Yeah I can’t believe he didn’t develop at all since the last game. Crazy.
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If Livers comes back, it’s tough to see how with Todd’s shotblocking and Johns playing well and Castleton struggling and Dickinson being a freshman we won’t play 20-25 minutes without a true 5.
Todd-Johns-Livers-Wagner-DDJ isn’t exactly a small lineup. Could play more zone.
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I think if Hunter performs as expected, we’ll see him 20-25 minutes right off the bat. Conditioning will be a potential roadblock, as well as maybe a propensity to foul or make defensive mistakes…but overall he seems pretty college ready. I think the same could be said for Terrence Williams too. I obviously hope Isaiah returns, and I am rooting for Colin and Austin, but the expected attrition I would think comes from some of those bigs as well.
With all that said, I agree that we might have a decent clip of minutes with small ball 5s but length at the wings.
I will be absolutely shocked if ddj starts over brooks
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Exactly. No way DDJ starts over Brooks as a senior.
I don’t know who will/should start, but there’s a case to be made that bringing Brooks off the bench is a good move.
There were times the last couple games where teskes struggles had me wondering if Davis might make sense for more minutes down the stretch. Teskes struggles have been surprising, combined with Davis playing well. Hopefully teske finds his A game again
Davis looks way more comfortable offensively in the post than Teske, honestly, and his energy has been really nice.
Problem is i think Davis defensively would be a major downgrade from Teske, which feels weird to write since Teske has gotten torched by half the Big Ten.
Can see Davis’ minutes being a game by game thing–seems like that’s been Howard’s MO regarding rotations.
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Davis has good footwork on offense and good offensive moves, but bad footwork on defense as he does not move his feet quick enough. Teske’s legs and lower base are inexplicably weak as he is bumped off balance very easily.
We were told years ago when Davis was a recruit that he was a smooth post scorer. Beilein said it. Finally can see it now. He has touch on those shots. I think he’s an ideal guy to share minutes at center next year.
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Who’d of thunk we’d be clamoring for Davis to stay another year?
Preseason odds on that would have made you some serious cash.
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Brian Cook, maybe. I like his line that you never give up on a big.
In fairness to both the critics and to Davis the offense has changed a bit since the arrival of Coach Howard. It would be a fun exercise to see how many more post touches per trip compared to last year or previous.
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A lot of people in here talking about Davis being super effective in post ups. He’s really improved with his ability to catch and finish (and mostly just stay on the court without fouling) but he’s not really a post-up scorer.
Teske is still way more efficient (1.05 pts/play vs. .75 pts/play) than Davis in post-up scenarios despite 5x the volume.
I get that Teske had two tough offensive games last week, but he’s been vastly improved as a post-up scorer. Turnovers on the block are an issue for Davis.
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I think it’s because Davis is 70% on 2PA whereas Teske is 58.5% (on 124 more attempts), so it does seem that Davis is at least more efficient at finishing, just not on traditional post ups, but more likely on PnRs. I don’t think Davis has many transition layups/dunks to be skewing those numbers.
PnRs and putback city.
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Guys tend to improve from sophomore to junior more than junior to senior, which favors DDJ over Brooks.
Everything changes once Simpson goes. Right now, there are 4 realistic options for point guard starter next year: Brooks, DeJulius, Jackson and Christopher
Brooks is the best defensive option and he can hit a 3. But can he run the offense? If Christopher comes as a high usage guard and one of Todd, Livers, Wagner or Johns isn’t on the roster then I would bet on a Christopher-Brooks backourt.
DeJulius can shoot, has improved defensively and has the body to be a Derrick Walton minus rebounding type. He went from terrible as a freshman to a fine 3rd guard as a sophomore. A similar bump would see him be an average big 10 starting PG and that would be enough for him to start I think.
Christopher seems less likely as he’s apparently a 2 but if Livers comes back and Todd is a clear starter we might see Livers or Wagner as a large 2, especially with Johns developing nicely too), and if Christopher is clearly the best guard on the team and we’re going to switch or zone up a ton with length that would make up for him being a freshman on that end of the floor. Not sure about the jumper, but if he’s a 15+ point a game guy immediately and Dickinson is going to start to give us a post 5 to guard the Big 10 centers and Todd-Johns-Livers-Wagner pretty much demand at least 3 starting spots…
Even Jackson wouldn’t shock me since we have no idea really if any of the other 3 can properly run the team post-Z and Jackson has the length and assist/to ratio of a guy who can be a caretaker type PG as a freshman starter like Monte Morris was at Iowa State.
The Brooks-Christopher fit just makes too much sense next year. One guy needs the ball in his hand, the other doesn’t. Add on the senior leadership, defense, and willingness to do whatever and it would just make sense. You’d have Christopher initiating a high percentage of plays in a ball screen PNR heavy offense, with Brooks providing corner shooting. Meanwhile, I just feel that DDJ plays much better (and prefers) the ball in his hand. Depending on how recruiting ends up, I could see DDJ being the man left out.
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This! I would love to see a backcourt of Brooks and Christopher. Not a knock on DDJ because he would certainly play, too!
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