And next up is a pressing team, so that’ll give us a whole new element to dissect.
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No, and I expect him to be out of the PG race sooner than later. If he focused on playing SG and not PG full time, I think we’d see him play even better. He’s not a PG right now and it’d benefit both Eli and the other two PGs if Eli focused mainly on being a SG this year. Him being our 3rd option at PG is still a good option. But having him play both currently is probably slowing him a little.
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FWIW, I think we will handle a press much better than we handled a zone for the first time.
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I start to believe in Eli too. Even he may not start, I see his minutes going up gradually and eventually taking over.
I was talking about the power of groupthink. Everybody just assumes that since CM is an astounding athlete and played for KY, he will be a helluva ballplayer. Likewise, everybody just assumes that Eli is making a great showing but in the end will be a reserve.
You’re putting words into everyone’s mouths. Many posters here were wary of Matthews getting too much hype.
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I don’t think that’s what I’m saying. Honestly, I was pretty skeptical that Matthews would be a guy who used 14,15 shots per game ahead of the season. In the first two games, he’s had no trouble filling that role and I don’t really see another wing on the roster who is going to take that role from him.
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Coach Beilein did say that, but I think Simpson’s court awareness and vision is outstanding. Yes those were mostly simple passes but he makes them look easy. Then, Simpson with the ball in his hands in the open court means somebody is getting a layup or an open look. His head is up and he seems to be a move or two ahead of others on the court.
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Working on the preview for tomorrow… Here’s a stat:
Jaaron Simmons had 30 points, 9 assists and 9 rebounds in 40 minutes vs. Central Michigan last year.
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Not sure where to put this, but does anyone have a good way to watch a replay of the game?
Not without BTN plus unfortunately.
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Simpson has the advantage of a year in the system. I think Brooks will pick up the system faster than Z did last year. I would not be surprised to see Eli take over at some point or at least earn major minutes either at the 1 or 2. He is probably the best outside shooter of the three and appears to be a good passer and has an adequate handle.
I don’t think we’ve seen MAAR create for others consistently.
Didn’t watch yesterday, but if MAARs game is still drive in hard or take catch and shoot 3s. Then a 3 denying zone seems very likely to play to his weaknesses.
I’m not one sold on Eli at PG right now. His passing decisions and ability have been less than impressive in the 2 showings so far. Spot minutes or playing some 2, sure.
I’d really like to see Simmons step up and win the primary role. I really like how he can push the ball and his scoring potential. Z looks like he just has an awkward set shot that is going to be hard to get much from. Though maybe Z would be a better “fit” starting with the others who are looking to put up shots, then Simmons can be our scoring punch off the bench.
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Yep. Z made his passes look easy. His pivoting and ball fakes, which aided entry passes, are crazy fast. Very fast hand speed…9 assists in 18 minutes is alarmingly good under any circumstance. I think it is significant that despite playing only 9 percent of the available *total minutes, Z had almost half of the team’s total assists (9 of 21).
FWIW, playing 18 minutes is usually described as playing 45% of available minutes 
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Went back and watched Simpsons’ 9 assists, my tally of ‘type’:
- 5 assists that were ‘zone’ assists, basically making the next pass or throwing it into the open guy in the middle of the zone.
- 3 in transition
- 1 off the dribble dump off to Moe for a layup.
Not sure that says much about Simpson, more just that when you play a team in a zone like that there are a lot of easy assists and it is hard to rack up off the dribble type of assists.
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I imagine his mentality moving forward is fragile… guy was the preseason MAC player of the year, scored 30 on CMU last year, and will play what, 15 mins tops tonight?
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I wasn’t blown away by any insane vision from Simpson either. But if all of his assists were so easy and readily available against a zone, what does that say about Simmons and Brooks’ ability to run the offense that they didn’t tally any at all?
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A couple things IMO:
- Eli was in the game to shoot against the zone. He did that, but they didn’t go in.Simpson only shot the ball twice in 18 mins, Eli had 4 shots in 14. I thought Eli had a couple good passes that weren’t finished as well.
- Simmons never really looked comfortable against the zone IMO and then he just wasn’t on the floor. He only played 7 or 8 minutes before garbage time.