Future Blue Originals: Isaiah Livers Comment Count

Ace



Livers has a smooth, consistent release. [Bryan Fuller]

My trip last Thursday to Kalamazoo didn't quite go as planned. 2017 hoops commit Isaiah Livers and Kalamazoo Central lost an overtime thriller to 2017 MSU commit Xavier Tillman and undefeated Grand Rapids Christian. I spent the game filming from the stands and planned to deliver a detailed scouting report once I had a chance to go back over the video; the bulk of the video got corrupted.

So this is going to be a little shorter and lighter on detail than I hoped. Maize & Go Blue's Sam Sedlecky, who was also in attendance, helpfully jotted down stats while I was too busy working the camera to take notes. Livers tallied 10 points (2/7 2P, 2/4 3P), 5 rebounds (with one impressive offensive board), 2 blocks, 3 steals, 1 assist, 2 turnovers, and 4 fouls.

Livers got off to a hot start, scoring seven points in the first quarter. He picked up his second and third fouls in quick succession in the second quarter, however, and never fully regained his rhythm in the second half.

It was still easy to see what John Beilein likes in Livers. He played within the confines of Central's offense; his one assist doesn't fairly represent his court vision and willingness to share the rock—if anything, he was too deferential at times. He displayed a fundamentally sound, consistent shooting form; his release is a touch long, but his size and elevation on his jumper helps cover for that, and he can shoot both spotting up or off the bounce.

Livers didn't get much going towards the basket in this game, likely due to his foul trouble and the interior presence of Tillman, who had five or six blocks and altered several other shots. While he's a good ballhandler for a 6'8" forward, he couldn't consistently get past opposing defenders off the dribble—he had the ball swiped away a couple times, including on a critical turnover in the late stages. He looks like he'll be a three-and-D player initially while he refines his offensive skill set.

His defense looked like a strength, especially in transition and on weakside help—those two situations are how he accrued his two blocks, one of which was an impressive chasedown on a fast break. He's got active hands, which had good and bad results in this game; he can be very disruptive but has to be better at picking his spots, especially once he has a foul or two. He showed the ability to stick with smaller players on the perimeter, which will be important—his best shot at contributing as a freshman is to show he can guard threes and stretch fours.

I'd like to see more of Livers before coming to a conclusion about his chances of cracking the rotation next year. Based on what I've seen of him so far, I like his chances of doing so. He looks like a natural spot-up shooter and he possesses the athleticism to develop into an excellent player on both ends. While he's not quite as big, he's got a similar skill set to DJ Wilson. Like Wilson, he's going to need to gain the strength to hold up inside and resist the temptation to float around the perimeter. Unlike Wilson, I think he can be a year-one contributor as a backup 3/4 so long as he shows some comfort in the offense.

Comments

Ali G Bomaye

March 6th, 2017 at 2:39 PM ^

"Three-and-D" players are players who are good three-point shooters and play good defense. They've become incredibly valuable in both college and the NBA as teams look to spread the floor on offense and lock down perimeter players on defense. The term generally refers to players who don't spend a lot of time with the ball in their hands, but who capitalize on open shots when other players collapse the defense.

JeepinBen

March 6th, 2017 at 5:42 PM ^

As others have said - 3&D, shoot 3s, play D.

Think of it like a 3rd line center - you aren't the focus, probably not on the powerplay, but you're going to go against the other team's #1 and slow him down rather than look for your own offense.

#CawlidgeHawkey

1974

March 6th, 2017 at 2:41 PM ^

Is it just me, or does he look closer to 6'6" than 6'8"? And by 6'6", I mean "height in shoes," meaning his actual height is closer to 6'5".

xtramelanin

March 6th, 2017 at 7:14 PM ^

we find them shovel ready 'jobs' immediately upon discovery.  

i had a large black lab (male) who was hell on wheels with many critters, possum in particular.   he used to proudly bring me their heads.   no kidding.  

Ziff72

March 6th, 2017 at 3:40 PM ^

Everyone wants to project all these guys into the lineup but over the years we have learned that Beilien keeps a tight rotation.  Guys 100% in the rotation next year are:

Mo, DJ, Mathews, MAAR, X, Robinson.  Some combo of Teske/Davis is the backup 5. That leaves room for 2 guys to get playing time. A guard and a backup forward.   

Good luck to him but he better be ready to ball out if he wants to play much next year.

 

 

AA Forever

March 7th, 2017 at 7:02 AM ^

It sounds like Davis will play a fair amount....Teske may be scrambling for more than occasional minutes, and if we get Bamba, he'll hardly play at all.  But of the new guys, I would expect Poole to be the most likely to play, and I doubt we will go deeper than 8 for a regular rotation.  Every year, people talk about how we're going to 9 or 10 deep, and it just never happens.

TrueBlue2003

March 6th, 2017 at 3:38 PM ^

if at all next year with Matthews, Robinson and DJ likely eating up all 3/4 wing minutes.

I hope he forces his way into more minutes but it'll take a lot to take minutes away from those guys (assuming all the Matthews hype is real).

 

Double-D

March 6th, 2017 at 10:51 PM ^

He is a huge strong body. He is probably the 3rd best player on his high school team. He is fairly athletic and super powerful.

He is not a great shooter and not quick, not a great ball handler and not very instinctive. He will grab tons of rebounds but his game is going to have to really develop in college.

He is great kid.

blueangel12

March 6th, 2017 at 11:00 PM ^

I go to his school. Most teams that we (GR Christian) play don't have anyone near his size, so they resort to grabbing him a lot, and in all of the no-calls he finishes around the rim pretty good. Not very good with the ball or jump shooting further than about 12-14 feet. i have seen him nail some threes, but not enough to have that be considered one of his assets. he's got really good vision as a post player and passes really well out of the post as well. It definitely helps that he has an awesome junior pg, Duane Washington who is a great distributor and 3pt shooter. We students enjoy his thundering dunks as well :)

Double-D

March 7th, 2017 at 11:05 AM ^

You guys have a great student section too!

Duane is awesome! I wish Beilein was recruiting him harder. Have you heard anything... Rumors are MSU.

Tillman is going to be interesting to watch to see how his game translates to the Big Ten and guys his height. There is a lot of potential to develop.

blueangel12

March 7th, 2017 at 6:52 PM ^

To my knowledge, Duane doesn't have an offer from MSU but it wouldn't surprise me if he got one - he's such a stud.

It will definitely interesting to see Tillman against people his size, hopefully we can face a team in the playoffs that has a similarly sized big man. Livers was the closest comparison body-wise, but Tillman wasn't really matched up on him due to Livers being more athletic.

It's a little uncanny how similar Tillman and Nick Ward look

Fishbulb

March 6th, 2017 at 5:22 PM ^

Let's hope he has more of an edge and isn't as adverse to contact as Wilson seems to be. Wagner will try to go up strong and dunk on people. Wilson would rather fade away or do that double-pump layup.

Hoosierine

March 6th, 2017 at 8:07 PM ^

I watched him play a few weeks back against Loy Norrix and I came away a little disapointed after watching some of highlights from earlier in the season. I thought his jumpshot looked a little flat on the account of the ball resting on his palm rather than releasing off his finger tips. He wasn't as assertive rebounding the ball as one of this teammates, Rog Stein. He had trouble taking his defender off the dribble, but I think part of that his smaller quicker players were guarding him and I think he would have success driving against larger 3/4 at the college level.

He's definitely a good athlete with potential but I revised my expectations down from early contributor to waiting and watching his first year unless called into emergency duty. I may get out and see him once more depending on how far K Central goes in the tournament. Regionals are being played in Gull Lake/Richland which is only about 20 minutes from my house.