Honestly after the football stuff this week and Michigan not even on the radar for their top prospects in basketball I’m ready for a break from recruiting…
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And MSU was in good shape for Livers.
Villinova was the consensus for Eli Brooks
Michigan was criminally late getting involved with Jamal Cain.
Lot of noise out there in recruiting land.
Strong take by the ESPN Insider
I’m not saying MSU isn’t in good shape for those lads, maybe they are, but what does being " in good shape" with a recruit get ya anyway.
This post is in a jocular tone. I am not intending to hate on any poster, recruit, or insider.
I mostly come here for M hoops info and to get Dylan’s take on things, then I scurry along, before a protracted boring argument breaks out between adversaries here.
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Yes, we do want Jamal Cain. He’s not going to be a career backup, especially at UM where shooting is valued more than anything. And Cain is a FAR superior shooter to Matthews. Cain can play a Zak Irvin type role as a freshman, his shot is good enough right now to fulfill a designated shooter spot. Cain has NBA upside in terms of athletic ability
I’ve told everyone for months that Bowen and Jackson are not legit targets for UM at this point. You have a few guys here like Wolverine3 that come here and essentially quote Scout/Sam Webb and people get their hopes up. Recruiting is fluid, but as of right now Bowen is waiting for UK with MSU the backup plan, and Jackson is a GU, Maryland, and IU battle.
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I think we’ve both known this for months.
Were Bowen and Jackson ever serious targets?
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Surely Jackson was once upon a time, although the writing maybe on the wall. He was our first offer of the class if memory serves
Serious targets, yes. Serious options, probably not.
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I would personally still like to add Cain, as I like his game a lot. Do you have any feel for where his recruitment is headed (that you can share)? There’s been some speculation Michigan has “moved on,” which I hope isn’t true. Anyway, just curious.
Look, all this will play out soon enough. As I shared on MGoBlog - the staff is checking in on Cain, Bowen, Jackson the week of September 9th (first day of home/school visits). Staff will probably give them a few weeks to think about it and give them a call toward late September and ask them “are you on board or not”. I think most would agree Bowen and Jackson aren’t deciding in that time frame.
In 16 games in the eybl
Jamal Cain
Minutes - 336
Points - 209
Rebounds - 77
Assists - 17
TOs - 31
Steals - 11
Blocks - 10
Ibi Watson
Minutes - 337
Points - 204
Rebounds - 72
Assists - 20
TOs - 26
Steals - 9
Blocks - 7
how do you interpret these numbers?
I am on the side of taking Cain if he wants to come. I just think he is going to end up being a tough player. And as much as everyone likes Bowen, there is something about his game I don’t like (see my comments on other threads regarding Melo Trimble). I like skill but not sure if he is a Big Ten type of player. I have only seen these guys on tape and not in person so not pretending to be an expert.
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We’ve been through this before - you’re attempting to taint the picture by failing to include shooting percentages. Cain is definitely the better player
Also you are incorrect - Watson stats are for 17 games so you have to compare on per game basis
I personally think Bowen is one of the most overrated players in 17. Average shooter, average/above average handle, good rebounder, average athlete, above average passer. Think he’s prob more of a 30-50 type
I would wholeheartedly concur on this analysis of Bowen up to this point in his young career.
He is an extremely high volume shooter who has never seen a shot he doesn’t like.
He has not progressed athletically as much as I thought he would have up to this point and certainly leaves much to be desired when it comes to explosiveness.
It will be real interesting to see how he reacts to less shot attempts this year at La Lu with all that talent influx surrounding him.
He has a penchant to get lost without consistent and expected volume usage.
If I didn’t know better you are kind of talking about Zak Irvin.
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Hmmm…might explain why JM loves him so much
Except the equation is not exactly Bowen vs Jackson vs Eastern vs Cain … You have to add in the opportunities to use that scholarship for an additional Class of '18 prospect instead.
I think most recruiting analysts would view Bowen and Jackson as more skilled “better prospects” than Cain. IMO, if you can get a commitment from one of those two, take it. The more divided opinion comes when evaluating the merits of taking Eastern or Cain vs banking the scholarship for the second option between Hunter, Carmody & Ryan? (Johns being a top option for 1 scholarship and one of Ryan/Carmody being the staff’s top option for the 2nd available scholarship)
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Already addressed this in another thread. You might as well take Jackson, and Bowen out of the equation as of right now, because they aren’t realistic at this point. Eastern is no longer a target, you can 100% take him out of the mix.
So it all boils down to this - do you think a sophomore Cain is better or equal than 1 of Johns, Ryan, Carmody, Hunter? To that I say yes.
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I don’t see how we don’t need another shooter that can play the 3 for the 17 class. I see Cain as that person. When Duncan leaves Cain will be ready to go with a year under belt when the '18 class arrives. I see more value in Cain with a year in hand.
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