I thought you said you haven’t been watching the Pistons much these last two years. 
Livers still hasn’t played 70 NBA games. The main thing that I’ve seen him develop is a better, though still shaky, handle. He’s had a lot of down time with leg/feet injuries, but that is one thing he could still have worked on. The 3-point shooting and defense were already there.
The handle is first and foremost in my mind when I say that.
Livers has mentioned that his transition to the NBA was easier because Juwan brought NBA terminology/sets/etc in and nothing felt new to him.
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This was nice by Livers by the way:
Yep. I think that’s maybe the 2nd time (and first make) I’ve seen him do that move. He’ll need to keep developing crafty moves like that, because he’s of slightly-below average height and of average athleticism for the NBA.
I think this is to be expected - when you eat, breathe, sleep basketball in the pros, you’re going to get better than when you are limited in number of practices, only play 30 games, have to split time with school work, etc. etc. in college.
Again, I just think that supports the argument that if you can get an NBA guaranteed contract, then you should.
That’s probably fair to say, overall.
I think, especially last year when Livers was out for 3/4 of the season, he didn’t have to worry about going on a ton of road trips. He was mostly in Detroit, IIRC, and working out with the Cruise. He had nothing to do but physical therapy and, likely, work on shooting and dribbling.
I’d forgotten all about that.
Well, he’s not in the NBA anymore, but Jamal Crawford covers the NBA and TNT was showing some Jordan Poole highlights (Poole had 21 tonight, 15 in the 2nd half) and Jamal gave out a “Go Blue.”, as it was going.
I haven’t heard much of anything from Jamal about Michigan since he left. Maybe nothing?
So, I felt it was notable enough to make this post.
He just said “Go Blue!” again!
Could a campus visit be next?
If Jordan Poole had stayed in college and taken his COVID year, he’d be a rookie in the NBA this year.
Does anyone think that he’d be anywhere close to the player he is today if he went that route? Just something to think about every time we think a player might be leaving too early.
I think he does it often. I forget the context, but recently there was an occasion where he credited his Michigan education on some trivia answers he delivered on air, where the participants were surprised in his knowledge…
Edit: just found it.
Jamal Crawford’s early exit (edit: for i$h very similar to Carlos Boozer’s very public LA residency) is one of the chief the Sliding Doors moments of Mich hoops in my lifetime.
He liked one of my greets once too. When I posted a clip of him, Isaiah Thomas and Jaden Ivey. IT and Crawford are two of my all time faves.
In one of his old interviews, JC credited the fab 5 for his choice to attend Michigan. They had a great class that year with Gaines, Blanchard, Ingersoll, etc. The stupid “density” of the NCAA, forced him to play only part of the season and rather than fight them for his eligibility, decided to opt for the NBA. A gifted kid in the classroom as well. If it was not for the NCAA having their eye on Michigan due to the Ed Martin scandal, who knows… Even though he attended Michigan for 1 year, he never forgets to acknowledge the school in public.
I think Ingerson was a different class. Groninger and Leeland Anderson were the other two, IIRC.
