Hypothetical- IF we were to sign Christopher
The rumblings about Josh Christopher are just that at this point. So it’s a big IF in this question. But if we did sign him, I have a question about point guard after Simpson departs. For those who know more about Christopher, can he run the point or is he strictly a 2? Next year we have options with Brooks and DDJ, but is either one a true point guard? If our “dream scenario” comes true and we get both Christopher and Todd and Livers comes back, there will be some interesting lineup possibilities.
We could go small with Brooks or DDJ at 1, Christopher at 2, Franz at 3, Livers at 4 and Todd at 5. Or we could go with a huge line up with Christopher/Wagner/Livers/Todd/Dickinson or Castleton. Or a number of other possibilities.
Yes I know that neither Todd or Christopher are by any means certain to be here, just wanted some opinions on how things might look at PG if he were to sign.
January 8th, 2020 at 3:35 PM ^
Did you forget that Jackson is coming in?
January 8th, 2020 at 3:38 PM ^
I did not, but I wasn’t sure if he would be ready to be a starter right away. Would he be an upgrade at point guard over Brooks or DDJ?
January 8th, 2020 at 3:44 PM ^
From my understanding, Jackson is the PG of the future. He will definitely be an upgrade over Brooks at Point. Eli simply does not have the handles or vision to run that position. I think the jury is still out on DDJ. I haven't seen enough of him to say he's the shoe in at Point next year. He will have two years on Jackson, so I would imagine that helps his case.
2021 is where the really elite PG comes into play.
https://247sports.com/player/kennedy-chandler-46058292/
https://247sports.com/player/khristian-lander-46054936/
Chandler will be a hard player to pull away from Penny. However, Lander is an extremely high probability. He grew up a fan of JB and Michigan. Indiana will be the battle here, but I expect Howard wins this battle.
January 8th, 2020 at 3:56 PM ^
Hahahahah lol who could forget the #61 player in the country committed at PG no way we'd forget about that ok maybe a little
Brooks isn't a playmaker at PG. However, he plays well on defense and he is adequate as a backup. It's possible that, with playmaking talent all over the floor, Howard makes use of Brooks as a bring-the-ball-up-the-floor type who works hard on defense and provides spacing on offense while the team runs ball screens and/or isos through more talented guys. Honestly, the more offensive talent Michigan recruits to the floor, the more chance there is that Brooks retains a real role on the team if he can bring stuff to the table that Howard needs out there.
Naturally, DeJulius or Jackson could provide this role too if they are good enough on D. The difference is that Brooks already plays excellent D, so he's a known quantity.
January 8th, 2020 at 4:01 PM ^
Brooks is a plus defender but he cannot be a starting point guard. He does not have the handle to do it.
January 8th, 2020 at 4:45 PM ^
Brooks is good at moving the ball. He's not good at keeping it in his hands and creating offense. If he plays PG, he'll be a different type than most we've had. He'd be a good fit with Christopher, who is a creator for himself and others and would have the ball in his hands a lot.
January 8th, 2020 at 4:38 PM ^
I completely agree with your assessment of Brooks. He provides plus defense that DDJ. Plus Brooks is finding his stroke from beyond the arc.
January 8th, 2020 at 4:42 PM ^
He would be an upgrade over Simpson-that is for damned sure. Not sure if immediately over DDJ.
January 8th, 2020 at 5:11 PM ^
To me, Brooks like a two guard in a point guard’s body. I see SG style of offense, but I don’t see the movement or distribution. I’m far from expert though.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:58 PM ^
yeah, simpson is awful. As a soph helped the team to the final game, last year sweet 16. LOL.
January 9th, 2020 at 6:49 AM ^
Very good player but cannot be put in a position where he has to dominate the ball and score big. He has always had a really talented offensive cast around him to cover up his deficiencies. Now, especially without Livers, it will begin to highlight how much his offensive limitations hamper the offense.
January 8th, 2020 at 3:38 PM ^
Jerry Meyer just CB’d him to Michigan... 92% accuracy for 2020 recruits. Might be more than just rumblings now.
January 8th, 2020 at 3:39 PM ^
Wow. Yeah I think there is a good chance but people around here usually lose their mind when you start asking questions about players who aren’t even committed.
January 8th, 2020 at 3:39 PM ^
We have highly ranked Zeb Jackson whos a great PG in this class as well. https://247sports.com/Player/Zeb-Jackson-46055107/
January 8th, 2020 at 3:49 PM ^
Everything I've read points to Zeb as more of a natural SG.
January 8th, 2020 at 4:43 PM ^
I strongly disagree with that assessment. I watched him on TV multiple times this year and he is a very natural playmaker and passer. I was honestly shocked by his passing ability
January 8th, 2020 at 4:48 PM ^
Not sure what you've been reading. Everything I've read over at UMhoops is that Zeb is a natural PG and would be an awkward fit at SG.
January 8th, 2020 at 3:40 PM ^
I see DDJ at the point next year and if a freshman beats him that will be an impressive freshman.
January 8th, 2020 at 3:45 PM ^
I think we're getting a bit optimistic here, but...
I mean, it's not THAT big of a stretch of optimism. Perhaps as optimistic as assuming all these guys sign is assuming that Livers returns, especially if there will be competition for minutes from guys like Todd.
Howard appears to prefer playing multiple bigs to no bigs; while a not-very-small "small" lineup with Todd at the 5 is possible (and holy cow does a DDJ-Christopher-Wagner-Livers-Todd lineup sound amazing), he probably wants a genuine 5 out there. Of course, if Livers comes back AND you have Todd AND Christopher along with Franz, you've got four starter-quality guys available for three wing spots.
It's nice to have options. I think a lot of what the lineup will look like depends on plugging holes on defense and balancing that with whatever role you need the 1 to play on offense. My guess is that DDJ starts, though.
January 8th, 2020 at 3:55 PM ^
So what happens if we somehow get Brown as well?
January 8th, 2020 at 4:25 PM ^
We celebrate!
January 8th, 2020 at 4:01 PM ^
Considering we really dont have a SG on the current roster I would very much like to see Christopher play SG. Brooks & DDJ are both combo guards that were recruited as PG and have much more the profile of a PG than a SG. I think Bajema is a SG but hes a guy we may end up having to wait till his upper classmen years to hear from.
PG next year is definitely DDJ's to lose. I'd love to see him develop a bit more as a creator and play maker but at least we know his floor as a shot maker.
January 8th, 2020 at 4:49 PM ^
Bajema is 6'7". I think he can play SF or SG and will start getting major minutes his junior year if Livers returns next year, but if Livers leaves, I think he starts seeing some minutes next year. Honestly think he has the skill to be playing right now, but needs to bulk up
January 8th, 2020 at 6:24 PM ^
Really like Bajemas shot. Mechanics are great imo. Franz might have to get the ball higher at the beginning of his shot to play in the NBA.
January 8th, 2020 at 8:36 PM ^
Bajema also is 1 for 1 so far on his outstanding step back three point shot. Would like to see more of them.
January 8th, 2020 at 4:08 PM ^
I would love to see DDJ make a huge leap next year. He reminds me a LOT of Derrick Walton, and I would love to have another Derrick Walton running the show for us. If he can make that jump, that gives a lineup of DDJ, Christopher, Livers or Wagner, Todd, Dickinson or Castleton. That is a long and lethal lineup, especially considering our bench would consist of Brooks, Zeb, Johns, Bajema, and a hopefully improved Nunez.
January 8th, 2020 at 4:55 PM ^
I haven't seen any of the natural PG skills from DDJ to make me think he could Walton like. Not saying he couldn't become that, just that we haven't seen much evidence to that effect as of yet.
January 8th, 2020 at 6:13 PM ^
I think the only thing standing between DDJ and being a premiere PG is playing time. I’m being honest when I say I believe that if all of the sudden Simpson could not play, DeJulius would be our go-to scorer in less than a month. He has to be able to miss meaningful shots before he will make them, but I think once the team becomes “his” to run he would be lethal. He might not be “as good” as Walton when Walton starting balling out, but I really can’t see anybody saying they don’t see any of Walton in DDJ. From height, to weight, body size, body shape, the way they handle. Everything down to their shot form, they are almost identical.
January 8th, 2020 at 4:14 PM ^
I'm not Matt or anyone that knowledgeable about recruits/how to run a basketball team (or how next year's team will/should be run). However I feel like after X leaves we're going to move away from a pure PG like we have now. Part of that will be out of necessity, part from design.
The whole idea of positionless basketball is anyone can do anything. Obviously it's not that simple but one of the things that's involved in that is that multiple guys will run the offense. With a guy like Todd we've heard him say he wants to play like a point forward. DDJ is a scorer/shooter first but is still a PG and can run the offense/create for others. Christopher is a scorer first but can pass. A lineup with Brooks or DDJ, Christopher and Todd would have 3 guys who can all initiate the offense and run sets.
From a pure PG perspective none of them would stack up to X. But what you lose in elite playmaking for others without Z you'd hopefully make up in diversity of people running the offense in creating, individual scoring, and shooting.
January 8th, 2020 at 4:36 PM ^
Juwan certainly seems to be recruiting with this in mind.
Beilein was a great PG developer, but even then we've seen the offense run through guys like Nik Stauskas when that was the way to go. No reason that can't work under Howard with this kind of talent coming in.
January 8th, 2020 at 4:54 PM ^
Todd takes the ball up the court out of necessity for his high school team. He's not a point forward. However, I do agree that Zeb Jackson fills that positionless basketball a bit as he's like a 6'3" or 6'4" PG
January 8th, 2020 at 5:19 PM ^
Not that I think anyone forgot, but Jalen Rose was Juwan’s PG at Michigan. You can’t get much further from the traditional PG than Jalen. Not that Juwan is necessarily doing things because of his time at Michigan, but I’d expect he is quite amenable to differently styled PGs.
January 8th, 2020 at 5:36 PM ^
Jalen was the most critical piece of the Fab Five’s tourney runs. He ran the show and protected the ball incredibly well. He was a great point guard.
January 8th, 2020 at 6:18 PM ^
Not disagreeing with you that Jalen was great, but to say he was “more important” than Webber is flagrant hyperbole. Webber was a monster.
January 8th, 2020 at 7:54 PM ^
Webber was a monster and I’m not trying to minimize his value. But if you watch historically the teams that make tourney runs and even actually win it all it’s almost always driven by stellar point guard play.
They run the show, find the open guys, protect the ball and keep turnovers down. In the case if Jalen he was amazing at creating his own shot, as a 6’5” lefty with the clock winding down. (Granted if he missed Webber slammed it). We have seen how that skill cannot be under valued.
it’s not hyperbole to me. It’s how I remember those games. Jalen was an artist.
January 8th, 2020 at 8:22 PM ^
Thanks for the post. Good discussion.
Rose was a great college player. One of my favorite Michigan basketball players of all time.
January 9th, 2020 at 12:46 AM ^
Those were fun times.
January 8th, 2020 at 5:53 PM ^
Juwan's coaching style will almost entirely be based upon his NBA career; college is a different game than when he played, and if you don't believe me, just watch video of the games.
In the NBA Juwan has cut his teeth in you have teams that run their offense through whomever is best-suited for the role. That can range from a classic Chris Paul-type to Lebron James (whom Juwan knows something about, you'll recall) to fourth-dimensional centers like Nicola Jokic. That's the experience Juwan will base his coaching style upon.
January 8th, 2020 at 4:16 PM ^
I just want a picture with Christopher sitting on the rim.
January 8th, 2020 at 4:17 PM ^
Despite his height, Todd is 100% not a 5
January 8th, 2020 at 4:59 PM ^
Folks get so tunnel-visioned on these things. Todd can defend any position on the floor just fine. The problem for the opposition is that no one can defend him well-certainly good luck with a 5 defending him or a 1, 2 or 3...maybe one helluva 4 like Brown can. A front line of Todd, Brown and Livers would do just fine on both ends of the court. Any Michigan roster, next year, that has Todd, Dickinson, Brown, Christopher and Jackson on it will pose a dilemma that any coach would delightfully try to solve.
January 8th, 2020 at 5:13 PM ^
I think Todd would have difficulty guarding some of the bigger B1G centers. But I guess it's a give and take in terms of what type of mismatches you want whether you want him to take on a slower center or a smaller wing offensively
January 8th, 2020 at 5:39 PM ^
Another hypothetical. If we had to choose between having Livers for a senior season or Christopher for one year, which would we pick? Christopher is obviously the more talented player but with the team be better having livers for one more year?
January 8th, 2020 at 6:39 PM ^
Proven 50% 3 point shooter and best player on the team or a freshman..
January 8th, 2020 at 7:06 PM ^
*Freshman who could probably jump to the NBA after this year if not for the one and done rule. FIFY
January 8th, 2020 at 8:47 PM ^
I would choose Christopher for what it would mean for future recruiting momentum, as well as his talent his amazing. But why not both ? Not like these elite 5 stars are going to be scared of competition. Winning games and making a deep tourney (championship run) benefits everyone’s draft stock.
January 9th, 2020 at 3:06 PM ^
In general, I would say Livers. But if Todd or Brown signs, I might have to say Christopher just based on the overload of 3/4s and the guard spots being much more thin
January 8th, 2020 at 7:46 PM ^
2020 dream lineup if Todd stays in the class probably looks like DDJ / Christopher / Wagner / Todd / Dickinson. However, first half of the season is likely to be DDJ / Brooks or Christopher/ Wagner / Johns or Todd / Castleton.
January 8th, 2020 at 8:48 PM ^
Dream bigger. Add Brown to that lineup as well!!