The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1184078
DECEMBER 2019 THE WOLVERINE 5 FROM OUR READERS FROM OUR WEBSITE On the basketball team's 79-71 win over Appalachian State Nov. 5 … • [Senior center Jon] Teske just dominated in the first 10-12 minutes, then not much offensive production after that. … Teske played 33 minutes, and that's too many. He was gassed in the last 10 minutes, and it was part of the reason for our col- lapse. Also it looked like he had his shooting hand wrapped as if he had a sprained thumb. Could have factored into his play. [Junior guard] Eli Brooks was pretty good. He brings energy, and he defends. He made a great stop when the game got close and took a charge as well. He shot great from the perim- eter, and he makes free throws. … No excuse for the sloppy play and turnovers. 17 turnovers as a team against an inferior opponent just won't cut it. It's pretty clear that [ junior forward Isaiah] Livers will be our best scorer and most consistent player. His shot is pure. His biggest play, however, was a putback of a missed [senior point guard Zavier Simpson] layup when we were only up six. Huge hustle play. He needs to chip in more rebounds, though. Despite Teske's 13 boards, we were out-rebounded by a much smaller team. … I hope [freshman wing Franz] Wagner is as good as advertised. We need another player for depth. We need another shooter. Right now, there's too much of a drop-off when we go to the bench. … We are a work in progress, maybe more than usual. sane1 • I agree with 90 percent of this. First, Brooks was awesome tonight, not just pretty good. I don't think Teske being gassed was the problem during the bad stretch, it was us forcing the issue to him. Appalachian State made an adjustment by doubling him before he even had the ball. They knew we wanted to run our offense through him, and we forced the issue with stupid passes. I also think a big reason we fell apart is we just took chances we didn't earlier because we were up 30. If we weren't up 30 we aren't taking those chances, and we are running our offense. I loved the motion offense that we have. As we get better, it's going to be beautiful. BigMMan504 • Just very sloppy second half. Needs to be cleaned up. We had way too many turnovers. And I agree, Teske can't play that many minutes and be as effective unless his conditioning improves and he gets more short breaks. Nevershank • Things started to go downhill when we went with a lineup of X [Simpson], [sophomore forward Colin] Castleton, [sopho- more guard Adrien] Nunez, [sophomore forward Brandon] Johns and [sophomore guard David] DeJulius. Ultimately, I think we need one of Livers and Eli on the floor at all times, at least until Franz comes back or Johns or DeJulius become more assertive. mdrgoblue • It was a coming-out party for Brooks. He had the eye of the tiger and looked like a player that knows he has to bring a lot more this season (there is nobody else). Defense was solid as usual, but no hesitation on offense. Timidity was gone on of- fense. He has to be our Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman this year — solid defense and crafty offense. Get Franz back, who I guarantee is as good as advertised, and we have a solid five good enough for a winning record in the Big Ten once Simpson and Teske get back into their rhythm. ishen • Simpson thus far doesn't look like himself. Even defensively guys have gotten by him in both the exhi- bition and against Appalachian State. I've never seen him miss a hook shot as badly as he did last night. He usually finishes at the rim better than he did as well. It's a long season, so I'm sure he'll get these things locked in. MaizeDawg • I agree that Teske was completely gassed, but it seemed like most of the other starters were tired as well. As you indicated, we need a bench if we are going to compete. Something was terribly wrong with Simp- son. It has been almost two years since I have seen him force things like he did in that game. BlueBlood Down Under • Scoring is going to be an issue for this team in conference play. Last year there weren't enough balls on the court and this year there won't be enough guys who want the ball. bobigblue • I like [Juwan] Howard. But I feel this will be a long season. Just not enough talent on the team right now. Want to see what Franz brings to the team when he comes back. irish tenor • There's more than enough talent to be a decent tournament team. Look around college basketball, there's not exactly a glut of talent. pickles24 • Top five in the Big Ten and a sixth seed with a tourney win would be a successful first year. SOHOAFFAIR • I actually feel good when Eli has the ball. Maybe he is our Abdur-Rahkman. Castleton and Johns are nice pieces, and we have to figure out what they will provide consistently. Looking forward to getting Franz back. If Livers, Eli and Franz can shoot 37-40 percent from three we could be dangerous coupled with the inside game. GRwolverine21 Join The Conversation - 60 Day Free Trial, Use Code BLUE60 Junior guard Eli Brooks netted a career- high 24 points in the season-opening win over Appalachian State Nov. 5. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL