The Point Guard Spot

Michigan Basketball
81

We will get a lot of transition opportunities because Z and MAAR will break their press easily. Z is made for this type of game, i think.

82

I like that thinking. Iā€™m hoping Eli starts and does well but their PG is a strong/physical guy so itā€™s going to be tough on any of our PGs.

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83

Zā€™s chest passes full court look like Brett Favre. He can put some zip on them!

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84

I would start Z in this game

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85
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86

This team desperately needs to have a PG emerge who can hit an open jumper.

Presently Eli is 5-17 ( three layups ) from the floor for 29%.
And 2-11 from three point land for 18%.

Has the lowest three point % on the team as of now.

87

The kid can shoot. That will change.

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88

Hope so we need him bad. Heā€™s 2-14 minus layups.

89

Iā€™m all in for Eli at this point in time.

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90

Goes without saying, but not exactly a sufficient sample size.

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91

Yeah, I think Eli will be fine over the long haul as well. He has the tools. Situation kind of reminds me of TumTum vs Cassius over in Lansing a little bit. One has more experience and is probably a better defender at this point I guess, but the other is just more skilled and has the much higher ceiling.

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92

People seem to keep using Tum Tum as a form of comparison, and I donā€™t see it. Thatā€™s as irretrievably broken a shot as youā€™ll ever see. Thereā€™s no reason to play within 5 feet of him. Mark Wade from UNLV was an assists machine, but he was the guy I best remember as a comp for guy you donā€™t have any need whatsoever to play up on. Z just lacks confidence in his shot. It may never be a major strength, but thereā€™s upside on what heā€™s showing right now. Tum Tum, thatā€™s what you get.

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93

Iā€™m not saying he should be PG at all, thereā€™s just not really any thread to put this in.

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94

Eli can grab this spot by the throat if he can consistently be a threat from three going forward.

Simpson defense is vastly overrated and his total inability to be a viable scoring option in the half court limits any potential ceiling he might have had.

Simmons is just lost. Thatā€™s the plain truth right now. Three turnovers in 7 minutes tonite. Looks confused and defeated. Unfortunately.

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95

Adding to this tweet from Anthony Wright,

Poole and Ibi combined last 3 games:
29 points
3 rebounds
4 assists
1 block
4 turnovers

If Brooks becomes a 30 MPG guy at the point, I donā€™t think itā€™s a crazy stretch to think MAAR could run the other 10, especially with the way Matthews is handling and facilitating in ball screens right now. That would allow Poole and Ibi (or one of them) to take on the primary backup guard roles, which I would prefer at this point with the way they can score.

The rotations going to go from 11 to 9 at the most. Simmons is a clear drop off to me, but Simpson, Poole and Watson are going to make it real tough on JB to make that call

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96

Early on, IMO Simmons has been the biggest let down. I expected him (at the very least) to be a part of the rotation throughout the season. As it stands, itā€™s beginning to look like heā€™ll be out of the rotation completely during conference play. I really hope he can change that for his own sakeā€¦transferring for his last season of eligibility just to ride the bench would be pretty shitty.

SKnight

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97

I think weā€™ll be very glad we have Simmons come January.

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98

MAAR has stepped up his passing game, but I wonder how many of his assists are in transition, and especially throwing the ball up ahead. Still good plays and an improvement even if soā€¦

99

Question for those that are in the mindset of ā€œweā€™ll be glad we have Simmons later onā€, are you down on what you have seen from Brooks so far? Brooks looks far more promising to me, I donā€™t see why we wouldnā€™t want him getting as many minutes as possible right now, both for the short-term season and long-term success of the team over the next 4 years.

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100

Iā€™ve been one of the posters who thought Simmons looked flawed primarily because he needs more time to learn the systemā€”butā€”as things unfold it seems like there are a lot of plays that have nothing to do with a system where Simmons just doesnā€™t look as good as Z and Brooks. Thinking about Simmons in transition or taking it up the court against VCU pressure 1v1ā€¦

Every day that goes by where Brooks is the #1 option at pg just seems like it is going to be harder for Simmons to carve out meaningful minutes.

Iā€™ve been very impressed by Brooksā€¦Iā€™m also very happy for Brooks but still feel bad for Simmonsā€¦

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