U of M Basketball Recruiting Discussion

[hack]

Looks like an excellent candidate to push Donnal for minutes.

[*JD*]

I'm hoping Michigan pulls the upset over Arizona next Saturday, that McGary outplays Kaleb Tarczewski (who was ranked above Mitch) and that young Zimmerman sees a future in A2 as a stronger possibility.

[*JD*]

Chatman plays his first H.S. game in about 2 years and Doyle is putting up monster numbers.

http://www.umhoops.com/2013/12/09/recruiting-roundup-kameron-chatman-plays-first-high-school-game-two-years/

[iam416]

Kenpom tells me that M hosts Arizona this weekend. Egads.

[hack]

Very much hoping that Michigan at home is the kind of atmosphere that Michigan on the road tends to shrink from. We'll see...

[iam416]

I need to watch them play. Haven't caught a lot of B10 hoops, yet. I've seen enough of MSU to know that they're very much still early season MSU. M looks like, unsurprisingly, they could use Trey Burke. IU looks like they have some upside, though every minute I watch IU play is another minute I think Crean isn't the guy. I like Iowa. Liked them coming into the season and like where they are. Need to see a lot more, though. Wisky is wisky. Getting Gasser back is huge. And Decker is gives them a real scorer, sort of. And, of course, Aaron Craft is still Aaron Craft.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UAERPCN9SY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UAERPCN9SY[/ame]

[hack]

Haven't seen your guys either, but LQR filling Thomas' shoes? You might have the same problem we do in that way. Then again, you have that damn defense and toughness thing going, whereas we have our fucking finesse and ball-shrinkage issue.

[iam416]

LQR started horrifically, but he's been good his last two games. I still don't trust him and he's isn't replacing DT as a scorer -- almost no one can. DT rolled out of bed thinking about scoring and fell asleep thinking about scoring. LQR does share most of DT's defensive liabilities, though.

Otherwise, yes, OSU has a team well-situated to grind teams to dust. Their backcourt defense is just outstanding. Frontcourt is ok, but when you have Amir guarding the rim it doesn't have to be great!!!!

Marc Loving has shown something early, though he'll probably see his minutes fall when it gets to grown up time.

[hack]

LOL, that captures it. Reminds me of a great Olbermann line from his ESPN years -- ``that's a 6-4-3 double play if you're scoring at home, or if you're alone''. Pretty sure in that same broadcast in '97 he referred to a Celtics West Coast swing as ``the Celtics' Bataan Road Trip''. Sportscenter was so good at that time...

[iam416]

Craig Kliborn doing Jerome Richardson highlights were can't miss.

[hack]

I moved to the US just after he left. Missed those years. I caught the tail end, when Kenny Mayne was funny for a bit and then overplayed his hand and it all spiraled.

[WM Wolverine]

Iowa impresses me too, they looked like a top 20 team to me.

[iam416]

Yeah, Iowa should be ranked a little higher. On the other end, I'm not exactly sure how the B10 has 3 top 5 teams.

[WM Wolverine]

Kenpom has Ohio #2, MSU #10, Wisky #9, Iowa #13 & M #20...

I haven't seen Wisconsin yet, but they are always better than I expect... Ohio is experienced but I don't think they have the blue chip talent to be ranked quite so high. Sparty has a very good starting five and deservingly ranked in the top 5... Iowa really impressed me when I saw them play earlier, at #13 they might be a lil' high... M is right where they belong at ~#20, they are too young, starting 2 freshman and 3 sophomores. They'll need to develop a lot during the season and get McGary healthy.

[iam416]

OSU is more or less the same team it was last year except a year older and subbing in LQR for DT. I don't think they're top 2, but they're a top 10 team, IMO.