I said this a long time ago too when we were hashing out the Simpson wouldn’t lose his job to Cole Anthony debate…but using Michigan’s run to the title game as an argument in favor of Simpson’s quality as a player (especially in comparison to other players on his own team) doesn’t make much sense to me. The team was incredibly lucky in more ways than one with an easy draw, all the top seeded teams losing, and surviving four AWFUL offensive performances led by Z himself. And if Poole doesn’t hit that “one remarkable shot”, no one could even use the “Z’s defense was absolutely essential in a title run” argument.
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We definitely caught some breaks in the tournament 
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I love that Dylan has been trying to control the Poole hype and now people are upset he has Poole ranked too high
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In the world where he loses his job to Brooks, Iggy or CM. Could easily happen. Oh yeah, forgot about DDJ. That could happen as well.
I think that Poole is the likely starter, but far, far from a lock.
I’ll gladly participate in any friendly wager you want that Poole won’t lose minutes at any point this season to Brooks or DeJulius. Matthews isn’t competing with Poole for minutes, they will likely play 30 each next to eachother. Iggy will start sooner rather than later IMO, but if it’s in place of Poole and not Livers, this team will be in trouble.
How so? Perhaps Iggy is too good to keep on bench and Livers is hitting 3s at a 40% clip while defending really well. I can see coach bringing JP in off the bench as a microwave type guy.
The Simpson fanaticism I just don’t get. I’m really looking forward to a game by game comparison of how he “locks down” his opponent this upcoming season.
Shot creation for himself and others. If Poole isn’t playing major minutes this team doesn’t have that skill. Z can pass but can’t create offense for himself well enough to be a primary playmaker. CM is better suited as a secondary option, and when we switched MAAR into that role last year that’s when the team’s success took off. Iggy might be able to shoulder that workload at some point but from what I see so far he’s pretty one dimensional as well in getting to the rim or bust. Livers is another solid defender/finisher/spot shooter but any combo of Z, CM, Livers and Teske without Poole is going to struggle immensely to score the ball IMO. JP is the ideal guy to get pick and roll ball handler opportunities, he’s literally the only guy on the team that has the proven ability to hit threes off the dribble and create separation for himself. He has good vision and is a threat to shoot, pass and get all the way to the rim depending on where the play goes.
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I liked Wayman Britt over Johnny Robinson also. Defense is under rated. Wayman is by far my all time favorite Wolverine.
I thinks some of you guys are miss judging Poole. At this point he probably has the best handle on the team after Simpson. Also the best skill to potentially create for himself and others. Not to mention probably the best spot up shooter on the roster. If he continues to add strength I see a high ceiling for him at the college level. We know JB will have to reign him in a little when he gets out of control but Matthews had the same issues last year, but in the tournament he put together a nice run. I look for Poole to step up this year.
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Yup. Poole is about as good of an unproven candidate a team can expect to get to fill the “playmaker” role. And additionally we sort of lack those kind of guys at the moment. A few of the freshman might develop into that role but they seem to be quite a ways behind Poole at this point.
This doesn’t seem remotely true.
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Offseason is making our group antsy.
Poole will start when healthy. Z is not all big-ten barring a huge improvement on the offensive end (which is possible given last year’s high points–will require more consistency this year and that has not been proven). CC and Johns are not likely breakthrough candidates this year given the recent history of freshmen bigs in JB’s offense. Matthews will be a slightly less sloppy version of his last year’s self.
To me, season comes down to how much Livers and Teske are ready to ball and how many minutes we can reasonably give Iggy. Iggy’s ability to defend will be the determining factor in that 3rd key. Eli is the x factor.
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