Austin Davis appreciation thread.

Wow, crickets. Well I will give him some appreciation. Go Blue!!!

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While Austin Davis never became a great player, I have always thought his effort is great and I respect his willingness to maturely handle the role he has been given, even though it's surely not the one he wanted. 

It's a nice luxury to have a 4th-year player as UM's third big as opposed to an underclassman.

Probably the best game of Davis’s career. He really came through. That was great to see! Juwan’s got this team firing on all cylinders. 

Austin has been solid this year- you can really see the improvement.  He still has some body control awkwardness but his defense and offensive positioning have been great.

He also helps our depth issues at the 3 and 4 since Juwan can plug him in when Teske and Castleton hace foul / injury issues - and don’t need to play Livers or Johns at the 5.

Last year, people were looking for Austin to transfer - now he is looking like a solid depth piece.  Further cements Juwan’s reputation for developing big men and can be used for recruiting.

He could have left to a smaller school when it became clear he was never going to be in the normal rotation, but he stuck around anyway.  Now, he’s good for a couple minutes here or there when needed, and will always provide a burst of energy, especially when he can throw it down.  Kudos to the young man from Onsted!

Davis is a Dude!  Could be a DE.  Although, we need DTs!

Davis is 100% worth the scholarship. Great teammate, hard worker, and will do whatever is asked of him. Every team would love to have a veteran reserve big who is physical 

I was not able to see the game, but am encouraged to hear some of our future bigs are looking solid to replace Teske, who is a man among boys. 

Unfortunately Luka "Wilt Chamberlain" Garza is a Jr so Castleton will have to battle him next year. 

Yeah good job Austin. Keep grinding and doing your thing. 
 

Announcers constantly say how Juwan has helped improve Teske but really the better example is Davis. 

Austin has been pretty athletic since he shed some “bad weight” after high school.  His problem was his hands.  His two dunks were on tough passes out of the roll or dive.  He drops those two last year or kicks them outta bounds.  Good for Juwan and Saadi(and Sanderson too) getting his hands to the point where he’s reliably catching tough passes.  You saw what he can do once he collects. Also, is it me or is Johns getting to that freakishly athletic point?  I had no clue last year that he had that much bounce.  He’s gonna be good when things slow down.  

I'm excited for how some of the bench players have stepped up this year under Howard.  Maybe it is just normal growth with experience or maybe it really is that their confidence is significantly higher with how Howard is coaching them.  I love Beilein for all that he did, but he had a short leash on the bench players.  This year you're seeing so many examples of role players stepping up when given the chance - Brooks, DDJ, Johns, and Davis.  

With Davis he is the perfect 3rd center, especially with how he's performing this year.  I never thought I'd see him make such a good pass from the free throw line against a zone or get back-to-back dunks against a top-100 team in a close game.  He's big and physical enough that with a little confidence he can fill in for a few minutes in games like this.  It also allows Teske to be a little more physical because he doesn't have to worry that his backups are a black hole.  

I have high expectations for Castleton still, but he has further to go than I would have thought.  He needs to get more physical and make better decisions on when to go for blocks and when to just body-up.  

Juwan knows how to use big's.

If you are a beast of a big, how could you not want to come to Michigan?

It may have taken a while for that to become known by recruits, since Beilein used big's differently or not much at all, but Juwan emphasizes big's in his offense.

I'm not sure how much Garza was a "terrible matchup" for Castleton, so much as Garza was "allowed to knock his teeth out with no repercussions."  It's got to be somewhat difficult to recover from that.

We'll see what happens in Iowa City.  Note that Iowa ran basically the same game plan at Michigan last night that worked for them in Iowa City (We're in Iowa!) last year: leap into Michigan's defenders and hope to get the bigs in foul trouble.  The difference between the results over the two years was stark -- particularly on offense.  Last year, neither Johns, Castleton, nor Davis were able to contribute much on offense during their cameos: Castleton, 3 minutes, no points; Davis 5 minutes, no points; Johns 10 minutes, no points.  This year: Castleton, 7 minutes, 4 points; Davis 10 minutes, 8 points; Johns 19 minutes, 12 points (and 5 offensive rebounds!)

Johns grabbed some crucial ORebs when it looked like Iowa was poised to make a run. 

Howard's style and philosophy are starting to take shape. He goes deeper into the bench than Beilein did and aims for a more even distribution of minutes. That worked like a charm against Iowa; I'll take six players in double figures over one with 44 any day of the week. 

This was pretty good

https://mobile.twitter.com/IowaHoops/status/1203128765917749249

I agree! Nowadays it seems more common for kids to transfer out as seniors to go someplace they can play more. But these type of players can be so influential for teams.

I really hope he enjoys his final season, is here for a fun last ride, and has moments like Friday vs. Iowa where his ability and composure make a real impact of us! That's how it should end for a Michigan Man.

I have a lot of respect for Garza standing up to the wave of players we threw at him. Austin used his minutes to get in several body blows. Well done!

I'd take him in my team before I'd take Jordan Poole.