College basketball practice starts across the country today and the season is just a few short weeks away. After a whirlwind summer and a coaching change, we decided to take a step back and examine Michigan’s roster in-depth, position by position.
Today, we start in the backcourt at point guard where Zavier Simpson anchors the Wolverines.
Defining Zavier Simpson
Seniors don’t have any secrets left. Zavier Simpson has played 2669 minutes of college basketball. At this point, everyone knows what he’s about. They know what he does well, and they know where he struggles. There’s not any gray area with Michigan’s senior point guard.
There are areas where Simpson is elite, and then there are a couple of glaring weaknesses. Nothing about Simpson’s game is average.
He’s one of the best leaders and defenders in college basketball. His leadership helped Michigan win 63 games over the past two seasons, and he transformed a John Beilein team into a top-five defense. New head coaches aren’t supposed to be afforded the luxury of coaching a player like Simpson in their first year.
On/off splits are of limited value in college basketball, but can still be useful to illustrate high-level trends. In this case, the fact that Zavier Simpson was more important to Michigan’s offense than its defense.
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