Fullbacksympathy

Agreed. I think he'll hover around 40% from 3. My only concern about his game is defense. I think he has plenty of offense to offer.

Good points. I think the 1-3 with Bryce/Trey/Banton will be completely interchangeable as to who initiates the offense, and that's a huge advantage for us.

When we shoot well, this whole thing works. Ball movement has been crazy good the last two games. I’m guessing Keisei, Wilhelm, and Lakes all help us situationally next season. Remember Bryce can really shoot it too, and he’s a better athlete than Teddy, we should be able to coach up his 6’6” frame on defense. Having him and Lat will be nice for spacing offensively. Agree with the starting lineup above, but I think the two deep will be: Bryce—Wood (Kobe?)... btw, I like Wood moving forward. Trey—Tominaga Banton—Shamiel (Thor?) Mayen—Wilhelm—Lakes Walker—Andre—Yvan I’m guessing Yvan will be gone. I think we need a stud transfer PG. Beyond that, color me intrigued by what we can do with situational basketball. If I was Kobe, I’d be back. I’m guessing Thor is on the fence. If he plays like he has been lately, he gets starter’s minutes next year.

We don't need him to score a bunch of points here. We need him to run around and stretch the court to keep the lane open.

To add, one of the worst things you can do as a pro prospect is see your numbers decrease from one season to the next at the college level. No way Teddy puts up 17 and 5 next year with Bryce on our team. Those will be Bryce's numbers now. The more I think about it, the more I think this is a really smart decision on Teddy's part. I just wish he'd finish the year unless he's nursing that wrist. If he grad transfers somewhere, it would probably raise some red flags, but I doubt that happens.

I thought all in all Teddy played pretty well for us during an insanely difficult season. I hope he graduates and makes some Euro loot. His game should work well there. We knew there'd be some drama with him but it was kept pretty minimal. I'm happy with his time here, and I think he would've had a very difficult time putting up numbers next year with Bryce in the lineup. A whole lot of those iso attempts are gonna go the freshman's way next season.

This game is probably a good reminder that if we roll out a team that can make shots, we can win a lot of games. The future is bright if we have enough deep threats out there. Turnovers are still a major problem but we also had 19 assists and almost 6 guys in double figures. I expect more games like that next season.

Yeah I want him around for eternity.

Illinois is #5 and was at home and has better basketball players than we do. That's about all I took from the game.

1. I think the basics are really only alarming in the shooting realm. Defensively, I'd say we're in decent shape moving forward. We just struggle with post defense. I think Trey, for example, is an elite on ball defender. Walker and Yvan are good defenders as well. Andre knows what he is supposed to do on both ends, but doesn't have the body yet. But, shooting alone makes this category a challenge for a decent grade. I think the team is relatively skilled in general outside of that category. We've recruited three guys that can shoot the ball. Boxing out and defensive rebounding from all 5 players has been maddening. 2. Two players concern me here: Teddy and Delano. Teddy takes some awful shots even for a "green light" player. Delano, in my opinion, is not a point guard, but a skilled 4 or 5 with some size shortcomings. We should be treating him more like we treated Roby because he isn't our best point guard at all. We have improved our passing as the season has gone on with a complete roster. That will improve more when the defense actually has to guard someone on the perimeter besides Lat. 3. Size is fine. We have a giant, skilled, skinny PG (kinda what Dalano would be if he could shoot from outside consistently). Wilhelm will give us some length and help in the post, but his height/ability to shoot should provide more room in the lane. Only concern here is Tominaga, but he's 6'1" and dunking in games so his athleticism may very well be enough. Kobe hurts us here. 4. I think our functional athleticism at the wings is fantastic. There are very few players in the country who can stay with Trey, Teddy, or Dalano in a one on one situation. They just rarely have one on ones because we cannot currently stretch the floor. Thor hurts us here on both ends a bit (more on offense). Teddy and Lat hurt us here defensively. The three recruits are all pretty athletic/coordinated. 5. I like the kids and they have played pretty hard all year. I think they have been relatively disciplined according to the quality of shots we get as a team. They just can't shoot. I actually think that's the only real problem. They can't shoot. We're bringing in guys that can help us shoot better, which will also create more lanes to the basket in isolation.

Oh so it's Fred's fault because it took him an eternity of 1.5 years to land a Top 25 class. Is that seriously your complaint?

I don't think we need another iso guy, though it would be nice to have a true PG who is a freak athlete. We already probably have too many slashers. We need shooters.

That was a JUCO Teddy game. Nice to see it can happen in D1. PSU had a very good game plan offensively. They fed their underrated big (who was destroying us all night with his strength) and actually making their threes. Most possessions felt like we were picking our poison. Gotta figure out what to do with Banton but I really don’t like Kobe taking his minutes.

Depends who is guarding the post and who the opposing bigs are. It’s pretty tough not to double the post with dominant bigs in the B1G. I don’t think Doc does it just to do it. We just never seem to have a 5 who can handle one on one post defense.

Yeah I see him as a very good iso player who is too quick for most bigs and too strong for most guards. The problem is our offense outside of Lat has only iso players, even though all of them (Banton/Trey/Teddy/Shamiel) are pretty good in one on one situations. I feel like any of these guys will be more effective with guys like Bryce, Tominaga, and Wilhelm on the court to spread things out. At least, that's my hope. The fact Shamiel has decent numbers of late is even more remarkable considering there is constantly someone guarding the paint and sagging off everyone besides Lat.

Agree in football for sure. In basketball, Beilein's 5-out was dominating the B1G before he left for the league. Iowa does it as well, though they typically don't recruit great defenders and sort of live with that identity. Their defense is atrocious this year but their offense is remarkable. Shotmaking is a huge deal, but our defense has more potential than most teams with Doc at the helm.

We are adding players to the roster who currently have skillsets zero people on our current roster have. Bryce will end scoring draughts by himself. Tominaga will be a pesky, Gallegos type threat (worse defender, better shooter), and WB is a very skilled big who can stretch the floor. Those are pieces (particularly Bryce) that give Fred seemingly infinite more rotation options. When I watch us play a competitive half of basketball against the top teams in the country, I'm encouraged by our roster. We don't have the horses for halftime personnel or rotation adjustments. Most of the better B1G teams do. Walker being in the lineup has helped, but we need an option at the 5 to stretch the court because I don't think anyone can stay in front of our other guys in ISO. WB might really help us there to change up the look in spot minutes for Walker. I also can't emphasize this enough: we have a legitimate home court advantage at PBA when there are fans. I think this team will be really fun to watch at home with their athleticism next season.

It's a really deep roster next season with lots of possibilities. That's what I like about it--options. Small ball (also my guess for starters): BMac TMac Allen Lat Banton ^^^ I think this is a deadly lineup. We might get killed in the post (although I think Banton's post D is underrated) but we'd be horrifying in transition and could run the 5 out/handoffs until we have a mismatch against almost any team. It would be all layups and 3s with this bunch. 3pt: Bmac Tominaga Allen Lat Breidenbach Size: BMac Banton Allen Breidenbach Walker I really, really, like the diversity of skills the new recruits are going to bring. We don't have a player like any of them on the current roster. BMac is a three level scorer. Tominaga is a pure 3pt specialist and moves without the ball extremely well. Breidenbach is a legitimate threat from 3 and is a fantastic big man passer.

Great pickup. He's a similar athlete to Walker. Great size and lots of experience. Has a decent turnaround jumper in the post which we haven't seen in God knows how long.

A million percent this. I start my grades next season. That’s a complete roster with plenty of shooters, skill, and athleticism. I anticipated a much better season, but I also anticipated Walker, a non con, and some semblance of home court advantage would take place. To not be impressed with this recruiting haul is mind blowing to me. Anyone with eyes can see we have good pieces right now, but need more shooters on the perimeter next season. How many games have we had Walker? Like 8? How are we playing now that we’ve gelled with him a bit?

We’ve got Walker to guard the post if the matchups aren’t working. That’s kind of my point. There will be options next season because it will be Fred’s first complete roster. He hasn’t been here two years yet and already got a top 20 class. And hell yes Bryce can play point guard. He’s the highest rated one we’ve ever recruited. Just because he’s 6’6” and can get his own shot doesn’t mean he’s void of having PG abilities. As for the 5-out, I’m partial to a 1-4 high like MSU runs, but the 5-out has dominated in B1G play very recently. Remember Beilein’s Michigan teams kicking everyone’s ass with it by the end of each season? Our coach wants to do exactly the same thing with similar personnel. It’s the most effective offensive system we’ve seen of late in this league.

Bmac Tmac Teddy Banton Lat ^^^ that could be a pretty formidable group. Once you add a 5* PG, suddenly those other pieces start looking real nice as complements. The problem with our team right now is we have no consistent, reliable scorer. That’s BMac. All day. That’s what he does. Teddy is close, but he can’t sniff JPJ or Petteway (and those dudes played D too). BMac will give us that dimension. The nice thing about Keisei and Wilhelm is they can shoot. Right now, we have zero players off the bench who are a threat to score at all. I’m a believer in Keisei based on what I’ve seen—he’s plenty athletic and has in-game dunks at 6’1”. The kid has good instincts and moves fantastic without the ball. We don’t have a player like him on the roster. I agree that he will likely be a liability on D. Wilhelm is fairly athletic but needs some weight. That said, he is highly skilled—way more than any big we currently have, especially as a passer, and he can stretch the floor. I think he’ll be about as good as Lat. In a 5-out system, next season you could field as an option: BMac (3pt) Keisei (3pt) Teddy (streaky 3pt) Lat (3pt) Wilhelm (3pt) There could be times where this is a really good lineup to roll out because Bmac can do whatever with 4 other guys spacing the floor. This was the Lebron model in Cleveland. Every play—I’ll drive and score/get fouled or I’ll kick it out. You can do the same thing with Banton or Trey at PG. It’s easy to be skeptical about something that hasn’t been possible to do yet, but I think those options are what the young pups are going to bring to our roster. Options are the biggest luxury a coach can have.

The B1G is historically, frighteningly good this season. Is that an excuse? I don't know. What I do know is that Fred's offensive philosophy cannot work without multiple three point shooters on the court--not just threats, but shooters. Will we get that next season? I gotta think the three guys coming in see some minutes based on their shooting alone. A true 5-out means you spread the court with all 5. I'm encouraged because I don't think there is a player who can guard Trey, Banton, or Teddy 1 on 1 without help. Right now, they have no one to kick it to, and our bigs are not stretch bigs, so the lane is bunched. To see the offense work, I'm guessing we're going to need something like: Bryce (3pt) Trey Dalano Wilhelm (3pt) Lat (3pt) with an itchy trigger for something like: Bryce (3pt) Keisei (3pt) Teddy (3pt) Wilhelm (3pt) Lat (3pt) I think we have some nice pieces, but last night we couldn't field one lineup with multiple three point threats. Just Lat. To me, that's not really a reason for eternal pessimism--it just means Fred's roster hasn't arrived in totality yet.

84-67 Bad Guys 4

I think he'll be as good as upperclass JPJ as a freshman, which is a hell of a compliment. Their games are comparable.