Lol…if that happens will you guys buy me drinks? Just sayin’. Seriously though, I plan to have some Cain material for you guys after the visit. Hopefully everything goes well.
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If Cain commits I think that half of this board owes you a drink. Not the elite player that I think Michigan can land but the type of player that will continue making the program great especially if he stick for a few years
Hasn’t Cain been quoted as saying he planned to commit in the November time frame? Doesn’t mean that he couldn’t change his mind, but I thought that I read that some where.
Depends - are you more positive about JB when talking to Cain’s people than you are on this board? 
. If so, then sure.
He seems like a really good fit. I hope he enjoys the visit.
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It all depends on what you mean by “elite.” To me, he profiles very similarly to Tim Hardaway Jr., who was certainly an upper echelon college player and is now in the NBA, seeing solid backup minutes on a playoff team.
Objectively speaking, Cain is an upper tier wing IMO. I think Cain is a 60-80 type player, and I think the rankings and offers will reflect that at the end of July. I think he’s better than THJ at the same stage, has a better handle, is a better defender, and better rebounder.
When I look at Cain I see one of two paths - an athletic version of Zak Irvin, meaning he’s a really good midrange shooter, 35% from 3, 4-5 rebs per game, a better handle than Zak, and a much better finisher. OR, a less athletic version of GR3 with more skill.
In retrospect, Zak was nowhere near a top 25 player in HS, he was mid 60s to me, and I think Cain is better than Zak at the same age.
The film I’ve watched of Cain seems to fit the GR3 role more clearly. Length and athleticism to finish off the catch, catch-and-shoot three-point shooter from the corners, catches drop-offs around the rim, most of his offense is assisted.
I’ve written several times over the last two years about how much Michigan misses the baseline finisher though, so a good fit. Essentially a prototypical three-and-D guy.
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While I don’t disagree with your overall assessment, if that includes playing Cain at the 4 at UM I don’t think its a good fit. Cain is a 3 all day
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Too skinny to guard fours right now, but offensively the positions are essentially the same thing just flipped. I’d call him a three that’s closer to a four than a two right now. That’s based on his EYBL film over the last two weeks.
Found a couple other things interesting
- Majority of his threes come from the corners above the free throw line
- He’s pretty smooth dribbling into mid-range jumpers, but doesn’t usually attack the rim off the bounce.
- Majority of his shots around the rim are off of dump offs or put backs.
Corner 3s very true. Will display more off the bounce attacking the rim. Very good midrange shooter off the biunce or catch and shoot.
In general, because he’s playing with The Family he doesn’t have as much opportunity as maybe we would like. I’m a big fan of Jermaine Jackson Jr, but he dominates the ball a bit.
Just don’t think Cain is a 4 at the collegiate level in any way. More skilled than that and simply will never have the requisite strength to defend a B10 4.
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All that being said, Ill gladly take a better shooting GR3 if that’s what he ends being if he were to come to UM. His vertical right now is 37 inches so 40 (GR3 level) is likely with Sanderson
For comparison’s sake, Kyle Young is more of a traditional face-up four man. His threes are generally pick-and-pop threes around the top of the key. He’ll play with his back to the basket, face up in the mid-range, tip-slams and putbacks.
Watching the trail blazers play, I saw harkless playing and remembered him at St. John’s and went and watched some film and mr. Cain looks a lot like he did when he was in high school. Harkless is bigger than Cain but their games are almost identical. Hopefully Cain continues to improve. I don’t in any way think Cain could leave after one year but can be a good player after a couple years.
The main reason I see harkless was ranked so much higher is that he attacked off the dribble and had a decent post up game. Their shooting form isn’t too far off, doesn’t look awful, just doesn’t go in for either of them too often.
So hard to say on Zak - he finished the last 10 games or so of 2015 with really good overall numbers, and then the back injury just set him back in so many ways. For all his flaws, he did average 3 assists a game this year, which is really good for a wing player. He’s generally a pretty good passer off the pick and roll, and he hasn’t been helped by our bigs’ inability to catch the ball cleanly at times (thinking specifically of Doyle).
Right now, I don’t see Cain with that type of passing ability, but Zak himself had to learn it in college.
I do see Cain as a much better athlete. I think the GR3 comparison, or Tim as well, is accurate.
Tim was pretty good at this age - he had some monster games at times. And whatever his ranking was, it was obviously too low - if you rerated that class after his strong freshman year, he would easily be a top 30-40 guy, maybe even top 20-25. By the Duke game of his sophomore year (Maui), he was the best player on the floor (and Burke a close second).
I don’t see Cain being as good as Irvin is and is going to be. They way he was playing pre Injury waspretty damn good and I see him getting back to that next year. 16 5 5 is a realistic possibility for him assuming he stays healthy. Cain has a long ways to go before I can put him ahead of Irvin. After an awful year for Irvin, he’s still projected to get drafted at the end of the second round. If he’s stays healthy, he is going to the NBA, no doubt. Can’t say the same about Cain at this point. Cain is more athletic for sure, there’s no debating that.
After watching those videos, there isn’t a possible way you can compare Cain and Irvin. Irvin was MUCH better than Cain at the same time. Those videos are very impressive.
Back injuries, though, are just so unpredictable. I hope you’re right. He was indeed very good at the end of 2015. The weird thing, though, was that once we asked him to be a complete player, his three point shot disappeared.
Always fun reading opinions from cats that have no idea what they are watching.
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Agreed, I should clarify how I used the term “elite.” Elite to me means top 10 recruit that easily projects to a one and done. I think, as others have stated, Cain’s game hopefully translates to a successful college career similiar in quality to Irvin or gr3 or hardaway. I think each of those players are either playing in the nba or have a shot at it and i think that’s where Cain will end up if he goes to Michigan. I think this is the type of recruit that has made Michigan successful. Every once in a while they develop into a Burke but most times are a key contributor to a good team
There’s obviously more film on Irvin at this point but it’s pretty clear why they’re both ranked how they were. Top 80 I will give you because his athleticism is very impressive but I’ve seen very athletic guys before who didn’t transition well at all. Skill wise, the only thing I’d say he is better than Irvin at that point in their careers would be his finishing. Should be a decent player but him coming to the big ten could be a big struggle for him.