Mark Donnal Can Dunk A Basketball
With only six regular season games left for our cagers and a B1G title on the line, I think there's one thing we'd all like to see - another thread on how good the basketball team might be in 2014/2015! Amirite?!?!
On second thought, how about a video of a guy who's probably going to be pretty good next year but who we don't even have to play this year because we're already pretty good.
Linky: http://instagram.com/p/kYEi47yNWz/
February 13th, 2014 at 9:59 PM ^
February 13th, 2014 at 10:04 PM ^
You may be a skeptic of Donnal or Player X, but just realize that when you are you're being skeptical of John Beilein's talent evaluation skills. That, my friend, is not wise. #AllHailBeilein.
February 13th, 2014 at 10:19 PM ^
February 13th, 2014 at 10:37 PM ^
Just OK? There were a lot of people who thought Morgan simply wasn't a D-I caliber player and that Beilein was crazy to offer him. Horford wasn't much more highly regarded. Those two may not be stars but they've certainly exceeded expectations.
February 14th, 2014 at 7:56 AM ^
I am trying to find t he article, but since Morgan is like 45 years old it doesn't exist anymore haha. Basically his own dad didn't understand why Michigan offered. HIS DAD! My dad threw sunshine wherever I went in anything that I was remoteley good at until well into college. Morgan went from where his father was skeptical, to solid BIg Ten player. Also, he's been that way forever. Love the dude.
February 13th, 2014 at 10:40 PM ^
morgan was a 2* (borderline 3*) recruit. you don't think he's improved greatly since he stepped foot on campus?
and mcgary improved leaps and bounds during his frosh season.
horford too has improved a ton. he was only a 3*.
even d sims improved, especially his outside shot.
except for maybe harris, i can't think of anyone who got significant minutes that didn't improve a lot under beilein.
February 13th, 2014 at 10:42 PM ^
February 13th, 2014 at 11:01 PM ^
February 13th, 2014 at 10:05 PM ^
he's supposed to be a good outside shooter, can't wait to see this kid play, the future is bright for the BBall Program!
February 13th, 2014 at 10:11 PM ^
I'm not exactly surprised that he is able to dunk
February 13th, 2014 at 10:21 PM ^
February 14th, 2014 at 10:22 AM ^
And Mike Hart was a 3*.
The guys who are 6'9" and can't dunk are the exception at the D1 level. The rare, rare exception. Its a safe assumption that a guy that tall can dunk, and really nothing to note.
Now, if he were doing crazy between the legs, 360s, double pump, stuff that shows hyper-athleticism, that might be interesting.
February 14th, 2014 at 1:26 PM ^
Don't forget that Mitch McGary also missed a fast break dunk last year. At the risk of sounding like thegorgeous one, sometimes players just don't execute, but it doesn't mean they can't dunk.
February 13th, 2014 at 10:23 PM ^
February 14th, 2014 at 9:02 AM ^
and I have dunked many times... in my dreams (literally). It's soooo disappointing to wake and realize it was just a dream. I did have a highschool classmate who stood 5'8" on a good day who could put it down strong with some sweet two handed reverses. Or course he had serious spring in his legs.
February 14th, 2014 at 12:16 PM ^
high school with a guy who was 6'-8" and couldn't dunk at all. he wasn't coordinated enough to just jump up with one hand and dunk the ball. this guy also couldn't get off of the bench on our HS boys vollyball team... but if you put a baseball in his hand he was an awesome pitcher that could hit the mid 80's...
February 14th, 2014 at 12:05 PM ^
agreed at 6'9 you should be able to drunk with 4 inch verticle
February 14th, 2014 at 3:57 PM ^
and can dunk a softball!
February 13th, 2014 at 10:13 PM ^
Well that's a relief.
February 13th, 2014 at 10:14 PM ^
we should have played him this year, red-shirting guys in college is a waste IMHO, just go ahead and play them, we coulda used another big who could be getting experience, can shoot from outside, apparently has good hop for a white guy (whatever that means).
We are recruiting well enough now to play guys, with Mitch getting injured, Donnal might have helped big time.
February 13th, 2014 at 10:18 PM ^
If only you had emailed this to Beilein at the beginning of the season.
February 13th, 2014 at 10:21 PM ^
I understand where you're coming from, hey, I'm a huge Beilein fan, he's an awesome coach and a class guy.
I'm just saying that in college ball, red-shirting guys isn't all that big of an advantage, go ahead and play guys that are good enough to play and get some experience. Who knows who's coming back or not next year and see what you have in a guy now, that's all I'm saying.
February 13th, 2014 at 10:25 PM ^
Yeah it's not the advantage that you get from redshirted in football, but I think Donnal probably just wasn't ready to compete in the Big Ten.
February 13th, 2014 at 10:30 PM ^
I was wondering if Coach B might have thought about it when Mitch had to have back surgery
February 13th, 2014 at 10:29 PM ^
if he could help this year, he'd play (see: caris lavert 12/13).
if he sees his 5th year this was a good idea (see: jordan morgan 13/14).
i gotta think focusing on developing his body every day during the redshirt is going to get better results than if he were an active part of this team. kid looked like he had never seen a weightroom this year, he needs the muscle.
February 13th, 2014 at 10:39 PM ^
Not an advantage to redshirt guys? I'd say having Morgan around this year has been huge.
February 13th, 2014 at 10:48 PM ^
donnal's 5th year >>>>>> than his true frosh year. he would be lucky to get 5 min a game, even with mcgary out. from what i heard, he needed to get a heckuva lot stronger, especially in the BIG.
think of horford next year vs his true frosh season. and donnal has more upside than horford.
February 14th, 2014 at 1:32 AM ^
February 14th, 2014 at 3:00 AM ^
February 14th, 2014 at 3:10 PM ^
The point isn't just the 5th year, but that a RS freshman year is better than a true freshman year. So under your scenario the team gets two better years still; so it comes down to the question of whether he's better off contributing early or developing for another year. And clearly the coaches feel like he's not good enough to get many minutes this year, so I'm willing to trust that. Last year LeVert was going to RS until he was too good to keep off the court. I assume Donnal is in the same camp, but wouldn't be able to get out from behind Morford and Bielfeldt.
February 13th, 2014 at 11:17 PM ^
The guy a few spots ahead of him in ESPN's rankings of Ohio players, Marc Loving, has done very little this year at Ohio State. If he wasn't ready then there's no point in having him run around and waste minutes. I do think it was worthwhile.
February 13th, 2014 at 10:21 PM ^
February 13th, 2014 at 10:22 PM ^
autocorrect? I hate autcorrect, don't you, it's usually a pain in the arse.
February 13th, 2014 at 10:53 PM ^
And don't forget Bielfeldt. If he isn't playing much as the #3 big man right now, it's hard to imagine Donnal would be.
February 13th, 2014 at 10:30 PM ^
February 13th, 2014 at 10:37 PM ^
However, Horford only RS'd because of injury and Morgan had a lot of developing to do when he came in, Donnal was a much more polished player coming in.
Also, don't forget that our program is in much better shape now and recruiting is way stronger than it was when Morgan RS'd.
February 13th, 2014 at 10:42 PM ^
Donnal was rail-thin when he came in. He wasn't physically ready to contribute.
February 13th, 2014 at 10:42 PM ^
Look if Beilein and the staff feel that Donnal is best served to sit on the bench, who are we to argue? Being a big requires grace, footwork, the ability to withstand punishment and of course, being able to sprint up and down the floor. It took McGary half the season to come along. Personally, I'm all for redshirting guys, it gives them time to correct flaws that they wouldn't be able to during the grind of the season.
February 13th, 2014 at 10:49 PM ^
unless the guy is a 5* or high 4* and you don't have adequate depth already.
February 14th, 2014 at 3:07 PM ^
Isn't the fact that the program is much stronger now an argument for why the team can actually take advantage of an RS now more than ever?
February 14th, 2014 at 2:00 AM ^
February 13th, 2014 at 10:43 PM ^
February 13th, 2014 at 11:02 PM ^
It doesn't seem that he'd be getting experience with Morgan and Horford eating up all the minutes. If the staff sees a guy that can develop into a solid contributor why waste a year? Program guys (those that stick around for 4-5 years) are invaluable to a program.
February 13th, 2014 at 10:38 PM ^
Donnal's and Doyle's ability to hit perimeter shots will be the difference between teams hard hedging and blitzing our guards on PnR...
Beilein seems to be recruiting stretch 4s to pair with Wilson/Chatman so I presume Donnal/Doyle are our center combo of the future.
February 13th, 2014 at 10:47 PM ^
February 13th, 2014 at 10:52 PM ^
it largely depends on the decisions of GR3 and mcgary.
February 13th, 2014 at 10:50 PM ^
think bill laimbeer back in the bad boy days. it will be great to have some bigs that can shoot.
February 13th, 2014 at 11:29 PM ^
But I think Donnell is the reason Max B goes to another school as a 5th year senior so he can play some ball. Which is fine, we all love Max B. #WAVY
February 13th, 2014 at 11:43 PM ^
Bielfeldt is a redshirt sophomore right now. He'll be back for sure.
February 13th, 2014 at 11:29 PM ^
I'm more concerned about his defending and rebounding.
Big guys with offensive skills are great, but when Mitch, Morgan and Horford are gone, which is going to be after next year, I'm not sure we'll have a true center on the roster.
Donnal and Doyle are both acclaimed for their offense, but neither of them is over 6'10 (if I remember right) and not hugely athletic.
Honestly, if our center is going to be a one-way player, I'd much rather his one way be defense, since we have so many offense only guys already.