Depth and future rotations

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Beilein said he wants to play 10 guys tomorrow, maybe 11. So the question is, which guys are on the outside looking in? That will be interesting to see.

Iā€™d guess one of the back-up 5s (Teske or Davis) and one of Watson or Poole.

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Yeah my guess is Z, MAAR, CM, Duncan, Moe, Simmons, Brooks, Teske, Livers for sureā€¦ And then one of Poole/Watson and probably Davis getting a few minutes

My guess:

Simpson, Simmons
MAAR, Brooks
Matthews, Poole
Duncan, Livers
Wagner, Teske

Davis is the 11th and gets 2 or 3 minutes instead of Teske.

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I bet they all see the floor as well as some of the walk-ons.

Yeah, but what matters is who sees the floor during the rotation part of the gameā€¦ not the last 2 minutes in a blowout

JB specifically said he wants to cut it down to 10 so that will be the telling part

Not too hard to figure out who the top 10 are. I would like to see him use that rotation all year long (assuming it produces).

The wildcard to me is Ibi

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Definitely a make or break year for him certainly. If he doesnā€™t crack the rotation this year, it definitely wonā€™t get easier next year.

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What should we read into this?

For almost the last decade, the point guard spot has been the least of Beileinā€™s concerns. This year, it is at the top of the list.

ā€œWeā€™ll figure it out,ā€ Beilein said. ā€œSome guys are learning very fast and some are not.ā€

Being that X got the start and the Brooks praise has been effusiveā€¦I think there might only be 1 other option

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thatā€™s what i was afraid of.

While weā€™re on the topic of reading into thingsā€¦I found it interesting that JB would only name MAAR and Wagner as starters. His quote about some guys being more comfortable coming off the bench felt very Duncan-specific to me. I wouldnā€™t be shocked to see Livers have a very real chance at the starting 4 or if Pooleā€™s game translates quickly maybe push CM to the 4 next to Poole.

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This would be very good for us if Livers was ready to start. Even if he just kicked the game off and Duncan came in. I worry about DRā€™s ability to match up to most teams 1ā€™s.

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But it is what is. If Z is playing really well, and Brooks is too, weā€™ll be more than fine at the position.

I tend to agree. Basically, weā€™re betting on Duncanā€™s ability to help spread the floor outweighing his inability to guard fours on the inside. I think in most games, that will work out OK for us, but not always. If Livers is capable of giving us strong minutes, that would be huge.

He was talking about the PGs at that spot, FWIW.

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I think it is safe to assume that Simmons is struggling a bit early to pick up the offense. Just given his body of work and the fact that he isnā€™t starting. That doesnā€™t mean things donā€™t start to click eventually.

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Since weā€™ve been thinking all offseason that Simmons would get the start and that now it seems likely that Z will get it, Iā€™m tending to think that Beilein meant that Simmons is still learning the system, and being a bit slow to get there. Donā€™t see this statement referring to Brooks necessarily