Assuming he comes, what is your excitement level about him and what he means for this team?
Haven't watched much film at all, but prelim thoughts are I like him a lot more than Mike Smith in terms of being a competent athlete at the B10 level. Excellent rebounder for a guard/wing. Can attack closeouts off the bounce, face-up and beat bigs/slower defenders from the wing. The million dollar question is whether the improvement in the 3% is legit. If so, this has the potential to be a solid pick-up for depth purposes
April 21st, 2020 at 11:22 PM ^
not trying to be a giant D but saying “haven’t watched much film at all, but prelim thoughts are i like him a lot more than mike Smith” is a weird statement. So if you haven’t watched a lot of film, what is giving you the prelim thought?
Mike is a current commit, led all Ivy League scorers in points, minutes, steals and shot 34% from beyond the arc.
Is it because Justin is 6’4?
Kier is 6'4", a plus defender, a plus rebounder for his position, a better finisher, shot better from 3 and played in a significantly better conference. There's a lot of info without watching extensive film.
Kier had a terrible soph season shooting 3s. In his other years he shot 37%, 38% and 45% last season before an injury ended it early. If he shoots the way he is capable of doing, he would be a valuable part of the rotation.
Smith is a PG and Kier is a SG. Brooks could play alongside either, but I'd prefer he gets most of his minutes at the 2. Smith's biggest question mark is his defense. If he's not too much of a liability there, he should play a lot.
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:53 PM ^
Good insight, thanks.
Reading more about him, seems like Justin has been battling injuries too.
I clicked while wondering about nicknames someone with the last name "Nugget" might have...
Golden works much better than Chicken.
And yet both have Butt beat by a country mile.
Thanks for the link....He must have been hurt his senior year, his junior year was really good, avg. of 14.5 pts/game.
His 3% was good too albeit not many attempts a game, maybe he should shoot more 3's and his FT% was at least 75% every season and 85% this past season, we need good FT shooters.
Looks like he would be a good get at this point. A10 is no slouch of a conference either.
Why are we going after grad transfers?
Free Agency will begin in May and guys can leave regardless of year and won't have to sit out at all.
With the inability to close on big time recruits, might be a good idea to add some talent via free agency.
While I also feel the sting of losing Christopher, we beat Duke head-to-head for Hunter Dickinson. Juwan Howard is an excellent recruiter, and will get better as the years go on. Have no worries on that front.
Franz is one of the trolliest trolls here, so he wasn’t actually making a point that you needed to respond to
Get banned, loser.
Matt , with Lander to IU and Brooks most likely to MSU who do you believe Michigan is in good shape with for 21 ?
I second this question
But do we have a quorum?
Does Mitch McGary support this? Ohhh that’s right on 4/21 nugget means something entirely different.
IMO it’s never a bad idea to take a one year player when scholarships permit, hope we get him.
Is this the full court press you mentioned in the Brooks thread?
You have any other details on that front and who you were referring to?
Lol he clearly has more but won’t say for some reason.
It is Jaden Akins. Matt has always been extremely high on him. In-state kid, probably friends with Pierre Brooks and seen to be an MSU lean. Think he was implying we are trying to drag out the recruitment to stay in it. Would be a huge get for a position of need.
Losing Brooks and Akins to MSU would be a really bad scenario for us
April 21st, 2020 at 10:04 PM ^
Any chance Michigan would be in the mix for Jalen Coleman Lands? Lots of injuries but a 2 who can shoot the three is intriguing.
April 21st, 2020 at 10:21 PM ^
An informed source who follows George Mason basketball says Kier is shopping himself to many programs. He has been injury prone.
Injury prone?
He missed one game in his first 3 seasons. Suffered a season ending injury early last season. That's the only reason he can grad transfer.
Shopping himself = entering the transfer portal? When is the last time you heard something that sounded more like sour grapes?
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:57 AM ^
I'll take a #JustAShooter if you're offering
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:01 PM ^
Matt, what are your thoughts on Jalen Coleman Lands and would Michigan be interested in him?
April 22nd, 2020 at 12:17 PM ^
Had a chance to review some more film. A quick scouting report on some of the better attributes Kier would potentially bring:
Above average athlete with solid acceleration on the ball, good straight line speed
Good body control as a finisher, absorbs contact well
Above average shooter when he has time to get is feet set (not likely to be a guy that runs off screens for catch and shoot attempts because his release is slow) - think transition 3s, kickouts and attempts after offensive rebounds. Not likely to be a volume 3pt shooter
Outstanding rebounder for SG/SF
At his best on the ball where he can bully smaller defenders or blow by bigger defenders from the top of the key/wing. Will definitely take a reasonable volume of pull-up jumpers from midrange or floaters
Solid secondary creator that can facilitate a bit but definitely not a primary playmaker for others that should be considered a number one option
Would likely be a competent B10 defender that can defend SGs/SFs
Less of the "transfer up" concerns since the A10 is functionally considered a lower-tier high major setting