Am I wrong in seeing less talent in this guy than Cain/young/Wilkes?
I think he has talent (though not at Wilkes’ level)–to me, the issue (at least on tape–haven’t seen him live) is that he doesn’t seem to have the motor the others do. That said, offers from Michigan and Michigan State in the past week with both having lots of forward targets still on the board says something.
I agree. I like Livers game, but he’s clearly a notch below Young, Cain and even Smith for me. I would like them to make their decisions before Livers, but obviously MSU put the pressure on with their offer. Clearly if Michigan waited longer, he would definitely commit to MSU and no longer be an option. I imagine he will commit to one of the two schools very soon. We will see which one it is.
Seemed to have a nice stroke. For some reason, he reminds me of a perimeter oriented Jon Horford. Looks like he always had bigger players covering him and didn’t look to drive one time. Had one dunk in transition. We didn’t see any handle and very little viewing of his athleticism or lack thereof.
Yeah those are the traits that make him a notch below the other targets for me. Never really saw him put the ball on the floor. He’s not as much of a perimeter player as Cain, not as athletic as Smith and not as good as Young.
He looks like a better shooting DJ Wilson to me. Granted, that’s the only highlight of his I’ve watched. But it was 99% jumpers. He’s got room to grow, but he’d be my sixth preference at PF in this class of our targets(Jackson, Wilkes, Tillman/Young, Smith).
Doesn’t mean I’d be upset if he committed, but I think I’d rather risk waiting out the others.
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He’s just not an outside shooter as this will show.
Majority of his offense in the half court does seem to come from the mid-range or three-point jumper, but his length and athleticism at the four would be intriguing – especially as a defender at the four spot. I think he has the skillset already to attack off close outs and slash to the rim, also in transition he’s obviously a good finisher.
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That’s better. But 90% of the video is still jumpers and transition finishes - which are fine. I just think our other targets bring a little more to the table.
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Another highlight tape with zero ability to show if he can break down defenders and that looks like its against bad competition. He did look a little more explosive
I don’t think he’s a break down defenders guy–hence his rating as a lower 4 star. He does have size, the requisite body type to defend 4s, a smooth shooting stroke and some explosiveness, especially in transition. He’s certainly not at the level of targets like Jackson, Wilkes or Bowen, and Young is just so high motor that I can see why we prioritized him, but I’d probably put Livers on the level with guys like Smith and Cain given our needs–we could use a 3 in the class of '17, but we NEED a 4. IMO, Cain will never be a 4 because of body type, though I really like his game, and Smith, while extremely athletic, is at least an inch to an inch and a half shorter than Livers.
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Yeah, if you look at the breakdown over here 2017-18 Roster Breakdown
I think the importance of a guy that can really defend fours is so important and Livers would obviously fill that need. He also gives you a lot of flexibility with who else you take on the wing in the class and I’d be okay with just about anyone paired with Livers.
The more I look at the roster, the more I think that Charles Matthews will probably play the majority of his minutes at the three as well, especially early on.
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Anybody know what sort of percentage Livers shoots from 3?
Livers shot 37% from three in the EYBL on 62 attempts. He also shot 52% on mid-range jumpers and 65% at the rim.
Not really a huge volume offensive player (at least on Meanstreets), but he hit shots from every level. Note, he played with Bowen and Eastern for Meanstreets.
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Breaking people down off the dribble is great, but players can be very productive even if that’s not their strong suit. In fact, if you’re a four and that is your strength, you’d better be very good at it because there are likely to be guards/wings on your team designated for that role.
Livers reminds me a bit of Watford from IU a few years back.
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Livers has very nice elevation on his jump shot. Even when he shoots unguarded 3’s, he gets up high. This is not very common for a 6-8 guy and will help a lot in the Big 10.
Livers would be a nice addition to UM. Matthews and Livers have complementary skillsets and I think they would make a nice combination on the floor.
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I was going to say that’s one of the things I like over Young. Livers can really some real lift on his jump shot. Young seems to be a guy that would have trouble creating space with his jumper against bigger/more physical players.
Think that’s also why he’s such a good mid-range jump shooter, generally those shots are more contested and given his size, length and elevation he can just shoot over people.
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