I would like to have a very honest board discussion on past

[Reality Man]

and current rosters.


The JB program turned around because of guys like Morris, Novak, Morgan & Douglas. It really took off because of Burke who was a diamond in the rough along with some hot shooting from THJ.

JB then recruited at a higher level with Stauskas, GR3 and McGary plus Irvin.

It seemed like recruiting got better but the current roster seems to have more of the original guys who needed 'seasoning' like Novak and Douglas. Looks like is roster has a bunch of role players including my guy...Irvin. LeVERT is a quality player but he looks like he is still developing.

My post is whether JB and staff deserve more criticism for not aggressively landing better players or is this a youth thing.

I think it's a combination but this team is looking more like a roster of 2nd tier BT guys who now will have to overachieve like Douglas & Novak & Morgan rather than just a young team going through growing pains. I like Doyle and sometimes you are going to hit and miss with certain recruits but MAAR is a major project at best.

Donnal & Wilson were lower ranked guys. Seems like this roster has been recruited like JB was at WVU.

Don't mean to show a lack of appreciation for the best bball coach ever at UM (IMO) but I hope this staff has had some cold water thrown on them. Time to get back to landing some high end guys rather getting lower division transfers who may work out.


Thoughts?



Reality Man

 

[BlueInNM]

The best thing about freshmen

is that they become sophomores (Al McGuire).

I can't wait to watch this team in two years when the team will be loaded with a talented upper class including:

Seniors: Walton and Irvin
Juniors: Chatman, Rahk, Dawkins, Hatch, Doyle, Robinson, and Donnal
Sophomores: Wilson
Freshmen: Teske

What's missing? A couple of NBA caliber recruits. Can you imagine this team with the addition of players like Langford, Thorton, and/or Battle.

How many potential All Big Ten candidates are there on this team? I can see Walton, Chatman, Doyle, and Robinson competing (and why not Dawkins and Irvin as well).

Regarding the past roster of Hardaway, Burke, GR3, Stauskas, and McGary (plus LeVert); it is amazing to look back and see how special that team was. When they were first recruited, who would have expected any of them to be early entrees to the NBA other than McGary? I think we all have to face the fact that this caliber of team is unlikely to occur again in the immediate future; a once in a generation team like the Fab Five.

Sometimes you just get lucky.

So RM, I know you have commented on the current roster of freshmen underperforming. What did you think of McGary this time in his first season? As I recall he didn't even start until the end of the Big Ten season. Was he a flop?

As I see it, the major problem with the 2014 class is that they are freshmen and they don't have 3-5 NBA caliber teammates to hide behind. So I'm going to wait until they are sophomores before I'll consider giving up on them.





This post was edited on 1/14 3:08 AM by BlueInNM

 

[Reality Man]

Response. The real point I am trying to articulate is that this

class (albeit talented...Dawkins, Wilson, Chatman) look very raw and need time to become solid players. They look more like Douglas and less like Morris and Burke. Let's leave off the physical and mental toughness aspect.

Irvin is still pretty young on PT...didn't play that much last year. He is a work in progress but can be better but overall disappointing relative to my expectations. I am sure he isn't too torn up about it .

Team just looks raw with tons of development that needs to take place whereas McGary and Stauskas and GR3 could provide more production earlier in their career.

I hear you and hope that Chatman and Wilson and Dawkins really develop...but it may take them longer to become solid college players. If that progression is 1-2 years longer...need some big time help sooner to ease the transition. Maybe Robinson is a guy who can help.

Talking about guys who are mentally and physically tough enough to produce. Novak may have been physically limited at his spot but he produced...consistently.



Reality Man


This post was edited on 1/14 12:23 PM by Reality Man