Ahhh, maybe that is the case. I definitely think that is the case with Aiken, hard to know what Smith expects but we are trying to get a hold of him. 
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Do you think Smith starts? Or would you guess that Brooks and Christopher start with some minutes where Smith and Brooks play together? If you had to guess who gets any remaining backup/foul trouble/injury SG minutes, would it be Bajema or Zeb?
I would be 100% shocked if Smith starts at either guard position
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The underlying shooting numbers are better IMO. Things like FT%, accuracy vs. expectation, catch and shoot. His shot just looks a lot better than Simmonsâ did. The turnover numbers are also better.
Other than that, a lot of the same concerns as far as a volume guy at a lower level going up a level and trying to rediscover a role. Neither player is particularly big or athletic or a great defender.
Part of the reason I think it is important to set the expectation of âthird guardâ instead of âstarting point guardâ.
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Great point about the FT shooting. That will be an upgrade over Simpson that will help mitigate the other downgrades.
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As I wrote in the Outlook part of the story, I think Eli-Christopher is the ideal starting guard combo. Smith can play backup minutes next to either one of those guys. You could also slide Christopher up to the three against a smaller lineup. Either way, Christopher and Eli are both going to be 30 min/game type players IMO.
Too early to make a projection about Zeb/Bajema IMO. I think youâd also have to incorporate Franz into the discussion.
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To me the biggest and best difference between Simmons and Smith is turnovers.
Simmons: 25% USG, 21% TO
Smith: 30% USG, 11% TO
This year in particular Smith was at 34% usage with a 12% TO rate. Incredibly clean with the ball.
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Smith doesnât strike me as high ceiling or a guy we want to play major minutes, but his existence will save us from ABSOLUTELY NEEDING minutes from Zeb as a true freshman (not that Zeb wonât be capable, but he may not). Smith as a âfloorâ for a third guard seems ok to me, with the potential that Cole/Zeb outclasses him for the spot.
Obviously if Christopher doesnât come, a backcourt of Eli, Cole, Zeb strikes me as way too risky for a team that wants a tournament berth, and having Smith in the mix should hopefully stabilize things in such a case.
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Since he was a one man team at Columbia his stats reflect his high usage. At Michigan his usage will be much lower. I would like to know what his stats might look like without taking bad, contested threes and end of shot clock drives because he was the only option. In other words, taking fewer, better shots may significantly increase his stats. Not that his stats are meaningless, but on such a bad team they may not reflect his true value to Michigan.
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I see Smith as a big asset when teams try and press us. Brooks does not have the best handle and from highlights I have watched, Smithâs handle is better. Now his size does hurt in the trap situation, but I will take his speed and handle as a positive. I like the addition.
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Some quotes in this article.
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More quotes here:
Weâll have some more on him coming shortly as well.
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This was my post on Smith when we first targeted him
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Wow, that was a really cool article!
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How much of his junior season did he miss with the torn meniscus? Is there a chance he could be granted an extra year of eligibility now that heâs out of the Ivy League?
Regardless of eligibility, I think he would be 25 years old by the end of a hypothetical redshirt senior season. He probably wants to get started on his pro career.
I believe he got a redshirt year out of it already.
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Yep, youâre right. I didnât realize that he had been there for 4 seasons. Thanks!
Love the pick-up and there are some interesting parallels to the Simmons beyond performance. We signed Simmons after losing a do-everything PG (Walton) when we werenât sure what we had with Simpson/Brooks. All three played and had their moments. Smith gives us insurance from injury, a true ball-handling PG, and roster flexibility.
Dylan - is there anything you can share about the likelihood that transition costs would be lower with Juwanâs system than Beileinâs? (Which was notoriously tough on first-year PGs)
I like the idea of him being a spark off the bench. Iâm a little worried about our ability to hit open jump shots based on the last 2-3 years and the make-up of the roster outside of Livers and hopefully Wagner. So if you bring Smith, Johns, Todd off the bench in an energy lineup I think you can exploit some match-ups and offer a change of paceâŚif you can survive defensively.
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