I am not sure that you will see that lineup either, but you could easily run Brooks at the 1 in that lineup to space the floor. Poole should be seeing considerable time next year as well. I think you could very easily hope that at least one of them is on the floor at any point in time next year (you could replace Brooks with DeJulius for this argument as well).
I think next years team is going to flow through Poole a lot more. This year we have the luxury of having Duncan, Maar and Moe on the floor to space and shoot 3s. Next year, Poole may be our only proven high level shooter (not saying that Iggy, Johns or Livers could be but I havent seen it yet). I think he sees more time just purely based on his 3-ball, but think his PnR ability even elevates his value
Unless Mo is back, which I am expecting at this point.
At this point Poole and Matthews are guaranteed starters next season at the 2 and 3 imo. A huge development would be Matthews becoming an option at the 2 although I’m not expecting that at all. If Matthews doesn’t become an option at 2 then either Dejulius or Brooks has to, otherwise Nunez is the only option.
I think Livers could play Two. Don’t expect it but I think he will prove capable, if pressed into service.
Based on Coach Beilein presser yesterday, look for Livers to start taking people of the dribble and getting to the rim.
All in all Nunez will play little to no Two next season offensively. If he plays at all it will be the Zak Irvin freshman role of shooting spot up 3’s.
There is a pattern in place where freshmen swingmen learn the 3 at first then start learning the 2. I expect that to continue with Nunez. I expect Poole to start at the 2 next year with Brooks and Ibi backing him up, but we’ll see.
I would be shocked if Livers played a minute at the 2 his entire career at Michigan. The 2 can have as much ball handling responsibility as the 1 in JB’s offense. Not going to say it can’t happen, but I’d be surprised especially if it’s next season.
Agreed on Nunez though, so it’s imperative that Brooks or Dejulius becomes an option at the 2. I actually think Brooks plying opposite of Simpson has great potential if Brooks shows the shot making that the coaches think he is capable of.
Livers is not playing the 2 next year (or probably ever).
Poole should be the starting two on next year’s team. It is going to be a huge offseason for him because there are so many things to fix in his game but so much potential at the same time.
I agree that beyond Poole, the off guard is kind of a weakness depth wise. You have 3 PGs on the roster though, but it isn’t impossible to imagine Nunez as an option for shooting off the bench. Who else can provide you with guard shooting on next year’s roster?
Maybe Brooks, but obviously he hasn’t shown it. DeJulius is an off the dribble guy, but not a space the floor from the corner guy.
I’m not saying Livers is playing the Two next year, merely stating he will be more capable of playing two vs Nunez.
My point on Livers has been he has 2 guard skills not necessarily that he will play the Two. Offensively I believe he is very capable of getting his own shot. You see that jumper??? Nice!! Time will prove me right…or wrong.
Nunez I don’t have a strong opinion on. I’ve seen very little video, but everything points to an elite shooter with range, who still needs to develop most other aspects of his game. He will be interesting to watch.
Livers is basically playing the prototypical four role at Michigan right now. He’s scored 0 points this year off of ball screens (as the ball handler) or isolations and has only used 1 possession of each. All of his points scoring in spot-up situations have been off of catch and shoot jumpers.
I like his potential, his shooting stroke is really coming along, he offensive rebounds, runs the floor in transition, but he has yet to demonstrate any of the skills that you’d see in a guy playing the two.
Just curious, but why can’t DeJulius be a space the floor guy, whether it’s from the corner or up top? Walton did plenty of catch and shoot his freshman year, as did Nik, even though they could also do more (and did so more in later years).
As for backcourt minutes next year – 80 minutes for Simpson, Poole, Brooks, and DeJulius seems pretty workable. We’ll see about Brooks, but seems like he’ll get a big chance to prove he can shoot during games. And that’s not considering whether Matthews gets any minutes sliding down to the 2. If Nunez can play the 2 and earns minutes, great, but I’m not sure it would be out of necessity.
Maybe DeJulius could. That just isn’t what he does right now, he’s a ball dominant guard. I just think it would be nice to have another 2-guard with some size rather than running all 2PG lineups if Poole isn’t in the game. Not sure that Nunez is ready to play, but just saying that it is easy to visualize the need. I think Matthews sliding down to the two is the more likely solution considering how many jumbo-wings Michigan has coming in.
Charles will really need to improve his handle to move to the 2, but he could probably do it, especially if it is to back up Poole for 5-8 minutes.
I look for Brooks to take a big leap as a sophomore and be the primary backup at the one and two.
Beilein’s offense is called “2 Guard” for a reason. He developed it at Lemoyne with the idea of playing two “guards” together. It was two point guards at that time and he’s done that over the course of time. The argument is more about the defensive end but Brooks and DeJulius have to prove they can defend bigger 2’s throughout the conference.
There’s still lots of time to figure this out for Beilein. Nunez may make another jump and then there are fewer questions. You just never know.
I don’t see Livers playing any two guard. I do see him maybe playing the three/four. The two will be a question mark next year after Poole. Ibi in no way can I see playing the two. It may be Brooks by default especially if DeJulius comes along nicely as the backup point guard. But I can see Livers as the starting 4 and sliding to the three when Matthews get in foul trouble or needs a breather.
I have given MAAR a lot of flack in the past as a starter and main rotational player. But they are going to miss his stability next year. Someone needs to step up.
I can not see Nunez seeing any run at the two. Freshman who started late playing the game with difficult offense to learn. Not going to happen. As someone said maybe see the floor as a Zack Irvin type spot up shooter at the 3 at the most. The 2 guard will need to be able to advance the ball against pressure on many occasions.
Yeah, it would be nice to have an option for more size at the 2. Simpson, though, is obviously a good defender, and Brooks has acquitted himself quite well there for a freshman, while DeJulius is a big strong kid, so I think using some combo of them in the backcourt when Poole is out could work out pretty well. Hopefully it’ll be picking between the better of two good options (with the other being Matthews at the 2 or Nunez, etc.).
I’ve always heard of it referred to in the opposite way. He didn’t have 1 point guard, so played 2 non-point guards.
My point about two PGs is that Brooks and DeJulius aren’t great defenders probably at this level. You are having 2 6-footers on the floor at once and do you want them in the MAAR role checking the best defender on the other team?
Again this speaks more toward Nunez than the fact that Michigan is probably lacking depth at the 2 spot. That’s all I was trying to say above. I get that it probably sounded more like Nunez is ready to play, but not really what I meant.
I’m just saying that depth wise, the two is probably one of the most shallow spots on the roster next year.
I like Nunez’s game, he could be that diamond in the rough…similar to Caris. He plays against big time talent in his league and he just started playing at age 14. His fundamentals are probably weak but his upside could be huge. Whenever a kid is balling against D1 kids I think they’re less awestruck when they get to college. Should be fun to watch next year!
All I know is Poole is going to be an absolute monster of a guard for us next year. I am not sure who will back him up. Based upon watching Matthews this year and viewing film of Nunez I would say those two are both unlikely choices because their handles and ball handling in general do not look that great.