Where we putting Brown after he commits? 
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Give me Brown, Christopher, Todd, Dickinson, Williams, Jackson, Howard on campus next year and figure out the rest later. My goodness how fun would that be.
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Christopher is just so perfect for what our roster needs that it makes me want to cry just thinking about it. Brooks-Christopher-Wagner-Livers-Dickinson with a bench coming from a group of Todd, DDJ, Johns, Zeb, Williams, Castleton. That’s insane.
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Lotta hype on these new kids but Franz and Livers would both have a good chance of being top 5-10 players in the conference next year, plus Eli will be one of the most steady guards and a senior captain to boot.
The thought of another year of development for Franz is just as exciting as the newcomers imo
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Agree that Eli/Franz/Livers core would be nice to pair with a talented freshman class… Key is getting someone who can create with the ball in their hands. That’s why a commitment from Christopher would be so key… but also puts a lot of pressure on him in that role.
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Dylan out of Johns, Todd, Castleton, and Dickinson, who would you guess will be the best defensive player at the 5 next year
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That’s whats so crazy about the potential of the team next year. Franz and Livers will be All-B1G caliber next year. Add in senior leader PG Brooks. 2 elite freshman, and a handful of bench guys with B1G experience and some other college ready freshman. That’s what top 5 teams are made of. Now it might not all end up fitting, but we’ll be a popular top 5 pick in the preseason.
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I just have a hard time imagining Todd coming here to play 15 minutes a game behind Franz (the idea being Livers would shift to the three).
Gosh the ceiling just rises incredibly if Christopher were to come. To Dylan’s point, that’s a lot of pressure, but he also has too see the opportunity it presents (top tier team with the ball in his hands plenty). And the amount he could learn from this staff and the veteran players would be immense!
If he’s willing to play the 5 situationally, he can easily get to 25 minutes a game. Also he’s not really looking like a set in stone 1st round pick in 2021 by any means. I’m sure he doesn’t want to spend 2 years in college, but if he doesn’t then there’s a good chance he’ll be a 2nd round pick or undrafted (which isn’t a death knell by any means and he’s fine to do that if he wishes - like Iggy).
My perfect world rotation next year (meaning this is almost assuredly not going to happen) is:
PG Brooks 30, DDJ 10
SG Christopher 30, Wagner 10
SF Wagner 15, Livers 25
PF Livers 5, Todd 15, Johns 20
C Dicksinson 20, Castleton 10, Todd 10
Zeb Jackson might surprise a lot of people next year
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We very well could, but I’m looking at lots of these rotations and thinking “man we’d better be a top 5 offense because I’m not sure who we’re guarding”.
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I don’t see Wagner hanging around to come off the bench or at least without getting 28-30 mpg.
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I hope everyone isn’t setting themselves up for a let down when all of these freshman are not ready for prime time right away and need some seasoning. This will almost certainly be the case.
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Maybe - this is why schools like Kentucky and Duke toss off a ton of transfers. The reason why I cented Todd’s potential concerns and not Wagner’s is simply because Wagner is already here, Todd can easily change his plans.
If Brown commits elsewhere and Livers leaves, what are the odds Seth Towns has a run made for him? Does he depend on Todd more than those two?
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It’s funny that you say we don’t have to worry about positions after a post in which you argued about positions.
In any event, I agree that the positions will be fluid, but I still don’t really see how Brown really fits from a roster stand point. I know there will be attrition but at some point you can’t have 7 highly ranked guys fighting for the same 2 spots. That just seems to be asking for trouble.
Christopher on the other hand is a perfect fit and fills a huge need.
Not sure what you mean by arguing positions… I think you have to think more about skillsets than what number on the court you are playing. When kids are 17 years old and being recruited, they all think that they should be one or two “numbers” lower… Everyone 6-6 wants to be a PG, everyone 6-10 wants to be a SF, etc.
What the looks like in reality depends on what roles people can play. Eli Brooks can’t be a primary creator but he could be the smallest player on the court (most would refer to him as a PG) next to Christopher even though Christopher would be the primary playmaker.
Brown can do a few different things and even stretch the floor, but his elite ability is his athleticism and finishing around the basket. He would never be called a center but you could put lineups together with him that didn’t have anyone who would be called a center.
As another example, Johns is never going to be a “five” but one of the best ways to get him on the court next year could be next to Todd as a 4/5 combo. Who is the five? Who is the four? The versatility between the two makes them potentially more effective in that sense.
That’s all I was trying to say.
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Assuming they have Todd, Livers, Johns, and Franz, how often do you think they’d play Johns or Todd at the 5? Is Brown a more suitable 5 than those two?
I think worrying about “who is more suitable” as a five is the wrong question to ask. I think you could play a frontcourt with two of Johns/Todd/Brown.
Given the roster makeup, I think that even without Brown you could certainly see a Johns/Todd frontcourt and I think that would be tough to deal with.
Think about the length and versatility on the floor if you add in Franz or Isaiah at the three.
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