MBB Wish List for Next Year
Thought I would start a chain about what our wish list would be for the basketball team next year. This year was a bigger roller coaster than I can remember for a long time. I know everyone is concerned about recruiting and overall upside, but here is a start:
- Wagner needs to put on 20 pounds of muscle and start to cut out some of those bonehead freshman mistakes that limited his minutes.
- Start to build the offense more around Rahk. If anyone is going to play hero ball, it needs to be him, not Irvin. I want Irvin to be the role player and spark he's best suited for, not the over-dribbling shot-chucker he is sometimes tempted to be.
- I'd like Xavier Simpson to come in right away and be good enough to deserve 20 minutes per game. Walton can't play 36mpg next year and he needs to be able to play off the ball and return to that corner shooter role that he was so good at earlier in his career.
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I want to see the front-court start to sort itself out. We will have a whopping SEVEN players that are exclusively front court players. That's too many for a team that plays about 1.5 of them at any time. Chances are that Teske and/or Davis will redshirt. It is getting hard to justify two roster spots for PF like Wilson/Chatman that can't get off the bench. I guess what I'm saying is that if any of these 7 players express an interest in transferring.....maybe you don't discourage them unless it is Wagner.
- Then you figure out if Wilson or Chatman can improve enough to justify playing 10-15mpg against big teams.
- I think you also spend some time trying to figure out if Donnal/Wagner have any chance of playing the PF spot against big teams. I doubt it, but worth considering.
- Robinson has a chance to be a real star if he broadens his game more. He shot 45% despite slumping late in the year. How does he generate more offense? How do they get him open?
Walton & Irvin are great role players, but not alpha dogs. They hit their ceiling and actually regressed badly in the case of Irvin's shooting. Someone needs to step up as the leader and personality of this team. I see three candidates - Rahk, Robinson, or Wagner.
March 19th, 2016 at 12:16 PM ^
McGaryesque Wagner.
March 19th, 2016 at 12:20 PM ^
March 19th, 2016 at 10:07 PM ^
Do people make dumb comments like this?
March 19th, 2016 at 12:21 PM ^
I think Wagner really has some momentum going into next year. He definitely makes some mistakes, maybe forces some things sometimes, but if he can gain some weight while cutting down on some mistakes I think he's gonna be one hell of a player for the next few years. I already want him playing more than Donnal.
March 19th, 2016 at 12:22 PM ^
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March 19th, 2016 at 12:23 PM ^
March 19th, 2016 at 12:27 PM ^
whatever, dude.
March 19th, 2016 at 12:39 PM ^
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March 19th, 2016 at 12:23 PM ^
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Or winning 10 B1G games?
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March 20th, 2016 at 12:13 PM ^
March 19th, 2016 at 12:27 PM ^
March 19th, 2016 at 12:33 PM ^
March 19th, 2016 at 12:58 PM ^
so, he's not as his best, but he is comfortable chucking up 20 shots? If he's not 100%, JB should limit his minutes, and Irvin should limit his shots.
Too many good shooters on the floor to go 1/9 from 3. Pass the damn ball!
Don't understand this. He shot 12 shots and scored 20 points in the play-in game. Don't look that the 1/9 as if it is normal. You know it is not.
Irvin has had a nce second half to B10 season and the tourney games. He'll be a senior next year. He's going to be pretty good.
Hes been a human turnover machine and jacking up stupid 3s all the time yeah hes a hit a couple of big shots but hes also cost us a bunch of games
March 19th, 2016 at 12:27 PM ^
- MAAR develops into a better distributor.
- Wagner and Chatman turn into viable starters.
- Xavier Simpson at least provides a scoring punch off the bench, hopefully starts.
- Doyle or Teske can play enough D to allow Wagner to slide to the 4 if the team needs to go big.
March 19th, 2016 at 12:33 PM ^
March 19th, 2016 at 12:39 PM ^
I actually wouldn't mind a center who carries decent weight who can protect the lane.
Right now our bigs have the density of a vacated spider web.
of these guys:
March 19th, 2016 at 12:35 PM ^
I just got done reading an article about Gary Payton Jr, the Pac 12 player of the year. You'd think that with his bloodlines, he'd be great from the get go. Not so much. He was 6th man as a Jr. in high school, played center as a senior, then went to prep school for a year. After that, he went to community college for 2 years. He was a reliable starter in his jr year (4th year out of high school) and finally blossomed this year.
If you need another example, look at Frank Kaminsky's career stats at Wisconsin. They are obviously exceptions or at the extreme edge of the development curve, but they are also examples of what can happen during a player's college career. So while many people here bitch and moan about this season, and claim that Beilein is on the hot seat, I am eagerly awaiting next year when we return everybody who contributed to an NCAA tournament team.
We thought that Aubrey and Doyle would improve this year. They didn't, but MAAR and Donnal did. Wagner's potential is obvious. I hope the bigs can step up and Irvin can be moved to the 2 where he belongs. Split 80 minutes among Walton, Irvin and MAAR and we're fine at the guard spots before you take into account the incoming frosh.
Robinson and Aubrey can handle the 3 leaving you with Wagner and Chatman at the 4 and Doyle and Donnal at the 5. What's nice about this is that every position has multiple options for someone to make that jump to the next level.
March 19th, 2016 at 12:38 PM ^
March 19th, 2016 at 12:39 PM ^
March 19th, 2016 at 12:40 PM ^
March 19th, 2016 at 12:51 PM ^
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March 19th, 2016 at 12:54 PM ^
irvin, dawkins, doyle, chatman, donnal, wagner
If four of these guys take the next step this offseason (irvin was handicapped by his back), I'll be thrilled. MAAR and Walton are both studs, but we need these guys to make a leap.
I'm also anxious to see if X Simpson and Ibi Watson can give us immediate minutes.
March 19th, 2016 at 12:54 PM ^
Read my lips, MO WAGNER AT THE 4. Wagner and Donnal gives us a massive upgrade on defense and rebounding. Hard to watch 3 guys hoping every three point shot goes in and one rebounder against 2-3 defenders.
That, OR get D-Rob to put on a little weight and develop more of a driving game ala Nik Stauskas. D-Rob is 6'8" so if he can gain some weight and athleticism he'd be an awesome 4.
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March 19th, 2016 at 12:57 PM ^
-Swagger. They had that in spades when Burke, McGary and Stauskas roamed the floor. To put it more simply, they had an identity, they had confidence. This team just does not seem to have an identity or any true leader like what Burke and Stauskas were.
-We've had quite a few recruiting misses in the last few years. Simpson and Teske need to buck that trend. Not saying they need to be stars next year. They'll be freshmen and they'll make freshmen mistakes, but I'm hoping to see them start off well and continue to improve as the year goes on.
-Health. This isn't anyone's fault, but losing LeVert and Albrecht to injury really hurt this team's chances of having a better season. You lost two playmakers and two seniors who were expected to lead the team. This team needs to stay healthy, plain and simple.
-Improvement from big men. Ever since McGary, Morgan and Horford left, our big men situation has been pretty awful. Teams are usually able to get whatever they want on us when they go inside. This is where I'm hoping Wagner continues to improve next year, and Teske makes some meaningful contributions.
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I'd be thrilled if one of the incoming freshman bigs were able to contribute right away, but not expecting it
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March 19th, 2016 at 12:59 PM ^
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