Hunter Dickinson to Kansas
*shrug*
I guess I don’t know how else to react to this.
Unless money isn't the only item that pushed HD to leave, I would react by saying that at some point Michigan's NIL money needs to be increased to match what some of the other programs can offer to players. Sometimes you get lucky but I suspect recruiting will become even more competitive in the future as other money canons ramp up.
Good luck to him.
if this keeps Sparty from winning it all next year, cool.
I would say that money isn't the only reason. Have you looked at the roster recently?
Also, what if the NIL simply can't "be increased"?
Just glad it's not Maryland.
why does it take so long?
I think it was the negotiation over amount of stock options.
Videos don't make themselves.
Chalk shmauck flock balk. Or something stupid like that…
I’m not at all upset by the Hunter transfer. He served us well, and I wish him luck.
However, these over produced videos detailing his transfer decision is a bit much IMO.
My wife calls him T-Rex lol
Better than big Dick I reckon
Zak Irvin ran like that too with his arms
This was truly not a self-less decision on Hunter's part to go to Kansas.
He's so self-ish that he couldn't just be into himself; he had to be into another Self too.
(more seriously: what better way is there to say self-important than to make an over-long, over-produced video about switching schools?)
Hunter gets my first ever “TL;DW” comment.
KU is now #1 with a bullet according to Torvik's RosterCast projection.
man, that's where elmarko jackson ended up? between him, hunter, and jalen wilson, they're like bizarro michigan
As a father of kids born in the early 2000s, all I have to say is, “Lalalala, lalalala, Elmarko Jackson…”
A loaded God complex cock it and pull it
Sugar, are we going down swinging?
This prompted me to check Torviks prediction for next year's Michigan team, and it's much worse than I expected. #59 overall with ADJOE 109 (#52) and ADJDE 96.3 (#71).
You expected better than the #59 team? Holy shit.
lol yes. They were 44 last year to Torvik. All the doom and gloomers are going way overboard. I expect them to be better than last year. Not significantly better, but better.
I mean, Michigan lost its three best players and replaced them with guys that are the same or worse. Yes, there are two open scholarships still but I think it's totally reasonable to expect them to be mediocre again. Even with adding two reasonably attainable guys (Olivier Nkamhoua being one), I'm usually not able to get Michigan higher than the low 40s in the RosterCast tool, so basically where they ended up last season.
Let me make sure I understand your position.... You are saying 23/24 Michigan Mens Basketball will be a better team than 22/23 Michigan Mens Basketball? What are you using to measure this just Torvik? Are you saying we are a tournament team? Top 6 in league? I so hope you are right I just don't see anyway you lose Bufkin, Howard and Dickinson and are a better team.
I'm drinkin' the "we'll be better next year" Kool Aid. Here's why:
Our three biggest problems last year were:
Youth, no guard depth and lack of production at PF. We have fixed each of these problems. Furthermore, Jett may be a good NBA prospect but he was not a good college player.
Losing Hunter, IMO, is addition by subtraction. He was not a good rebounder despite the numbers and was a poor passer and was a poor defender.
The biggest problems last year IMO were thus:
- lack of creators off the dribble
- defense (pretty much all phases)
I don't think we've solved the first one unless Dug makes a major leap and/or Caleb Love figures it out in year four. I'd say those are both longshots.
The defense should improve with Reed at center and Jett replaced by Burnett but we lose our strength on offense (Hunter posting up) such that it probably just offsets at best.
Reed was a foul machine last year. Hunter was a pretty good defensive center, IMO.
I think a lot of the attitude problems we saw came from Hunter as the leader of the team. I don't think Hunter's a bad player or a bad person; I think he can be a really important piece on a really good team. I just think that his schtick does not make for good leadership. If we had someone else as the unquestioned leader, I think we'd be having a very different conversation around this team.
Now we just need an Isaiah Livers or Eli Brooks to step up and fill that leadership gap. A better analogy might be an Aidan Hutchinson: someone who can reshape the entire culture of the team in an off-season. Do we have one on this roster?
Yes that is my position. And no I'm obviously not using Torvik, as I just said, Torvik says they will be worse. And yes I've been saying for awhile on here that next year I expect them to be one of the last 4 in. So right on the 10/11 line. And yes top 6 team in the league, something like 12-8.
They will be better because Dug and Reed will take steps forward. I think the adding Love, Burnett and Llewellyn will be better for closing games, where Michigan struggled immensely. Not always running everything through Hunter and not having to play Hunter/Reed together will probably help offensive flow. Williams won't be the disaster he was this past year, and even if he is terrible, he probably plays less minutes with Trey Jackson coming in. Last year was still too early to play Khayat and Tschetter, they will be better this year as well.
I think most people think they'll win more games because they won't lose as many close games as they did last year. There are some that think the team this year was better than their record and they were just unlucky while next year, they'll be more lucky but less talented.
You think after losing two NBA first rounders and an All-American they'll be better?
How?
For the same reason that a team with 2 first rounders and an All American didn't make the tourney.
One of the NBA draft picks may well be a great NBA prospect but was not a good college player. The other played himself into a NBA draft pick in the last 6 weeks of the season but wasn't on draft boards during the first 2/3 of the season. (I refer you to the @Iowa game).
Was Hunter an All American? Not this past season.
If the NBA drafted on production - on what they had actually done - then I might agree with you. But has been said many times on this board, the NBA drafts on potential. So the fact that they may well both go in the first round is not a true reflection on what they accomplished last season, or how valuable they might be in the next one.
As a Brooklyn Nets fan I know what it’s like to lose your superstars but still like your team more once they are gone. That said, they are most emphatically not better with current roster.
My wild predictions:
tschetter becomes leader
Lewellyn gets Honorable mention all big ten honors
Tarris Reed dominates after a summer of Camp Sanderson
Caleb Lobe quits half way through the season with 20% beyond the arc average or be get first team big ten honors.
we see player development, but some more totally asinine in game management.
Well they have 2 spots to fill. They should climb drastically once it happens.
Can you imagine if Gradey Dick had stayed another year?
Dang. I really liked Elmarko Jackson. Wish we could have gotten him here.
HD transfers in and their defense numbers improve -- but I thought everyone here said he was a defensive liability?
You realize it's a computer projection and the only defensive stats that are input is blocks and steals right? Doesn't take into account horrific pick and roll defense.
It's not just people here that say he's defensive liability. What do the NBA scouts say? Why else would a 7'1 guy that good on offense not be getting any NBA interest?
I will say that he can probably be a decent college defender if surrounded by elite wing defenders such that can just patrol the paint like he was able to do as a freshman. Kansas is a good fit for him. I don't think he'll make them better defensively, and I bet they'll be better defensively when Udeh is on the floor (if he sticks around) but they should be an elite team (as they usually are) with Hunter.
They're loaded, though that usage number for Dickinson will obviously change. It'll be interesting to see how KU deploys him in their offense and defense; he's always been a better rim defender than people around here give him credit but he's slower and he's going to a Big 12 that is, frankly, more talented and athletic than the Big 10 and so he might be hunted out a bit more by bigs who can stretch him. But offensively he's going to be tough for anyone to handle.
Under$tandable he went to Kan$a$
$mart deci$ion
My guess is that one of the major considerations for going to Kansas was that it's KANSAS.