I bet some of you guys don't spend as much time wondering why your ex broke up with you as you do with why Blackwell chose Duke over us.
I could care less about Blackwell. Never ever thought he plugged that major of a gap for us once we got Vaaks. Like, yes, if Blackwell was going to commit to a PG role (his words regarding picking Duke), I would have taken him over Vaaks. But, I was more than happy we got Andrej and QC to sign up instead. That’s 2 major pieces PLUS Vaaks as insurance for missing on Blackwell. Great tradeoff!
However, what I still worry about with this squad is athleticism.
You all noticed how big every tiny margin makes in the NCAA tourney. If Boswell hits that layup off the Mirk block on Karaban and Andrej doesn’t miss both free throws we go up 2 possessions (26-21) with 5min to play in the first half. Instead, UConn finishes the first half on a 16-7 run. We could have had 26 points with 5min to play in the first half and instead finish with 29 by the end of it. Thats how quickly games turn. To steal a football analogy,
a game of inches.
Athleticism gives you margin. It gives you the pick 6 steals and run-outs off DRebs. It gives you high percentage offense in the way of dunks, oops and putbacks. It yields you ORebs you had no business getting (Demery before the dagger 3 from Mullins). It allows you to make hero ball plays in low shot clock situations. It allows Michigan to go 2/15 from 3 while weathering 9 made 3s against.
Andrej showed flashes of that athleticism. Hope another offseason of workouts and full lower body health yields a tick up in that category. You hope Z can better harness his with a more filled out frame and a more polished offensive repertoire. You hope QC can add a bit of mass to his frame and pop to his game to pair with his uber skills/touch/shot. And you hope Morillo’s 6’7 frame lends itself to drop-in lays vs. backboard rim outs. You hope Mirk achieves his offseason goal of working on his dunking and face-up game (his words, not mine).
This^ is all very plausible. Keaton didn’t need to dunk the ball once to earn a Top 8 draft position. He’s one of one. But having him and Jake on the perimeter and Mirk and Tomi in the frontcourt undeniably made for a below average team from a strictly athleticism perspective when compared to other contenders this past year (Florida with Haugh/Chinyelu; UConn with Mullins, Ball and Tarris; Duke with Evans, Sarr, Boozers; Michigan with EVERYONE; Arizona with EVERYONE).
BUT I’m excited for a more cut Mirk, a healthy and improved Andrej, Vaaks’ positional length at PG (somehow upgrading from Keaton’s 6’6), and our incoming FIVE STAR (wow fun to be able to say that). I hope Tomi can work a tad on his lateral quickness and I hope we can occasionally run the Twinisivic Towers lineup as rim protection insurance.
