@Boards had a great idea that we should do a call your shot and be proven silly, wrong, right, or just nutty.
All done in good fun but also to revisit after season is done.
Here is mine
Michigan is a final four team
Kobe Buflkin will be best freshman
We will see a fab five freshman look at some point (Frankie Collins, Kobe Bufkin, Isaiah Barnes, Caleb Houstan, Moussa Diabete) check into a game during the season.
Seasons around corner. Throw them up and let’s be proven right, wrong, or just downright called Nostradamus at end of year.
Hunter’s offensive production drops off slightly from where it was his freshman year but he becomes a better defender.
Johns plays at a consistent level with performances matching his tournament run last year, but not much better.
Bufkin will be really good and we’ll be wondering if he should be starting.
Houstan will bust out things we didn’t imagine we’d be seeing from him like good ball handling and playmaking (complete shot in the dark here, this is supposed to be a fun thread). Not just a shooter ™
Diabate will be a starter by year’s end at the 4. He will be a lottery pick.
Zeb Jackson makes a real solid Sophomore jump and is a featured rotational piece
We end up using a lot more small-ball looks than people expect, Moussa is one of the best defensive bigs in the Big Ten, and Hunters points decrease a bit but he stays in NPOTY conversation for most of the year
Brandon Johns doubles his PPG from last season
Kobe makes a real run at Big Ten FOTY but someone else with more PT (Like Christie, Houstan, or McGowens) wins it largely due to increased numbers from having more of said PT
Someone else wins the Big Ten and Big Ten tourney but Michigan is the last Big Ten team standing in the tournament (again) and this time in the Final Four.
Michigan-Illinois switch roles this year, with Illinois winning the conference regular season but Michigan playing better in late February/early March, with Michigan destroying Illinois late in the regular season and winning the conference tourney.
Michigan’s shooting doesn’t take as big of a step back as some think, with Johns, Williams, and Jones shooting better than ~37.5% from deep due to HD creating a vacuum for defenders in the paint.
Jones is the highest Michigan draft pick because Houstan decides to run it back.
DeVante Jones
Eli Brooks
Terrance Williams
Caleb Houstan
Hunter Dickinson
Billy Cheddar shines in the non-conference but will have to wait until next year to see minutes. Everyone wants him to see the court but Johns and Moussa are too good to give up minutes.
There is no answer at back up 5. Anytime Dickinson gets 2 early, Michigan cannot pull away and probably loses half of the games with Hunter in foul trouble.
