NBA Combine Invites: Jett, Kobe in; Olivier Nkamhoua not
The list of NBA Combine invites came out on Tuesday. Not surprisingly, Jett Howard and Kobe Bufkin were invited. Some people on Twitter are finding it interesting that Tennessee big man Olivier Nkamhoua was not. He's in the portal and Michigan is aggressively pursuing him.
He's trying to decide between going pro or possibly coming here, so it's noteworthy that he didn't get a Combine invite. He's also competing in the G League Elite Camp over the weekend, so that might change things one way or another.
Here's the full list of NBA Combine invites.
Why Kobe Why.... Going to be another Michigan player that we don't get their personal best but the league does! Good luck to them both
Sure but I think we got a pretty decent 2nd year out of Kobe. He really improved and was a strong asset to the team for most of the year.
Yeah, it would have been nice to get him at All-American level which he could have been next year but we got him at all-conference level for a year which was a little better than Jordan Poole or DJ Wilson's final years.
because howard isnt making him better. sad, but true. i would have agreed with you if he was a beilein player... but howard's development of guards is non-existent. i cant even slam it because i havent seen it. we just get recruits, they leave before they contribute, and we pull in 24 year old sub-major guards who sink or swim.
It's not a lot of data to go on, but I thought Dug's development this year was quite strong, and Kobe definitely did get better from last year.
Bufkin was unplayable last year.
Very easily an All-B1G player if he came back for a 3rd year.
That seems like development to me.
You're correct but some will cry no matter what
Yeah but that was development all on his own. The coaches (Howard in particular), had absolutely nothing to do with it.
/s.
This is an absolute trash take - some people have no shame. Kobe is projected as a first round pick BECAUSE Howard turned him into one. Find another hill to die on. Soon.
i could die on the fact that we're not even forecasted to MAKE the field of 68 teams next year. how bout that one? he's had 20 guards and youre giving him credit for bufkin and making that your hill to die on? i think you need to pick a different one.
This team was terrible the majority of the year, just like the prior year.. and now has a couple guys coming in who may or may not improve that result - but losing bufkin, hunter, howard and others will be the excuse... except we sucked when we had them too.
Making the tournament is now viewed as a hope.
Franz Wagner developed as a 6'9" SG under Howard.
The staff made Mike Smith better, as he came in struggling with the P5 adjustment from Ivy and by the end was one of our reliable players.
Frankie was developing, then got his feelings hurt and left when everyone was thinking he showed such growth by the end that we were excited to see his sophomore leap.
Kobe. Dug. All improved. JH is the head coach and he could have moved on from Eisley, but he hasn't because the coaching staff as a whole continues to do well with development--less on retainment.
Mike Smith and Devonte Jones both up transferred and ended up being high quality Big Ten guards by the end of their year here, thanks to the staff (compare to Jaaron Simmons who had a similar pedigree but Beilein couldn't get him to a place where he was even playable - and I know the players have a lot to do with this but Juwans ability to turn mid-major guards into good Big Ten players is probably better than average).
Eli blossomed under Howard.
Zaiver Simpson had his best year offensively under Howard, getting all the way to 36% from three despite having never shot better than 30%.
Dug got significanly better over the course of the year.
Kobe obviously.
C'mon man.
Bullshit.
Hunter couldn't use his right to save his life and had no mid range or 3-point range his freshman year.
Kobe never played and looked like a 4 year player.
McDaniel went from solid backup, to Llewellyn comes back and there is no way he gets his old job back.
Franz went from a defensive liability to a lock down perimeter defender.
Austin Davis looked like a guy who would get pushed out to a legit basketball player who initially started over Hunter.
Livers, injury aside, incredible improvement.
It's not "sad, but true"...it's just flat out not true.
Sad but (not) true
His improvement last year was credited to someone else? SMH
Kobe was a compete non factor as a frosh and is a first round pick a year later, but yeah, go off about development ya goober
You are already at a -36 with this take but don't you think going from unplayable to 1st round NBA draft pick is "development"?
That doesn't seem like Kobe's fault.
I selfishly hate seeing guys leave early before they reach their high end potential at Michigan.
But I get it.
I believe Nkamhoua's pro interests are more focused on Europe as he's from Finland.
then he'd be wise to Finnish his college career at Michigan
He doesn't want to Hel-sinki into the second round.
He's worried Hel-sinki into the second round.
Unfortunately, Suomi is closing.
Need to look into how a British accent can somehow spin a rhyme out of Japan and Vietnam.
In the world of Monty Python, VIETNAM rhymes with SPAM.
People invited to the G League camp can still get a combine invite after the camp. Usually 1-5 guys who show out there get the combine invite.
From other reports, it sounded like we'd be waiting a bit for this reason. He wants to see if he can get the invite and won't make a decision until he's finished with the draft process.
Hmm. I didn't get mine yet. Who do we contact if it got lost in the mail?
Dr. Gene Etics.
Or Gene Parmesan - Private Eye
In other BB news, Ernest Udeh from Kansas has entered the transfer portal.
https://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/big-12/university-of-kansas/article275300741.html
Center swap?
Would be a good replacement for losing Papa Kante, but I’m guessing Udeh is looking for a place he can play big minutes, and that’s probably not Michigan.
Really? His only competition would be a guy that is his same class, height and weight with only slightly more playing time. He would probably get 15-20 min per game. Not many other decent schools have no other big men.
Im curious why you don't think he'd play big minutes at UM. Do you think he's not good enough? Bc there are not many center shaped objects on the roster
The backup center is going to be a very tough spot to fill.
Michigan wants a guy that can play a solid 10-15 minutes at center in the BigTen. A guy that can do that is already a backup somewhere and is in the portal because he doesn't want to be a backup.
I wish them all the best in their future endeavors. It would be nice to get the transfer from Tennessee.
One has to expect an invite after this upcoming camp. Let's hope not and we get him a year.
Time for Nkamhoua to come to Michigan!
Kobe will be alright i feel in the NBA.
Jett will be a bust and in the G league sooner than expected.
Olivier Nkamhoua - come to Michigan