Fair points, for sure. There are certainly some question marks heading into the year and plenty our staff will need to figure out. I just think we have the talent to be a pretty good team, and I also the other teams in the Big Ten are losing a lot.
Yeah, if Livers comes back we should be optimistic.
Our guards should look better than they really are with 3 forwards who can knock down 3s spacing the floor covering the 80 minutes there (and another 10 for Johns being a small 5 or Wagner a big 2) , and Brooks, Bajema, Jackson and Smith shouldn’t be terrible.
Dickinson has to be a good starting center as a freshman and one of Bajema, Jackson or Smith has to play at a starter’s level and one as a solid 3rd guard but I dunno they both seem plausible to me:
Dickinson’s size and recruiting rankings (If he was the Illinois or Minnesota starting 5 with that height and recruiting ranking we would expect him to get 10+7 in 23 minutes or something solid like that even as a frosh, right?)
As for guards, that’s tougher. It would be nice to know why exactly Bajema couldn’t get playing time despite having obvious offensive gifts. Presumably he just didn’t have the strength or defensive fundamentals to survive on that end of the court. Tough to see Jackson being efficient as a starter as a freshman but his length and athleticism might make him passable with enough shooting around him if he can be aggressive when he’s in as a driver. Smith seems like he’ll be a solid backup with good offensive numbers but whose size and lack of elite strength and athleticism for that size hurts him on D.
So yeah, basically if Dickinson and then one of the guards is a starter we’ll be very good, and I’d put those odds high for Dickinson but maybe a toss up for the guards even with 3 bullets in the chamber compared to one.
TLDR: Hopefully we start reading soon after they start practicing that Bajema or Jackson has emerged as a starting quality guard on the team alongside Brooks.
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TLDR: Hopefully we start reading before November that they start practicing. 
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I have seen Bajema hit a smooth stepback 3 off the dribble, I have not seen your government (Canadian here) display that sort of potential so I’m less optimistic there, but yeah, I mean, the German soccer league is coming back in 20 days, so I guess testing enough people will allow for that when it trickles forward.
The big thing to watch, and we mentioned this on the last pod, is whether colleges are back on campus in Sept. If they aren’t…
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I think that you may be drawing that inference–that LA Wolve is saying if Livers comes back he secures his NBA ticket–without real evidence that’s what he’s saying. My read was that he already thought Livers an NBA player. . .
Edit: guess he can defend himself!
I think he’s an NBA talent. Given his injuries and the lack of a Big Ten or NCAA tournament, I do think he certainly didn’t get optimal exposure this year. I don’t know if he gets drafted this year, or the guarantee he’s looking for, but I do think he has NBA talent and will stick, whether that’s this year or next year.
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I’m not sure how colleges and universities could be back by September without any vaccine or form of treatment. Liability nightmare.
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I work at a university on the east coast, and we’ve been told to expect classes to at least begin online next fall. If we go virtual, I can’t imagine schools across the country would be hosting classes on-campus in their typical format.
Lots of uncertainty of course, and there are plenty of reasons to have staff/faculty prepare for the worst, but the outlook isn’t good right now.
This generated an enormous lot of controversy in the academic world today.
Saw my wife and her colleagues fighting about it all over the internet.
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I’m wondering how much zeb might play. Kid has a pretty killer game and his ability to score and create looks might translate quickly. I think he might be able to give us the 5 to 10 minutes we need.
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One thing that I think might factor in a little more heavily than others is the chemistry that Dickinson and Williams have when they play together. They were on the court together a lot for Team Takeover and they really excelled at finding each other. I think they’ll see some time on the court together next year, both really good passers for their positions.
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Don’t sleep on Williams!
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The more I think about it, the more I think Johns will start, with Wagner at the 2, assuming Livers does indeed return and nobody else joins the roster able to play immediately:
Dickinson 25 Davis 10 Johns 5
Johns 24 Williams 16
Livers 32 Wagner 8
Wagner 24 Brooks 6 Colezeb Bajemackson 10
Brooks 25 Smith 15
It’s the Big 10. Size is more important than having an athletic defender at the 2 apart from maybe 2-4 teams (Illinois if Dosunmu comes back and maybe 2 or even 3 of Rutgers, Nebraska, Penn State and Minnesota).
And I would say Livers, Wagners, Brooks, Johns and Dickinson are the 5 guys I would basically pen in as rotation guys. If it’s 30 minutes on average for them (Dickinson bringing it down with most guys at 31-32) that’s 150/200 minutes, and we’re really talking about 3 guys being good 15-20 minute players from Williams, Bajema, Jackson, Smith and Davis (with the other guys as longshots).
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Sad news here. Depth is getting extremely thin everywhere.
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I understand he’s an easy target for fans regarding his basketball production, but I was PROUD to see Adrien Nunez as Academic All-B1G.
5 Wolverines total, with Austin Davis the only other one who is part of the actual rotation.
Go Blue!
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Adrien Nunez is an outstanding young man. He comes from a wonderful family, and he’s very intelligent. He will be successful in whatever academic field he chooses as his life’s work. I agree with you, and I think we should all be proud of these kids, young men like Adrien, Austin, and the other Academic All-Big Ten players!
In addition, and very important to me, is that Adrien, and Austin, too, WANTS to be at Michigan and he wants a Michigan degree. Whether we may think they are at a level we would like as basketball players, they certainly deserve our respect for their success in the classroom and in their communities.
Austin has made the best of his opportunities in practice and in games and has been rewarded for that. Adrien has worked hard, gives his best, and I DO hope his hard work on the basketball floor pays off. Congratulations to all of our Academic Big Ten Basketball players! C.J. Baird - Austin Davis - Adrien Nunez - Rico Ozuna Harrison - Luke Wilson - Way to go guys! Go Blue!!!
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