Moritz Wagner, German 6'10" Forward, To Visit This Weekend
As mentioned previously having interest on this blog, it was confirmed today that Moritz will be visiting this weekend. Big to get him on campus, and as of now he is an assumed frontrunner to Michigan.
Report: German forward Moritz Wagner to visit Michigan this weekend http://t.co/L1uddJRTCT
— Dylan Burkhardt (@umhoops) March 6, 2015Bet you €10 they take him to the Heidelberg instead of Chop House to seal the deal.
Wie viele Jagerbombs konnen sie drinken?
... no one likes a German spelling Nazi.
OK, I just heard it ...
nur drei Jagerbombs gedrinken. Ich bin ein altes man.
Rob
Warum gestatten Sie Ihrem Alter Spaß zu verhindern?
The pain is getting the alternate characters to work in Windows without having to remember Crtl+Alt+(insert some number sequence here). Sadly, spelling reform in German in the 1990s made the rules for using the esset even more interesting.
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Prost!
Could backfire. He'll just want to go back to Germany where he's been allowed to drink these legally for the past two years.
How will a college student ever find beer in A2?
and don't forget your fake id...kid was born in 1997 lol
Personally I prefer Metzger's but, Heidelberg is both tasty AND delicious!
Nice nuts
Yours are okay, too.
I'd stick with the Chop House. Busman's Holiday and all--and not necessarily a great bus.
Teach me your ways.
If Caris leaves, we'll have three guards on scholarship... Do we really need another stretch PF type with Wilson and Duncan Robinson already in the mix with 4 and 3 years of eligibility respectively?
Belein's roster management is putting us in a position where one injury sends Dakich back into the rotation.
There's been talk of Duncan Robinson at the 2. While I'm a bit skeptical of that given the fact that DR's handles seem a bit weak for the 2, it's been floated out there quite a bit so I think there may be something there.
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That'd be a little crazy. Based on his tape he doesn't look like he has the handles for that spot. And there's no way he has the lateral agility to guard the 2 either at 6'9".....
...that to be able to play the 2 was his goal.
I dunno. From his tape and the little I have seen it seems vaguely plausible. But, I wouldn't bet on it.
Seems like a great kid, as an aside.
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I don't think anyone would be surprised at a Donnal transfer.
Wilson is probably going to be a C for the forseeable future. People have discussed Donnal/Wilson at the 4, but that's never been Beilein's MO.
Big (5): Doyle, Wilson, Donnal (will be sophomores or freshman) and Teske on the way in '16. We are set. If all these guys develop into 30 min/game type we'll have a nice problem and we can start talking about sliding somebody to the 4. For now, 3 guys is just right given foul trouble.
PG: Spike and Walton will be upperclassmen next year, but it's clear they are looking to 2016 and don't want anyone who would be viewed as an obstacle before that.
Wings: Irvin, Dawkins, Robinson are presumably the top 3, with MAAR and Chatman providing depth. This is three positions and we have 5 guys. Need more. This is the position Beilein has been recruiting for (e.g., Dozier and Brown and Kennard) unsuccessfully.
In other words, Wagner fills a need.
If Caris comes back, he can red-shirt.
The issue is that the 2-4 aren't the same position in Beilein's offense. The offense is literally called the two-guard offense and he designed it to make up for weak point guard play when he was at shitty schools. While not as necessary now, the SG at the position still needs to have respectable handles and be able to create something in his offense.
Out of the five guys you mentioned, only Muhammad projects as a two guard. None of Dawkins, Irvin, Robinson or Chatman have the combination of ball handling ability and lateral quickness to play the 2 spot well.
Dawkins and Irvin are preferred as SFs and Robinson and Chatman are preferred as PFs.
You are absolutely right that the offense requires two ball-handlers. However, when the PG is a ball-dominating player the need for a traditional scoring 2-guard (e.g., Caris) is mitigated. The example I'm thinking of is the '10-'11 team led by Darius Morris, whose 2nd ball-handeler was Stu Douglass, plus some combination of THJ and Eso Okunne. Young THJ wasn't a great ball-handler. Stu was OK, but his ball-handling and passing skills weren't any better than MAAR's.
With Walton and Spike around, we don't NEED a shooting guard.
Also, remember, that the offense flowed through Manny Harris while he was here and he was generally consider a 3.
Regarding positions, it's all very fluid. Spike and Derrick can play beside each other. Nik and Caris can shuffle between than 2 and 3. Zak and Aubrey are 3s or 4s and so on.
I think with Spike/Derrick/MAAR you have 3 guys who can be the lead ball-handler. Then you have Zak, who is developing that skillset and potentially Kam as well. With Caris that is more than enough. Without Caris, we are a little light, but it's far from a problem.
Going back to that '10-11 team, the '15-16 Michigan team will have better ball-handling guards overall:
Morris: Walton
Douglass: Spike
THJ: Zak
Okunne: MAAR
Novak: Dawkins
Throw in the possibility of Kam and/or Robinson and we have nothing to worry about.
If Douglass/THJ/Okunne can be successful at the 2/3, then MAAR/Spike/Zak can too.
I see what you're saying to an extent, but I have higher expectations than the 10-11 team. It hurts Beilein's offense to not have atleast two average ball handlers on the floor at all times. I'd say the guy closest to being able to play the two next year would be Irvin, but his handles are are still pretty bad. Worse than Hardaway's, imo. So, I simply think it'd be smarter to grab someone who can play a position which we are definitely thin at, as opposed to a guy who projects as a 4 where we already have 3-4 guys who can play that spot the way Beilein wants it.
THJ's soph assist to TO ratio was 2.1/1.9, while Zak's is 1.2/1.4. THJ did even less in 10/11 (freshman year for him.)
So yeah, I agree that Zak isn't quite as good of a ball-handler as THJ, but the point is that it's not critical for the SG to be a ball-handler. They DO need and want a second guy to be ball-handler but they also need and want shooting, defense, etc. In other words, the SG doesn't have to be a Stauskas-LeVert-Harris caliber ball-handler, if he does other things well and our PG can handle the bulk of those duties. It's worked for JB before, it'll work for JB again.
If Spike and Maar can fill out a Stu Douglass type of role we will be fine, even if Caris doesn't come back and even if Zak's offensive repotoire remains very small-forwardish.
I think the team will have better talent than 10-11. Unless they land Brown (looking doubtful) the freshman that they DO land is not going to come in and play SG ahead of Spike, Zak, Robinson, Dawkins, etc., so it's really not the point.
If we are talking about immediate need and casting aside the reality of who we can land - I would say the weakpoint of next year's roster will remain at the 5 spot. We'll still be very young there on top of being not very big or not very athletic.
Because the top TWO ball-handlers got hurt. He still plays less than 5 mpg.
You can and should make accomodations for one injury, but when/if your two best ball-handlers go down, every team is going to struggle with depth.
If they grab a non-elite PG in 2015 they will hurt themselves with Winston/Thornton or one of the other elite guards they are targeting in 2016. Furthermore, with both Spike and Derrick back next year there are no available minutes, so the guy will be guaranteed to sit the bench for one year. Not an optimal use of a scholarship.
Beilein's doing the right thing.
I am more advocating for someone who can play SG as opposed to a PG. We are pretty set at point with Derrick and Spike, and Maar can play it in an emergency scenario.
but I don't see SG as a set position. Rather, I see 2nd ball-handler a position. One that can be filled by Zak and Spike primarily, MAAR secondarily, and hopefully Caris too.
Derrick can handle most of the ball duties, but even if you sit him and Zak together you can still put out an offense that can score with the following:
1. Spike
2. Dawkins
3. Robinson
4. Wagner
5. Doyle
And yeah, that's perilously close to a white-out, but it's also 4 guys who can stroke from 3 and a guy who can score one-on-one in the paint. Not bad considering it excludes the top 2 offensive threats on the roster.
Yes we do need Wagner. We have no idea what shape Wilson will be in, Chatman has been horrible, and we will lose an offensive sparkplug in Levert. Even assuming John gets his usual sophomore improvement out Wilson and Chatman (although it took almost all year to see a glimpse of this in Irvin), you are questioning whether we want a 6'10 German all-star coveted by the most prestigious programs in the country. With his skill set and size he could easily play the 3 or 4, but I wouldn't be shocked to see him at the 5 either if we were down by a lot. Our capable players at each outpost would be:
1: Spike, Walton
2: MAAR, Spike, Walton, Irvin
3: Irvin, Dawkins, Robinson, Wagner, Chatman?
4: Wagner, Robinson, Donnal, Wilson, Chatman
5: Doyle, Wagner, Donnal, Wilson?
So, we have a pretty versatile roster as is (especially in JB's system) and Moritz is really good. Harbaugh-style competition and depth, I say. We went from back-to-back top 8 years to a .500 team, we aren't in the best position to be choosey about where this NBA-caliber gem fits into our depth chart.
In order of minutes played at the position (not starting lineup)
1. Walton, Spike, MAAR
2. Irvin, Spike, MAAR
3. Robinson, Irvin, Dawkins, MAAR, Chatman
4. Dawkins, Chatman, Irvin, Wagner, Robinson
5. Doyle, Wilson, Donnal, Wagner
Starting lineup: Walton, Irvin, Robinson, Dawkins, Doyle
Finishing lineup: swap Spike in for Robinson and slide Zak to the 3/4 with Aubrey
offering another center. We should have room for another guard too, definitely if Caris is leaving.
spike, walton and maar (in a pinch) can play the #1 or 2. after that irvin or dawkins can play some 2 if they have to. that's 5 guys for 2 spots w/o levert.
JB highest priority should be a point guard for 2016. i know he is in on a few highly rated guys as well as some swing players.
moritz may finally be that guy that can shoot from the #4 position. plus, he can play above the rim a little.
