Matthews, Brazdeikis, Poole Into Draft Process
Michigan issued a press release on this year's edition of NBA Draft Russian Roulette:
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan men's basketball players Charles Matthews, Jordan Poole and Ignas Brazdeikis announced today (Tuesday, April 9) they will all declare for early entry into the 2019 NBA Draft. All three Wolverines intend to sign with agents, who will work with the U-M coaching staff to assist student athletes through the evaluation and pre-draft processes.
"Charles, Jordan and Iggy have all decided to take the next steps in pursuing their dreams of playing in the NBA," said Beilein. "The new process is a unique experience and one that my staff and I will assist in every way we can. We want each of them to utilize this opportunity to get more feedback so they can make the best decision possible for themselves and their families. All three are remarkable young men with amazing futures in front on them."
Under newly adopted NCAA rules, college players are allowed to retain the services of an agent during the evaluation process. If they choose to return to school, they must end the relationship with the agent and they will not lose any eligibility. Additionally, players can also now return to school after going undrafted without losing eligibility, but only if they have participated in the NBA combine.
Bold mine, as this doesn't quite close the door on a return. Buuuuuut… yeah, this sounds extremely bad. Matthews is and has been gone and that's both fine and something the program planned for. Potentially losing both Poole and Brazdeikis to murky pro prospects would be tough to recover from. The chances of that just spiked.
[After THE JUMP: do not read]
This sounds very much like Iggy's out. This is not a test the waters scenario:
Michigan freshman Ignas Brazdeikis will hire an agent and enter the 2019 NBA draft, he told ESPN on Tuesday.
"As long as I can remember, I've wanted to be an NBA player -- not just an NBA player, but an NBA All-Star," Brazdeikis said. "My intent is to be drafted this year as high as I can be and start my journey."
Brazdeikis is headed for the second round, per any draft ranking you care to poke, but he's already 20 and has relatively limited upside left to explore. It is vaguely plausible that he could bomb at the combine and change his mind. But it's a distant chance.
Poole is less definitive. From the press release:
"The last two years here at Michigan have been amazing and filled with so many memories," said Poole. "I've not only become a better player but a better individual. Being able to play in the NBA has always been my dream since I was young. I am confident that with my faith in God and hard work that I, and my family, are prepared to look at all options and make the right decision for the next step of my playing career."
If rampant rumors of Poole's unhappiness turn out to be true he, too, could head for the second round of the draft and hope to break through.
Michigan's been approaching the last few months like attrition is coming so they're not entirely caught out here, but even so their options to fill at least one and maybe up to three scholarship slots right now are Franz Wagner, Lester Quinones, and various grad transfers they've reached out to. Now that Michigan has 30 additional high-usage minutes to tout to folks maybe some more names emerge.
Our guys get to go get paid to play the game that they love.
MSU’s guys get to come back for another year of trying to win a second title for Izzo so he can feel complete while they get to experience the thrill of getting chewed out face-to-face by their wide eyed red faced coach on national TV.
Judging kids for staying is just as bad as justing kids for leaving.
Let the kids decide what they want to do. Some kids like college basketball.
Ohhhhhhhh fuddddddgeeeee
Only I didn't say fudge.
Lol, all 3 not ready.
People picking Michigan in top 10 next year better take another look.
Iggy was our most consistent scorer. Poole was shooting lights out in our early season "quality" wins. Matthews won many games by taking over late.
Our bench was bad this year.
I see 4th in Big Ten, not in the country. Maybe sweet 16 at tops if someone develops.
April 10th, 2019 at 12:51 AM ^
Mark my words, Michigan will still be top 10 next year even if they all leave.
1. Yes, Iggy was a good scorer but after the first month or so, he was largely dependent on Simpson getting him open shots. Credit to him for hitting them but I like Wilson's ability to come in and hit them too. Might not miss a beat with him. Plus more Livers minutes improves the teams defense.
2. Yeah, Poole had a handful of good games early. He is full of potential, but he wasn't that efficient this season and wasn't that good. I would love to have him back and it was be awesome for him to fulfill his potential but replacing what he did this year won't be an impossible task by any means.
3. Matthews took over one game? The one against Wisconsin. He was also terrible in the MSU home game and a lot of others. We'll miss his defense, but I like Wilson's ability to offset some of that by being a more efficient offensive player.
4. The bench wasn't good last year but we had 4 freshmen developing. DeJulius, Johns and Castleton all could (should?) be much improved.
5. Our two most important, best players from last year are back: Simpson and Teske.
Top 10 team. But Poole please come back and take the leap so we're a top 5 team.
Point one seems way off. Iggy carried our offense, often by being our only effective player at getting to the basket. Just watch the last game of the season, when the only player who could score (also with 13 rebounds) at all was Iggy, and he wasn’t getting open looks.
I’d love to see Seth’s %PAst numbers for Iggy compared to the rest of the team. I’d bet it’s hgigher than Simpson or Matthews, but lower than everyone else. And he was scoring much more often than Simpson and Matthews.
Iggy was incredible the first month of the season.
He then became mortal once the scouting report came out and he still had a handful of outstanding games, but he certainly didn't regularly carry the offense. He did have a handful of really good games though. After the new year, he only had a 120 Ortg or better in 7 of 24 games (compared to 7 in his first 12).
He as many bad/inefficient games as good games during that stretch. Really struggled both games against Wisconsin, was inefficient at Iowa (2/8 at the rim).
Don't get me wrong, I love Iggy but people seem to think that when a guy leaves the ball is going to sit on the floor in his place. Someone else will get those minutes! Someone else will take those shots. Iggy was an ok 108 Ortg in conference play.
Wilson is supposed to be a good shooter. He should at least be able to provide the floor spacing Iggy created. And Iggy was pretty up and down as a creator for himself after the first month. Some of those possessions going to Simpson and Poole shouldn't hurt efficiency.
Him leaving is a loss but it won't be as bad as people think. Just like losing Wagner wasn't as bad as people thought. Just like losing Walton wasn't as bad as people thought, etc.
We will reload.
The board is absolute cancer today
Today? I've been coming here less and less. I think part of it is getting older but i feel like the negativity is getting worse too. Too many shitty people here now. I remember when there was a purge after the football season a couple years ago and it made the board better.
It will be very disappointing if all three leave early - and we would probably take a huge step back next year. I thought that Poole and Iggy were almost certain to return since they didn't play themselves into the first round. That being said, they both have great potential with Poole's being extremely high. And the NBA drafts on potential. A return would probably benefit Iggy the least since he is already 20 and was the team's leading scorer. If given a greater role offensively, Poole might benefit from a return the most. His game has been hampered by limited offensive opportunities most of the time.
All might hinge on how they perform at the NBA combine. I could easily see both return if they don't project to the first round. On the other hand, both might go higher than anticipated. Poole, for one, might have lottery level talent and could impress if the NBA gets a better look at him. He's probably our best player and very underappreciated, even bizarrely maligned, here. He may blossom if given greater freedom to show off his entire offensive repertoire.
Many here would do well to take a critical view of this team from the perspective of Poole and Brazdeikis and consider some major factors as to why they "didn't play themselves into the first round". The Beilein offense is schemed for a balanced offense that opens the floor and gives the shooters good looks and driving lanes to the slashers. This team did not possess the skills to make this work well...once teams figured this out these two were bound and gagged. Next year was/is going to be more of the same. Why do you think Coach Beilein quickly got a "new iso offense" to the presses for everyone to see??? Too late...did not matter...the skillsets are not in the system for iso to work either-Poole and Iggy know this. Back to the drawing board. Every challenge is a new opportunity!
These kids left it all on the court-I wish them well.
The Beilein offense isn't necessarily schemed for balance. When he has players that demand more leverage, they get it: Burke, Levert, Walton...
The common theme amongst those players is that they were triple threats: shoot, drive, kick.
You're correct that Michigan didn't have anyone with those skillsets this season. Iggy could shoot and drive, but definitely not pass. Poole could drive but too frequently refused to.
I think that Poole was held back because Michigan was limited in their scheme because of the skillsets of his teammates. When Poole was running the pick and roll, there were three non-shooters around him: Simpson, Teske and Matthews. That meant the defense could more easily help onto any of his dribble drives, and he settled for too many step back threes (I still think he should have done more driving and kicking).
So Beilein's scheme wasn't his usual scheme when Poole was handling the ball because of the personnel. It wasn't spread out and allowing driving lanes.
Simpson had to run the pick and roll because Poole and Iggy spread the floor and Simpson was a good decision maker. The kryptonite was when a team could switch a mobile big onto him (like Tillman and Owens).
So if you're saying that Poole wasn't featured because Michigan couldn't spread the floor for him and run their usual scheme, I agree. But had they been able to spread the floor for him, the scheme would have given him as many possessions as he earned.
Next year should be different for Poole when a shooter will likely be taking Matthews minutes (Wilson most likely). The floor will be more spread and more possessions will be his for the taking.
My feeling on making the jump isn't so much about your physical ceiling as it is about your mental/emotional potential and your confidence. I look back at Burke, Wilson, Wagner, Stauskas, Levert, THJ as proof that the extra year helps a player develop not just the ability to be good but the confidence to play at a high level.and to make plays. With the exception of Wilson, all of them could have declared a year earlier and been able to handle it from a talent standpoint - but the extra year helped mature their game.
I think Iggy and Poole may posses the physical skills but is their confidence and game-maturity ready? I personally think the answer is no because the both of them disappeared for long stretches during games. The extra year of confidence would help them significantly....much like the names above.
Iggy might go late second round. I love me some Jordan Poole, but he’s not getting drafted. G league isn’t the worst idea.
Poole should get his UM degree before going into the G-league.
bummer regarding poole, but it sounded like there were hard feelings. hoping he comes back but if he develops strength & consistency then he'll have a shot, he's amazingly skilled.
i predicted this about iggy, and i suspect winning big ten FOY helped him make the decision. i get he's older than the average frosh, but i don't really understand why people think he's so impossibly limited. i see him as a potential gordon hayward (if he can learn to create) / wesley matthews (if he just becomes a lethal 3pt shooter). if he stayed, he would've likely learned how to pass much better, but can probably improve that enough to be playable in the league while developing on the bench / in the g-league.
iggy can light it up from 3 and played very good defense all year. he's wing-sized. NBA tends to like players like that.
also, this is not a disaster but might mean next year we aren't competing for a chip-- that's okay! beilein will develop the shit out of this team like he literally always does every year and we'll be good and fun to watch.
? for the ride. Time to recruit the guys who can replace. Have confidence in JB.
I’m more surprised than most about Iggy. I get that he is older, but he strikes me as a guy who needs some polish to get a place on an NBA roster. I will be interested in his combine stats, bc maybe I’m just blind or racist but he didn’t strike me as a great athlete. I pegged him as crafty in getting to and finishing at the rim. Yet, he got there against TTU, which is no mean feat, so maybe I’m underrating him.
The fact that you need to go to the combine in order to be eligible to return after going undrafted is a bizarre rule. Let's hope all three get invited to the combine. It seems more likely than not that at least one of those guys will go undrafted.
MSU regularly has potential first round picks return, even projected lottery picks. It won’t be popular but the culture and family program Izzo has created is obvious. On the other hand, guys seem to want out of AA as soon as possible. Iggy literally makes no one around him better, he is a black hole. Poole isn’t good at anything. I thought he was a good shooter but has not been. Virtue signal all you want about supporting the decision making but it’s misguided.
“guys seem to want out of AA as soon as possible.”
hey, if you’re going to be wrong, you might as well really go for it. extra points for throwing “virtue signaling” in there as a phrase you clearly don’t understand.
They have the full protection of Ingham county law enforcement. They can do whatever they want.
bad take, factually incorrect, and shoehorning badly-used internet political jargon into the mix: an all around awful comment!
let me quote john beilein: “next man up.”
Brazdeikis is Darius Morris 2.0
He doesn't have the maturity for the NBA yet. . .
Is it just me or does Poole need to put on some beef if his goal is NBA...if Europe, no biggie, he's fine. I always figured Poole's hairstyle was so people thought he was as tall as Caris LeVert, just as he truly was as lean. I am not buying the "Brazdeikis has peaked" theories....he's shown enough that NBA is realistic, but c'mon he could easily well outperform his current season (like consistent 20 - 25 point games) and become a better player. Lastly, Poole is a free spirit...can easily see why he wants his next adventure, even if maybe a year too soon. Wish them all well. Stoked to see how Livers develops....
This news kind of helps explain the fall off in performance to end the season, especially for Poole. It felt like all three were distracted compared to the start of the season. Maybe not, but visions of the NBA seems more important than being a student athlete.
Personally, only Matthews seems mature enough to be ready. Iggy has the most upside but developing that from an NBA bench is going to be tough. Poole is not physically ready to bang NBA bodies, heck he couldn't consistently handle kids in the B1G. He needs to hit the weight room and build core strength to reach his potential.
But good luck to them in the process, they all 3 seem like good UM teammates that helped deliver a 30 win season for the school.
Iggy does not have the most upside IMO. IMO it's Poole, Poole is a better all around player.
Shooting - Poole
Passing - Poole
Moving without the Ball -Poole
Driving - Iggy
Rebounding - Iggy
Defense is close, but I give the nod to - Iggy
It's close but I do believe Poole has more upside
April 10th, 2019 at 10:37 AM ^
Zion Williamson -- a true (No. !?) lottery pick.
Jordan Poole --- very good, but no Zion Williamson. Jordan's a long way from a lottery pick this year, and probably wouldn't be one next year even if he stays. Next year he could be a first -rounder. If he enters the draft this year, it's the G league for sure, IMO. His agent will probably tell him that, but he could well go anyway. He wants to play BB for money.
Iggy? He gone. Whether onto an NBA team's roster or onto the G league, he gone. Another year at M would make him 21-22 years of age by the time he entered the NBA, which would make him an old man by rookie NBA standards.
John Beilein will develop the players he has, build around Teske, Simpson, and Livers, maybe recruit someone else or entice a transfer or two, and put another competitive team on the floor 2019-2020. Go Blue.
Interesting comment on age - saw the stat that Luka Doncic is younger than 9/10 starters in the national championship game.
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