Michigan Basketball: Preview of Wolverines 2020-21 depth chart
By Adam Childs
Small Forward
Starter – Isaiah Livers (32 minutes/game)
Others – Franz Wagner (8 minutes/game)
Howard may use the forward positions interchangeably. We call this small forward and will talk about power forward, but it is pretty much the same thing for the Wolverines. He has a bunch of guys that can play the forward position and will use it to create matchup nightmares for the other teams.
Livers is probably the best player in the Big Ten that no one is talking about. All eyes are on Luka Garza from Iowa and Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn from Illinois and they are great, but Livers could be just as good this year.
He showed flashes of it last year and helped lead the Wolverines to the title in the Bahamas before injuries derailed his season. He came back but wasn’t quite the same player. Livers can is a matchup problem for a lot of teams. He can get to the rim and finish and he also is the Wolverines’ best threat from deep.
When he is right he is one of the best shooters in the conference. If he can stay healthy all year he will be a force.
Franz Wagner took awhile to get going last year after missing the beginning of the year with a broken wrist but was possibly the best player for the Wolverines heading into the conference tournament.
Wagner became more comfortable and found his shot and was deadly for Michigan. As he got more aggressive he really showed the talent everybody had been talking about and he along with Livers should lead Michigan this year.