Purdue at Michigan Discussion Thread

“No one in their wildest dreams thought DJ [was going pro”.

I think that is a big exaggeration. DJ was having good games even early in the year and commentators were speculating about him going pro. Perhaps not at the end of the season but pro potential for sure…

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Okay, sure. People have speculated about Charles going pro since he arrived. I’m just saying that current performance doesn’t always correlate to pro stock. Things can change in a hurry in a couple of weeks late in the year.

My point is, there were probably posts about Michigan’s intriguing options at the four next year with Wilson coming back for another year.

The thing that I find concerning about him is that he seems a little bit clumsy with his hands. It shows up in his ball-handling, free-throw shooting. He’s just got these giant paddles attached to the end of these long gangly arms and he just doesn’t seem to have it all under control yet. Yet he’s so freakin athletic. Enigma.

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I wouldn’t be surprised to see Livers start on Saturday at all. He’s playing better and better and Duncan is playing worse and worse. Plus the matchup is pro-Livers.

Beilein doesn’t bench dudes for the final 18 minutes of a game for no reason. And he’s not blind.

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People are going to hate me for saying this but I agreed with the call. Matthews was handling the ball soft (and clumsy) and I thought he pushed the ball out bounds live and I thought he pushed the ball out bounds on replay. No big deal. He is a great player. But he has some clear obstacles to overcome, imo. Hope he meets his goals!

Matthews and Wagner both feel farther away from making the NBA than DJ did this time last year.

I think we need to contextualize what the players are, and what the NBA wants here, regardless of “what people thought” which is sort of meaningless.

Wilson is 6’10", can handle the ball well enough to attack an opposing big, is a willing passer, and has range out to the three point arc - at least if you leave him open. The NBA is always going to want that guy, it was just a matter of him showing those skills in game action enough for a team to feel comfortable he possessed them. He did, a team did. Bingo.

Matthew is 6’5" (an NBA 2 guard) with a shaky handle (NBA teams are always going to count on the two guard to be a secondary ball-handler, which Matthews isn’t for us), a questionable three point shot (for a shooting guard - there’s a big difference between a 6’5" kid shooting 37% from 3 in college and a 6’10" kid doing it, and we all know where the NBA is trending on 3-point shooting). What he does have is NBA athleticism.

My point - the theory of what DJ Wilson can be is the proto-type of the NBA 4. The theory of Charles Mathews, today, is…a backup shooting guard?

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There’s no reason he can’t still play starter minutes coming off the bench.

I guess it’s a matter of opinion, but I would rather have Livers come in if we’re down than have Duncan come in if we’re up.

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Speaking of Livers, he deserves a big shout-out for his defense. That kid has the quickest feet on defense. Impressive stuff. His foot speed also seems to benefit his shooting. He gets his feet set so quickly on some of those transition corner threes.

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I’m really not trying to get into an argument about Charles Matthews’ draft stock. I’m not even sure how I ended up arguing for it. I’m saying that if a guy like Hamidou Diallo is a lottery pick, it wouldn’t take that much for Matthews to open some eyebrows in March.

And just pointing out how speculative breakdowns of next year’s rotation are :slight_smile:

I don’t hate you for saying it, I just don’t agree! :grinning: But I will also say, and I hate myself for saying it, I was really nervous when he put it on the floor and took it to the basket. But I was actually relieved when Mathias knocked it out of bounds because I knew we would get an opportunity to get a really good look and at worst go to OT. Then, Gene Fricken’ Steratore took that opportunity away from my beloved Wolverines. Grrrr!

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His ability to get low, be strong and slippery fighting through screens is absolutely impressive. Big time all around athlete.

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A lot easier to get places quickly when you have finally figured out where you should be. Wasn’t the case earlier this season and it is starting to be the case now.

Just focus in on his feet on all those highlights you put together on him. For a 6’7" 230 guy to be that light on his feet is something special.

I’m looking forward to his match-up with Bridges this weekend.

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I’m not so much worried about where Brooks plays next year as much as fixing him this year. He looks like a shell of the player he was earlier in the year. Completely lacks any confidence when the ball is in his hand and rarely is even looking at the rim.

You can already envision Tum Tum checking him and getting in his shorts and trying to rip the ball from him at midcourt on Saturday.

I’m not really sure what changed honestly because even back in the Detroit game he just didn’t look as comfortable out there. Beilein talked about going MAAR-Poole late in the game (I know that was because of X on offense, but similar idea) and I wonder if that becomes a thing if Eli doesn’t figure it out.

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Didn’t mean to prompt an in-depth speculation of next year’s rotation, more so just to express my excitement with the recruiting the last 2 years and early development of this freshman class.

We’ve had basically 3 years of MAAR, Irvin, Duncan (with one year of DJ sprinkled in) on the wings and they all were admirable players and great kids who led us to lots of success in their own right. But the jump in athleticism and versatility from that group to what we’re looking at next year on the wing with or without Matthews is really incredible.

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Unfortunately he’ll be tasked with guarding Jackson more often than not.

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I agree, the time for Livers to start is now, against MSU. Michigan is an impressive, athletic team when he is on the court instead of Robinson.

Teske really impressed me last night. He pulled down some tough rebounds in traffic that I don’t think Wagner gets.

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What is your thought on Livers matching up with Bridges and Matthews on Jackson?

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I’m going to go out on a limb and say Livers will be a better pro than Wagner and Matthews and might be gone before them too.

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Bam!

I love it.

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