I have to get this off my chest. I’ve had enough of the foreign big men Tom Crean seems to favor. Sorry, but I like my Big 10 basketball players to actually have some skills; to have played for more than 2 or 3 years; and to have played for good coaches. The Tijan Jobe experiment turned out to be nothing more than a wasted scholarship on a warm body for 2 years; and Bawa Muniru appears to be just marginally better.
The latest possibility is 7’1” Guy-Marc Michel from the island of Martinique and North Idaho Community College (you, know…”basketball hotbed NICC?”). Like most foreign big men, Michel was a soccer player until he admittedly got “too big.” So naturally, he took up basketball and now is exploring major college scholarships…because, you know, he’s 7’1”. That’s a little like my saying “I lost 30 pounds, so now I’m going to be a competitive snow boarder. Heck, I tried it once in Paoli, have practiced a few times since, and I’m now built for it so what the heck? When are the next Olympics?!” This is getting ridiculous. Michel averaged 7 points and 7 rebounds for North Idaho, and for those who need a reminder, Jobe averaged 4 and 4 in HIS sophomore season in junior college. Tijan Jobe is a nice kid; but an awful basketball player. Michel may be a bit better, but this video shows a very raw, very slow, and poorly developed player Indiana simply doesn’t need. Thanks to my friends at "Inside the Hall" for the link which I found on a public chat board. http://www.insidethehall.com/2010/05/03/video-northern-idaho-colleges-guy-marc-michel/
Depending on which message board you read, Michel is either an “Indiana lock” or IU hasn’t even offered a scholarship yet. The worst part is the connection to Indiana seems to be new assistant coach Steve McClain. Indiana just got rid of an assistant coach who couldn’t recruit or recommended the wrong kids, and I don’t see any way Michel is the right player for Indiana. McClain has to bring better connections than this, or he’s another huge miss. I don’t think IU needs a solid connection to junior colleges in Idaho. I DO think they need to close deals on local talent and top high school players who can make a difference in a college program. Maybe I’m missing on this, but the more I read, the more I hear about this kid and his connections, and I assume some of it’s accurate.
Another Michel quote after last season was “sometimes I was lost on the court…” In junior college in Idaho, he was lost on the court. Yet he can come to Indiana and have a positive effect?! Sigh. Might be the nicest human being on the planet, but Indiana needs better. Indiana needs basketball players. IU may need some size, but if that size is just “in the way,” I don’t see the point. We’ve all played ball with “that guy.” The one who hasn’t played much before and always seems to be in the wrong place because he has no instinct? Imagine a Big 10 team trying to play around THAT obstacle. Muniru’s back next season, and if he hasn’t improved dramatically, he’s the only obstacle Indiana needs. Godspeed to Michel, but I hope he never ends up a Hoosier. God, I miss Bob Knight.
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5 comments:
Exactly! McClain needs to understand where he is now. This ain't Colorado and this ain't Wyoming. This is big boy college basketball.
If I remember Correctly RMK brought in some "in the way" big men too...
George Leach, Richard Mandeville, Todd Lindeman, Robbie Eggers, Larry Richardson, Don Noort, Uwe Blab, Phil Isenberger, Glen Grunwald. Looks like Crean has embaced an IU tradition of suspect tall guys.
Isenbarger was a solid role player on a national title team, Grunwald was the best player in Illinois before hurting both knees, Blab became an all-conference player and was on the German national team, and Noort was recruited as a backup. I disagree that those guys were "suspect." Mandeville and Eggers were two guys Knight allowed to come to IU sight unseen, and Dakich was the main recruiter for both. Leach and Richardson were both bad. Though Leach was a decent senior. And Lindeman was just a guy who never got any better. I'll say this, though...ALL of the players you list were far better and far more accomplished than Guy-Marc Michel.
RT, your right, those players were defininately more accomplished than G-M. It just seems like a lifetime since we had a center the likes of Henderson, Benson or Downing. I enjoy your blog (except for the Colts stuff) keep up the good work!
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