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Darius Morris made Morgan look a lot better than he was.
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My opinion differs. Morgan can be limited and yet extremely valuable. Again, he's right now the only guy on this offense who can finish a pass off PG penetration. He knows how to take the pass and he knows how to use his body and if he can't flush it down he's got the touch to finish nonetheless. Smot has shown flashes of these things but Morgan has them down. Even assuming Morgan won't improve, which is a bad assumption, he brings things to the table right now that no one else does.
And, as mentioned, you have to guard him with your biggest player, which makes McGary all that much more effective if McGary proves to be a high-post type. There's always going to be plenty of minutes backing up Morgan because he's a fouler, so I'm sure we'll see plenty of Smot. But if he wants to start he has to be that safety valve for the PG like Morgan is. The other scenario that benefits Smot is if McGary turns out to be more of an interior player on offense. If McGary's paint-bound, which seems the less-likely option, then it makes a ton of sense to have Smot drawing a defender and Morgan coming off the bench.Comment
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Last night Morgan caught a feed a bit too far away from the bucket and ended up gathering himself and getting of a high-percentage shot from an off-balance position. Morgan is improving. Morgan catches everything you throw at him and finishes most of the time. The PGs this year and last look for him on drives in ways they do not look for Smot (when he's not spotting up) becuase they know he catches everything and finishes well. Those seem like minor talents but IMO they aren't. There are guys in the NBA who can't catch a pass at anywhere near the success rate of Morgan. I think it's completely wrong to say that Morris made Morgan, but if you insist on putting it that way, we're lucky to have Burke here to continue to make him look good.Comment
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Your 2nd paragraph is almost exactly where I sit. I think off the bat, McGary WILL be most effective inside. He's a monster on the boards. And there is basically no high post in our offense. 4 perimeter, 1 inside. The only time you see a high post is the 5.Comment
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And I don't want anyone to think I don't appreciate Morgan, I really like him. He's grown leaps and bounds since high school when I say him. Amazing. That's why, gun to my head, I think McGary comes in to spell Morgan or Smote...both are foul prone.Comment
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I haven't seen enough of McGary to know but am just going off the scouting reports, none of which call him paint-bound. We'll see how it plays out. I'd like to know more about why McGary's HS coach thinks Beilein's offense is perfect for him; that would be telling. Certainly makes sense that to start he might be more effective inside, but when you're talking about the learning curve of a blue-chip basketball recruit these days your time frame is measured in weeks and not years.
You're right that there's no traditional high-post role, but essentially if McGary is playing a stretch-4 role he'll take Smot's role without the 3-point range. Beilein will find ways to get him the ball withing 15 feet of the basket and let him use his athleticism and size.Comment
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I think the least likely outcome is McGary coming off the bench. Right or wrong, Beilein can forget about recruiting any other blue-chippers if he does that. It's not how it should work, but that's how it is. The trick is to find a way to make them earn what they have already been given.Comment
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Dunno. I don't know that JB will alter his offense that much to fit McGary into the 4 that way. I've seen 2 full games and endless clips of McGary...he is most effective inside with a definite ability to knock down the outside shot. Like I said, good problem to have and we'll see how McGary picks things up.Comment
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Then you've seen him a lot more than me, and there's no doubt that McGary, Beilein and McGary's HS coach have talked quite a bit about how he's going to be used. That HS coach called Beilein's offense perfect for McGary, so it's unlikely Beilein will be calling for things far from his comfort zone. My opinion is that it's not going out of it to have a stretch 4 that doesn't shoot 3s, even given Beilein's emphasis on it. But no matter that -- if they envision him in that 5 role rather than a stretch-4 role then I would agree that Morgan is the most-likely odd man out.Comment
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Not that it matters all that much but I think it was McGary's AAU coach that said that about Mitch.Comment
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Speaking of Nik
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUFMyYptotY&feature=player_embedded"]Nik Stauskas goes 27 for 32 from 28 ft. - YouTube[/ame]
We know 2 things.
1) Kid can shoot.
2) His folks must have some money to have that nice of a court and lighting to boot.Last edited by *JD*; December 24, 2011, 08:11 AM.Comment
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A quick comment from a few pages ago -- when I said average -- I should have clarified -- M has been average by B10 standards, historically, in terms of conference titles, wins, tournament performance, head-to-heads -- all the standard metrics. I'm not sure if they're 5th or 6th, but that's about where they are (IU #1; PU/Ill/OSU almost even in 2-4). The fact is, however, the B10 has tons of great historical programs. So, even being 5th or 6th (I have them on par with MSU) probably rates the program top 20 overall, which is decidely above average.
My apologies to the extent I interrupted a pretty good take on M's lineup next year with my esoteria. The offseason isn't upon us. More to the point, a great B10 season is about to tip-off. Should be fun.Dan Patrick: What was your reaction to [Urban Meyer being hired]?
Brady Hoke: You know.....not....good.Comment
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If my kid were that good & that dedicated to basketball, I'd put a court like that up for him. If you have the land, building the rest of the court can't be that expensive. It's just some cement and some lighting. The biggest problem is having the space for it.
After watching the video I realized his court isn't cement. I have no idea what that material is.Comment
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It's that plastic. I remember a lot of apartment complexes in Austin that have basketball courts and tennis courts had it. I think this is it:
There also have to be quite a few floodlights for that court, though. As you may notice, there really aren't any dark spots or shadows.Comment
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Actually, upon 2nd view, there are shadows. Maybe it's only one flood light but I'd guess there's two. One on the side and one in back. Dad? has a shadow on the fence that is coming from a different direction.Comment
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