Detailed Beilein interview with Steve Kornacki

[JJ3]

I can hear Coach Beilein in a couple years urging Brooks to shoot more, much like he did with pass first Derrick Walton the last couple of seasons.

[hoops4hire]

Poole is talented and can be a really good player at the Big Ten level. I think the hardest part to project with any of these guys is how much information can they retain. At a lot of these “basketball” schools the ball is rolled out and VERY rarely do they learn a lot of plays with different options. Why? They don’t need to, they always have better players and rely on that rather than counting on X’s and O’s to get buckets.

I’m not saying Poole doesn’t have a high IQ, I’m saying that it’s a HUGE adjustment for high school kids with the amount of information they need to retain, and Beilein multiplies that by a lot compared to other coaches.These kids that go to LaLumiere, Fridley, Montverde, Oak Hill, etc all get better individually, just not sure how much they are pushed to increase their team IQ.

[YostsGhosts]

@UMHoopsFan

You left out the last couple of lines about Poole for some reason: “He passes like a 1 (point guard) and shoots like a 2. I think he has instincts like a 3.”

Meanwhile, you left out the first couple of lines about Brooks: “Eli is the consummate point guard, but because he is such a very good shooter he could play off guard for us. He sees the floor and really is a pass-first guy.”

I left out those portions of the Coachspeak because I think they more spoke to the long-term views of both guys. The area’s I highlighted, I thought spoke more to the short-term prognosis. In general Coachspeak, “We’ll see where he’s at in ______” tends to foreshadow a freshman/rookie who is struggling to learn the playbook or adjust to increase in details. While “he has the instincts that we love” tends to be reserved for a player the team will be a long-term contributor.

No doubt the staff really likes what Poole can bring down the line, will that be Nov/Dec? Or late in the '17-18 season? Or will it be his Sophomore season when it clicks?

[LosAngelesWolverine1]

Nik was pretty slight as a freshman. Still contributed in a big way. Heck, Caris was even thinner, and was pretty good by the end of his freshman year.

[UMHoopsFan]

Ah, I didn’t realize we had a PhD in Coachspeak on the board.

[therealmirman]

Very different body types. Poole isn’t a Chapman situation where I worried immediately about what I perceived as a lack of athleticism in his legs, and problems connecting lower half and upper half movement, but he’s not Nik and Caris, where that was never remotely a concern for me. I could see high D1 bounce in both those guys from Day 1. And they just had a tenacious level of activity that I knew would see them through fine competing in the Big Ten. We’ll have to see with Poole. I don’t think he’s physically where Nik and Caris were (they were thin, but strong rubber bands, the both of them), but I hope he’s making progress. He obviously has the potential to contribute if he can play D and not get lost in the wash of the fast and physical Big Ten.

[LosAngelesWolverine1]

I mean, sure, in a perfect world we would like Poole to have a more college ready body.

But, when guys can play, they can play. Poole reminds me a lot of Kris Johnson (former UCLA player). He came into college fat and out of shape (not saying Poole is that), was a decent player, then ultimately got in shape and was really good. Or, look at a guy like Dennis Scott. Ultimately, if you can play, you can play. Getting in better shape is always good, but not having a great college body is not a reason why someone won’t play at all if the skills are otherwise there.