Dylan I noticed you have new columnists. Could you list them so we can say welcome to all? If you already have, I’m sorry I missed it.
Yep, Bailey and Rian are new. Working on a full update about new happenings at the site that should run in the next week or so. Gave a brief mention of each during their first articles with links to their Twitter accounts for now.
https://twitter.com/RianRatnavale
https://twitter.com/BaileyAJohnson_
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Well, in every scenario, you assumed Livers at the 4. If you don’t think he’s going to start, why not put in who you think actually will?
And yes, Livers will very probably have a defensive edge over Iggy, but it’s by no means certain that Iggy won’t have an offensive edge that outweighs that. Given that we only have one proven scoring threat back, and that he (Matthews) is not ideally suited for a Beilein offense, defense may have to be sacrificed to get some scoring punch in the lineup. That will be, IMO, one of the main battles to be fought in the early part of the season. Livers has some offensive tools, but he will need to play more confidently and aggressively on that end. Iggy does not seem to have a problem in that regard, but the question of how efficient he will be has yet to be settled.
As I wrote here, Iggy was running with the 1st in practice on Monday. Not sure what you mean by not saying who I think will start?
I’m not really concerned with who starts (i.e. Livers technically started last year, but Duncan was the more important player who played more minutes).
If you look at it as 4 guys at the 2/3/4, I would rank their minutes volume like this: Matthews, Poole, Iggy, Livers. I think you could make a case that it might be easier to get to that minutes distro if Livers actually starts.
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Starters: Simpson, Poole, Matthews, Livers, Teske. Rotation players: Brooks, Iggy, Davis. Flip-flop Livers and Iggy if you like, but this is the guys that we will be going with for the first 2 or 3 months. We aren’t going to need much from the freshmen early on and that is a good thing.
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This will all play out. Livers has had a little trouble staying healthy. Nice to have depth. God bless Eso Akunne
off the same topic, i totally missed that Orion left for freep until this week someone links his article on mgoblog.
it depends on the type of game he plays and who he defends, but I agree with you that weight may not be an issue. Sometimes strength may be depending on how strong he is now–he looks likes he lifts already–if he is going to guard the 4 and especially the 5 position. I don’t agree that Iggy is more fluid–his scoring skills are more advanced but that is a different (at least to me) concept than fluidity. Personally, I think Johns is a fluid and explosive athlete who has huge upside that may take him all the way to the pros. There is no reason that Johns, Iggy, and Livers can’t play together if they learn how to defend. Other teams have won national championships with front lines of similar size, and now the traditional sized and style center is devalued.
I agree that Johns is extremely fluid. I am not sure we have ever had a guy as fluid at his size before.
I don’t think I said he wasn’t fluid? I also don’t think I said there’s no way that they could all play together.
Right now, the biggest gap for Johns is between his head and his body. Trying to read and react to the game and Beilein’s system.