Does Iggy B or Jordan Poole start for this Michigan team?
February 18th, 2021 at 10:35 PM ^
Just enjoy tonight's game and this year's team, man.
February 19th, 2021 at 7:16 AM ^
I'll take Brooks any day of the week. His complete game is just too valuable to this year's team.
Iggy would be a nice piece to have.
February 19th, 2021 at 8:39 AM ^
Now that we have seen THIS team play, you would not put Poole in over Brooks, and you would not put Iggy in over Wagner. This team chemistry is next to perfect.
HOWEVER, Brooks and Wagner would not even get the opportunity to start in front of Iggy and Poole as they would obviously be high quality NBA level returning starters.
February 18th, 2021 at 10:37 PM ^
I would take Poole over Brooks offensively but defensively he would be a total liability if he didn’t buy into defensive mindset of this team.
Brazdeikis would have been awesome offensively too but he would compete for minutes with Livers and I think Livers plays better when he gets into a rhythm. Also Livers’ blocks are just too good!
February 18th, 2021 at 11:31 PM ^
Poole was a good defender on a good defensive team.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:33 PM ^
No he wasn't. He was one of the worst defender on the team. Yak just did a good job of hiding him on defense
February 19th, 2021 at 12:23 AM ^
All I can remember defensively is Poole jumping into McQuaid against MSU 3 (I think) times on terrible pump fake 3s to bail him out and send him to the line. It was more infuriating than his step back 3s that usually came because the offense got stuck.
February 19th, 2021 at 2:41 PM ^
"Poole was a good defender on a good defensive team."
...said no one, ever.
February 18th, 2021 at 10:39 PM ^
My biggest issue with those 2 are not skill, but rather chemistry. I just don’t see those 2 jiving well with this years team.
February 19th, 2021 at 1:49 AM ^
Totally agree with you. The chemistry on this team is top notch and the video of Chaundee Brown having his transfer accepted at practice gave me goose bumps. Once they were able to get a couple of big wins, they really started to trust each other. With that said, I think Iggy off the bench would still compliment this team. Just don't know that Jordan would have gelled as well.
February 19th, 2021 at 8:10 AM ^
Neither would be a good fit.
Iggy did carry us offensively on many occasions. But once the ball went into him........ it never came back out.
Poole took too many ill advised shots and was worthless defensively. A real me player. If he didn't make that 1 - 3 pointer to win that one tournament game, you would have long forgotten all about him. He gave Beilein fits. His leaving early eventually led to Beilein leaving.
Assists were a foreign concept to both of them.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:31 PM ^
Mike Jones!!
February 18th, 2021 at 11:39 PM ^
I would have to say it most certainly is the thuggish ruggish bone
February 19th, 2021 at 4:33 AM ^
Sluggish ruggish*
February 19th, 2021 at 4:46 AM ^
+1 Underrated
February 19th, 2021 at 6:22 AM ^
How quickly they forget.
February 18th, 2021 at 10:39 PM ^
Poole for Brooks and Iggy either as a sixth man or for Livers or Wagner. You could also go small when Hunter needs a rest. It would leave Johns for the final two minutes.
February 18th, 2021 at 10:39 PM ^
Interesting question. Pure speculation for me, maybe Jordan starts. Have no clue except I love this Michigan team. Very deep with great chemistry.
February 18th, 2021 at 10:41 PM ^
Wow. Can we buy a call or two down the stretch ? Glad they are looking at it. Wrong thread. Sorry.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:07 PM ^
Young has issues
February 18th, 2021 at 11:07 PM ^
Keep trying refs
February 18th, 2021 at 11:29 PM ^
Yes to Jordan, would start over eli or Mike smith. Don’t be stupid.
iggy is first guy off the bench
February 18th, 2021 at 11:31 PM ^
Not that I know of, but I'll check the program to be sure.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:36 PM ^
Jordan Poole is a bonafide NBA player, he starts and it’s no question.. Iggy, probably not.
February 19th, 2021 at 12:22 AM ^
Bonafide NBA player? Try “Jordan Poole is a bonafide G leaguer.”
February 19th, 2021 at 12:28 AM ^
So the question is: Would Iggy or Poole be better nba players if they’d played another year or two in college?
February 19th, 2021 at 8:45 AM ^
Iggy is better than Poole. Both are 'me' players though.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:37 PM ^
i don't see them on the roster... so, probably not?
February 18th, 2021 at 11:43 PM ^
this post is akin to dreadful small talk at a professional mixer. my god what "look at me" divel to clutter the board.
February 19th, 2021 at 12:18 AM ^
OPs account is two months old. Go figure.
February 18th, 2021 at 11:46 PM ^
Iggy is a terrorizing beast on any college team.
February 19th, 2021 at 1:25 AM ^
People are being a bit harsh on this topic in my opinion. I don't think any of us can argue how great the chemistry, and team has come together. This is a hypothetical question about players that could have been involved had they opted to stay at the University. Based on my observations, I think Iggy off the bench would have been a nice chamber in the gun and would not have disrupted chemistry. A hot Jordan Poole for a clutch shot is awesome. I just don't think he would have meshed as well with this squad.
February 19th, 2021 at 2:33 AM ^
Interesting. I'd have stated the opposite. Brazdeikis was an excellent slasher, but he was a black hole on offense, and would have had to significantly change his game and mentality. Poole's freshman and sophomore seasons showed great chemistry with Livers. Additionally, 2021 Poole would have had more open looks than he knew what do with and would probably be a 45% 3P shooter on high volume (though his poor defensive awareness would limit his minutes).
February 19th, 2021 at 1:51 AM ^
Great question...but if one of them had stayed either Smith or Brown wouldn't have a scholarship available. So that changes the equation.
February 19th, 2021 at 6:43 AM ^
Poole yes, Iggy would get significant minutes off the bench.
February 19th, 2021 at 7:48 AM ^
I'm not sure why this is getting so many downvotes. We spend a significant portion of time on the blog speculating about a variety of situations.
Both Poole and Iggy are scoring 20+ points per game in the G League. Iggy is averaging 10+ rebounds and Poole is averaging about 5 rebounds and 4 assists per game.
The level of competition, while certainly not at an NBA level, has to be higher in the G League than it is in college...so you'd have to assume both players would have been able to have a significant impact on this team. Two 22 year olds averaging 20+ points in the G League added to our lineup would make us almost unstoppable on offense. Imagine Poole starting for Brooks and Iggy as the sixth man. That's a Kenpom #1 offense for sure.
That being said, I agree with those who are questioning how they'd mesh with our current lineup. It's obviously an uneducated opinion, but both seemed to be a little more of a "me" player than a "we" player.
February 19th, 2021 at 8:41 AM ^
You give JP the open looks he would get in this offense and he'd be killing it.
Not to mention, he would get the dribble drive action that was AWOL in JB's offense. I have a feeling the dearth of that is why he left.
Loved Coach B and what he did for UM but we're in better hands now.
February 19th, 2021 at 8:43 AM ^
If they are returning with the same level of play they had when they left I would argue no they would not start for this team.
If Iggy had been playing for Michigan this entire time instead of leaving and he had the expected improvements I would say he for sure is starting. Though I'm not really sure who he would be starting over. As for Jordan Poole I have no idea. I guess I never really thought he was that great.
February 19th, 2021 at 9:04 AM ^
Honestly, I wouldn't want either. Iggy, as good as he was offensively, has more gravity with the ball than any super massive black hole at the center of a galaxy. He would've killed the offensive continuity this team has. And Jordan was a streaky shooter, with long streaks either hot or cold. He also played a lot of hero ball and was horrible defensively. The kicker with Poole is that he was a friggen head case that lead directly to John Beilein - John fucking Beilein - having enough with college players and leaving the game.
Talented, or not, if you're enough of a head case to make John Beilein, a college lifer, leave college basketball, you don't really deserve to come back to college basketball.
(Yes, I know Poole was only the last straw, but he was a helluva straw.)
February 19th, 2021 at 9:22 AM ^
No. Both signed with agents and have pro contracts so they are not eligible.