Potential 17 targets

If I told you Darius Morris would be elite in PNR after his freshman year, would you have believed it? Maybe not.

If I told you Caris LeVert would be elite in the PNR after his freshman year, would you have believed it? Maybe not.

If I told you Derrick Walton would suddenly become elite in the PNR in the final half season of his career, would you have believed it? Maybe not.

If I told you that Xavier Simpson would become good in the PNR, would you believe it? Maybe not.

If i told you that MAAR would suddenly become good in the PNR in his senior season, would you believe it? Maybe not.

Thankfully a) we have a coach with a track record of developing that skill in guards and b) we have a couple Plan C and Plan D guys that could earn rotation minutes (Poole and Brooks). Iā€™m not opposed to bringing in another guard for competition and depth, but only if Bamba goes elsewhere.

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How is it inconsistent? Lol

Iā€™m telling you Iā€™m not sure what the staff will do because Iā€™m not on the staff.

Iā€™m telling you we do indeed have a need for a PG because there is ONE on the roster next year.

I personally prefer a Johnson or Alstork because of the talent level and college experience vs a Barrett. Also, because if we can get away with Just X next year with a dab of either MAAR or Brooks, help is coming in '18. But not sure how the staff feels about that.

I also told you the reason for considering Barrett a PG and not a 3rd combo guard like Poole and Brooks. The kid is a PG.

Hope that clears it up.

Javon Pickett just decommitted from Illinois. Heā€™s a very athletic wing who is going to be a pretty good college player IMO and if it were up to me, Iā€™d be making a call to see if he had interest.

If we only have one point guard next year, is it Simpson or Brooks?

Like who would we prefer? If so, Iā€™d take Simpson 8/10 times.

Ha never mind, someone said we only have one when indeed we have two.

Simpson & Brooks are both PGs. Check any reputable scouting service ā€” Brooks is a PG.

I donā€™t want to put words in anyoneā€™s mouth, but where I think you are getting hung up is with Coach Beileinā€™s desire to have players with multi-positional abilities. In the case of Eli Brooks, UM is confident bringing DeJulius in as a PG in the Class of '18 because the staff thinks Brooks can shoot well enough to play alongside Simpson or Brooks in a 2 PG rotation. But that doesnā€™t diminish the fact that Brooks is a PG, much like the staff was comfortable using Albrecht in rotations with Burke or Walton during Spikeā€™s career at UM ---- but Spike was still very much a PG.

With that said, adding another High School PG this year just seems like poor roster management. It wouldnā€™t quell concerns at the position of 17-18 (Fr PGs tend to master Beileinā€™s system at a slower rate) and it would lead to a positional glut in 18-19 with 4 of 13 scholarship slots dedicated to primary PGs.

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Gotta disagree - he made some outstanding reads and passes in the half court over the past 15 games. I think it was just him finally imposing his will and becoming far less passive.

Yea, we just disagree.

I guess Iā€™m confused on what areas we disagree?

Do you disagree that Brooks is a PG?

Or do you disagree that 4 PGs on a 13 scholarship roster is too many?

Or do you disagree that Beilein has been willing to play 2 PGs in a backcourt together?

Or do you just feel Barrett is too good to pass up regardless of roster composition?

If you just feel Barrett is too good to pass up, I disagree but I can see a reasonable logic there. The other three items are fairly irrefutable ā€” unless you feel that yes Brooks is a PG, but he was a ā€œbad takeā€ by the staff and heā€™s not going to be able to play PG at a B1G level in college. I can see a logic there, but Iā€™d prefer to wait until fall practice starts to learn more about our incoming freshmen.

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No offer for Barrett on his official (as kind of expected). Sounds like they are going to stay in contact and see how other options develop.

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Irrefutable? I donā€™t think Brooks is being brought in as a PG, nor does he have a PGā€™s game. He could spot the PG in short sections of the game but it dosent make him a PG, regardless of what ā€œscouting sitesā€ list him as. Kid is a 2 guard in a 6ā€™0-6ā€™1 frame.

So letā€™s say that makes him a combo 2 guard. I think Poole is even less of a PG (Heā€™s not a PG at all). So, imo, that leaves us with ONE PG on the roster next year. One being a 5ā€™10 question mark as a soph. The other a 6ā€™1 2 guard freshman. Itā€™s why weā€™re going after a grad transfer PG now. THATS irrefutable.

Barrett should be a wait and see and thatā€™s precisely what the staff is doing. I like his game but a 1 yr PG should be option #1 (or a talent like Johnson but U.K. Is strong there) for UM with DeJulius coming in '18.

I donā€™t think you can determine his position from his HS league play since he was asked to do everything for his team. He played the point in his AAU games, which is more telling.

I think Brooks is a pg. either way itā€™s clear he can play both.

When looking st grad transfers itā€™s gotta be alstork right? If you choose? Unfortunately for him I canā€™t see him in the NBA. Not athletic enough but man is he smart/,skilled. Just for what we need he seems the best option.

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Iā€™m really glad that alstorks timeline will let us keep pursuing bamba. I think Johnson will commit before mo.

Just my humble opinion, but I think weā€™re overrating the point guard role in this offense, because weā€™ve had such good ones the last 6 or 7 years. I absolutely think MAAR/Poole/Brooks/Grad Transfer can play the 1 in this offense and we could still thrive. And of course I also hope X turns out to be phenomenal.

Honestly, in order for this offense to be successful in todayā€™s college game, you need 5 guys on the court who understand the different actions, 3/4 guys who at least pose a threat as a shooter, and 1 to 2 guys who can make a play in PNR or Iso during late-clock scenarios.

The ball changes hands so many times that - as long as we have a ā€œgo-to guyā€ to get the ball to when the offense breaks down - I couldnā€™t care less what position he plays within the offense.

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Hey Dylan is shakwon the only 17 beside mo were tracking? I felt like with all the decommits and job changes there is a lot of highly ranked 17s floating around. After our run there and a lot of hype and talk about our talent still on board and coach beleins development skills that there would be some late interest from guys floating around.

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My question with the PG position isnā€™t necessarily its role in facilitating the offense ā€” in practice Beilein has had offenses run through "2"s and "3"s and still produce rather efficiently. My question with the PG position ā€” or really with the 5-man unit on the court ā€” is whether thereā€™s enough ball handing/skill level to counter a press/trap defense?

Think games against Minnesota, Louisville ā€¦ Texas next year ā€¦ even Purdue ran some press when we got up in the B1G Tourney game. Michigan State will have the depth and athletes to run some press next season, if it needs to.

Walton was the man for us in that regard last season with Irvin helping out majorly. MAAR was not good in the Tournaments vs presses/traps ā€” dribbled or passed the ball into bad spots.

I think Simpson can handle it next season. Iā€™m skeptical of MAAR. Iā€™m not hopeful of Robinson. Neither Wilson nor Wagner were used prominently in press break when Walton was denied the ball ā€” which leads me to believe the coaches arenā€™t sold on them as press break options. Matthews becomes the swing piece to me; if he can help press break like Irvin generally did then it reduces the risk of opponents trying, but if he is more MAAR-like with his decisions in press break Michigan may see it regularly.

Which is why Iā€™m concerned about the other PG options on the roster. Will Brooks be able to handle press break or Poole? Or will next yearā€™s team be susceptible to press defenses whenever Simpson is off the court?

I donā€™t see Alstork being a reliable non-turnover option there. I would feel more comfortable with Daniel in that role ā€” if Freshman year Brooks struggles with it.

Good point. The question mark on MAAR is not his handle but his decision making and not seeing the floor well. The same applies to Brooks and Poole. Both can handle the ball, but we donā€™t know if they can pass the ball to the right spot. That said, I believe that both Poole and Brooks will be better than this yearā€™s version of MAAR in this department.

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Very fair - I guess I just see press-break (or even soft press) being something that can be coached if its a legitimate concern. I was only speaking to running our half court offense. And to be clear, I do think having a good point guard is a good thing, and I hope X is that person. Iā€™m just not too concerned with filling the minutes behind him given the options we currently have or are looking at.

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I would be shocked if Michiganā€™s struggles next year are because it canā€™t deal with pressing defenses. John Beilein teams donā€™t turn the ball over and I wouldnā€™t expect that to change regardless of personnel.

Basically if there are two things you can lock in about any Michigan season: a lot of 3-point attempts and very few turnovers.

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