One of the most overused cliche in college basketball. Poole and Matthews could create their own shots and yet both were inefficient offensively. Give me players that play within the offense.
Sorry, whatās the most overused cliche? āPlaymaking guardsā? I donāt think too many people would deny that coaches try to figure out whose hands the ball should be in late in the shot clock or down the stretch in a close game, do you? (Pardon any cliches.)
I think the idea would be to have players (or a player) who could create their own shots efficiently.
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I think it is important to note 2 things here:
- Players who can get their own shots often are inefficient at times, itās about making sure they arenāt forcing the issue too often and picking their moments when the team āneeds a bucketā
- Yes Matthews and Poole had their fair share of efficiency problems when creating their own but if they werenāt there a player like Livers or Simpson would have to do it and Iād bet my life they would be even LESS efficient. Itās just that the burden fell to them and they could do better than anyone else could.
Obviously players creating their own offense isnāt the only offense a team should run and thatās why teams donāt do that but not every possession is going to result in a good look in a timely matter so you need people who can make difficult shots on their own. I think itās a given these are supposed to be less efficient shots.
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It would be nice to have that kind of scorer. Even a run-stopper guy with a go-to move. But thatās the difference between having a nice offense that can lead to a tourney birth and a shot at winning a game or two on that stage and having an offense that can get you deeper in the tourney.
Iām not expecting it, but I wouldnāt be surprised if DDJ brings some āscorerā to the table. People say Johns will really benefit from what could be a simpler system than Beilein had, but I think that DDJ could as well.
Iām not saying itās not nice to have play making guards. Iām saying that the idea that you need someone to be able to create their own shot to be good is overplayed and players creating their own shot isnāt always a good thing.
That would be ideal, sure. My point is that losing Pooleās ability to create his own shot isnāt that big of a deal.
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Easier said that done. See: Jordan Poole 2018/19.
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Ties into one. You get the good (having someone who can get an open look at the end of a shot clock) with the bad (having someone who feels like them getting themselves an open look is always the best shot). Will the teams offensive efficiency be worse at end-of-clock situations? Sure. Does that mean the teams overall offensive efficiency will be worse? No.
So you get the 2014-15 and 15-16 teams where Zak Irvin had to handle the ball and create offense because he was the least-bad option to do so? Hard pass
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Poole, Matthews and Iggy donāt really pertain to the conversation given that it is about next yearās team. It isnāt really about replacing X, Y or Z, it is about what assets next yearās team has and whether it is a gap.
For example, I would say it was probably a gap on last yearās team.
Some of the comments in here have drawn my interest though, might work on a story about this.
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Hoping to do it this week.
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Hard pass on what? Itās not like thereās a choice to be had this year. Iām not saying I wouldnāt want a go to scorer if one walked through the door. Iām saying the idea that you need a Poole or Matthews to have a good offense is wrong.
Irvin is another example. By his senior year he was good at creating his own shots but was incredibly inefficient. When players are good at creating their own shots they tend to play hero ball on possessions where itās not necessary.
What you may lose in end of the clock situations you may gain in overall offensive efficiency. Itās not a hard concept.
They are relevant when talking about shot creators and efficiency.
My point is that they were not great in that area. This was a problem for last yearās team.
Which is what Iām saying. When you have guys that can create their own shot and itās still a problem then simply having guys that can create their own shot isnāt the solution.
Either give me guys that can make those shots (these are 1st team All Conference type shooters who Iād obviously love to have but we canāt expect to have one each year) or give me guys that play within the offense efficiently. Iāll take a shot clock violation and a guy shooting 4 of 8 over chucked shot and a guy shooting 4 of 11.
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Looking forward to your story, Dylan.
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Absolutely agree with your first statement. In my opinion this discussion should focus on which players on the current roster might be the playmaking guard(s) that we need for the upcoming year because at this juncture no one else is walking through the door for 2019-20 to fill that role. Now, if we have wing type forwards who can be playmakers, e.g. Isaiah, that discussion would be pertinent and interesting to me, too.
I will say this, I, personally, am not really interested in reading all the opinions that may exist about which of our players canāt fill a playmaking role on this team. I think we are one player short of being an outstanding team, that being a really good 6ā4ish playmaking two guard who can get his own taking it to the hole, and who can shoot it from three as well. We donāt have that player, and weāre not getting him, but I DO think we have options and players who, if they make a jump this year, can help us to be really good. Tell me about them and why they have a chance to fill an important role on the team. I almost said āourā team, but Iām a little sensitive about that term per yesterdayās (day before yesterday?) discussion of the word āourā as it relates to Michigan basketball! 
Just my thoughts, so fire away forum! And, again, looking forward to your story, Dylan.
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Let me make my point simple.
We lost our three best shot creators from last year and yet I think of offense can be just as efficient overall.
Anyone can create their own shot, making them is what we are talking about. Rather than just go back and forth here, Iāll work on a story this week regarding who were Michiganās best shot creators last year (answers might surprise) and who could fill that void this year.
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Iām looking forward to the āwho could fill that void this yearā part. This may sound weird, but I donāt care about last year. I will have fond memories of parts of last year (17-0 start!), but last year is over. Iām looking forward to this year.
Along those lines, I will have wonderful and nostalgic memories of the Beilein era, but thatās it, memories. Iām looking forward to the Juwan Howard era. I enjoyed watching Moe play basketball for Michigan, but Iām looking forward to watching Franz play basketball for Michigan, and thatās my focus now. So, who will fill the roles on this Michigan team in 2019-20, thatās where my interest lies.
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Very hard to look at next year without looking at last year. Obviously the offense, coach and system will change, but we know nothing about what Juwan Howard is going to do. We do know things about what Michiganās returning players looked like within the context of college basketball games last season.
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