Next year's team/lineup
I hate to be critical of any kid after such a great year but it's obvious to me that after tonight that next year's lineup should be the following:
1 - DeJulius/Z
2- Poole/DeJulius
3 - Matthews/Iggy B
4 - Livers/Johns
5- Johns/Castleton
It may not look like this in Nov/Dec but by January it should.
As much as Z improved, he's limited. He can't shoot from the perimeter and he can't shoot free throws. His defense was great at times, but he also looked real bad against some elite athletes. This offense is eons better with a true scorer at the 1.
Teske had a couple of good games for us this year, but again, he's limited. His lack of athleticism is too much to overcome for what he offers. He should never be more than a backup at Michigan.
Johns might not be a natural 5, but hopefully he can play both the 4&5 in Beilein's system.
While I think Mo is gone, I don't think it would be crazy for him to return. He needs to be alot more consistent before he does anything productive in the NBA. Of course if he's being told he's in the lottery that changes everything.
this season marinate for a day or two before we talk about this. Let's enjoy what we have and what we've accomplished. There will be plenty of time for speculation about the future, but for tonight, let's appreciate what our seniors have accomplished and enjoy the journey this team has taken us on. Let's all agree to save this thread until after the hockey season.
I think I honestly would've had a different response if it wasn't such a bad fucking list. No Teske? Yuck.
He was just a tall somewhat athletic white guy who could dunk and bring a bit of energy to the floor. I never thought he would become what he is today
If X spends his offseason doing nothing but shooting free throws and working on shot mechanics, he looks like an entirely different player come 2018-19. I'd take it.
When you have Aaron Craft, pretty sure you ride that guy. Especially with a summer for Beilein to reconstruct that shot. Poole is obviously the two, you hope Yaklich fixes some of his defensive lapses. He's got really good offensive instincts in the half court, but needs a year or two of maturity to make sure he makes the right decisions most of the time. Matthews is obviously your three, also hopefully with a fixed shot. Livers was never the same after he turned his ankle. And then Teske is a guy who all the beat people say cans threes in shoot around, could be an interesting toy to play with. Fit the freshmen in where you can, but they'll come off the bench with three returning upper classmen who have shown they can be quality players, a sophomore who was a quality starter pre-injury, and Poole.
But he doesn't get the hype from commentators like Craft did. For some totally mysterious reason.
I mean, dude fucking eliminated the national player of the year in a national title game. He got beat by a couple other guys a few times, but Brunson had 9 points on I think 13 shots and was out of the game with foul trouble. That dude starts, and you figure out how to work around his offensive limitations.
He's also probably a team captain.
To me, Livers wasn't the same once he became a starter.
To me, Livers wasn't the same once he became a starter.
I wondered if some of the reason he started (besides his superior athletic potential) was to keep Robinson out of early foul trouble, in large part to make sure Robinson was on the court when free throw shooting might become a factor.
i'm as excited to see 2018-19 livers as just about anyone that will be on the roster. i think he's going to be an absolute wrecking crew before he's done here.
is the shiny new object for many. None have ever seen him play in college. I like him just fine, and am confident he will develop into a very strong PG for us in time, but to project him as the starter over junior Simpson is expecting way too much. Without Simpson we don't beat Houston or Florida State. And he'll be better next year.
that Z will never be a good shooter from the perimeter or stripe.
and Teske will never be athletic enough or a stretch like Wagner.
Teske clogging up the middle is not what this offense needs.
Jordan Morgan was not as unathletic as Jon Teske.
Secondly, the team ascended when Mitch McGary was at Center, not Jordan Morgan.
wrong... Michigan went to the elite eight and damn near final four in 2014 with Morgan anchoring the middle for the team.
wrong... Michigan went to the elite eight and damn near final four in 2014 with Morgan anchoring the middle for the team.
That's nice that you feel that way, but I trust Beilein's opinion more.
MAAR shot 29% his freshman year. Also couldn't pass or defend.
Mo was not good his freshman year, couldn't rebound last year.
Hardaway was 28% from three his sophomore year.
Derrick Walton hit the kill switch his senior year.
Zak Irvin was just a shooter his freshman year, became a pretty good all around player and second/third banana.
Do you remember Caris as a freshman? Had no clue, was all arms and legs and athleticism.
And bigs develop more slowly. Compare sophomore Jordan Morgan to senior Jordan Morgan. Constantly derided as "soft." Think of Teske as him plus five inches.
"Compare sophomore Jordan Morgan to senior Jordan Morgan. "
SO: 24.4 MPG, 62% shooting, 5.6 REB, 7.4 PTS
SR: 20.1MPG, 70% shooting, 5.0 REB, 6.4 PTS
Per 40 numbers:
SO: 12 PTS, 9.2 REB
SR: 12.7 PTS, 10 REB
He was a better player as a senior - but there was not a huge improvement in his game.
In regular stats - his freshman year was his best.
In advanced stats - his senior year was just a tiny bit better than his freshman year.
His senior year he also had to split time with that Mcgary guy. Remember him?
That was his junior year.
That's just the offensive/reb stats though... Morgan changed his body and became a great defender by his senior year. His impact on the game was far more his senior year... guy was a beast hedging ball screens on the perimeter
Defensive Box Plus/Minus:
FR: 3.5
SR: 3.1
Defensive Rating (estimated point allower per 100 posessions):
FR: 96.1
SR: 102.8
Defensive Win Shares:
FR: 1.5
SR: 1.1
He largely RETURNED to his freshman year level performance after worse SO/JR performance.
had a very disappointing Final Four..just seemed to wilt and disappear so Im not sold on him but the future looks bright..If Mo were to return we could be the pre-season #1 but def top 5
Our team should be in the top half of the big ten next season even without Wagner. Big ten is losing a lot of talent next season. Michigan, msu, nebraska, maybe wisconsin or purdue or osu but if you look at the big picture, none of these teams will be top 10 to start the season. Its gonna be up for grabs. Should be a fun season cant wait until November 2018
Assuming Wagner leaves...Unless Poole and livers make no progress at all on defense we will easily have a better defense than last year. Our offense, who knows, if Wagner leaves we won't have the 5 shooters offense that is so hard to guard and forces opponents to not play their (often talented) big men, but we also shot like shit this year, so if players improve their shot and the freshmen shoot well that could offset the lack of spacing. Or the lack of spacing could mean we shoot less threes, at which we sucked down the stretch, and get to the rack more, which could be better. Who knows, we should be pretty darn good though.
We should be a better offensive team with the freshman coming they are some great shooters. The defense may take some time to develop though. Hopefully we can make a run like this season