U of M Basketball Recruiting Discussion

[*JD*]

With regards to minutes, I was thinking that Smot might be the odd man out next year but if he keeps doing what he's been doing the last several games, I'm not sure what's going to happen in the rotation.

You have to figure that McGary is going to start. Does Smot play some 3? He doesn't have the handle to do that now but I suppose he could improve his dribble more. Does Morgan become a 6th man?

[hack]

We'll see. McGary supposedly isn't stuck in the post as a player, but we'll see how he's used. Morgan could really benefit in the low post from McGary in the high.

[Pasadena Blue]

I posted in another thread but it'll be Smot/Morgan/McGary in front with TH/Burke in the back with Little Dog off the bench. If TH bolts early (I say he doesn't), Little Dog slots in for TH.

[*JD*]

Little Big Dog is so good, tho- shit, my V key went o t again. Anyway, I think it will be tovgh to keep him off the covrt.

[Jamie H]

The 3 doesn't necessarily have to handle the ball a lot when you have a PG like Burke.

[*JD*]

You still have to show the ability to take a guy off the dribble every now and then. Smot turns the ball over too much with his dribble right now.

[Jamie H]

Oh yeah, I'm not saying it is ideal to have him handling the ball. But I think his 3-point shot is too much of a weapon to bench him next year.

[hack]

But just how wonderful it is to have this problem! Man it's been so long...

[The Oracle]

Smote will be starting next year. It'll be either Morgan or McGary off the bench. I don't see Smote playing any 3 in this offense.

[*JD*]

Since we are going to be a very deep team next year, I wonder if they'd think about redshirting Stauskas? He seems to be a very good talent, though. A better shot than Vogrich and more playmaking skills than Brundidge has shown at this point. Granted, he is sowing them at a high school level but he looks like he could handle spot minutes at PG. He reminds me of Jalen in some ways.

I just don't know if we'd be "wasting" a year of his skills next year.

[The Oracle]

I think he'll be to valuable at backup point unless JB gets something out of Akunne. Brundidge, like Stu, I think will have his best minutes a the 2. JB will have plenty of options next year and in the years to come.

[hack]

Unless he bombs his senior year, McGary will be starting.

Smot, unless he really rounds out his game this year and establishes that he can be a solid interior defender, projects as an off-the-bench matchups guy, albeit a very valuable one. You can bring him in and do damage in a big lineup at SF when the other team's SF isn't too quick. You put him at PF and draw a defender out of the paint. But there aren't many SFs he'll be able to guard with those plodding feet of his, and there's a very dynamic talent in Lil Dog waiting to claim that position. You don't need Smot's shooting so much that you hold back the freshman. So Smot's going to have to beat out Morgan, who is a much better fit next to McGary, especially on offense, and improving in his own right. 6-8/250 and a good finisher now, and by the end of the year he might even have a post move and a reliable 10-foot jumper. When Morgan is in there he will command the other team's biggest defender, and McGary is a huge beneficiary of that. When Smot's in there though, you can guard him with a shorter guy. Ultimately what Smot brings is a 3, and so do several others on the team. Nobody else duplicates Morgan's talents.

[The Oracle]

Unless JB totally changes his coaching philosophy over the course of 8 months, from what he's done for 30+ years Smote will never play the 3 in JBs offense. He's either a 4 or a 5. People have been clamoring from day 1 of JBs tenure at Michigan to play a traditional 4-5 and he hasn't. McGary will give him a little more flexibility, but still his outside game isn't at Smotes level no matter what YouTube shows.

[hack]

To be clear if it wasn't, when I say that what Smot brings is a 3, I mean the outside shot and not the SF position.

I highly doubt that McGary loses minutes to Smot on account of outside shooting. Yes, Beilein's system loves a stretch 4 in that way, but, again, McGary projects as a player good enough to be one-and-done. Whether he stays that long or not is not that point -- when you have a player of that ability you don't sit him for Smot.

[The Oracle]

But probably Morgan. There's a reason he almost lost his spot to Horford...he's limited.