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Michigan Men’s Basketball Season Preview

Michigan Men’s Basketball Season Preview


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John Beilein and his Michigan men’s basketball team start their season off this Friday with an exhibition against Le Moyne, making this is a great time to look at what the season holds for the boys in blue!


Michigan had an injury plagued 2014-2015 campaign that saw them post a final record of 16-16 and missing the NCAA tournament. While it was rough to watch, it provided younger players with valuable game experience and will certainly bolster this season’s starting lineup and, more importantly, the bench.


Rankings:

Michigan rounded out the preseason AP Top 25 Poll, coming in at the number 25 spot. Five other Big 10 teams made the preseason poll (Maryland at 3, Michigan State at 13, Indiana at 15, Wisconsin at 17, and Purdue at 23). Iowa did not make the poll, but received six votes to be included during the process.


Here is the full set of rankings -> http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rankings/_/poll/1


Key Players:

  1. Caris LeVert: Senior, Guard, 6’7 205 lbs.

LeVert was named preseason All-American second team last season, but unfortunately had his season cut short about halfway in due to a foot injury. He averaged 14.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 3.7 apg, and 1.8 spg, all team highs for the season, before going down. He is the best player on this team. LeVert is projected as a first round NBA draft pick and was named one of the 5 most NBA-ready draft prospects by BleacherReport’s NBA lead writer Jonathan Wasserman. Big things are expected from LeVert this season, fingers-crossed he can stay healthy!


2. Derrick Walton Jr.: Junior, Guard, 6’1 190 lbs.

Walton Jr. was another player that caught the injury bug last season. Nineteen games after being named to the preseason Big 10 third team Walton Jr. went down for the season with a toe/foot injury. Up to that point he had averaged 10.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.0 apg, and .83 spg. Michigan fans will be excited to see their starting PG back on the court. DWJ (I think I just created that) will play an important role for the Wolverines this season and barring injury (fingers-crossed again) he should have a productive season!


3. Zak Irvin: Junior, Guard/Forward, 6’6 215 lbs.

Irvin was expected to play an important role in the team’s success last season, but when LeVert and DWJ went down he was required to shoulder much more than originally anticipated. He finished the 2014-2015 season with averages of 14.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.5 apg, and 1.0 spg. If he can produce similar numbers this season the Wolverines will have one of the better backcourts in the country.


Player to Watch:

This was a tough choice; there are so many interesting storylines to watch this season. There is D3 transfer Duncan Robinson, European freshman Moritz Wagner, D.J. Wilson’s return from injury, Aubrey Dawkins late season dominance last year, Ricky Doyle’s McGary-esque motor, Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman’s freshman success, and of course the cult hero that is Spike Albrecht. They will all be players to keep an eye on, but my player to watch is Kameron Chatman.


Kameron Chatman: Sophomore, Guard/Forward, 6’8 215 lbs.


Chatman did not have the season Michigan fans had hoped for as a true freshman. The former 4-star recruit out of high school struggled, finishing with averages of 3.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg, and a 26.3% connection rate on 3-pointers (he shot 43% from behind the arc in high school). He certainly has the talent to be a productive stretch-4 in John Beilein’s system. Factor in Michigan players making huge jumps in production from their freshman to sophomore seasons (see Darius Morris, Trey Burke, Nik Stauskas, Caris LeVert, and Zak Irvin) and I think Chatman is destined to have a big year.


Season Predictions:

Sam Says… The Wolverines will finish the season at the 20-23 win mark, good enough for a 3rd place finish in the Big 10 regular season. More strong performances in the Big 10 conference tournament will earn Michigan a 5-7 seed in the NCAA tournament. This is a team that is good enough to make the Sweet 16, potentially the Elite 8. It is important to remember that anything can happen in March Madness. This team is loaded with talent and if they get hot from behind the arc they are a very dangerous team to face and could go deeper than I am predicting. Keep in mind, these predictions are being made as if Beilein’s boys can avoid injury (FINGERS-CROSSED!!!).


Go Blue!


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