Nik to the NBA is a thing.

http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2014/01/paul_stauskas_tells_sports_ill.html
I was told that this would not happen. Imagine if Robinson, Nik and Mitch are not on the team next year. Before you thin the injury will keep Mitch in AA another year, think again. He would not be the first to go into the NBA draft after sitting out most of the season with an injury. All he has to do is prove he has recovered from surgery and have a good showing at workouts.

Yes. I do not assume Mitch is back either. If he convinces scouts he has healed, he is still a first rounder.

'shoes

Scary to think what the team will look like. It would be hard to replace Stauskus production with what would be left on the team.

Sure Irvin and Walton will improve. I am just not that excited about the 2014 class coming in. Chatman will be nice but the others don't excite me.

MgoBlue wrote:

Scary to think what the team will look like.  It would be hard to replace Stauskus production with what would be left on the team.

Sure Irvin and Walton will improve.  I am just not that excited about the 2014 class coming in.  Chatman will be nice but the others don't excite me.

don't sleep on donnal

Eh he went to my HS. I consider it an absolute miracle that he is even at Michigan. I think he can contribute but not in the way that we will need.

I guess this is just the price of success, that players will be leaving early every year. My only hope is that guys who aren't likely to go in the first round would stay until their junior year. Even if we lost all three, we wouldn't be bad with Levert, Walton, Irvin, Horford and Chatman.

The team won't be as good next year (what teams are after losing three players to the number), but it will still be a good team. Let's leave McGary out of the comparison, since we see what the team is capable without him.)

PG: Walton / Albrecht (same players, better next year than this year)
SG: LeVert / Irvin / Albrecht (same players, better next year than this year)
SF: Irvin / Chatman (lose Stauskas, worse this year than next year)
PF: Chatman / Donnal (lose GRIII, push due to having a capable backup)
C: Horford / Doyle (lose Morgan, slightly worse next year)

Think about how much better our guards have been from freshman to sophomore year.

Darius Morris....
Trey Burke....
Nik Stauskas....
Caris LeVert....

If their situations don't get you excited about what Walton/Irvin could be next year, then I don't know what will. LeVert should also continue to improve (did you know he's only a couple weeks older than Irvin?) I don't see any reason Chatman should be ready from day 1 to step in at PF. He won't be as good as GRIII out of the gate, but I think the position is a wash because Donnal will be able to back-up much better than anyone this year. Horford+Doyle is a drop off from Horford+Morgan, but I don't think its a devastating one.

Looks pretty scientific to me. Love how you have praised GR III til no end and now it appears we really won't feel his loss.

I figured you would say something like that......

Look, I praised Trey Burke to no end too. Trey Burke was the National Player of the Year for God's sake. We lose Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Mitch McGary from last year's team and we are still 5-0 this year, in conference, with wins @Minnesota and @Wisconsin.

It is college basketball, you lose good players all the time and you replace them with more good players. If you took Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. off of our team last year, our team would have been screwed. Our team isn't screwed this year without them. If you took Stauskas or GRIII off of our team this year, our team would be screwed. Next year's team isn't definitely screwed without them.

This topic comes up every year...

"Without Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims, Michigan is screwed next year." - In steps Darius Morris and Hardaway Jr.
"Without Darius Morris, Michigan is screwed next year." - In steps Trey Burke.
"Without Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr., Michigan is screwed next year." - In steps Stauskas.
"Without Stauskas and GRIII, Michigan is screwed next year." - In steps (LeVert? Walton? Irvin? Chatman?)

You try to take everything to extremes. I have not said we are screwed at all. Are we a weaker team this year vs. last? Hell yes! Could you imagine if Burke was running the point for us this year?

Ok, let me rephrase:

This topic comes up every year...

"Scary to think what the team will look like.  It would be hard to replace Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims' production with what would be left on the team." - In steps Darius Morris and Hardaway Jr.
"Scary to think what the team will look like.  It would be hard to replace Darius Morris' production with what would be left on the team." - In steps Trey Burke.
"Scary to think what the team will look like.  It would be hard to replace Burke and Hardaway's production with what would be left on the team." - In steps Stauskas and LeVert
"Scary to think what the team will look like.  It would be hard to replace Stauskus production with what would be left on the team." - In steps (LeVert? Walton? Irvin? Chatman?)

Would our team take a step back if all three left? That's almost a sure thing. Not many teams can lose three NBA level players and get better. Do I think it is scary? No. It can only help future recruiting and the team will still have a lot of talent / experience.

Agreed. That's all I am saying. You're right it will help recruiting. Kids want to go where they will get drafted. Michigan is beginning to produce NBA players every year. Would be nice if Burke get ROY.

Nik's rebuttal...

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/10338646/nik-stauskas-michigan-wolverines-sorry-father-comments-nba-draft


WOW! Telling your dad he doesn't know what he's talking about. I'm not that old but I still would never had said that. My dad would have kicked my butt   

Nik and his father have a solid relationship though so I'm sure it was quoted or I'm reading it out of context.

IMO Nik is full of shit. If he projects as a first rounder he will go and he knows it. I just think he was upset his dad let the cat out of the bag early. Now he has to deal with the pressure of everyone he sees on campus knowing he's bolting. I'm sure he will hear pleas to stay joking or not a lot now. It's just something he doesn't need. So he is trying to extinguish the flames quickly before it goes out of control.

MgoBlue wrote:

IMO Nik is full of shit.  If he projects as a first rounder he will go and he knows it.  I just think he was upset his dad let the cat out of the bag early.  Now he has to deal with the pressure of everyone he sees on campus knowing he's bolting.  I'm sure he will hear pleas to stay joking or not a lot now.  It's just something he doesn't need.  So he is trying to extinguish the flames quickly before it goes out of control.

I agree that he's probably gone if he's projected to go in the first round. Maybe I'm wrong for making this connection, but he's always played with so much swagger, that I think he'll want to get to the NBA as soon as possible where the spotlight is brightest.

If he keeps up this pace he's gone.  His dad is right.  Probably shouldn't have said it, but he is right.

Stauskas has always been an NBA guy. He once said in an interview that he didn't realize college basketball was so big until he was actually on campus. Meanwhile, he is a diehard NBA fan.

I think Stauskas loves the attention, though. If he returned, the national spotlight would be on him as a potential National Player of the Year. I feel like a kid that makes YouTube videos of him shooting in the backyard would love the spotlight of Pre-season All-American.

I don't know if he goes 1st round, solid player,but the draft this year is pretty solid he'd have to moveis stock up some

hailtoyourvictor wrote:

Stauskas has always been an NBA guy. He once said in an interview that he didn't realize college basketball was so big until he was actually on campus. Meanwhile, he is a diehard NBA fan.

I think Stauskas loves the attention, though. If he returned, the national spotlight would be on him as a potential National Player of the Year. I feel like a kid that makes YouTube videos of him shooting in the backyard would love the spotlight of Pre-season All-American.

+1

Great point, his love of the spotlight could keep him on campus one more year.

Last year, I remember a lot of us saying that the great thing about Nik is that he would be here for four years.

dwoody wrote:

Last year, I remember a lot of us saying that the great thing about Nik is that he would be here for four years.

Crazy, hey?

This is why I don't get too worked up about what next year's team will be like. Caris LeVert, Derrick Walton, and Zak Irvin all have potential to take that jump into "elite" like Stauskas did this year.