Franz Has 24 Points vs. Latvia - and One Incredible Poster Dunk
Franz Wagner bounced back from a subpar shooting day yesterday to lead Germany over Latvia this morning, 95-57. He scored 24 points on 11-of-18 shooting (1-of-4 from 3) and had four rebounds.
He also had this drive and dunk (LINK), which made me feel pretty damn good.
August 1st, 2019 at 10:08 AM ^
The defense was absolutely horrible on that dunk. The only guy who tried was the one who got posterized by Wagner.
August 1st, 2019 at 10:11 AM ^
Franz is obviously a highly talented kid, but his adjustment to competent and very physical defenses is going to be interesting.
August 1st, 2019 at 10:23 AM ^
Isn’t he playing against grown ass men?
How is college defense going to be any better outside of the very top 100 talent heavy squads?
August 1st, 2019 at 10:33 AM ^
He's playing in FIBA U-18 right now and they crushed that Latvia team.
Latvia = not good
August 1st, 2019 at 12:08 PM ^
He was playing against grown men at Alba Berlin. Right now he's playing against guys his age.
August 1st, 2019 at 10:26 AM ^
Yes. And you can say that about every first-year player in college basketball. Most kids in HS don’t play regularly against guys who are going to play in college. Obviously, EVERY college basketball player made it, so that will be a adjustment. At least Franz has some experience playing against grown men.
August 1st, 2019 at 10:37 AM ^
That was arguably the worst team he's faced in over a year.
He's showing off a part of his game that he can unleash when the defense is less competent and physical than the ones he routinely faces. We can look forward to Franz doing more of that as he physically matures and develops in Camp Sanderson
August 1st, 2019 at 10:23 AM ^
The 11-18 shooting was impressive until I saw the 'defense' on that dunk. Hopefully he doesn't take too long to adjust to the step up in defensive competency he's gonna face here.
Edit: Before I get negged.. I am not saying 11-18 shooting is unimpressive, just that he probably didn't take many contested jumpers/lay-ups due to lack of defense. For the record I'm very high on Franz and think he's gonna be a stud here.
August 1st, 2019 at 10:26 AM ^
This guy really is a polarizing recruit. The Hello post on the front page made it sound like he was going to be our leading scorer and a one and done, now we get opinions he won’t have mich of an impact in year one. The shooting guard position is probably our biggest weakness so I sure hope it’s closer to the first.
August 1st, 2019 at 10:32 AM ^
I think you're confused...Franz is going to ball out year 1
August 1st, 2019 at 10:40 AM ^
I think it's highly unlikely he is going to play at the 2. So that would be the first expectation to recalibrate.
August 1st, 2019 at 10:43 AM ^
I disagree
August 1st, 2019 at 10:51 AM ^
Bet 10 mgo points?
August 1st, 2019 at 10:58 AM ^
make it 100
August 1st, 2019 at 11:43 AM ^
You're on. Over/under 10mpg at the 2, you got the over?
August 1st, 2019 at 11:45 AM ^
Actually I see MattD agrees, I think that's enough for me to declare victory right now.
Matt D said he is not a SG, not that he won't play it for Michigan next year. We don't have a single natural SG on our roster
But, we are also paper thin at the 3 and 4.
I mean okay, but they specifically were betting on where he would play, not what he actually is.
August 1st, 2019 at 10:32 AM ^
They’re still playing? I was under the impression that with their loss to Russia they were out of the tournament.
August 1st, 2019 at 10:34 AM ^
I think the first round was for seeding purposes only
August 1st, 2019 at 10:38 AM ^
Yes, Germany was eliminated from the actual championship tournament. If it were the NCAA tourney, they'd already be home.
They're still there playing in some unnecessary loser bracket to determine 9-16 finishing order that is really just an excuse for a few extra practice games.
August 1st, 2019 at 10:38 AM ^
Funny to see people sticking firmly to the “Franz is going to take years to develop into a competent college player” narrative
You’re setting yourself up to be disappointed and look silly in the process
August 1st, 2019 at 10:41 AM ^
I doubt anyone will be disappointed by that.
August 1st, 2019 at 11:08 AM ^
I hope you're right.
But scoring 24 points against 18-year-olds from Latvia in a bottom-half consolation friendly after being blasted out of the FIBA Euro tourney probably isn't the strongest supporting evidence for your assertion.
August 1st, 2019 at 10:48 AM ^
I just hope they didn’t try to get him to convert to Latvian Orthodox
August 1st, 2019 at 11:01 AM ^
I'll try to chime in a provide a bit of context.
Likely position - combo-forward/stretch 4. Of all the projections I've seen for Franz, the SG seems the least likely. A 6'7 kid that doesn't move particularly well, while not being a primary creator off the dribble simply isn't going to be a SG. He's primarily a catch and shoot type right now that appears to be a secondary option in college as of right now. Much more Duncan Robinson than Stauskas.
Europe Pro v College Projection - yes, Franz is playing against grown men in Europe, but the challenge is a bit different. At that level, his lack of strength is likely his biggest detriment. He will face another athletic challenge in college, but it will take a different form. The speed of the game at the B10 level will likely be his biggest physical challenge. He's going to be tasked with facing athletes that move better laterally, have more straight line speed and overall quick twitch athleticism.
Michigan projection - I'm a bit more informed now having watched him live over the last week. I'm a bit more confident in that he's likely a top 75-100 type prospect that will take some time to develop into an impact player at Michigan. I don't think there's any way possible that Franz is coming in averaging 12-15ppg,let alone being the leading candidate to lead the team in points per game. I think he will develop into an impact player in a few years. Very similar to projection to his older brother.
August 1st, 2019 at 11:16 AM ^
Finally, a sensible take. Thanks Matt.
Mr. Franz please see Mr Sanderson upon arrival at aa.
August 1st, 2019 at 11:51 AM ^
I think people are projecting him as a 2 because this site hates Eli Brooks and wants to see Livers at the 3. I'd prefer Livers at the 4 most of the time.
August 1st, 2019 at 12:25 PM ^
Whoever is playing the 2 this year is likely out of position. Who has the best chance of being a solid starter at the position by conference time? I don’t think it’s Eli. I could be wrong though
My uninformed hunch is that Brooks gets the season opening start at the 2 and is replaced (or at least loses significant minutes) to Bajema at some point later in the season. Cole would not be out of position at the 2.
The whole Franz playing SG thing comes because we don't have a single natural SG on our team. Nunez could be argued, but really he's more of a 3 if you require a 2 to have creation skills. Brooks is another possibility, and your thoughts on Brooks are well known on a certain other site. So then it becomes, who is playing the 2 for Michigan next year? No matter what it's someone out of position. Considering Simpson will mostly be on ball since he loses nearly all of his value if he's playing off of it, it may be a good idea to just put the best spot up guys you can around him.
Nunez and Bajema are the true SGs on this team. Here, any problems they have filling this role are due to other issues with the roster-and this is going to be the coaching staff's largest issue/problem to solve. Franz could be slotted at the 2 or 3 but, as Matt noted, his most valued position would be as a stretch 4. Having said that, if Juwan can find a role for him creating huge mismatches as a 2 then more power to him. Seeing film of a kid dunking are usually worthless but with Franz they have opened a window to the fact that he runs the floor very well and he also has a deceptively explosive aspect to his game. He is only 18 and not very physically mature...there remains a lot of upside to be gained. I am optimistic that Franz is going to end up very near his highest ceiling and be better than even the reasonable, objective experts believe. We shall see.
August 1st, 2019 at 11:03 AM ^
Franz will be just fine - he played well against a bad team in international competition. Compare that against what Cole was playing against for HS in Washington. Just a guess but I think that Latvia team would have been pretty decent in Cole's division. I also love that he has no fear attacking the rim knowing he's going to posterize someone. While that might not be very easy in the NCAA this year it still might draw a foul. He just needs to start flexing after!
August 1st, 2019 at 11:24 AM ^
I agree Franz will be fine.
I'm not as convinced that Team Latvia U18 is better than a random Washington state high school squad. They're not any older or more mature. Nobody on the floor in that dunk video appears even as tall as Franz (6'8"?). They're 0-5 so far in this tournament and just got thrashed by 40 points by a previously 1-3 team.
**Edit: My point is somebody needs to create a new thread because I'm over here breaking down Latvia U18 hoops.
August 1st, 2019 at 12:27 PM ^
I don't know about a random HS team - they're drawn from the whole country (which admittedly is small) and had to qualify to enter this tournament - there are 16 teams in the field out of about 50 European countries.
Latvia has some history in this; it has won a silver medal and two bronzes in this event before.
But they're probably worse than an elite HS team.
August 1st, 2019 at 12:31 PM ^
Exactly and I'm trying to compare that Latvian team to a group of US high school's with zero information to base that off of. Ha! Guess I should do some work today but I'll probably just wait around for another thread.
August 1st, 2019 at 11:56 AM ^
I refuse to not be excited about Franz. I get not setting crazy expectations but this guy will be our leading scorer this year. He has a quick release, can create his own shot and clearly get to the basket with bad intentions.
Your optimism is noted and admired. However, it is VERY likely that if Franz is Michigan's high scorer this year it is going to be a very bad year-or Juwan is a friggin genius. Regardless, scoring the ball is going to be a serious challenge for this team.
August 1st, 2019 at 12:17 PM ^
Hey, it's August 1st and there's absolutely nothing going on in the sports world today, so I love that we're able to spend time analyzing Latvian U18 basketball because it actually has some bearing on our U-M future.
August 1st, 2019 at 12:42 PM ^
this sure beats trying to figure out who plays for the Tigers now.
August 1st, 2019 at 12:28 PM ^
I also need to know where he goes and when, what he eats and when, and whether or not he likes Xbox.
Is anyone else worried any about 2020 recruiting? Everyone Howard has offered is crystal balled to another team, namely Duke. Not doomsdaying or anything, guess I just thought his Chicago connections and Martellis connections might have landed someone by now.
No recruits have been able to visit campus basically since he's been hired. Nearly impossible to get someone to commit if they've never seen you coach or been to campus. Visits should start getting set up soon