Kenpom rates Javin, Bolden, and AOC very highly. I am encouraged by our returning veterans. We just need to give them heavy minutes.
In discussing the prospects of Michigan's presumed starting center, Jon Teske, next year, the guys over at mgoblog found an interesting tidbit about our own Javin DeLaurier.
Bart Torvik, one of many advanced stats guys, plotted the Offensive Rebound% and and Steal% of players 6'10'' and over against high-major competition over the course of the year. Michigan fans are super happy that Teske is way up in the top-right corner, meaning he's generating a ton of extra possessions through his work on the offensive glass and by generating turnovers. The only two guys even close to Teske? Louisville's Ray Spalding, and our Javin! Here's a link to just the image (for some reason it was "too big" to post on its own).
Obviously Javin had a super limited sample size this year. However, in the minutes he played, he was in the Top 5 players 6'10'' and above in BOTH offensive rebounding percentage and steal percentage. If he's going to be our super sixth man next year playing minutes at the 3-5 like many of us anticipate, this could bode very well.
Hopefully this little tidbit of optimism helps to dull the still aching loss of our entire starting 5! (Also, Jon Teske is a beast and is going to kick butt in the B1G next year, everybody watch. He could be Mitch McGary 2.0, with less offensive talent but also less pot smoking, meaning he'll actually stick around, haha.)
Scott Rich on the front page
Trinity BS 2012; University of Michigan PhD 2018
Duke Chronicle, Sports Online Editor: 2010-2012
K-Ville Blue Tenting 2009-2012
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If you have questions about Michigan Basketball/Football, I'm your man!
Kenpom rates Javin, Bolden, and AOC very highly. I am encouraged by our returning veterans. We just need to give them heavy minutes.
Javin has legitimately been my favorite player on the team for two years, and I hope he can blow up next year. He’s so good at using his length to get on the ball - if he can stop fouling, he might have a case for ACC 6MOY
Scott Rich on the front page
Trinity BS 2012; University of Michigan PhD 2018
Duke Chronicle, Sports Online Editor: 2010-2012
K-Ville Blue Tenting 2009-2012
Unofficial Brian Zoubek Biographer
If you have questions about Michigan Basketball/Football, I'm your man!
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club
The other thing he does incredibly excessively is turn the ball over: over 20% turnover rate, which is really bad considering how rarely he is asked to do anything with the ball. He will need to trim the fouling and the turnovers a good bit to be able to stay on the floor.
The things he does well, he does REALLY well. It is just that the things he doesn’t do well, he does really poorly.
Yeah I would suspect the high steal rate is related to his high foul rate, he knows he’s only going to play for a few minutes each game so he can defend aggressively and swipe at the ball a lot. I’m hoping he makes a jump this year and can display some real offense. The biggest thing for the returning guys (him, Alex and Bolden) is that they need to assert themselves rather than choosing to completely defer to the freshmen.
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club
Javin got much better by playing against Bagley and Carter in practice. I am sure that is true for Bolden and AOC. All three of those guys and maybe even Jack While could be markedly better next year. The key for all is to stay healthy over the summer so they can work on their games and in the case of AOC- put on some muscle.
Could the turnover problem be solved if we just go full on Lance Thomas with him? Run no offense through Javin, just have him out there to be an excellent versatile defender while contributing on offense with screens and rebounds. I wouldn't be shocked if he becomes a defensive-minded, glue-guy-on-offense starter over one of the star freshman, if we can get him to cut down on the fouls and turnovers.
I think DeLaurier's hamstring problems held him back this past year. We all know that he missed a handful of games. But he also missed a boatload of practices, not the best way to develop one's game.
I hope that DeLaurier can replicate the career arc of Tony Lang, who came in without a lot of ball skills but developed into a valid offensive option over the course of his career.
Honestly I always thought Javin was like 6'7". He plays waay to small somtimes, or appears to play small rather.
"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge" -Stephen Hawking
Great comparison; it was frustrating to watch Lang his first couple of years, particularly when he turned the ball over at critical times. Then, almost magically, he became a great defender and reliable offensive option. Javin has the size, quickness and athleticism to match or exceed Lang’s contributions and will be fun to watch his continuing development for hopefully 4 years.
anyone know anything about this?
one of the articles about Zion officially signing w/ Duke said that he was going to take #12 but that Duke had made no announcement about Javin DeLaurier.
I'm hoping that was a mistake somehow...
When Zion gave his verbal commitment, this came up as a point of discussion among some fans, as Zion wore #12 in high school and would presumably want to keep it. Fans who already disapprove of the OAD system were livid at the notion that an upperclassman Javin would be forced to give up his number for a highly touted freshman. Similarly, they saw Bagley taking Ferry’s retired number as an affront to tradition and felt that this would be taking things even further.
My guess is that in reality the two will work it out.