U of M MEN'S BASKETBALL: 2018-2019

[Hannibal]

Michigan will never have an overwhelmingly talented team like that again, but they ultimately never got the most out of what they had. Inconsistent and mistake prone. The 1989 team was peak Michigan, even though they peaked late it was an awesome peak. People remember the close final 4 games but they flat out slaughtered North Carolina and Virginia to get there.

I agree we'll never be that talented again, but the way that they are dominating teams exceeds what that team did for most of the year. They only lost five times so that's still an incredibly high bar though.

[hack]

Going undefeated in conference play looks fairly likely. Biggest threat is now the Gamecocks, who are 75 in Kenpom. There will be some conference-play defeats, but I bet 4 or 5 maximum, and maybe as few as 3.

[Kstat]

I agree we'll never be that talented again, but the way that they are dominating teams exceeds what that team did for most of the year. They only lost five times so that's still an incredibly high bar though.

yeah but 4 of them were the critical ones. They gagged away their finals rematch with Duke, gagged away the conference title to Indiana (twice!), and in the culminating game in their careers they committed the ultimate gag against a North carolina team they had already handled and had no business losing to.

not even going to get into how foruntate they were to sneak past UCLA in the sweet 16. Their best game was easily against Kentucky and they very nearly choked that away.

[Hannibal]

They played way too many teams tight and they laid a big time egg against Duke. That game was awful.

[hack]

No, that was a really good Carolina team with a much better coach than ours. They got after it on D and were hellaciously athletic and fun, but they did not play smart basketball on offense and weren't coached to do so. It's a damn shame what happened, but none of it is in the recordbooks anyways.

[Kstat]

No, that was a really good Carolina team with a much better coach than ours. They got after it on D and were hellaciously athletic and fun, but they did not play smart basketball on offense and weren't coached to do so. It's a damn shame what happened, but none of it is in the recordbooks anyways.

[hack]

Yeah, that's basically it for me too. But it's not in the recordbooks, so, whatever. A real shame for Jalen and Juwan and Jimmy and Ray, but, it's not in the recordbooks.

[*JD*]

Hard to say it's an offhand as he's truly ambidextrous. And he's also 20, so he's not your typically skinny/talented railfrosh.

But I do agree he's got all the makings of a player the other team loves to hate, save for that he's pretty quiet about stuff out there. Just goes out and does it.

He doesn't turn 20 until January 8th, 2019. I have no real hope that he stays more than one year, though.

[*JD*]

I'd still call the Fab 5 the best team that never won it all, with Houston being right behind them. Houston had the all-time talent of talents in (the then) Akeem but he wasn't the player he became at that point. No shot-clock cost them at least 1 title. They had Drexler too but we had a 3rd stud and solid 4th-6th guys.

[Detroit Dan]

Very well said. I don't think there's any doubt that he's our best offensive player, which is kind of amazing. And that's exactly what this team needed -- better offense.

The next step for Beilein is to extend the rotation. The 7 man rotation is excellent, but need another 2 players in case of foul trouble or injury.

[Detroit Dan]

Well then it's a big win now year. With that said, this year's team sans Charles Matthews and Iggy would still be pretty good.

I don't think so. Matthews is our MVP, IMO. He seems to be able to shut down just about anybody. Yesterday, I believe it was Cameron Johnson. Without Iggy, Michigan is woeful offensively. Iggy scored 8 straight points yesterday when he back in with Michigan down 21-11, for example.

[Detroit Dan]

Yeah, I could see Teske going pro before Poole. Imagine if Teske starts hitting 3s regularly. He's got game,as they say, and was a big reason factor in our run last year (win over Purdue in B1G tourney, for example).

[Kstat]

Yeah, I could see Teske going pro before Poole. Imagine if Teske starts hitting 3s regularly. He's got game,as they say, and was a big reason factor in our run last year (win over Purdue in B1G tourney, for example).

[*JD*]

Yeah, I could see Teske going pro before Poole. Imagine if Teske starts hitting 3s regularly. He's got game,as they say, and was a big reason factor in our run last year (win over Purdue in B1G tourney, for example).

I think The Lummox is developing into a good college player but he's a 4 year guy without a doubt, in my mind. He still shies away from posting up solidly down low. He's getting stronger but still isn't a banger. He does have excellent timing on blocking shots, though. Another offseason of Camp Sanderson and continuing to expand his game could earn him a Summer League invite in 2020 but he would have to make huge leaps to actually get drafted. Put him in the Isaac Haas category, if he keeps improving, and I'll be plenty happy.

Weird thing I heard about Teske (maybe during the Villanova game?) is that he wears a size 12 or 13 shoe. That's what I wear and I'm 6'2". I can't imagine having that small a foot when you're that tall.

If there's any darkhorse candidate for leaving early for the NBA, it might be Livers. I seriously doubt it but he's looked very impressive most times he's in the game. He's our 2nd best shot-blocker and is currently shooting 57% from 3. I think the odds are better that he stays all 4 years than leaves at the end of the season but I probably thought the same thing 7 games into DJ Wilson's 2nd year.

[WM Wolverine]

Poole has a few holes in his game, some NBA potential with his athleticism so possible he takes a big step up as a junior. Needs consistency, didn't see a ton of him last season, were we're figuring out how talented he is...

Centers like Teske have an easy path to the NBA, he's polishing to do with his skillset but I could see him as an early entry.

With Iggy receiving most of Livers minutes, difficult to project Livers. He's impressed me when he's in there but I'd like to see how he does playing 30 mpg.