I think all coaches would want someone to take control and have talented depth to lean on when needed. I figure by the end of December we will know who is leading the team at the point. Regardless of who that is it can only be a good thing to have options.
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i have no worry about PG position at all, it will play out through the season. Matthews is a real deal, but i don’t see him playing 4, except for every short stretch. Watson and Poole will fight a few minutes between them. Livers seems comfortable out there, will play major minutes this year. Teske is pretty mobile for his size but has a lot of work to do.
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Teske is going to have to learn to just turn and power through people with his height and size. He needs to be a quicker version of the Purdue center.
A quicker version of Isaac Haas would be one of the best players in college basketball
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Austin Davis looked good in his cameo appearance against North Florida. He has a nose for the ball, but the biggest thing to stick out, both literally and figuratively were his hands, they’re enormous. His left hand engulfed the b-ball as he stood on free throw line.
Doesn’t appear he will get much playing time going forward, but I think he will acquit himself just fine when opportunity knocks. By next season he’ll be ready for a spot in rotation, assuming Wagner does not return
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7 games in to the season and the rotation seems about as clear as it did in June. We have more data and a better understanding strengths/weaknesses of players — but not much more of a feel for who will round out the rotation.
Wagner looks like what we expected. His shot is rounding in to form after a slow start; rebounding is a little improved; defense still needs a bunch of work.
Teske seems to be what the coaches though he could be last year, while Davis seems to be adjusting to the speed/intensity of real games vs practice. But the production & depth in the post in encouraging.
Matthews and Robinson seem to have grabbed the bulk of the minutes at the wing. Reserve minutes on the wing are still TBA… Watson, Livers, Poole each has shown some good signs and plenty of frustrating signs. IMO, it would be best for the team’s upside if things “clicked” for Livers and he emerges from the pack out of meritocracy; his size and match up would best complement Robinson/Matthews as starters. But if this was a stock ticker, Poole seems to be the “fast riser” — and his shooting ability could be a good elixir for the sometime stagnant 1/2 court offense.
MAAR looks like an average B1G caliber Senior returning starter. PG is still a coin flip. I think there’s enough promise there that the position won’t be a disaster, but not enough immediate upside to make the position more than “the fifth guy on the court” for UM. Brooks has surprised me with how well he’s run the offense, but he looks like a Freshman on defense. Simpson looks stronger and more confident on defense, looks competent getting the team in to offensive sets, but just doesn’t look aggressive enough with his own shot. Simmons looks lost and lacking confidence; kind of like Senior year Vogrich before he was stapled to the bench — only I hope Simmons is still learning the intricacies of the Beilein offense and can still have that “eureka” moment at some point in December?
A lot more know, but not a lot more known?
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Teske looks like a guy who might be one of our top 4 or 5 players on any night. I am not sure how he will do against better bigs but I have a feeling he is going to good. JB would be wise, I think, to figure out a way to get Teske to average 20-24 minutes per game without cutting into Wagner’s minutes…Anybody agree? Any ideas how to make it work?
I think we can confidently say this isn’t going to be John Beilein’s deepest rotation ever at Michigan 
UM badly needs Livers and one of Poole/Watson to develop into reliable rotation players.
Teske emerging as a legit option as a backup 5 is encouraging though.
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Eh, quality-wise maybe not but a lot of people were adamant that JB would only go 7-8 deep again. With his recent quotes on Simmons, we’re gonna continue to see 3 point guards play, plus Teske, Livers and the other 4 starters. That’s already a 9 man rotation and that would exclude one of Poole/Ibi who I fully expect to be a bench contributor all season long.
A 9-10 man rotation might not be his deepest, but it’s certainly larger than normal as some speculated. Now if you think Livers, Poole and Ibi all are going to drop out of the rotation soon, then I agree it becomes one of our weakest benches ever
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I would look at some of the second half box scores in close games and argue that the rotation is not 9 or 10 deep.
VCU example… 8 and 9 played 2 and 1 minutes respectively.
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totally, it make a lot of sense to at least experimenting playing Teske and Wagner together.
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I know you guys want to see it, but Beilein has been pretty adamant that he’s not comfortable with Wagner defending the four right now.
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some zone defense?
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I count 7 guys who have set themselves apart and have shown they are good enough to be part of the rotation. I am leaving out Livers, Poole, Simmons, Ibi and Davis. All 5 of those guys outside the 7 have shown encouraging flashes. I am not ready to assume our rotation is going to be smaller than previous years.
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It is not without problem with Robinson defending at 4.
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How about if the regular rotation remains smaller than expected (7 players), but the possibility of a different random guy or two not in the rotation jumping up and playing 5+ minutes occasionally (perhaps based on that week’s practice performance / foul trouble / matchups) is greater?
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i would argued that Poole, Simmons, Livers still have chance to get more minutes and Simpson is not firmly in the rotation.
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Maybe it comes down to whether you would rather have Duncan or Moe end up in foul trouble?
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All he has to do is cut off the guy’s drive to his strongest hand and funnel him to Teske.
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