Main comment that stuck with me is he thinks Terrance Williams is an incredible shooter. Would be nice if this turned into an Isaiah livers situation, a guy that comes in with a decent rep as a shooter but turns into an elite one.
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Yep. Praised Hunter’s shooting as well.
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I think that’s going to be something I watch this year. When Teske was a junior he seemed to have a green light from Beilein to take that pick-and-pop three…even if the results were mixed. As a senior I think Juwan was less comfortable with that shot, but Teske still seemed to get a couple off per game.
If Hunter is a better shooter and can make a couple threes per game, we know the offense should be able to get him open. It will also be another way to exploit ball-screens if Hunter isn’t as effective yet with the roll.
What makes you think that? He got the same amount of attempts per game, and Juwan only reinforced it in press conferences.
I liked TWill’s shot a lot. Felt like there was plenty of projection there for him to be a solid shooter from 3 in college. The Livers comp is interesting because IIRC he was kind of known as a mid range shooter in HS (similar to TWill), but then was instantly a plus shooter (albeit on few attempts) as soon as he showed up.
Also worth noting probably all of our players are incredible shooters compared to his old teammates 
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I think you have to be careful looking at “attempts per game” because Howard’s pace was faster than Beilein’s. You’re correct that the difference wasn’t as dramatic as my comment implies. However, the ratio of Teske’s 3pt attempts versus his total attempts is a lot different. He went from about 30% down to 22% of his total shots. (Part of that is an increase in post-ups too.)
Michigan had 4 more possessions per game. Not really enough to be throwing any per game stats off too much.
I would say all of that was due to more post ups. He took 2 more shots per game, but 0 more 3 pointers per game. I don’t have access to the amount of post ups he had, but I do know that his amount of assisted 2s dropped dramatically from the prior season.
I love Terrance but if brown gets the go ahead I just can’t see anything beyond spot minutes in certain games unless injury or foul trouble. He’s at the deepest spot we have.
I will add if anything crazy happens where he’s forced into action I feel quite comfortable still. Odd since he has yet to play a minute of college hoops but he just strikes me as a kid who’s ready.
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I am sure Williams would want to play, but I think having a player like Brown and even Livers to learn from is going to be great. I think Williams and Brown have some similarities to their games.
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I think our best 5 players will be Johns-Livers-Wagner-Brown-Brooks and that’s not an insane closing lineup if you figure:
- Dickinson/Davis can soak up 15-20 minutes of guarding centers when we play dominant ones.
- Having 5 decent 3pt shooters will create enough space for Wagner to be an elite scorer (18+ points a game) in ISO and/or running the pick and roll and Brooks (or Livers or Brown) to run a pick and roll with someone who can pop or dive (Johns) since Wagner, Livers and Brown will be spacing the floor quit well. Basically the 5 out spacing can mitigate the lack of dominant creativity and playmaking and 1 on 1 scoring we lost when Christopher swerved.
Then I think we have to hope that:
- Dickinson can be a nice 20-25 minute center as a frosh like Garza and Oturu and guys like that were.
- One of Smith, Jackson or a guard/wing not yet on the team can be a major ballhandler off the bench for us. Smith is the favorite obviously, and it’s a damn shame it ain’t DeJulius (if he hadn’t won the starting PG job it makes sense for him to be lead ballhandler off the bench), but maybe Jackson will surprise us too.
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Sounds like he wants to have catch and shoot opportunities. He kind of describes himself as a lower tier Cassius Winston - a good PG with a great 3pt shot but limited defensively.
Poor Brendan, having to sell the Manscaper, and talking up an anti-chafing ball deodorant. I’m just gonna keep washing, but I salute him.
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It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Williams is a rotation guy right away and Dickinson and Johns share center minutes with Williams backing up Livers and Wagner at the forward spots (with spot minutes from Johns) and then the 2 guard spots are Brooks, Brown if he’s eligible and Smith covering damn near all the guard minutes. 8 man rotation with Jackson and Davis getting minutes in blowout wins or losses or when there’s an injury.
Smith could be really good but looking at small guards transferring up, it’s possible he’s just not capable of breaking 40 FG or 30 from 3 in the Big Ten and if you’re a small defender, that might not be more valuable than getting a freshman like Jackson minutes if his length makes him a good defensive guard, or having Brooks play only at PG as a senior who can maybe hit 3s off the dribble even if he’s not the pick and roll maestro we’d like. Though we might get pressed to death outside big 10 or even in conference play.
Certainly fair to question Smith’s ceiling as an up transfer but still hard to imagine him not playing a significant role given he’s the most natural PG on the roster by far.
Zeb Jackson cracking the rotation with his defense is certainly the path for him. I agree with that.
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Yea. I agree . Very similar skill sets/ body types. Brown a bit more agile, Williams a bit more post.
Mike Smith was 6th in points per game in the NCAA last year. Even in the Ivy League that’s impressive. If he’s the 3rd option when he’s on the court he should be fine (on offense.)
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I’m just watching his highlight montage for the first time. Obviously, people guard him better in the B1G, but he sees his shot and gets it off quickly–I like that. He knows how to make space for himself. The play at the 2:31 mark here shows some crazy hesitation stuff. I am hoping he can be the straw that stirs the drink.
It looks to me like Smith is the biggest key to season success for the team. Does anyone else think that?
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I’d say him or Franz if we’re talking about ceiling raisers
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Who said T Williams is an incredible shooter?
Thanks.
Mike Smith said that about Terrance.
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