  He's a late bloomer and no one really notcied him until he blew up in his league's tournament over the last month.  It's hard to say if he can play at that level all the time or if he was just on-fire for the moment, but kids without talent don't win MVP's in leagues like that.  He has more talent than the recruiting services have given him so far. 

If he can handle the ball, make some good passes and hit a few buckets a game for us, he will be fine.  The big quiestion I have is just how well he can take care of the ball.  From his video he seems to have the passing part down.  Honestly, having a distributer rather than a scorer at the point might get THJ's game back on track.  He never seemed to really get in-sync with Burke. 

sammylittle

April 6th, 2012 at 10:49 PM ^

later on by someone else so it shows up before your post. Thanks for the info, but next time scroll up to be sure no one will duplicate the post later before posting.