Mo Wagner Legacy:

Submitted by FatGuyTouchdown on

A question I was pondering last night after the game:

Is Mo Wagner a "Big Game In A Win" away from being considered in the upper echelon of Michigan basketball players like Glen Rice, Trey Burke, and Cazzie Russell? This is assuming he doesn't come back, and Monday is the last game we see him play. 

snarling wolverine

April 1st, 2018 at 5:25 PM ^

He'll definitely be a legend.  He maybe hasn't been quite as consistent as those guys, but when he's at his best, he's a superstar.  And he usually saves his Peak Moe performances for the big games.

 

bo_lives

April 1st, 2018 at 7:46 PM ^

If Mo had a monster game and won MOP he'd be a top candidate for having his jersey retired down the line, probably above even Trey Burke. If they lose, he'll be remembered on a similar level with Burkeb, but both would be well outside the realm of Cazzie & Rice.

ak47

April 1st, 2018 at 5:29 PM ^

I love Wagner but no don't he would be at rafter raising status even with a big game and win. And definetely disagree with Ace that a win would put him in over Burke.

ak47

April 1st, 2018 at 5:51 PM ^

Misread the tweet, that is my bad. My opinion stays the same though. Wagner is a fantastic human but he just hasn't been consistent enough to be a rafters guy.

taistreetsmyhero

April 1st, 2018 at 5:35 PM ^

This team’s success feels way more like the sum is greater than the parts, like the mid 2000s Pistons. Burke was the player of the year and carried a good team to near greatness. Rice had a GOAT tourney performance. Wagner has been way too inconsistent to put him in that same category.

stephenrjking

April 1st, 2018 at 10:51 PM ^

This is all very hypothetical because it's contingent on a game that hasn't happened yet. In the NCAA tournament one game can change a lot.

Tomorrow is 70% to be a loss. The hypothetical here is Moe with a great game and a Michigan win. That's a huge, huge data point that doesn't exist yet.

Consider Tom Brady's Michigan-only legacy without the Penn State comeback or Alabama game.

BlueHills

April 1st, 2018 at 5:45 PM ^

Might be just a little early to determine his legacy. Legacy implies reflecting back at a bit of a distance, as far as I’m concerned.

BTB grad

April 1st, 2018 at 5:49 PM ^

That Trey Burke steal on Appling still makes me lose my mind. The man was on a mission that year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fJODw_PidM

 

Wagner is terrific and one of the best to suit up for us. But winning National Player of the Year is a different stratosphere. Kind of like how Mo Hurst and Jabrill are some of the best to ever suit up for the football team, but they're not Charles Woodson or Tom Harmon.

Cali Wolverine

April 1st, 2018 at 6:08 PM ^

You know it, we know it, I just don’t understand why people post these threads. Get hyped for the game....worry about the legacy stuff after the last game of the season has been played.

Perkis-Size Me

April 1st, 2018 at 6:10 PM ^

Win or lose tomorrow night, I just love that MSU and OSU fans absolutely HATE the kid. And I think Wagner relishes in that fact as well.



If they hate him, that means he’s doing something right.

ST3

April 1st, 2018 at 6:25 PM ^

He is very good, but I see him as first among near-equals. This team doesn't win without Z's defense, MAAR's steady minutes, Duncan's 6+ points per game, or Matthews all-around game. It also doesn't win without Poole's heroics or Teske's contributions.
We have been winning because other teams can't game plan to shutdown our best player because who is our best player? That's what scares me about Nova. All 5 guys can shoot the 3.

RobM_24

April 1st, 2018 at 6:45 PM ^

If he didn't pass up the NBA, none of this happens. He's the mismatch that makes the offense dangerous. Above all, he's a gem of a human being. He passed up on Euroball to even come to college. Beilein himself said that Moe is in an elite group for him (for all of his coaching stops combined). A National Championship puts him in the elite status for me.

Don

April 1st, 2018 at 7:03 PM ^

The only player who can rival Rice is Russell. Moe would have to put on an otherwordly show in a Michigan victory to be properly put in the same category as Rice and Russell, and it's highly unlikely because his role on this team is very different from that of Rice and Russell's on theirs.

charblue.

April 1st, 2018 at 7:49 PM ^

a player and teammate in championship achievement. It's like saying now that Tom Brady was a great Michigan player but he never achieved what Brian Griese earned or what Moe now has the opportunity to achieve.

The team that Beilein took to the 2013 NCAA championship game, probably had greater talent as part of its component parts.

Moe, at times, this season has looked pro-ready. Other nights not so much. When he is on, he is really something. Other times he can seem ordinary.  Cazzie and Rice were fabulously talented basketball players and great scorers who earned their college superstardom.  I don't think Moe does anything that makes him standout above those legends from Michigan's past.

But he is the man on this team that makes it special and coordinates so well with its diverse pieces and play as a team leader.

In the end, winning manifests legacy in a way losing only shadows and dares question such declaration. But then, this is a team game. And Michigan has increasingly achieved more as a basketball team while Moe has been key part of it. That is his lasting legacy, a great Michigan Man who who helped his team win at a level no one ever expected.

Grampy

April 1st, 2018 at 10:25 PM ^

Mo has had some great games and some not as great games, but his legacy in my heart will be his utter joy and emotion on the court. Couple this with his genuine personality off the court and his deeply expressed love of going to school in Ann Arbor and he will always be special to me. Having a hot mom doesn’t hurt, either.

Grampy

April 1st, 2018 at 10:25 PM ^

Mo has had some great games and some not as great games, but his legacy in my heart will be his utter joy and emotion on the court. Couple this with his genuine personality off the court and his deeply expressed love of going to school in Ann Arbor and he will always be special to me. Having a hot mom doesn’t hurt, either.

WestQuad

April 1st, 2018 at 10:27 PM ^

“What do you know about sister jean?”

Moe: “I know she didn’t [have Loyola] in her elite 8.”

Germans are the best trash talkers in their own subtle way.

Qmatic

April 1st, 2018 at 10:29 PM ^

If he plays at the level he did yesterday or Louisville last year, and we pull off the, he will be remembered as one of the greats. We have one national championship, so the bona fide leader of the second national championship team has a spot in history.

Is he as consistent or at as great as Cazzie, Rice, Webber, or Burke? No, but he does have an uncanny ability to show up in the biggest games.

Moe is without a doubt th swaggiest wolverine basketball player that has ever swagged

A Lot of Milk

April 1st, 2018 at 11:07 PM ^

I love Moe and think he's already an all time great, but Nik was definitely the most swaggy, without question. Crossing up Hayes and burying a three for the win in Madison, blowing kisses to Sparty after winning in EL, canning threes to beat Florida and go to the Final Four. But Moe has a chance to give Nik a run for his money depending on what he does tomorrow night...