If I told you Darius Morris would be elite in PNR after his freshman year, would you have believed it? Maybe not.
If I told you Caris LeVert would be elite in the PNR after his freshman year, would you have believed it? Maybe not.
If I told you Derrick Walton would suddenly become elite in the PNR in the final half season of his career, would you have believed it? Maybe not.
If I told you that Xavier Simpson would become good in the PNR, would you believe it? Maybe not.
If i told you that MAAR would suddenly become good in the PNR in his senior season, would you believe it? Maybe not.
Thankfully a) we have a coach with a track record of developing that skill in guards and b) we have a couple Plan C and Plan D guys that could earn rotation minutes (Poole and Brooks). Iām not opposed to bringing in another guard for competition and depth, but only if Bamba goes elsewhere.
Iām telling you Iām not sure what the staff will do because Iām not on the staff.
Iām telling you we do indeed have a need for a PG because there is ONE on the roster next year.
I personally prefer a Johnson or Alstork because of the talent level and college experience vs a Barrett. Also, because if we can get away with Just X next year with a dab of either MAAR or Brooks, help is coming in '18. But not sure how the staff feels about that.
I also told you the reason for considering Barrett a PG and not a 3rd combo guard like Poole and Brooks. The kid is a PG.
Javon Pickett just decommitted from Illinois. Heās a very athletic wing who is going to be a pretty good college player IMO and if it were up to me, Iād be making a call to see if he had interest.
Simpson & Brooks are both PGs. Check any reputable scouting service ā Brooks is a PG.
I donāt want to put words in anyoneās mouth, but where I think you are getting hung up is with Coach Beileinās desire to have players with multi-positional abilities. In the case of Eli Brooks, UM is confident bringing DeJulius in as a PG in the Class of '18 because the staff thinks Brooks can shoot well enough to play alongside Simpson or Brooks in a 2 PG rotation. But that doesnāt diminish the fact that Brooks is a PG, much like the staff was comfortable using Albrecht in rotations with Burke or Walton during Spikeās career at UM ---- but Spike was still very much a PG.
With that said, adding another High School PG this year just seems like poor roster management. It wouldnāt quell concerns at the position of 17-18 (Fr PGs tend to master Beileinās system at a slower rate) and it would lead to a positional glut in 18-19 with 4 of 13 scholarship slots dedicated to primary PGs.
Gotta disagree - he made some outstanding reads and passes in the half court over the past 15 games. I think it was just him finally imposing his will and becoming far less passive.
Or do you disagree that 4 PGs on a 13 scholarship roster is too many?
Or do you disagree that Beilein has been willing to play 2 PGs in a backcourt together?
Or do you just feel Barrett is too good to pass up regardless of roster composition?
If you just feel Barrett is too good to pass up, I disagree but I can see a reasonable logic there. The other three items are fairly irrefutable ā unless you feel that yes Brooks is a PG, but he was a ābad takeā by the staff and heās not going to be able to play PG at a B1G level in college. I can see a logic there, but Iād prefer to wait until fall practice starts to learn more about our incoming freshmen.
Irrefutable? I donāt think Brooks is being brought in as a PG, nor does he have a PGās game. He could spot the PG in short sections of the game but it dosent make him a PG, regardless of what āscouting sitesā list him as. Kid is a 2 guard in a 6ā0-6ā1 frame.
So letās say that makes him a combo 2 guard. I think Poole is even less of a PG (Heās not a PG at all). So, imo, that leaves us with ONE PG on the roster next year. One being a 5ā10 question mark as a soph. The other a 6ā1 2 guard freshman. Itās why weāre going after a grad transfer PG now. THATS irrefutable.
Barrett should be a wait and see and thatās precisely what the staff is doing. I like his game but a 1 yr PG should be option #1 (or a talent like Johnson but U.K. Is strong there) for UM with DeJulius coming in '18.
I donāt think you can determine his position from his HS league play since he was asked to do everything for his team. He played the point in his AAU games, which is more telling.
I think Brooks is a pg. either way itās clear he can play both.
When looking st grad transfers itās gotta be alstork right? If you choose? Unfortunately for him I canāt see him in the NBA. Not athletic enough but man is he smart/,skilled. Just for what we need he seems the best option.
Just my humble opinion, but I think weāre overrating the point guard role in this offense, because weāve had such good ones the last 6 or 7 years. I absolutely think MAAR/Poole/Brooks/Grad Transfer can play the 1 in this offense and we could still thrive. And of course I also hope X turns out to be phenomenal.
Honestly, in order for this offense to be successful in todayās college game, you need 5 guys on the court who understand the different actions, 3/4 guys who at least pose a threat as a shooter, and 1 to 2 guys who can make a play in PNR or Iso during late-clock scenarios.
The ball changes hands so many times that - as long as we have a āgo-to guyā to get the ball to when the offense breaks down - I couldnāt care less what position he plays within the offense.
Hey Dylan is shakwon the only 17 beside mo were tracking? I felt like with all the decommits and job changes there is a lot of highly ranked 17s floating around. After our run there and a lot of hype and talk about our talent still on board and coach beleins development skills that there would be some late interest from guys floating around.
My question with the PG position isnāt necessarily its role in facilitating the offense ā in practice Beilein has had offenses run through "2"s and "3"s and still produce rather efficiently. My question with the PG position ā or really with the 5-man unit on the court ā is whether thereās enough ball handing/skill level to counter a press/trap defense?
Think games against Minnesota, Louisville ā¦ Texas next year ā¦ even Purdue ran some press when we got up in the B1G Tourney game. Michigan State will have the depth and athletes to run some press next season, if it needs to.
Walton was the man for us in that regard last season with Irvin helping out majorly. MAAR was not good in the Tournaments vs presses/traps ā dribbled or passed the ball into bad spots.
I think Simpson can handle it next season. Iām skeptical of MAAR. Iām not hopeful of Robinson. Neither Wilson nor Wagner were used prominently in press break when Walton was denied the ball ā which leads me to believe the coaches arenāt sold on them as press break options. Matthews becomes the swing piece to me; if he can help press break like Irvin generally did then it reduces the risk of opponents trying, but if he is more MAAR-like with his decisions in press break Michigan may see it regularly.
Which is why Iām concerned about the other PG options on the roster. Will Brooks be able to handle press break or Poole? Or will next yearās team be susceptible to press defenses whenever Simpson is off the court?
I donāt see Alstork being a reliable non-turnover option there. I would feel more comfortable with Daniel in that role ā if Freshman year Brooks struggles with it.
Good point. The question mark on MAAR is not his handle but his decision making and not seeing the floor well. The same applies to Brooks and Poole. Both can handle the ball, but we donāt know if they can pass the ball to the right spot. That said, I believe that both Poole and Brooks will be better than this yearās version of MAAR in this department.
Very fair - I guess I just see press-break (or even soft press) being something that can be coached if its a legitimate concern. I was only speaking to running our half court offense. And to be clear, I do think having a good point guard is a good thing, and I hope X is that person. Iām just not too concerned with filling the minutes behind him given the options we currently have or are looking at.
I would be shocked if Michiganās struggles next year are because it canāt deal with pressing defenses. John Beilein teams donāt turn the ball over and I wouldnāt expect that to change regardless of personnel.
Basically if there are two things you can lock in about any Michigan season: a lot of 3-point attempts and very few turnovers.