Adrien Nunez is a perfect fit for John Beilein's system

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I like how he really gets up in the air on his shot. I assume his defense will take some time to develop like most freshmen especially a three star. I wish these clips would show some defense though.

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I would say the primary concerns that will hold him back early are his defense and his ability to handle and do other things with the ball other than shoot. That being said, you may carve out a role for him if he can consistently knock shots in from 3-point range – especially on the move off of screens, etc.

Feels like he’ll get some non conference auditions and if he’s hitting shots could play 5-12 mpg if he can make 37% or so on threes and not be a turnover machine or defensive sieve.

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There is certainly a precedent for Michigan having a freshman gunner off the bench. The problem is that there are a few candidates for that role.

The hope is that the other freshman can prove to be more multi-dimensional and Nunez can be that specialist early on.

Depth is a good problem to have.

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I can’t see Nunez playing consistently once we hit conference season because that would mean we are running a 10/11 man rotation.

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It could also go the other way where he gets the Caris treatment. In other words, I could see them holding off on playing him and considering a redshirt until he is playing so well in practice they can’t afford to keep him on the bench later in the year. Thankfully, they will have the Europe trip available to assess him in live games a bit before the real season starts.

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I doubt that he will get redshirt unless he really wants. Caris is almost a year younger and Nurez is a year older. The key for him is to get comfortable with the game speed and the flow.

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Like instant heat aka Vinny Johnson off the bench maybe.

Or it would mean he earned his way into the 9/10 spot with his shooting/contributions.

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“If not for a lack of wing depth…”

Are we predicting a lack of wing depth for next year?

Potential wings: Poole, Matthews, Livers, Johns, Iggy…and Nunez. Seems like a lot of potential wings to me.

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Guaranteed contributors:
X
Poole
Matthews
Livers
Teske
Brooks or DD
Iggy
Johns
Davis or Castleton

So if Nunez is playing we are playing atleast 10 guys. I don’t think Beilein has ever had a 10 man rotation

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I doubt that any of Livers/Johns will see time at 3. Iggy’s best fit is also 4. We have Poole starting at 2 and Mathews at 3, with possibility of playing Iggy at 3, and DD/Brooks at 2.

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I hope this is the correct list but I’m also still a little skeptical of how the minutes will play out between Livers/Johns/Iggy. I don’t think it’s a guarantee that all three of them become rotation mainstays. A lot depends on positional versatility, like if one of Livers/Johns is backing up the 5 or if Iggy is able to play multiple spots.

I see guarantees of:

PG: Simpson 25-30 minutes
SG: Poole 30-35 minutes
Wing #1: Matthews 35 minutes
C: Teske 25 minutes

Then you peg one of DeJulius or Brooks for the backup PG minutes.

There’s 5-10 minutes available behind Poole. Do these go to Nunez? Dejulius/Brooks? Even Iggy or CM sliding down?

The Wing #2 starting spot could be won by Livers, Iggy or Johns. Who knows how these minutes get split. I’d love to see someone be so good that they demand 25-30 minutes right away. Hopefully that’s Iggy. If that’s the case, I could see only one of Livers/Johns getting the backup minutes. Plus 5 minutes backing up CM that could also go to that player or a split.

Behind Teske, Castleton/Davis should eat those minutes with potential to go small.

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Didn’t write the article, but I’d say there’s a lack of proven players at the 2 and 3. You can’t say with a straight face that you know who will backup Poole or Matthews right now.

I would say Iggy probably backs up Matthews and potentially you slide Matthews down to the 2 when Poole takes a breather, but that is all conjecture at this point. Or else you could say that you play two PGs… either way there aren’t a lot of wings that are sure things.

My prediction is something like

PG - Xavier (32) - DD (8)
SG - Poole (30) - Matthews (7) - DD (3)
SF - Matthews (28) - Iggy (12)
PF - Livers (20) - Iggy (8) - Johns (12)
C - Teske (25) - Davis (10) - Livers (5)

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I can see a VERY clear path for Nunez’s playing time…if he can hit a three with efficiency, then both DD and Brooks will definitely sit behind him on the bench. I realize DD has more hype and Brooks has a year of experience, but neither have a proven shot at the D1 level. If it turns out that Nunez does and they don’t, then he plays. Pretty simple.

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Well I think one of DD or Brooks has to play as a secondary ball handler and that’s a role that Nunez can’t fill right now from what I’ve seen on film.

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Yep. Theoretically you could run Poole as your backup lead guard to give Nunez more minutes, but I doubt Nunez is gonna warrant a 15-20 minute role.

My only problem with this is it gives us 8 minutes a game max with Poole, Matthews, Iggy on the floor together at once. I think especially since Simpson and Teske will be the other two on the floor, we’re really going to need Poole/Matthews/Iggy to become a go-to lineup for scoring punch purposes. Unless Livers makes a major jump this offseason then it works but him and Simpson together could be two offensive non-factors plus a big that may not be ready to stretch the floor in Teske.

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