And not just a shooter. A shooter with legitimate size. 6’7 pure shooters who can handle the ball a little bit don’t grow on trees. I really hope Cole sticks around and he makes big strides with strength and development in the off-season because I think he can play a big role in the future.
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The interesting part is speculation on Livers and Wagner bolting for the NBA. Always a possibility, of course, but If I am to put my feet in their oversized sneakers, the possibility of paying in a loaded team in 20-21 is mesmerizing. Livers did not have a good year and his stock is down with his injuries. His NBA stock next year as a team leader will skyrocket (barring injury). Same thing with Wagner. He is still young, and his future is in front of him.
What makes a difference is if you are drafted in the second round or if you could be a lottery pick. The exposure of playing in a loaded team can make that difference.
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From an MGoBlue story today:
Howard asked, “Do you remember that breakfast we had?”
Davis replied, “Oh, yeah, absolutely.”
“Do you still want to come back?” asked the coach.
“Absolutely,” said the player.
Howard concluded: “Well, we’ve got a spot for you.”
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Isaiah Livers will never in a million years be a lotto pick. But yes I think it’d be advantageous for Franz to stick around, and honestly I’m not at all worried about him leaving. I think he believes that as well.
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Wondering if it is possible for him to shoot his way into the lottery? Not sure. If everything about Livers stays the same but he shoots much higher volume and shoots at a top of the NCAA rate would that be enough? I ask because I am not familiar with how much the NBA would value that type of player in the draft.
My personal opinion is that Livers has been mishandled. He has been treated like a solid all around player. I think he should have been treated like a sniper (who is capable at other things) but a sniper first. More volume!
I hadn’t thought about it like that, but you might be right. Its not a perfect comparison but Livers might be closer to a Nik Stauskas than anyone else we’ve had. 3 point shooter with the ability to do other things. Difference is Livers didn’t come in with that rep.
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Nik Stauskas was the best ball screen players in the country. And he even showed well with that as a freshman. That’s no comparison there.
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? In what ways outside of shooting is Livers even remotely like Stauskas?
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Increasing Isaiah’s volume is not really possible if everything else about him stays the same. You can only get so many spot up 3s in a game. The only other way to bump it up (besides him being able to create 3s for himself or off a ball screen) would be to have him run off an insane amount of screens ala Ryan Cline for Purdue last year, but that’s not our offense and we have no evidence that that’d be something Isaiah would excel at.
I would guess that Isaiah is back, but the buzz does seem like he is heavily considering leaving.
Ultimately it probably comes down to whether he is done with college or not. If he leaves, he’s likely to be undrafted grinding in the G-League or Europe to get a roster spot or a two-way deal. So if he’s still enjoying college, he’ll stay. If not, he’ll go.
Interestingly I was thinking about this just yesterday. I was also remembering the scrimmage between the freshmen, the Fab Five and the returning starters where the returning players were pretty much wiped out by the frosh. I’m pretty sure all of these things will play in the mind of Juwan Howard as he puts together next year’s team and tries to fit together the returning players and the newcomers into a cohesive unit.
I understand your point about Livers’ volume not being able to go up from ball screens and creating for himself —especially if we are comparing him to sophomore Stauskas.
And especially if we are thinking about getting him more shots within a half court offense. I just think where there is a will there is a way and I don’t think there has been a strong will to get him more shots. I do see him running off more screens at times this year…I want more. Maybe there is a limit to the amount of that he can do given his body type?
For starters I would like to increase his volume of off the break 3’s with him fading his run for 3 rather than taking it to the hoop. (I became especially sensitized to this after his injury.) I also think we should scheme for quick hitters 3’s off the secondary break.
I think everyone can agree that the comparison to Stauskas is imperfect but it is not insane to compare the one of aspect of their game. To put it into perspective if you took away Stauskas’ ability to hit off of ball screens wouldn’t there still be an obvious And visible effort to get him more 3’s however we could get them for him? I think so.
I hope this is not coming across as overly argumentative. Just trying to think through some ideas…A big part of me can also appreciate the more balanced approach of our team…
Nik’s handle and ability to get to the hole–and distribute–were miles ahead of Livers.
Of course.
Where is this Isaiah Livers/Nik Stauskas comparison coming from? They play two different positions, two different roles, etc.
Are we just comparing them because they both shoot a lot of threes?
I did not intend to compare Livers to Stauskas at all beyond the fact I think they can both be categorized as elite shooters.
I think it is a horrible characterization to say Livers is a guy who “shoots a lot of 3’s”. Livers is an elite shooter who should be shooting more 3’s.
Where are people seeing this buzz that he is heavily considering leaving? I can see that he’s someone who would leave if he got a good draft grade but do people really think he’d leave to go to the G-League or Europe? Maybe I missed something but your comment is the first I’ve seen of that talk.
If Dot is mentioning that it wouldn’t surprise him, it has probably come up internally.
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Are you basing all of that off of the one comment where Dot said that he wouldn’t be surprised if Livers wasn’t back next year? That whole conversation was centered around NBA potential. I just don’t see any connection from that to him leaving just for the sake of leaving like you’re implying.
I only think he leaves if he feels very confident he’ll get drafted. As I’ve mentioned before, I think there is strong potential for good March play and testing very highly at combine or other workouts. I think he’s going to get feedback from many teams that they’d draft him in the 2nd.