IU Signs 3rd Member of 2010 Class, Guy-Marc Michel

by LTTelamon on May 9, 2010 11:55 AM EDT

[Bumped from FanPosts. I'm still swamped. No real thoughts on Michel. Michel's socring average isn't great, but he did shoot 52 percent from the field and rebounded well.--John]

The Hoosiers recently announced their 3rd commitment, Guy-Marc Michel, a 7'1'' C out of North Idaho College. Michel is reportedly a bit raw offensively but his 3.1 blocks per game was good enough for 16th in the nation. Press release indicates Crean believes Michel can shoot from up to 15 ft - that might be a bit of a stretch, but I'd settle for some sort of consistent offensive presence in the post. Still, even if he provides nothing at all offensively, the defensive bump the team will receive from having a 7'1 guy on the floor who isn't a defensive liability will be pretty significant. As such, this has at least the potential of being a fairly good signing. Thoughts?

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Bawa?

Not sure what Michel will really provide. Tijan with a French accent? We already have a 7-footer with limited offensive abilities. Probably better to have saved the scholly for next year.

by hoosierdaddynow on May 10, 2010 12:42 PM EDT reply actions

Well, he's a big guy.

If Michel can actually play post defense and rebound for, say, 15 minutes per game, Crean may have found himself something. 7’8" wingspan? That’s a lot of span. This Gonzaga scout had good and bad things to say about his play:
http://www.slipperstillfits.com/2008/12/12/690748/scouting-report-on-2010-pr

by nothsa on May 10, 2010 3:32 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah, the stuff about his defense is encouraging, as is the info about his post play. “Encouraging” is defined as, “well, he’s definitely better than Jobe.”

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by John M (The Crimson Quarry) on May 10, 2010 3:51 PM EDT reply actions

Sigh

“Better than Jobe” is not an inspiring recruiting tag. I get it that Crean was behind the 8-ball with this recruiting class. If we are settling for guys like this next year, then I’m nervous. For now, I’m more interested in seeing if they can develop Bawa. If you believe in recruiting rankings, Bawa has more upside that Michel.

by hoosierdaddynow on May 10, 2010 4:15 PM EDT up reply actions

I think Michel being there will actually help Bawa develop.

Michel seems to be a bit more advanced at this point, so I expect him to see more minutes that Bawa to begin with. However, I think being able to practice against another player their own size will help both of them in the long run. Not to mention that if this signing doesn’t convince Bawa to work harder to improve his game then I don’t think anything will.

by acelion on May 11, 2010 10:34 AM EDT up reply actions

I'm on the fence about this.

One thing people have to remember is this, Crean was going to add someone to this class so the scholly was going to be used anyway. So it’s not an argument of GMM vs. banking the scholly. It’s an argument of GMM vs. whoever was left. Is GMM better than a banked scholly (which, again, shouldn’t be the argument)? Probably not. Is GMM better than whoever was left (again, this should be the argument)? Most likely.

I’m on the fence about this however. I know the players are excited about it, and he was effective at JUCO in limited minutes (avg. about 20/game). However, we haven’t had a lot of success with JUCOs, and Big Ten is a huge jump especially for player with limited experience. I know he’s expected to challenge for a starting spot, if he’s good enough for that great. That’d mean we could move Watford to the 3 (where he should be) and Elston to the 4, and play both together more. However, I don’t think he’s good enough for that. I think he’ll be stuck on the end of the bench. I know Jobe helped in other ways, but saying he’s better as a player just means he sucks less.

If this works out we’re looking at…
Hulls/Rivers (if he gets it together he’s really effective, so could start)/Jones
Creek/Jones/Roth
Watford/Sheehey/Oladipo
Elston/Capobianco
GMM/Pritchard/Bawa

That’s talent and depth plus a year of experience. We’re looking at a couple of transfers for next season. I can think of a few I wouldn’t mind see gone. That’s just looking at scholarship players, and I don’t think VJIII should start.

"When my time on Earth is gone, and my activities here are past, I want they bury me upside down so all my critics can kiss my a**"- Bob Knight

by JumpinJackFlash on Jun 1, 2010 5:47 PM EDT reply actions