The Moving Screen: Thoughts on Michigan's 5-0 start

I would say free throw shooting is also a problem, or at least not a strength.

Small sample size but, Johns is 1/1 on threes vs DDJ 1/5. Also, I think Johns would have an easier time getting quality 3 point looks than DDJ would. Regardless, I don’t think 3 point shooting will determine who gets the bench minutes.

1 Like

FYI, Average minutes through 5 games: CM 31.0, Z 29.2, JP 28.4, Iggy 27.4, Livers 23.6 and Teske 23.4.

i am far more concerned over FT than 3pt. we are streaky as a team for 3 pt shoots. but can still shot the light out in a good night. FT is more problematic because this team relies on attacking the basket.

btw Johns and DDJ, the former is far more
closer to the rotation. Had Livers not broken out and both Iggy and Matthews not been playing at very high level, Johns could’ve gotten some meaningful minutes already.

Beilein isn’t negligent regarding player development. I don’t get the consternation about guys playing or not playing. The coach has shown time and time again he knows what he’s doing as far as developing players. The four freshman not in the rotation are being prepared daily. They’ll get minutes when they earn them. If injuries or fouls force guys to play before they are ready. Then they will play and make many mistakes. Eventually one or two of them will carve out a minimal role this season.

DeJulius in particular has a steep learming curve being a pg.

1 Like

Thanks, I looked at the box scores over the last 3 games and I was surprised to see how little Livers has actually been playing. I definitely don’t want to advocate for anything that gives Livers less minutes. In theory Livers, Iggy, and Matthews should be able to play 30 min and still have 10 left over for Johns on the wing.

My wish hinges on my belief that the Livers at 5 has been a revelation and that he is going to give us something superior to what Davis offers…

I don’t see the team’s success against a top ten team dependent on John’s and his current development. That’s not an issue if they lose to UNC…more likely free throws, rebounding, 3point shooting…etc.

Maybe something along the lines of “it is frustrating that Johns isn’t ready to play”… I’ll give you that, but it has been pretty clear that he isn’t ready to play right now. I think that breakthrough is going to have to come in practice first.

1 Like

@Champions If DDJ shows consistency with his 3 point shot, I expect he would play the 2. Pretty tough for a freshman to run the point, that task would fall to Eli if Z needs a break.

While it’s certainly true that this team has free throw issues, we’re actually in pretty good shape for late game situations with our “big 7”. Just sub Eli for Z and Livers for CM. Voila, a good free shooting team with only a small dropoff in defense.

Eli handling the ball in late game situations is scary. About as scary as X shooting FTs.

4 Likes

eli handling the ball a lot does scare me. Need ddj ready.

2 Likes

I think I am way higher on Eli’s ball handling than most here. I do think he needs to practice his retreat dribbling so he can back-out of troubling situations as he seems to always try to escape trouble with “forward quickness” --but man that is highly correctable problem to have as a sophmore guard.

2 Likes

Agree with @gtfomycourt, Eli is talented with a high ceiling. I just want to see him making threes consistently. He’s very capable of playing the point. DDJ might get there, but not this season.

1 Like

I think that even if DDJ flashed promise on offense, the standard for playing defense in our rotation has risen considerably. Brooks, for all his offensive warts, has been playing pretty damn good on defense.

1 Like

Seems more likely that foul troubles would ignite the “play with 2 fouls” debate. Injuries we’d talk about how we address it long term. Sitting better players to get worse players experience is not a great idea. Go show it in practice!

From my perspective johns and DeJulius both look like they could be REALLY good. They also look like freshmen with too slow decisions and defense where they expect to use athletic advantages over technique, which just doesn’t cut it at D1

1 Like