MBB 2015-16 Trending Up Posbang

I watched half that game.  OSU looks like to be a much better team than us.  They have lots of talent (much more than us), but young.  I see them as a team that will come into form and be a very good team, and a very tough team to beat on the road.

I agree that Beilein is a better coach than Matta, but Matta runs circles around JB with regards to recruiting.  Matta teams always seem to have talent, and sometimes (maybe even most of the time) that is superior to teams with less talent and better coaching.

Irvin's a shooter.  I would not consider his shot an unknown going forward.  He had back surgery and a few off games.  Sometimes shooters miss.  Sometimes it takes a few games to get back into the flow.  etc.  If Irvin doesn't shoot over 35% from 3 for the rest of the year I'll eat a bag of rocks.  I expect him to hit in the 38-42% range that you'd expect from a shooter.  Which, he is.  Irvin is a shooter. But not JUST anymore.  Still can shoot though, because he's a shooter.  [In case you can't tell I think this concern is wildly overblown.]

Dawkins is a little bit of an unknown, I guess.  Defensively, we don't know if he will play better because frankly he has stunk.  Physically he has it, mentally - ???.  While I don't expect him to hit 3s as well as he did last year, he can obviously finish.  Other than defense, I think we know what we have.  I attribute his struggles with a lack a certainty about his role.  The mystery is gone now and he's your 6th man.  This isn't last year.  He doesn't have to do much on offense and I think he knows that now.  His role probably won't grow (and we don't need it to grow) on offense until next year at the earliest.  He's a 3&D guy without the D right now.  Lets hope the D comes.

Agree on Mo.  My point is just that we have a lot of options at center, so the probability of improvement is higher.  If Mo can go from play well 1 out of 5 games to playing well 2 out of 5 games that'll be progress.

My Top 10 Unknowns for the rest of the season:

1. Doyle.  The guy can play physical and tough - we've seen it.  We haven't seen it consistently and the lack of improvement from last year is probably the most frustrating (lack of) development on the year. No reason he shouldn't be better as a roll man.  No reason he can't rebound better.  This team will go as far he takes them.

2. Dawkins on D.  Play it Aubrey!

3.  LeVert on D.  LeVert's a fantastic player right now and he can score 30 ppg if he wants.  That's not what this team needs though.  It needs somebody to get up in the face of Tremble, Valentine, and the other elite creators in this conference. NBA scouts are watching - LeVert's not going to be an elite NBA scorer, so his pitch is going to be about versatility and all-around skillset.  That means playing D.

4. Wagner.  Defense is going to be a liability until he gets stronger and smarter, but if he can draw dudes away from the rim and be a good roll man, you can see our offense clicking on all cylinders, even against MSU, Maryland, Iowa, etc.

5. Zone defense.  It needs to get better because Michigan can't go man-to-man down low all year.

6. MAAR on D.  For a guy who has a good rep for playing defense, it's not there consistently.

7. MAAR's A/TO ratio.  Last year he was a TO machine and didn't pass. Now he's the backup PG and showing signs of improved vision and more restrained shot selection.  Also he's hit a few 3s....let us hope.

8.  Kam vs Wilson.  This seems like the only legitimate playing time battle right now and we're only talking about 5-7 minutes per game tops.  Still - both have talent and if one emerges as a rebounder/defender against bigger opponents it could be win you a game or two.

9.  Donnal.  Pretty low chance that he does much but I think people should remember where Horford was when he was a skinny sophomore.  There's a chance Donnal can give you 10-15 minuts without being a liability and that would be HUGE for this team.

10.  Robinson at the 4.  I wonder if they'll try to match him up a bit against some PF types and if he can hack it without getting into foul trouble.  Watch some Novak highlights kid.