I don’t care how much DR weighs…I’d put way more money on CM defending a physical 4 in a pinch than DR.
Duncan is a very good - if not elite - shooter. And his presence on the court would tremendously help next year to keep the floor spaced since X, MAAR, and Matthews presumably won’t be helping do that. Defenses HAVE to respect Duncan. That is valuable, more so than an average catch and shoot player. And it’s not like he’s completely incapable of helping the team in other areas on offense…low volume, but he’s shown flashes of other aspects at least.
I agree with everyone who says we need a player like Greg, a shot creator. Of course we do. But if Bamba signs with us (a HUGE “if” I concede), then our focus has to turn to 2017 results. And in that case I roll with Duncan, and recognize that we’ll sacrifice and be relying on a Frosh from the '18 class to be that shot creator instead of Greg.
I guess I just look at the roster and don’t see the NEED for a “floor spacer.” If Bamba comes, I wouldn’t even have DR in my 8 man rotation.
I actually think Duncan is going to be important next year. His shooting will be important with our lineups imo. Him and possibly Jordan will be our only big time three ballers. Then moe and dj are good as well.
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I’ll go out on a limb and say the team’s offensive rating will take a noticeable decline if we keep all the floor spacers and no creator is added or emerges. Already stated that I think 4 or more guys will shoot respectable percentages from 3, not including DR. Guess we will have to wait and see…
In the sense that you’d be running your own type of preferred offense, you’re probably right. I’m speaking under the assumption that JB is the coach and we’re running his system. In that case, imo, you do need a lethal shooter on the court. I think our strength will be inside the arc next year regardless, so keeping a potential help defender extremely honest may just open things up for the rest of the squad.
Thats the thing…JB’s offense only requires 3 or so plus shooters in his 8 man rotation to run efficiently. Sans DR, I see 8 or so other candidates for 3 spots.
Let’s hope he alters the o. Working inside out as implied before could be the way to do it.
Livers literally will just have to be an acceptable shooter and anything but a turnstile on defense and he’ll be an upgrade over Robinson.
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To be fair, it would be 1 year of Duncan and 3 years of [2018 recruit] vs 4 years of Greg.
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I would not pull robinsons scholarship to clear a spot for a non-NBA player sure thing type. Elliott has not been described as such.
If we do really want that spot though I would certainly hope that we recruited quietly and take a silent commit, then after the season announce with Duncan that, “he’s loved Michigan, enjoyed the opportunity, but he wants to take his degree and expand his experiences.” Then sign for the spot.
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Nothing has been learned over the past few years.
We had a three on one against Nebraska. Text book with DW in the middle and two guys well spaced on the wings. The lone defender anticipated the pass and stole it.
That pass to Maar? He threw it to far behind but yes the defender guessed right stepped in the lane.
But again, in years past, we have had great teams that play poor defense, so empirically your argument is not true. With that said, sure, I would like to see us change our approach some, to what you are advocating.
Clarification, we’ve had teams with horrible defense coupled with top 3 offenses. In other words, only a historically good offense can overcome John Beilein’s defensive shortcomings to the extent of being a national contender based on empirical data. That’s not happening any time soon without an NBA wing
I agree, but here’s a problem that I think you may not be considering. It is very tough to recruit good athletes who are also very skilled. Those type of players are usually known as five star recruits.
I don’t think you’ll ever see the day where we recruit like Kentucky, Kansas, and Duke, and I think that will be the case no matter who is coaching the team.
So with that in mind, there is always going to be a need for some players with skill, and some spot up shooters, as long as we continue to run our current system. You’re not going to see a wholesale philosophical change, and even if you did, then I suspect we would be a team of great athletes who have marginal skill, which would probably not produce any better results than we have seen over the past five years, if that.
I agree with you, but there’s a word…it’s usually referred to as balance. I have faith that you can grasp the term, however the term has seemingly eluded some in the coaching world.
If you can’t get prospects that are both skilled and athletic, then obtain a mixture of both.
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I absolutely agree. 100%. One reason I really like Elliott is that he seems to have a nice mix of both skill and athleticism.
To JB’s credit I think Livers is a nice blend of both as well. Motor, in large part, will determine his success, or lack of, at Michigan.
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