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UMFan81
I’m surprised we haven’t seen anything on rescheduled games, when do we think we will start hearing?
michigandude
Thoughts on Smith running the show compared to Simpson last year? It felt like there was always an offensive ceiling with Simpson due to his shooting, and Smith and his shooting are allowing this team to play closer to its potential. Or do you think this is more related to the arrival of Dickinson?
umhoops
There are a lot of moving pieces regarding next week with the collapsible bye, I assume across the league… not just for Michigan. I assume they’ll try to get those games finalized – and I’d still bet that Michigan plays two games mid-week next week – by the end of this week. I don’t think there’s a huge hurry to announce things or get it done.
For example, Maryland’s b2b with Nebraska was announced last Thursday.
Teams aren’t prepping two games ahead or anything like that and there are a lot of logistics at play.
Even when next week’s games are announced, I think there will probably be more moving pieces before the final week of the season is announced.
laddergoat
As of today, what is your best guess at the 2021-22 starting lineup? And to go along with this question, do you think Michigan would benefit more from Mike Smith returning or Eli Brooks?
umhoops
Mike Smith has been fantastic. He’s exceeded every expectation both in what he’s able to do on the court but also the role he’s been willing to take on.
I still think there’s a pretty sizable gap between what Zavier Simpson could do at PG and what Smith can do. And that’s no knock on Smith.
You have to start by looking at the usage numbers… Smith is 4th in usage in Michigan’s offense at 17.6% while Simpson led the way at 25.8%. Simpson had more to do on most possessions and he had to make something out of nothing in late clock situations constantly and still shot significantly better inside the arc.
If you look at today’s roster… Michigan is notably better at every position other than point guard including sixth man. Hunter Dickinson makes a huge impact, having a healthy Isaiah Livers, Franz Wagner is notably better and Chaundee Brown is the sixth man last year’s U-M team desperately needed.
I often see “Michigan had to play through Zavier Simpson and doesn’t have to just do that this season” as a knock on Simpson but really I think it is just a testament to how much better this group is at every other spot.