Game 27: Michigan at Minnesota Recap

Just like if M wins the B1G reg season title and there were no M players on the first team All B1G. Right Dylan?

I think another thing to consider is days when iggy isnā€™t playing well or is just off, just give those minutes to livers. Heā€™s had some rough games and it makes sense to just roll with livers in those moments imo. Heā€™s a superior defender and I donā€™t think iggy is that much better offensively. Iggy just plays with more swag and aggression on offense which is why he is superior but livers has the ability to create and is the better shooter.

My assumption is that DeJulius has been drinking from a firehose trying to learn the 1, which is probably the most complex spot on the team anyway, that he just doesnā€™t know the role to take the backup 2 minutes - otherwise he would be.

I do not want to come off as ā€œhatingā€ on one of our players, but the results we get from Eli Brooks are bad. His numbers are essentially identical to last year, and he is perpetually ā€œshookā€. He is visibly afraid to be out there and perform in his role, and we all know that you donā€™t endear yourself to Beilein by refusing to shoot open shots within the flow of the offense.

I hope, as do we all, he can figure it out. I sincerely doubt it will be this year, and his role on the team is ripe for replacement next year if he canā€™t.

You keep saying Livers has the ability to create and I just donā€™t see it and donā€™t know how you possibly have that much confidence in his ability off the dibble/passing. No hate, glad youā€™re optimistic about him, but I think youā€™re a bit off on this one.

Liversā€™ ability to create is definitely a weakness right now. I hold my breath when he dribbles.

Iā€™ve seen him get to the rim and finish and when he misses itā€™s a good look normally. Particularly off head fakes. Also he looked promising in post ups/ turn arounds. Problem is he rarely does either. Iā€™d like him to be more aggressive on both. He has nice body control and overall skill set. I believe he could add these as real weapons and succeed.

Adding to this. If you watch him back into aau he has the ability to face up on the block or high post and work from there. Most of his game was still pick and pop or on the break but he has the ability to do what we see Charles does in the post (Charles foot work is superior right now)but in the ability to dribble into position than hit the turn around.

Also he could develop a nice step back because his body control is really impressive along with his leaping ability.

If iggy is struggling you still have two great slashers , one guy who can in Jordan and teske. I think if you slide livers in in those games a bit more and ride the hot hand it would be a positive in those moments

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I agree about the dribbling but thatā€™s why I love livers. He doesnā€™t need many dribbles. I think he could be very effective facing up in the mid range on top of his three balls, d, and fast break buckets. Itā€™s a different level In college but heā€™s hit some of the turn arounds Iā€™m talking about or mid range shots over the last two years.

If you bring up his high school film though and aau he has a lot of these moves and baskets. One to two dribbles pull ups in the 10-15 range after posting and facing up. I think it will translate but he needs to have the iggy mentality.

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I think some players cannot comprehend Beileinā€™s instructions and look lost on the floorā€¦ I think of Cameron Chatman, Zak Irvan at times, and now Eli Brooksā€¦
I think it hurts the team to have these guys on the floor passing up wide open 3s and basically making a mess out of thingsā€¦ team confidence goes down, down, downā€¦ I do believe their disfunctionality is contagiousā€¦

We have excellent leadership and personal chemistry between X, Matthews, Livers and Poole. I think you are selling those guys short a bit. There is no way those 4 guys are going to let any sort of dysfunction spread through the team. They have excellent chemistry on the personal level and want the best for each other, I think.

I do think Irvin, along with Walton and MAAR had some very weird chemistry for awhile thereā€¦I just donā€™t see weird chemistry or pettiness in this group at all. Very team oriented guysā€“even when Freshman Iggy is playing with tunnel-vision :slight_smile:

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You thinks itā€™s his instructions? I thinks itā€™s straight confidence with Eli. Heā€™s gun shy it appears to me.

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I disagree in terms of Eli. I think his comprehension is there in terms of what Iā€™m seeing. Heā€™s moving the ball fine, the offense is operating, and heā€™s getting some open looks. The problem is heā€™s either not taking them, or heā€™s short on all of them, both I think are confidence issues.

Someone I think has to remind Eli that heā€™s the guy that hit two big free throws to send Michigan to overtime against UCLA last season after his drive to the rim. The two I think is going to be a good position for him to really get back into form and help confidence grow down this home stretch.

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The problems with Brooks having confidence issues is that he just doesnā€™t get enough usage to find himself again. Every shot opportunity he sees has a good chance to be the only real chance he gets for an entire game. So heā€™s gunshy and thereā€™s no way for him to shoot himself into a productive scoreline. Teske got a half dozen chances to shoot a three against Maryland before he made one, and he missed his first two in Minneapolis, but he got chances.

Brooks gets one chance and biffs it and thatā€™s it.

I donā€™t see how he changes the narrative this year unless Michigan encounters an injury or foul disaster. I guess the best-case scenario is a rout of someone like Nebraska in which Poole gets autobenched and Brooks gets 10 minutes on the floor and make a couple of shots. But Iā€™m not seeing it happen now.

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This! I agree!

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Brooks is the son of a coach and was touted as getting it very early on. Donā€™t think lack of comprehension is the problem. He plays good D and people were commenting that the offense flowed when he was in early in the season. Guy ducks shots is all; we know he can shoot, too. Question is whether he will seize the bull by the horns, or is seeing his chance slip away.

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And this, too!

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I feel for Eli. This season is trending just like last year. Lots of promise, flashes of brilliance, and just a straight nose dive in offensive confidence. It seems to be all mental with him. For our sake and his, I hope he can sort it out. Potential and IQ will always be thereā€¦ he needs some of that JP swag though. Heā€™s about to passed by younger players, and as one of his biggest fans, I can understand why. Just shoot it, Eli!

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Brooks seems like a great kid, but his career up to this point has been very non descript. Itā€™s hard to run from the numbers:

CAREER SHOOTING
46-135 overall 34%
20-76 from three 26%

Only 22 minutes played in last five games.

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Re:Eli I hope that DeJulius backing up x really frees him up. I wonder if he put pressure on himself to really facilitate as he played point last year when he started and he was backing up both Simpson and Poole for a while. If he was trying to be a point guard he may have put pressure on himself to shoot less, since he hasnā€™t been burning the nets. I hope he picks it up, his shot looks great and I bet Beilein is telling him he HAS to shoot those open looks after ball
Movement.

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Some insight from Brooksā€™s hometown paper after last season. . . expectations can be daunting, but seems like a bright kid from a supportive milieu.

I donā€™t pay much attention to recruiting, so some of this may be old hat for close followers.

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