No, I don’t mind one bit. I’ve told you my original take on Cain had changed. I still see him around 100-120 but 84 isn’t too outlandish. I think we need a 5* star talent with the players we have committed. We agree on that. We have nice role players currently committed.
We need an upper tier creator every year, but the truth is we just aren’t very likely to get that around these parts for various reasons. That said, I think Jamal has NBA potential if he can add weight/strength and develop his handle a bit more. He has ideal height and length at 6’7, is a good shooter, with an above average handle at that size, and can jump out of the gym. There’s a lot to like about Mr. Cain that we haven’t had in A2 in quite some time.
He’s got a long way to go before nba talk can be brought up. A 5* center helps this team a lot more than a 4* sf imo.
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JM - here’s my small gripe with you (not really a gripe lol). How can you be a rankings guy and like the additions of Poole, Livers, and Brooks…and not be on board with Cain who is ranked higher than any of those aforementioned players? Doesn’t make a ton of sense to me.
We have Matthews to play the 3. He was ranked higher and will be 2 years removed from high school with the muscle to be a great player. Long term, Cain can be good. I don’t think he wants that though. I see Matthews as a better 3 and livers a better 4.
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That’s basically my point - you’re looking beyond the rankings into your own personal assessment, correct? Just food for thought
Well, yeah. I don’t only look at rankings but use them as a starting point, then use my own judgement. Cain can be a nice player with a lot of room to grow and maybe be great. Our roster needs a great player and I’m not sure we have that. Jackson/bamba manning the 5 would make our team great. I’m probably dreaming with those two but they make a much bigger impact than Cain imo. I honestly feel Cain to Marquette with the other players they’ve got coming in could be great for him to go and grow with those guys and most likely start with those guys for years.
Is it safe to assume that you think Cain will/could be a better player, and more productive player, than Matthews, for Michigan? I think it’s clear you (by most accounts, rightly) think Cain is the superior shooter. Just wondering how you compare the two, since theyre essentially both 2017 recruits/additions and will be competing for minutes in their first eligible years.
Looking beyond 2017, Poole, Cain, and Matthews would be filling in the minutes at the 2-3, which I think is extremely solid. The redundancy argument only comes into play with Ibi, imo. And we’ve already rehashed enough times that you think Cain will be a much better player than Ibi.
Edit: caveats of Matthews having already played a collegiate season AND having a year to practice with UofM obviously apply. Also a knock on Matthews, in a way though, because he only has 3 years of ‘production’ to give the program.
There is no way Jamal is starting at Marquette with Cheathem there, as he’s only a sophomore this year. He’s an established player that Cain may play 2 years behind. Compare that to UM, where Jamal has no established player that he is behind, and the opportunity for early time is much greater in my opinion. Much easier to beat out a freshman that needs tons of physical development (Poole) and a guy that has not proven anything in the way of skill at the college level (Matthews). In essence Cain would be on equal footing at UM as opposed to clearly stuck behind an established player at the college level.
Your very last sentence is a great point.
I very much hope we continue to go hard after Mr. Cain going forward.
I’m a big fan of Matthews, his athleticism is clearly what this team needs. That said, I think Jamal will be every bit as athletic as Matthews with a year of S & C. He already has a 37 inch vert as a high school junior. With a year of S & C, he could get to a 40 inch vert rather easily, and most likely approaching 41-42 inch territory. If Jamal can get to 195lbs, I think he can be an upper tier B10 player that has just as much production, if not more, than Charles Matthews, based on his shooting ability, which is far superior to Matthews.
Now for actual Jamal Cain updates - Cincy was in to view him Friday, Marquette was there Sunday, with UM scheduled to come in this week/next week.
I thought cheathem played sg. From what I saw, he can pass pretty well so I can see Cain starting at sf at Marquette being more realistic than him starting here.
So Matthew’s year of practice and S&C with Michigan isn’t enough reason for you to think that Matthews and Cain will enter 2017 not on the same footing? I ask because I think it’s very likely that we start 2017 as X-MAAR-Matthews-Duncan-Mo. Not to say that I dont think Cain can be a more successful player than Matthews when looking at their respective careers in aggregate. I just think it’s very likely that Matthews>Cain on the pecking order, at least for 2017.
Cain v Poole for minutes is another story.
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You are correct. You can probably say this about a few players but if Cain can shoot 35% from 3, he is probably a top 5 big ten player imo. He has all the skills(aside from 3) and athleticism to be a great player. Plus he has put on weight and will continue to put on wait. He is going to one of our two best players in '17.
I do agree that presumably Matthews>Cain to start things off, as JB has always shown that he prefers to give experienced players the benefit of the doubt (remember Vogrich/Caris), but I certainly think Cain can beat out Poole for minutes based on everything I’ve seen. And to be honest, if Matthews cannot knock down shots, I think Jamal can eat into some of his time. There is value in having both in my opinion.
Nope, Traci Carter plays PG (24 mpg last year), with Duane Wilson at SG (29 mpg last year with 5 threes attempted per game), and Cheatem at the SF. Opportunity for Jamal much greater at UM in my opinion, especially considering the 4 spot is just another guard on offense for us.
I definitely agree that there’s value in having both. Like I said, I think the only redundancy is with Cain and Watson, but that’s only really the case if the staff seems to really like Watson, because it seems obvious that Cain is simply a better, bigger version of Watson, with more potential.
Depending on how well X, MAAR, and Duncan are shooting, I could see Matthews losing more and more minutes to Cain, if his shooting is really bad. X and MAAR are far from proven knockdown-shooters, and JB will obviously want at least 2 of those on the court at basically all times.
Barring Bamba rocking our worlds, even with the high-level 2018 prospects on the board, a recruit as good as Cain must be a take, at this point, especially if (and this is where you and the staff know if this is the case) he is a ‘bird in the hand’ situation.
Bottom line is this, Charles Matthews is ready to play defense at the college level right now, however there are questions about him offensively. Ibi Watson is obviously not a known commodity at this point, but he appears to be mediocre on offense based on evaluations and films, and very poor on defense. There is room for a 6’7 SF that is a good shooter, very good athlete, with decent defense that only needs to put on 15lbs of muscle.
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247 article talking about Cain being one of the biggest risers (83 spots) in the updated rankings as opposed to our commits dropping.