The fourth installment of our player profiles is another 'Class of 21' player: Isaiah Livers. As a freshman, Livers broke into the starting line-up halfway through the season and never relinquished the spot. With a full season now under his belt, half of it as a starter, we're going to take a look at how he projects to play a role in the team next season.
An Introduction:
Michigan's Mr. Basketball, Livers winning the award marked the first time a winner of the prestigious award would be attending Michigan since 2007 when Manny Harris won it. He had high hopes coming into the season, but did not receive a huge amount of playing time to open the size. Still, he made the best of his minutes and played his way into receiving more and more. His size and versatility makes it clear that Livers fits very nicely into the Beilein offense in the power forward spot. With it being a necessity to hit threes in that role, combined with a 6'8" frame, he will certainly see a continued uptick in minutes.
Last Season:
Livers was given spot chances to showcase his skills early in the season, but nothing of huge substance. A nine-point outing against North Carolina looked nice, and he continued gaining more minutes, but his breakout game didn't come until the first game of 2018 at Iowa. Duncan Robinson's foul trouble saw Livers into action and he took advantage of 27 minutes to the tune of 13 points on three-for-three shooting from three. He followed this up with two more double-digit point outings against Illinois and Purdue in Crisler, and soon enough Livers snagged the starting spot from Robinson when Michigan traveled to East Lansing.
Livers continued to start and play well, but Duncan Robinson had found his shot coming off the bench, and with an a renewed enthusiasm on defense. Robinson returned to essentially being a 'starter off the bench', but Livers remained in the starting five and playing a consistently high amount of minutes. Even while taking a more backseat role on offense, his defense at times was vital to the team. While Robinson made great improvement over the season, it remained clear that Livers had the defensive advantage between the two. He finished the season averaging just a shade over three points, but his contributions to the team as a whole meant one could not simply look at points alone.
Strong Points:
As mentioned previously, Livers is 6'8" with a nice jumper. I really like his spot-up shooting ability (which he has showcased last season) and think he has some great off-the-dribble shooting ability as well (as seen in high school for him). I would look for that to feature in his game more, especially as he grows more and more involved in the offense as a focus. He has showcased some very good court awareness (see: his back-to-back dunks against Illinois, he was wide-open off great cuts made out of awareness to underneath the basket). Also, as you can see by the many dunk highlights from last season, he is a very athletic player which is something I think people can/have forgotten about him. This helps him greatly on the defensive end where he was important for Michigan and projects to have similar importance next season.
Areas of Improvement:
I just noted this in his strong points, but I would love to see Livers develop more offense, especially off the bounce next season. Especially in what will be a battle at times for minutes with two top-tier freshmen coming in, the season already in the books in college must be utilized as experience for him. With Rahkman, Wagner, and Robinson no longer on the team, he will get more opportunities to contribute on offense. With that, I would hope to see him improve as a ball-handler. He showcased some good skills handling-wise in high school, but with other options on the court we saw Livers make his biggest impacts with off the ball play as a freshman. This is not even a "weak point" of his game, but with greater ball-handling skills will come greater trust by the coaching staff to run the offense.
Final Thoughts:
Quite frankly, I think Isaiah Livers will have a break-out year. It was clear watching the Michigan team last year that #4 in maize was a talented ball-player and he flashed that ability frequently. With more chances to make plays, more opportunities will arise for Livers to show off these skills to the Michigan fan base. His winning of a starting spot as a freshman shows just how much this coaching staff already trusts him. I would look for Livers to be a focal point of the offense next season with plays specifically designed to get him the ball, or plays where the ball will be in his hands to make a play. Exciting times await Michigan basketball, and Isaiah projects to be a key member in them.
All stats taken from Sports Reference.
An Introduction:
Michigan's Mr. Basketball, Livers winning the award marked the first time a winner of the prestigious award would be attending Michigan since 2007 when Manny Harris won it. He had high hopes coming into the season, but did not receive a huge amount of playing time to open the size. Still, he made the best of his minutes and played his way into receiving more and more. His size and versatility makes it clear that Livers fits very nicely into the Beilein offense in the power forward spot. With it being a necessity to hit threes in that role, combined with a 6'8" frame, he will certainly see a continued uptick in minutes.
Last Season:
Livers was given spot chances to showcase his skills early in the season, but nothing of huge substance. A nine-point outing against North Carolina looked nice, and he continued gaining more minutes, but his breakout game didn't come until the first game of 2018 at Iowa. Duncan Robinson's foul trouble saw Livers into action and he took advantage of 27 minutes to the tune of 13 points on three-for-three shooting from three. He followed this up with two more double-digit point outings against Illinois and Purdue in Crisler, and soon enough Livers snagged the starting spot from Robinson when Michigan traveled to East Lansing.
Livers continued to start and play well, but Duncan Robinson had found his shot coming off the bench, and with an a renewed enthusiasm on defense. Robinson returned to essentially being a 'starter off the bench', but Livers remained in the starting five and playing a consistently high amount of minutes. Even while taking a more backseat role on offense, his defense at times was vital to the team. While Robinson made great improvement over the season, it remained clear that Livers had the defensive advantage between the two. He finished the season averaging just a shade over three points, but his contributions to the team as a whole meant one could not simply look at points alone.
Strong Points:
As mentioned previously, Livers is 6'8" with a nice jumper. I really like his spot-up shooting ability (which he has showcased last season) and think he has some great off-the-dribble shooting ability as well (as seen in high school for him). I would look for that to feature in his game more, especially as he grows more and more involved in the offense as a focus. He has showcased some very good court awareness (see: his back-to-back dunks against Illinois, he was wide-open off great cuts made out of awareness to underneath the basket). Also, as you can see by the many dunk highlights from last season, he is a very athletic player which is something I think people can/have forgotten about him. This helps him greatly on the defensive end where he was important for Michigan and projects to have similar importance next season.
Areas of Improvement:
I just noted this in his strong points, but I would love to see Livers develop more offense, especially off the bounce next season. Especially in what will be a battle at times for minutes with two top-tier freshmen coming in, the season already in the books in college must be utilized as experience for him. With Rahkman, Wagner, and Robinson no longer on the team, he will get more opportunities to contribute on offense. With that, I would hope to see him improve as a ball-handler. He showcased some good skills handling-wise in high school, but with other options on the court we saw Livers make his biggest impacts with off the ball play as a freshman. This is not even a "weak point" of his game, but with greater ball-handling skills will come greater trust by the coaching staff to run the offense.
Final Thoughts:
Quite frankly, I think Isaiah Livers will have a break-out year. It was clear watching the Michigan team last year that #4 in maize was a talented ball-player and he flashed that ability frequently. With more chances to make plays, more opportunities will arise for Livers to show off these skills to the Michigan fan base. His winning of a starting spot as a freshman shows just how much this coaching staff already trusts him. I would look for Livers to be a focal point of the offense next season with plays specifically designed to get him the ball, or plays where the ball will be in his hands to make a play. Exciting times await Michigan basketball, and Isaiah projects to be a key member in them.
All stats taken from Sports Reference.
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