i didnt think it was possible as i am an empty pit of darkness right now, but i did snort out of my nostrils at this
Jeff Jackson will garner a whole new level of appreciation next season.
Hunter Dickinson is live with him now.
Idk I was impressed by smiths array of moves. A lot of those shots translate versus top athletes.
Also zeb is a baller. He might be able to surprise and give us a solid 15 a game.
Manā¦ Being a Michigan fan is not particularly fun oftentimes lately 
If livers stays this is still a nice team. If Todd comes even more so. Letās say he doesnāt
Smith
Eli
Franz
Livers
Johns
Bench: Davis, zeb, Cole, hunter, Williams?
I really disagree with that. Smith is no X but heās not going to struggle to create good shots. Same with Eli at the 2. Wagner is way above getting his own shot and passing for his position. Who knows that happens at the four but we have a lot of quality players to potentially get minutes there and all of them have either shown some flashes of the ability to create shots or have that potential. I would assume by the time we get into the thick of the season Hunter would be getting the bulk of the minutes at the 5 and heās also an above average passer for his position.
Even if you are super down on Smith I still think that lineup you threw out will be far from one that will āstruggle horribly to create shots.ā
That team is probably worse than last yearās team.
Iām going to lucid dream this tonight
@umhoops do you think that Josh was misleading the media to get more attention? I donāt understand why Sam Webb wouldāve put his crystal ball to Michigan after meeting with Josh on his senior nightā¦ He wouldnāt have done that for no reason. And I remember Josh saying something about how he wanted to āshock the worldā with his decision or something. So that makes me think we kind of got played, and he knew heād be playing with his brother all along, they just dragged it out and threw a curveball to get more hype and national attention. I guess it will always be speculation but Iām interested in your thoughts.
We got played. The end.
Everyone got mislead ā our media, coaches, etc. All so an egomaniac can have his 15 minutes on instagram.
Harsh but facts
We all wasted our time. We choose to do this. We are dumb.
With Christopher top 5. Without Christopher top 25. Without Christopher and Todd still top 25.
I think people are underestimating the Brooks, Zeb, Smith guard rotation. Zeb is going to be a good player as a Freshman, I think.
Big opportunity for Bajema now as well
Biggest clue was his friend Cassius Stanley trolling his Twitter and IG Live with Michigan comments. That is when doubt crept in. If he was to shock people, his close friend wouldnāt discuss the school he was choosing.
didnāt even know that happened. what a messed up recruitment man
Depends. I think weāre all underestimating smith here. I love Zavier but he has his strengths and weaknesses. You also clearly lived and died with him. Also teskes play on both sides of the ball was inconsistent last year. Add in livers injury and ddj and Johns inconsistencies and itās tough to say.
Iād say last years ceiling was higher but it didnāt get there often.
Some things to consider that could lead to a better roster. A healthy livers as a senior. Self explanatory.
Brandon Johns becoming the player he has shown flashes of consistently. Again completely self explanatory but to elaborate further. Brandon has the talent to be an elite 4/ small ball five in this league. Imo he still hasnāt even shown a fraction of what heās capable of. If it ever clicks this kid can be all big ten good at some point over the next two years. Thereās no reason he canāt score 10-12 a game with his abilities inside and out.
Cole becoming a factor even if itās for 10-15 a game. Itās clear he is an absolutely pure shooter and as clean and smooth as it gets. The spacing and scoring he could create could be a surprise this year and he could certainly fill that 10-15 we need from him backing up Eli / possibly Franz.
Franz becoming a year older. He really was coming into his own late and at times was taking over games. A full year with the team and away from that wrist injury which will hopefully help him start to hit those open threes consistently. If that occurs and he continues to develop like we saw he could very well be first team all big ten. Iām trying to think of a sf in the big ten Iād prefer and Iām not coming up with anyone.
Eli is going to be Eli and I mean that in a good way. Great defender and rock solid offensive player. Who knows maybe he ups his aggression and gives us more offensively than weāre predicting or weāve seen.
Austin will give us 10-20 of good offensive play.
Add in what is still a nice recruiting class and smith and things will be good. I think smith is going to translate offensively much better thAn most expect ( his d is my concern).
Hunter, zeb, and Terrance are all guys who I could see contributing day one. Even if that is in 5-15 min segments. They all have mature games that should translate right away and they all play with intelligence.
The world isnāt ending because Josh Christopher isnāt coming, it just means the ceiling of this team is much lower. I still fully expect a team with this class coming in and the returning talent they have to be in the top half of the B1G and in the 4-7 see territory in the NCAA tourney.
I truly believe Franz Wagner will be All-B1G next year. He was on the all-freshman team and that was after starting the year injured, having to adjust to the big change, and then not finding his shooting stroke until late in the year.
If you can get 20 PPG from Wagner (he showed flashes of that last year), then all you really need is the surrounding cast to hold its weight.
Between Smith, Brooks, Bajema, and Zeb at the 1 and 2 positions, they should be able to at least do that. Brooks is a great defender and provides necessary 3 point shooting. Smith looks like he can be a play-maker by getting in the lane and finding the open man or shooting it himself. Bajema showed last year that he can shoot the rock and Zeb is being slept on as a top 100 4-star recruit only because we were aiming at top 15 5-star kids.
Whether Livers comes back or Todd returns, if one of those things happen then the front-court is solid as well. Either you have a Senior who is an elite shooter or you have our highest rated recruit in YEARS who is an athletic freak.
Johns has been coming on and should be able to contribute as well and I am so stoked for Hunter Dickinson. We will have a 7ā2 guy who actually wants to dunk the basketball (sorry Teske). Between him and Big Country, they should be fine.
Losing out on Christopher means Iām no longer expecting a #1 seed or winning the B1G. Then again, a lot of the B1Gās top teams from last year are losing a lot of players so who knows?