Caleb Houstan to NBA Draft (Maintains Eligibility)
Caleb declared before the deadline while maintaining eligibility. Hopefully we get 1 or both of the freshmen back. Let's hope this embeds correctly.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Michigan freshman Caleb Houstan declared for the 2022 NBA draft prior to the deadline, a source told ESPN. Houstan is maintaining his NCAA eligibility while exploring the pre-draft process. <a href="https://t.co/0fHOkIXmii">pic.twitter.com/0fHOkIXmii</a></p>— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) <a href="https://twitter.com/DraftExpress/status/1518756387328868353?ref_src=tws…">April 26, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I should have added - per Jonathan Givony on Twitter
April 25th, 2022 at 11:45 PM ^
To embed, do the following:
1. Click the button labeled "source" in the comment window.
2. Type <oembed>
3. Copypasta the Twitter URL -- no need to using any of the sharing functions... just the URL from your browser's bar. Which in this case is https://twitter.com/DraftExpress/status/1518756387328868353
4. Type </oembed>
5. Click the button labeled "source" in the comment window once again.
6. Click the Save button.
+1, also - if you don't want to remember the Source HTML block, Don recently shared with me you can simply paste the tweet URL into the "Media Embed" tool in the comment editor. It looks like a square newspaper with a '+' sign in the lower right corner.
A delicious virtual beer for you both:
April 26th, 2022 at 10:03 AM ^
Is the term "copypasta" a thing now to just say copy anything on the internet?
Not being sarcastic or "get off my lawn." Genuinely curious.
Can’t blame him for wanting some feedback from the NBA scouts, but I’m thinking he will come back. It seemed like even Poole was a bit further along in developing his game the year he declared.
Poole was way more developed IMO. I'm not sure exactly what an NBA team sees in Houston right now except that he's pretty tall. Poole had better stats in every category except rebounds.
Agree - Houstan had no business being in the starting lineup. Lack of depth allowed him to keep his job.
Agreed, Poole had a lot to work on, but his first step and shot creation was pretty evident at Michigan. Houstan is tall and is decent at shooting stationary 3s?
I feel like people forget how much talent Poole showed at Michigan and only looked at his flaws.
I feel like that's how the thread above you is looking at Houstan. The cognitive dissonance of "he had no business starting" followed by an immediate "poor depth on the bench." Houstan as a true freshmen had a decent year. His aggression improved and needs to improve. He played pretty well on defense.
He needs to drive more, work on finishing shots strong and let contact happen. He should study Trae Young--that young man is a volume shooter that can stink it up or be absolute fire that brings down an arena.
April 26th, 2022 at 12:07 PM ^
I would think Cam Johnson (or Kaly Thompson if he really wanted to aim high) would make more sense than Trae Young who he has nothing in common with besides the fact they both play basketball.
I don't see Trae Young as anywhere close to a player whose game Houstan can emulate. Houstan's in a position to be way more physical and far more versatile. To me, he should be looking at Jayson Tatum (says the guy with Boston in his handle...).
But realistically, Houstan needs to play looser. His game had no fluidity. It felt like he was the Sims version of Caleb Houstan his freshman year, with stilted and predictable movements and only a set number of possible outcomes.
Tatum played a little bit like that his first couple years in the League, but now he's seeing the floor much better, dictating the offense, and playing like a superstar. If Houstan can loosen his hips a bit and open up his body, he'll do much better.
April 26th, 2022 at 11:23 AM ^
Poole is a very unique case.
He was not good at Michigan.
He DID leave early.
He was pretty bad in NBA year 1.
His transformation is not normal or common.
All the credit to JP, but comparing other cases to him...not sure it means anything.
April 26th, 2022 at 11:38 AM ^
Poole was a good player here. As a sophomore he shot .518/.369/.833, had a decent assist/turnover ratio (2.2 : 1.5) and was our second-leading scorer.
The main criticism of him was that he was streaky from the perimeter: people were expecting him to be a 40-45% guy from 3 and he wasn't quite that. But this has morphed into some serious revisionism in the minds of some fans.
April 26th, 2022 at 11:59 AM ^
It should be mentioned that .518 was his 2P%, not his FG% (which was .436), but I agree with the rest of your post. Jordan was frustrating as a player because it was easy to see the talent he had, at least from my POV, but the fact he wasn't clearly our best player was due to inconsistency. It's just tough to see that inconsistency manifest itself in some of the shots Poole would take that you don't normally see in college (step back 3s, namely). Additionally, he seemed like a great finisher from the get-go but I thought he had a tendency to shy away from the basket/contact.
I told my M family/friends after 2018 that I thought he was going to win B1G player of the year and be an all american in 2019 (although idk if I posted that here), and even said that he had the potential to go top 5 in the draft and be the best pro we had produced in the new era of UM hoops. It was a little tough for me that he was probably the 3rd or 4th best player on that 2019 team haha, but I'm glad I planted my flag that early in hindsight.
Hoping that Houstan comes back, but I think the lesson with Poole is that development can happen outside of college.
Much of the frustration with Poole's declaration is that he had flashed high level scoring potential, but bad shot quality and weak defense was an unfortunate trend in his Sophomore year, and he declared despite those clear flaws. Poole was definitely not ready when he came out, and was awful that first year in the NBA. However, through hard work and a great fit with the team that drafted him, he was able to develop those talents. In hindsight, I think being able to focus on basketball fulltime on a great organization did more for him than playing out another year at Michigan could have.
A lot of people take it for granted that if you're not ready, you should stay in school automatically, as if players just become set in stone once they leave college. I think that's a flawed view though, since guys get better faster if anything outside of the league if they have it. Obviously that's not the case with everybody, it takes the right situation/other factors (see DJ Wilson), but we won't know until we have 20-20 hindsight if a guy should stay or go.
As for my (worthless) two cents on our semi-declared guys, I would think Diabate flashed enough athleticism/defensive instinct that he can stick as a developmental switchable big while he attempts to fill out the rest of his game in the pros. Houstan meanwhile, probably doesn't fair great at the next level right now given he's defensively a minus and doesn't have offensive chops to make up for it, so I would think he should return. If you want to be a developmental guy, you need to have something worth waiting on right now, and I don't see that with Houstan at the NBA level right now.
April 26th, 2022 at 11:15 AM ^
This is spot-on. Why do people think players will develop better with college competition rather than with pros? Do college baseball players generally develop better than those who go straight to the minors? Nope. It's just too bad the NBA doesn't have a more robust minor-league system, although it does seem to be progressing in that direction.
And Poole was much further along than Houstan when he declared. He was a dynamic scorer who needed to hone his shot-selection and defense. Also at Michigan he wasn't exactly playing in a system that catered to his style of play. He kind of balked at that, to everyone's detriment. But he's now in an ideal system.
April 26th, 2022 at 11:47 AM ^
Michigan's head coach is a former NBA player and NBA coach. I think this has to be worth a lot for Caleb, and Moussa for that matter, to come back to Michigan for another year of college ball vs taking a moon shot at the NBA. Try again next year with more refined games.
Think he's definitely more likely to come back than Moussa. Houstan has one transferrable skill right now and he was very inconsistent in demonstrating that. He needs to develop other aspects of his game (and develop physically) or become a consistent 40+% shooter to become attractive to NBA teams and I'm sure that's what they'll tell him.
His footwork in setting up his shot is terrible
April 25th, 2022 at 10:47 PM ^
So why wasn’t it addresses? Either he’s unable to adjust or the coaches didn’t seek to correct it.
April 25th, 2022 at 11:11 PM ^
He looked to me like a guy who was used to being on much better teams and/or being a much better/taller athlete than his opponents. Once he got on a floor against guys who were just as athletic and tall, he didn't really have refined skills -- like finishing through contact, beating his man off the dribble, or creating for himself on the perimeter. I wouldn't blame coaching too much. Maybe COVID stunted his development a bit. But I think mostly he just needed to see what real college basketball looked like, and this offseason is when he can really improve. It's also possible that he just doesn't have it. The most concerning part to me was the weak finishes at the rim. He always looked to "sneak" the ball past defenders, and it rarely worked (Johns did the same thing a lot of times). It's hard to teach someone to have an attacking mentality and to seek contact.
Caleb has a beautiful consistent high stroke with good height. But he can’t drive and finish, shoot off the dribble, dribble drive in general, or play D at high level in college. He doesn’t have the strength or quickness for the NBA,
I don’t think I can recall a player who needs an off season of Camp Sanderson more than Caleb. Strength training…but more importantly and harder to develop he needs foot speed.
I am optimistic we will see one of the better freshman to sophomore improvements for a Michigan player next season. Juwan has shown an ability to develop players. He should trust the process.
April 26th, 2022 at 12:12 PM ^
Caris for sure, the kid was like 150lbs but 6'6, he needed the added strength big time.
It’s funny but that’s the one name that I started thinking about. Caris had the athleticism.
April 26th, 2022 at 12:29 AM ^
Pretty hard to change that type of thing in season. That's something you live with during the season and try to correct in the off season.
He did improve over the course of the season.
It takes time to break bad habits like that. Does not happen overnight regardless of who the coach is. Levert's three point shot was essentially a two handed throw at the rim his freshman year and was a smooth stroke by his junior season.
Smart thing to do even if he's 90 percent sure he wants to come back
Oh goody, we will know our actual roster for next year sometime in June. No, I’m not mad at Caleb, I’m happy for him, it just sucks as a fan! I’m wondering where Shannon fits in with all of this?
You might need to see a sports fan psychologist my dude.
If they had those I should’ve went a long time ago. I put the fan in fanatic for sure.
been a minute since I heard anything on the status of Shannon
I'm betting you already know where Shannon fits in...Perfectly, to the point we might need one of Moussa or Caleb to go because we need the scholly and a much needed wing at 3 or 4 that can create, D, and shoot like Shannon.
If he leaves, he might get drafted and might not. Not sure why you'd want to leave all of that NIL money and all of the perks of the ncaa over the g league.
Word is he's having trouble with NIL cash because he's international. Not sure if that's true, but that's the word.
He can’t earn NIL money because he’s Canadian and there are some US student visa laws complications regarding work (generally they’re on F-1 visas which don’t allow one to work during the academic year). Moussa can’t earn NIL for the same reason since he’s French.
Team is better off without him tbh
You may not like him because he was frustrating and under-performed his recruiting ranking. But no, the team that has very little outside shooting as it is is not better without him, tbh.
April 25th, 2022 at 10:10 PM ^
That is really funny-in a sadly perverse way. That's why our elite coaching staff started him every game this season-and played him more minutes than everyone except Brooks. Clearly a basketball Mensa member comment.
April 25th, 2022 at 10:17 PM ^
Name calling is juvenile, but you sir, are a moron. That is all
April 25th, 2022 at 10:56 PM ^
No we need him back. Players tend to make some of their biggest leaps between freshman and sophomore year. It's also very possible that he can move to the 4 more and/or have more options on the wing so we won't rely on him nearly as much and hopefully he'll become more efficient.
April 25th, 2022 at 11:50 PM ^
How does one say I know nothing about basketball without actually saying I know nothing about basketball?
April 26th, 2022 at 11:20 AM ^
yeesh. you sound like a great fan, and i'm sure everyone loves watching a game with you.
April 25th, 2022 at 10:26 PM ^
Kid needs to come back big time. He was nowhere near 5 star level this year. Consistently empty stat lines aside from an occasional night of a few 3s. Was not a good assist man or rebounder, and nowhere near consistent as a scorer. Must return, improve,
April 26th, 2022 at 12:02 AM ^
Ok I. Declare. Also!!!!
not unexpected tbh.
Kid has NBA aspirations, so getting some feedback from NBA scouts and going through the process is a good experience for him.
I'd agree that in his case a return will help him a lot... Diabate is a guy some team might take a flyer on due to his measurables, but Houstan is a bit more unfinished imo.
Any chance this is a move to get feedback and stuff like usual, BUT ALSO a way to demand more NIL money from sponsors, Michigan faithful and stuff?
Trying to think about the bargaining game now in place. If the alumni think we need to shell out cash to keep him from the G League, maybe we pony it up.
Marshall
April 26th, 2022 at 10:07 AM ^
WOTS is that international players cannot receive NIL money due to some conflict in the language of their visas...
though it has been mentioned that some school, SEC or Big12, was able to find a workaround for this... cannot remember what school it was though.
I doubt it was an attempt to get more NIL money. More likely a kid (and his family/advisors) that is doing the smart thing but going through NBA scouting, talking to NBA people. They will tell him straight what are the holes in his game and what he needs to work on.
I would not be shocked if Juwan himself encouraged him to go through that process to gain familiarity with it