If the question in the OP is could Michigan use more 1st team all conference shot makers… well then the answer is a no brainer. Every team in the country could use more of those.
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That’s what I want to know about, next year’s (2019-20) players. With a new coach and a new system, frankly, I’m not interested in hearing about Jordan Poole, Iggy Brazdeikis, or Charles…well, actually, I always want to hear about Charles, GOOD things about Charles, 'cause I really admire that young man. But I focus on the future, not on the past, especially with a new coach and the resulting changes in the program and system. So, tell me about next year’s players, and especially their strengths. Thanks!
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Irvin wasn’t good at creating his own shots or anyone elses, he tried penetrating because 20 seconds of swinging the ball around the perimeter was going nowhere and it was either jack a 25 foot 3 out of rhythm or watch Zak try to get to the rim by being someone he wasn’t.
That’s what you end up with if you don’t have anyone that can break the defense down off the dribble (either in iso or ball screen).
You say Poole, Iggy, Matthews, but I say Trey, Nik, Mo, Zavier
Let me add three things–(1) it’s not just about creating your own shot, it’s about creating for others, (2) the offense can create shots through ball and player movement, even for (and via) players who can’t create their own shots, and (3) if the guy running the offense is good enough at creating for himself (and finishing) and for others, the need for multiple guys doing so is far lesser. Look at Michigan State last year–aside from Winston, who in the rotation was beating guys off the dribble and getting theirs, especially after Langford was lost for the year? Aaron Henry has that ability, but was a low usage, play off Winston guy, and no one else was close to the type of player we’re describing in this thread. Yet Michigan State led the country in assist rate and was seventh in overall offensive efficiency (per Torvik), because their role players took great shots (and converted them) and moved the ball for others, and, more importantly, because Winston was fantastic at distributing and finishing on his own. It’s about how guys fit together–last year’s Michigan State team after the injuries actually worked better than it worked before them, because it relied on Winston more. For Michigan this upcoming year, I think it is quite possible that we will not take a dip in efficiency (and might improve), even with the loss of JP, Iggy and Charles because guys will not be stepping on the offense looking for theirs instead of operating within its framework. I would not have said that before we got Franz–you still have to have shotmakers (like Michigan State did) if you’re going to be a team with few shot creators–but Franz changes the calculus markedly.
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Stealing some talking points from my story outline 
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Hmmm… is it X? Is it X? Hook shots galore
I guess it depends on what you define a shot creator as. Neither Iggy or Matthews would really be considered playmakers IMO. Iggy could attack closeouts and Matthews could get to a mid range jump shot. Neither one could beat a defender in an iso situation and get to the rim or create shots for other players with any type of consistency. Putting up shots doesn’t mean you can create your own shot, literally anybody on the planet with two arms can shoot a basketball.
Love the discussion, for me shot creation starts with quickness and the first step! In today’s game I’ll also include length and stride. Added together, give me that quick long step. Caris comes to mind.
What I can never gauge from video is quickness because I cannot gauge the quality of the defender.
Time will tell!
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You mean Michigan would be better if we had Trey Burke or Nik Stauskas added to this team? Absolutely riveting analysis.
Zak could absolutely create his own shot by his senior year. Creating your own shot is not the same thing as taking good shots. That is my point. We don’t need an Irvin, Poole, or Matthews on the team to be okay offensively. They could all get themselves open looks but they were also all inefficient.
"For Michigan this upcoming year, I think it is quite possible that we will not take a dip in efficiency (and might improve), even with the loss of JP, Iggy and Charles because guys will not be stepping on the offense looking for theirs instead of operating within its framework."
This.
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The wildcard here is that we know little to nothing about Juwan Howard’s offense schematically. If Beilein returned, I would agree with the premise that an offense centered around X with efficient shooters and selfless basketball could yield better results than last season. I’m so much less confident in that until we learn more about Juwan as a coach.
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No one on our team save X and Teske have shown any passing ability. So yes a team with great ball movement ala MSU can have a killer offense even with one shot creator. But The current roster has as much to prove in that department as it does the shot creation department.
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Brooks has shown flashes of being a good passer. He needs to improve but saying he hasn’t shown ANY ability as a passer is unnecessarily extreme.
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Dribble into the paint and turn the ball over is not creating your own shot.
No one here has suggested as much, but you decided to create that straw man to rail against with your own rivetting analysis that forcing bad shots is bad offense
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I agree with this. Brooks has had pretty good assist percentage numbers both seasons (second on the team last year), and that’s in the context of his badly lacking confidence in his shot, which has led to defenders playing off him and consequently worse passing angles. IF (and it’s a big IF), he gains confidence and becomes the competant shooter and finisher he looked like he might become out of high school, he absolutely could become a secondary creator and a quality passer.
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Ok yes it was an exaggeration. Thanks. Also Brooks has been abjectly bad at other offensive skills to where his passing is a moot ability. If he can knock down shots though…
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“If he can knock down shots though…” kturnup
I’m going to choose to say here, “When he begins to knock down shots.” And when that happens he will become the player Jeffrey describes.
“IF (and it’s a big IF), he gains confidence and becomes the competent shooter and finisher he looked like he might become out of high school, he absolutely could become a secondary creator and a quality passer.” Jeffrey_E_Schiller
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He showed some signs toward the end of the year. We’ll see if it carries over.
Early on last year, I saw Livers make some really nice passes.
The conversation did become a little circular there. But I don’t think there’s any question that if you CAN have a guy who can create when the play breaks down; if you CAN have a guy who can go to work by himself late in the shot clock. . . you want him. The notion that being this guy somehow means you can’t also play within the flow of the offense. . . dubious. I would also bet that it comes with the territory that many of those shots are misses, which is one reason that a certain kind of fan is always ragging on star players. Carson Edwards comes to mind. So far so good in the NBA. JP, too. One day Charles Matthews may yet begin to operate with confidence–a confidence he must have shown in practice for Beilein to go to him–and start hitting those five-to-ten foot buckets.
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