MICHIGAN'S MEN'S BASKETBALL: 2015-2016

[hack]

Doyle's out too tho.

Agreed about Wagner. The two things about the program that provide hope are Wagner and if Beilein's new assistants breathe some new life into things.

[WM Wolverine]

Doyle is no loss as long as Teske/Davis combo are more than adequate...

Simpson is no Trey Burke but I see him being a better B1G point guard than Walton and I like Walton despite his weaknesses.

[Whitley]

I thought it was interesting that JB was talking about taking on a grad transfer possibly for this season. That would be a good use of the scholarship in the short term and frees it up for next recruiting cycle as well.

[hack]

Lost out on his target tho to Cal.

[*JD*]

Hoping Mo Wagner is Mitch McGary v2. I'm really high on Xavier Simpson, hopefully he earns minutes next season and expect him to be a good B1G PG. In '17-'18 the lineup is this:

PG: Xavier Simpson
SG: MAAR, Ibi Watson
SF: Duncan Robinson
PF: Mo Wagner, DJ Wilson
C: Donnal, Doyle/Teske/Davis

That is better than I expected, need more athleticism from the wings with the '17 class and a backup point guard. Logjam at PF/C will likely create attrition.

You kept Doyle and forgot Jordan Poole (#63 247 composite) who would likely be ahead of Watson. Also, Donnal might not be given back his redshirt 5th year. If he keeps improving, I hope he is.

[*JD*]

[ame]https://twitter.com/GoodmanESPN/status/727829810500780032[/ame]

[*JD*]

A little more about these rumored hires, from umhoops.com:

Billy Donlon is a young coach who ran his own program for the last six years. His firing came out of left field and left coaches, fans and media howling that he got a raw deal in the process. He’s known for his defense and Donlon had three top 100 defenses in the past three years, including two in the top 50. Donlon’s teams have pack-line fundamentals — the same system that has given Wisconsin, Virginia and Xavier so much success — but are aggressive forcing turnovers, cleaning up the defensive glass and actually commit fouls at a fairly high rate (FTA/FGA allowed over 40 in every season).

John Beilein has spoken several times since the season ended about bringing in an assistant coach to bring new ideas on the defensive side of the ball. Donlon fits the need for a defensive specialist about as well as any assistant coaching candidate could.

Oakland’s Saddi Washington was a finalist for the Michigan job the last time around and has the deep connections to the state of Michigan that the Wolverines lost in Bacari Alexander. He’s coached big men and coordinated recruiting for an Oakland program that has thrived over the last decade. A runner up for the Wolverine assistant coaching job in 2010, Washington appears to be a natural fit.

[hack]

Oh yeah, Poole. Good point.

I agree about Donnall -- he's not great but I hope that redshirt year comes back. And I'm kinda on the fence about Doyle. Sophomore year was a big step back, but some bigs can take a bit of time, and the pipeline is prettymuch non-existent if Teske doesn't hit. Davis doesn't seem to be anything to be excited about.

That said, Doyle was basically a skinny Chris Farley out there this year, and regressed so much that it's certainly not a given that he'll improve.

[jaadam4]

None of this makes sense to me. Are we going to have a good team next year or not? Do we have any talent?

[hack]

No effing clue.

Talent level slipping fast tho.

[hack]

It's done. I like mgoblog's take -- Dolon hasn't run a low-foul outfit in the past, and Beilein wants to, so that's a source of tension. But I also wonder what about the guy led Wright State to fire him.

That said, pack line defense? Wow. It's not as magical as hearing the word Harbaugh 18 months ago, but just hearing that we're gonna have any defense is great. I am choosing to be optimistic.

[jaadam4]

To me it's baffling to be in the championship game one minute full of talent then the next it's back to the Amacker years. How did they not cash on recruits? I know we're not Kentucky, Duke or the elite but we're a great school.

Again not following as closely with the recruiting but I've felt that Coach B almost had a NE Patriot feel to him. Where he thought he could turn under the radar guys into NBA players in his system and we didn't land any big names.

Maybe I'm just fooling myself and Michigan just isn't a name for basketball recruits

[*JD*]

Oh yeah, Poole. Good point.

I agree about Donnall -- he's not great but I hope that redshirt year comes back. And I'm kinda on the fence about Doyle. Sophomore year was a big step back, but some bigs can take a bit of time, and the pipeline is prettymuch non-existent if Teske doesn't hit. Davis doesn't seem to be anything to be excited about.

That said, Doyle was basically a skinny Chris Farley out there this year, and regressed so much that it's certainly not a given that he'll improve.

Doyle was the one player that annoyed me. I'm sure he was trying hard and having a sleeping disorder likely messed him up but his hands were just so awful. The 2nd coming of Kwame Brown, in a weaker and less athletic body.

[*JD*]

To me it's baffling to be in the championship game one minute full of talent then the next it's back to the Amacker years. How did they not cash on recruits? I know we're not Kentucky, Duke or the elite but we're a great school.

Again not following as closely with the recruiting but I've felt that Coach B almost had a NE Patriot feel to him. Where he thought he could turn under the radar guys into NBA players in his system and we didn't land any big names.

Maybe I'm just fooling myself and Michigan just isn't a name for basketball recruits

Maybe being a Nike/Jordan Brand school will help? I don't know.

I do know that I really like the hires of Washington and Donlon. I heard Washington on the radio last week. He sounded great, very motivated, and is very connected in Detroit. umhoops put up a lot of good stats about Donlon's defenses at Wright State and he sounds a little Harbaugh-ish. One of the guys during the Washington interview (may have been Saddi) said he was walking towards Donlon in the hallway and Donlon went in to take a charge against them. I don't know if it was a joke or not but it sounds like he's just a go-go-go kind of guy.

I liked the coaches that left but a shake-up could just be what the team needs to punch up their recruiting and rep as being a team of nice guys.

[*JD*]

To me it's baffling to be in the championship game one minute full of talent then the next it's back to the Amacker years. How did they not cash on recruits? I know we're not Kentucky, Duke or the elite but we're a great school.

Again not following as closely with the recruiting but I've felt that Coach B almost had a NE Patriot feel to him. Where he thought he could turn under the radar guys into NBA players in his system and we didn't land any big names.

Maybe I'm just fooling myself and Michigan just isn't a name for basketball recruits

He had a strong class following up the title game (two top-40 guys and a top-100 guy) but struck out on the top-20 guys he was after in the next couple of years. Also, his knack for identifying talent early (like Hardaway, Nik, Mitch, Trey and GR III) either didn't pan out with late-risers (Donnal, Doyle & Teske all slid a little after committing) like those guys, or you had a guys like Booker who wanted to be fawned over, or Kennard & Thornton Jr. who opted for the top-tier school.