Michigan Basketball: Why Isaiah Livers could win Big Ten POY in 2019-20
By Adam Childs
1. He will be relied upon to score more
This at first doesn’t mean he will automatically be a better player, but it will give him more opportunities to show what he can do. Too often it looked like Livers was hesitant to shoot or take the ball to hole to try to score. He seemed happy to try and set up the other scorers and would only try to score when necessary.
Well, next year that will have to change as he is arguably the best scorer coming back. Teske would be the other one looked to score more, but while he did hit threes this year he is more of an inside player. Simpson has improved his three-point shooting each year, but nobody is confusing him for a great shooter. So that leaves Livers needing to pick up the slack and he has shown flashes of being able to do just that.
Last year Livers shot 42.6% from deep and showed that he could hit shots from anywhere on the court. He did average just under eight points a game last year, but he showed flashes including his 21 point performance against Minnesota in the Big Ten tournament when he hit four three-pointers.
He also showed that he could take the ball to the hoop and finish. Especially when he gets great feeds from Zavier Simpson.
Given the opportunity to score more, Livers looks like he is ready to step up and take on more of a role in the offense. If he can continue to improve on his shooting like has his first two years, then he is poised to have a break out year and vault himself into the POY conversation.