I highly doubt Pierce would play a lot at the 2. He played as a Forward for William & Mary, so I doubt he’d play as a guard in the Big Ten.
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I think Michigan looking at guards like Beverly and Quinones pretty clearly shows where they see Pierce playing if he comes. 6’6"/6’7" with skills pretty similar to Brazdeikis plus better passing. If Pierce comes to Michigan I think the starting five next season is Z/Wilson/Livers/Pierce/Teske, with Livers and Pierce basically being interchangeable.
I agree with this, but I think you and I are in the minority in believing Wilson can play the 2.
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People said the same crap about Novak, Stu Douglass and Duncan Robinson. The latter is playing in the NBA. I feel what you’re saying however. He didn’t dominate on a bad team. It’s a one year rental. It’s obvious, Beilien thinks that the kid is good. Give him a chance.
Taking him doesn’t mean that next year’s F spots are set and he’s a starter. Wilson could come in and grab a spot; Wagner could as well. Livers could end up sixth man again for all we know. But Pierce would be another option that’s nice to have and without long-term commitment. That guy back to his 41% shooting and with experience in a similar offense could be plug-and-play.
Novak was a very poor rebounder and I think Duncan was too for most of his career. But I will certainly give him a chance if he ends up here. If last year was the anomaly in his shooting then he’ll be a starter for us for sure.
I think he’s got the shooting ability. The problem, though, is two-fold: Beilein freshmen almost always play the three over the two and Wilson is already listed as 6’8". But if Bajema is also 6’7" and pretty generally seen as a two, I don’t see why not go with a lanky starting five with Z.
I do think Eli will see bigger minutes at the two also. Don’t know if he’ll start, and Quinones will play a factor is starting line-ups too if he commits.
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DDJ also has to be considered a candidate at the 2. It would be a smallish backcourt, but that’s your shooter/secondary ballhandler.
If he’s closer to that 41% 3pt percentage, then he seems like a poor man’s John Shurna.
Awesome.
Cam Johnson 2.0
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Oddly enough I’m not that worried. I have a feeling we’re going to land him.
In that article he recognizes coach b’s ability to develop talent , particularly in wings like himself.
If you look at the final three teams in this particular year we have the best of all worlds for him. If he wants to get to the next level, play big minutes, and go deep on a tourney run this particular year I think Michigan offers more than unc or nd.
Unc if they land Anthony could be great again but I’m not sure they’d have a better team still and he’s got just as much if not more competition there. I got an odd feeling we land him.
If we don’t it’s ok. Slide livers to the three next to johns and I’d still feel really good. I’m expecting johns to be a beast.
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Get outta here, Roy!
I think everyone is expecting Johns to be a beast this year. A lot of people thought he would’ve contributed more last year. Problem with him is it’s mental and sometimes that can’t be fixed no matter what the coaches do. In the past, the mental side was Johns’ biggest issue as well and that was what I thought would be his biggest issue coming in. It’s something that SHOULD be taken care come next season but you never know with those issues. If he does make the leap mentally, Michigan will be in better shape than people are giving Michigan credit for.
Regarding Pierce yes I tend to agree with you after reading the article. But his words about Notre Dame were very strong as well and it’s a little closer to home and Coach Brey is an excellent coach in his own right. Wouldn’t be shocked if he landed there. I’m thinking it’s moreso a two horse race between Michigan and Notre Dame, and it may be a coin flip.
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Any Justin Pierce sightings around campus or rumors out there ?
His junior year he was in the 82nd percentile of all eligible players on Kenpom for defensive rebound rate. For a 6’4” power forward I don’t know how he can be called “very poor” at rebounding even if his other years aren’t as good as that.
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Thanks for the stat. Interesting. I assume his other years were not as good? I agree that as far as 6’4" PFs go he was as good a rebounder as you can expect, but that doesn’t make him a good rebounder or even average necessarily. But admittedly I don’t have any stats either way.