Back by popular demand, welcome to our gimmicky "Best Players of the Big Ten" #content where we draft teams out of the conference's top athletes and you either learn things about Michigan and its opponents or complain about how you don't care about someone else's fantasy draft.
Last time: Ace complained about going first, then got Nigel Hayes, Derrick Walton, and Denzel Valentine, while I tried to get 40 minutes out of two 20-minute bigs. As we resume, Alex is on the clock.
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ALEX: Round 3, Pick 2: Malcolm Hill, Illinois
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| Malcolm Hill was apparently in the building that day we were all staring at Jim Harbaugh and going "Man is this really happening?" [Eric Upchurch] |
TEAM: Bronson Koenig (PG, UW), Caris LeVert (SG, M), Malcolm Hill (PF, IL)
After going with backcourt players with my first two picks, I'll turn to a relatively shallow position group in the Big Ten: the stretch forward. As a sophomore at Illinois, Malcolm Hill was arguably the team's most valuable player*—playing most of his minutes at the four (though some at the three), Hill scored 14.4 points per game and posted a nice offensive rebounding rate (6.9) for his size (6'6).
But most importantly, he was very efficient—39% on three point attempts and 65% in the restricted area. For this season, he's expected to be Illinois's best player and its first option on offense. Those are responsibilities that might cut into his overall efficiency, seeing as how the Illini's next-best option is Kendrick Nunn.
But Hill would fit ideally next to Koenig and LeVert as a shooting specialist, above-average defender, and one of those invaluable 3/4 wings that can stretch the floor and create for themselves without sacrificing size or physicality inside on the other end of the floor. Additionally, he's still just a junior and could develop into something even better.
*Rayvonte Rice, who was a senior, was better, but missed over a month of conference play with an injury.
[Hit the JUMP to read about Big Ten basketball players in a kind of ranked order that tells you more about their value than "here's this list I made," or hit THE COMMENTS to complain that your mouse wheel had to scroll five entire clicks to skip this article.]
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BRIAN—Round 3, Pick 3: Troy Williams, PF, Indiana
TEAM: Yogi Ferrell, PG (IU); Melo Trimble, SG(MD), Troy Williams, PF(IU)
I'm going to grit my teeth a little here and pick one of the most annoying players in the Big Ten. Troy Williams screams and flexes after he gets his milk in the cereal bowl every morning. He screams and flexes when his bus is on time. He screams and flexes when he uses five letters at once in Scrabble. He invites girls over to Netflix and scream and flex.
He also screams and flexes after he throws down rim-rattling dunks (that are sometimes wiped away when Ricky Doyle takes a charge).
Williams is a super-bouncy and long combo forward who can play SF or PF in college; he vacuums up rebounds (12th in OREBs and 2nd in DREBs in conference play); he gets to the line and converts at a 75% clip; he had very solid usage a year ago.
I expect the DREB numbers to go down as Indiana adds a genuine post player this year in Thomas Bryant, but the rest of it should continue. Upwards increments will make him a very efficient player indeed. There's also the slight hint of Williams extending his shooting range to the three-point line, as he was 6/13 a year ago. Whether or not that expands into a real part of his game isn't that important since his role is mostly to rain down dunks on the pick and roll and be a plus guy without the ball in his hands.
/SCREAMS
NEW SEASON OF BOJACK HORSEMAN
/FLEXES
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SETH—Round 3, Pick 4: Jake Layman, F, Maryland
Round 4, Pick 1: Bryant McIntosh, PG, Northwestern
[Eric Upchurch]
TEAM: Bryant McIntosh (PG, NW), Jake Layman (PF, MD), Diamond Stone (C, MD), AJ Hammons (C, PU)
In the first round I took two explosive forwards hoping they could compensate for the holes in each others' games. This time I'm pulling out the guy who's just good at everything. Layman is the size of a college center with the handles of a college wing, and is about to get a big leap in efficiency from moving back to the four.
DraftExpress has him their 25th best prospect, complaining about how he got shoved around when playing half of his time out of position, and "creating offense" despite a double-digit assist rate on KenPom. I remember watching their BTT game with MSU last year with everyone who showed up early for Vince Smith's event. Layman was setting up most of Maryland's offense while frustrating State's. It wasn't the first time.
As for McIntosh, I guess I missed out on the four-deep first tier of point guards because Brian got greedy. Oh well. Inside the Hall and UMHoops ranked ranked McIntosh 16th in their top 25 thing, ahead of Derrick Walton. I find that a bit dubious, but it's ample evidence for my assertion that Bryant's in a very good second tier all on his own. Further evidence is how he carried the Wildcats last year as a true freshman, ranking 3rd in the conference in assist rate. He's not shooting the lights out, but he's big (6'3) for a one, doesn't commit fouls (10th in the country in FC/40), and plays good D. That last bit is important considering our PGs are going to be expending a ton of energy guarding each other. Give him the true sophomore bump and I'm comfortable with this guy initiating my offense.
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BRIAN—ROUND 4, PICK 2: Alex Olah, C, Northwestern
[Upchurch]
TEAM: Yogi Ferrell, PG (IU); Melo Trimble, SG(MD), Troy Williams, PF(IU), Alex Olah, C(NW)
It takes bigs a long time to round into form and Olah was no exception. As a junior his usage and efficiency surged; unlike a lot of the bigs in the conference Olah created a lot of his own offense in the post. He shot 56% in Big Ten play, got to the line a lot, hit a bunch of his free throws, and rebounded like you would expect a true seven-footer to. Michigan fans will no doubt remember that OT loss to the Wildcats last year during which Olah put it on Michigan's face, shooting 11/16.
Olah is also one of the better shot blockers in the league. He's not a hard hedge type but he doesn't have to be with his size. Also Olah doesn't openly hate basketball about half the time like oh say AJ Hammons. With his track record of steady improvement Olah should increment his stats upwards as he becomes the Big Ten's most pivotal pivot.
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ALEX—Round 4, Pick 3: Thomas Bryant, C, Indiana
You are encouraged to imagine this photo if Indiana had such a thing as a post player last year [Patrick Barron]
TEAM: Bronson Koenig (PG, UW), Caris LeVert (SG, M), Malcolm Hill (SF, IL), Thomas Bryant (C, IN)
I'm happy that I was able to wait until the fourth round to grab Thomas Bryant—the freshman big man is projected by many to go in the first round of the NBA Draft in June. As always, the best breakdowns of NBA prospects comes from DraftExpress, which lists Bryant's strengths as "physical profile, rebounding potential, motor/age, and offensive upside."
Even the most highly-touted freshmen—particularly in the second-tier of five stars beneath the really obvious one-and-done candidates—can struggle to acclimate to the college game. But Bryant (in contrast to someone like Caleb Swanigan, an undersized bully scorer in high school) shouldn't have as much of a problem facing far better and more physical opponents at the college level. On my team, Bryant will be tasked with patrolling the paint on defense, grabbing rebounds, and providing an outlet for skilled creators, much like his role projects to be at Indiana. Hopefully my scheme's better than Crean's. A pick like Bryant has high boom/bust potential, so I'll need a steady big man to back him up.
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ACE—Round 4, Pick 4: Zak Irvin, G/F, Michigan
Round 5, Pick 1: James Blackmon, SG, Indiana
[Patrick Barron]
TEAM: Derrick Walton (PG, U-M), Zak Irvin (SG, U-M), Denzel Valentine (SF, MSU), Nigel Hayes (PF, UW), James Blackmon (SG, IU)
Zak Irvin may be Michigan's starting four, but he can easily play the two, and that versatility will come in handy on my team, which currently lacks a true post. At this point in the draft, he's too good a player to pass up, and if the Irvin plays like he did down the stretch last season, he's a steal here—the final six games saw him go from Just A Shooter™ to Box Score Stuffer as he finally got comfortable and effective creating offense off the dribble.
Irvin gives this team another excellent outside shooter, another good rebounder for his size/position, and another defender who's stronger than most of his counterparts (if I'm playing Irvin as a 2/3, which is the case here). As long as I get a post who's even half-decent at rebounding, setting screens, and playing defense, this starting five will be tough to match.
To add to that, I'll take some instant offense off the bench in the form of James Blackmon, the sharpshooting sophomore from Indiana. Blackmon hit 39% of his 199 three-point attempts during his freshman year; leaving him open on the perimeter is a very bad idea:
Blackmon has the type of shot selection John Beilein would really appreciate; he either takes threes or goes to the rim. While his finishing at the basket could use some work (54% at the rim per Shot Analytics), he's got more than enough athleticism to improve substantially in that regard. His defense is, admittedly, a major work-in-progress, but that's much less of a concern with him coming off the bench on my team. While I plan on adding a post, the five players I have so far form a lethal small-ball lineup that would cause AJ Hammons to quit mid-game.