You also can (and I think will) have Jordan Poole in that mix at the 3. He’s not a guy who is going to guard 4s, but he’s a guy who can play the 3 (I’d start him there for his freshman year before moving to the two).
That’s interesting. I was thinking Poole would be at the 2 and not focus on learning two positions but maybe it makes more sense to have him at the 3 like Stauskas, Hardaway and LeVert started off as. He’s a little undersized but he can certainly stand in the corner and knock down 3’s I would think. Beilein seems to be pretty high on Brooks so maybe he focuses more on playing the 2 next year.
My biggest concern for next year is the defense taking a major step back again and who the heck is going to rebound the ball. I think we will have a really good offense again but hopefully we don’t fall into the abyss on defense.
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The way I see it is: Simmons, MAAR, Simpson and Brooks to play the 1 and 2, Matthews, Robinson, Watson, Poole and Livers to play the 3/4. Could change, but that’s where I would put guys.
Poole just seems like a guy you get on the floor as a freshman and try to have him get up 100 3PAs to stretch the floor off the bench. Almost similar to Zak Irvin as a frosh in terms of offensive role IMO and easier to do that from a wing spot.
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Austin Davis is another piece in the puzzle. JB has praised him quite a bit, which we should all take with a grain of salt. But at the same time, JB really has not recruited any transfer bigs, or any 2018 bigs for that matter. So JB seems to think that Teske and Davis will be solid. If Davis turns out to be the real deal, maybe he could slide over to the 4 when the other team goes big.
I’ve been wrong before, but I’d be shocked if Davis plays any sort of minutes at the four this year. The four is a wing position and Davis is not a wing at all. Now maybe you say Moe to the 4 and all of that (something I hit on in the DJ story this week) but I don’t see that as a benefit either. If Davis and Teske can provide adequate backup minutes at the five, that’s a win for Michigan.
Davis is an old school big man, pick and roll finisher, catch and finish around the hoop, power game – he’s not going to play on the wing.
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One of Livers and Poole (I’m pretty convinced he will play over Watson) really needs to produce, this year, assuming we dont get another grad transfer, or maybe Iggy, assuming he’s more ready to contribute than Livers.
We are so thin behind CM and Duncan at the 3/4. I guess Brooks could also be legit, and then MAAR could play some 3.
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Simpson could also push MAAR to play some minutes at the 3, depending on his development.
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In high school, sure. Where’s he at today, I don’t know. I have to assume his game has evolved and I’m fairly sure Austin has worked on his outside shot. After all, he has logged plenty of minutes playing against Mo and DJ in practice, which I’m sure has altered his view of a big man. Hey, I have no inside information, I am just conjecturing. But Beilein clearly thinks highly of both Teske and Davis.
Even if he’s improved his footwork, agility and speed since HS, there’s little chance he’s capable of consistently making the movements required of a wing for us. I’m not even sure Moe will be capable of it for more than a few spot minutes.
IMO, only way we see Davis at the four is if JB has developed a more traditional two big man setup in his offense. Davis’ ceiling is a more offensively skilled and better rebounding JMo. JMO
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Davis isn’t a 4. He just isn’t. Especially in M’s offense.
Doesn’t mean Davis can’t someday be a pick and pop 5.
If it turns out Davis is a proficient 3 point shooter, then you’re looking at a Pittsnogle type Center
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Mobility wise, Davis had a long way to go to play the 5 in college. I’m sure he’ll have made improvements, but if you can’t play the four in high school then you can’t play the five, at Michigan, in college. The four is a perimeter spot.
We never quite got to the point where Michigan would play a guy like Mitch McGary at the four consistently and he could move, handle the ball and do all sorts of ridiculous things for a guy his size.
If Austin Davis is playing the four at any point next year, something went off the rails. Maybe you could see a Wagner, Davis lineup with Wagner at the four, but I still strongly feel that takes away from Moe’s strengths and would have to mean that Davis is a better option than one of the many guard/wing options that U-M could insert into the lineup.
Building off this, Michigan used to be unique in the sense that it had a small ball four, but look at the Big Ten next year and Minnesota is almost the only team who will play a post-type player at the four. These are some of the names that Michigan’s ‘power forward’ will probably be guarding… Basically a bunch of versatile 6-7 guys:
Vince Edwards, Juwan Morgan, Justin Jackson, Jae’Sean Tate, Miles Bridges, Ahmad Wagner, Sanjay Lumpkin, Leron Black, Isaiah Roby, Lamar Stevens…
I can’t imagine Austin Davis (and really Moe Wagner) guarding them very often.
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All of this is uninformed summer speculation for sure (but it’s kinda fun). None of us know how much Austin has progressed. Actually, it could be that Davis is ahead of Teske for the #2 center spot. For this case it’s very unlikely he would be slotted as a backup 4, right?
Another issue is, “who can play center in 18/19?” I would feel better if Beilein was actively recruiting an 18 big. I think we need this.
Could Davis pass Teske? Certainly. Especially given that Teske barely played and Beilein said late last year that he had second thoughts about red shirting him. Key for Michigan is to just get 15 mins per game of quality minutes from those two.
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Odds that maar plays 3 in certain lineups with 2 of Simmons/x/brooks on the court?
I think that’s an option (we saw it last year for X and Derrick). So many x-factors on the wings though, hard to separate them. Lots of options, very few guarantees.
My original wording was ‘any possibility’ before I realized that was a yes. Want to venture a guess at odds on MAAR playing 5 mpg or more at the 3. Especially when you listed the fours it could be easier to slide cm up defensively.
Sly will like this but I wouldn’t mind if we kicked the tires on Naz Carter for 17.
I thought I’d get roasted for this in the other thread so I’ll try and bait someone here…Hibbitts at the 4?! Yay or nay?! 3rd year, 6’8", decent shooter, had some D-1 offers out of HS.
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Davis was flat footed for a 5. I see a 0% chance of him playing the 4.
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Totally forgot about that guy. lol, love the optimism.
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