I think a majority of his minutes were there in the last game. Matthews went out early with foul trouble and Livers replaces him. Iggy and Poole stayed put
From @umhoops recap of the last game:
“ Some of that stems from the fact that he has other responsibilities. In this case, he played heavy minutes at the three throughout the night because Matthews was in foul trouble.“
The 3 and 4 are interchangeable in Beilein’s offense so it’s sometimes hard to tell and NW did not play a true big forward, but Livers is playing the 4 and 5 this year, Iggy has played the 4,3, and 2.
Generally if they are playing 3 or 4 refers to what they are doing on the offensive end of the court. For example, in the clip included of him in this post, he’s spending all of that time at the three.
In terms of defense, that is always going to be dependent on the individual matchups. There will be different players who are easier for different Michigan players to guard.
If I remember right, Ignas Brazdeikis spent a lot of time guarding Anthony Gaines on Northwestern, but he isn’t really a four – for example. You don’t really have to guard the “same position” that you play on offense.
I get how it works in Beilein’s offense and said above the positions are interchangeable. Yes, Livers switches sides of the court depending on if he’s in with Iggy or Mathews, but as you say that’s more about lefty vs righty. Not because they want to run offense through Livers vs Iggy.
If Iggy is back next year, it’s pretty obvious he’ll be the starting 3, and offense will be running through him a lot more than through Livers.
And if Iggy leaves, I’ll still bet on Livers at the 4. I don’t see Livers, Johns, and Teske as a Beilein front line, but Beilein has been known to experiment.
I’ll add that Beilein says “you are who you can guard” so while that can be juggled for one game, it does mean something over time.
Idk if Wilson will get 25 but if he is what the staff expects, during normal games I feel like he could get 17-25 minutes on the regular each game. I leave room for each player cuz depending on whoever they play, the minutes could naturally fluctuate.
Love that we are already projecting minutes on next year’s team when we have only played 9 games this season… and we have no idea whether Iggy will go pro or not.
Nice write up on Wilson. Also a nice piece about Isaiah Jackson in it. Here is what Bossi said about Wilson:
A combo forward who does a lot of damage as a mismatch four, Wilson’s game is built on skill, discipline and picking the right spots. In Scottsdale he had the jumper working from deep but also used his size and strength around the rim when needed. That strength is going to be hugely beneficial when he gets on campus and gives him a leg up on most typical freshmen.
Full game highlights from this past weekend between Wilson’s Guyer team and Kyree Walker’s Hillcrest Prep team. Michigan is reportedly recruiting Walker in 2020. Both guys played well in this one. Walker had 33 points and Wilson had 24 and Guyer won the game.