At one point, incoming freshman shooting guard Jordan Poole seemed like a lock to provide significant minutes as a freshman. At another, it appeared he might redshirt.
The latter was never in the cards, Poole said. He knew he’d play. It just took some time for him to realize what college basketball was all about, head coach John Beilein said after Poole scored 11 points in 11 minutes of an 87-42 win over UC-Riverside Sunday.
“He’s really grown,” Beilein said. “Like most freshmen, it’s defense, value for the basketball … like most freshmen, it’s really difficult. He’s shown great strides in that area.
“He’s a very talented player. We all went him to be the MVP in our games. He’s learning how to play defense, to take care of the ball. He’s got some things we really can’t teach. We’re trying to get more and more and trying to figure out how to play him and [redshirt sophomore] Charles [Matthews] at the same time, as well.”
Beilein is a bit closer to figuring out the rotation, but not quite there yet. His offense is starting to come around, and he’s got four players he knows he can depend on.
Finding that fifth scorer and guys he knows he can rely on will be big in the next couple weeks, a brutal stretch that includes games at North Carolina, Texas and Ohio State and home with Indiana and UCLA.
“Every day I’m seeing who is going to grow now. I know what people do … who is going to grow the fastest?” he said. “I anticipate some will grow faster. Just little bits of it … Jordan Poole and Isaiah Livers, I thought Ibi [Watson] had a good day today, too.
“[Playing time] has been up for grabs, and it’s still up for grabs. It will be every game. Who practiced well … he’ll go in. You won’t necessarily see in games what we see in practice … I feel about the same [as I did at the beginning of the year]. I wanted us to just try to find some rotation I really feel good and set on. We’re always trying to get those kids that are off the bench.”
There were four guys with 60 shots heading into the game, nobody with 70, nobody with 59, a stat Beilein loved. Now, though, it’s ‘who’s next?’
Last year he knew what he was getting and when with fifth-year senior Duncan Robinson and sophomore Zavier Simpson coming off the bench. They’re still not there yet, and now he’s got another emerging option in Poole.
“We see it every day in practice,” Beilein said. “I wouldn't say he’s an elite athlete. He’s got elite timing. He can do some things that are really good, and can really shoot it. You know how we feel about having five shooters our there.
“He’s evolving right now, little by little. I think he’s understanding the college game takes a whole lot of work, sweat … you’ve got to be focused, have great energy. As he does this, he has a high ceiling, as well.”
NOTES
• Senior Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman only scored two points in 27 minutes, but he notched five assists against one turnover. He now has 27 assists against two turnovers, and Beilein was adamant the first one wasn’t his fault.
“He got robbed on that one. I can’t see why that was his turnover,” he said. “Isaiah [Livers] sort of threw him a pass he really couldn’t catch. So that’s a pretty good ratio.
“Look at him today, he hardly gets any shots. They put a really good defender on him. He couldn’t get shots off and didn’t really care about it. He just kept playing really good defense. He anchors our defense; he’s our best defender. He’s really good for Charles, Duncan , Mo [Wagner] …. never too high or too low. His emotion, he’s just so steady with everything he’s doing.”
• Point guard is still a work in progress. Frosh Eli Brooks scored five points after starting, and he’s the likely choice going forward.
“I think right now it’s good,” he said. “Look at their assist and turnover numbers. It’s good. I don’t think we have the flow yet. Eli gives us good flow. Zavier [Simpson] gives us really good defense. We’re trying to find out where it is.
“[Grad transfer] Jaaron [Simmons] is just struggling right now coming off the bench. He’s going to be in every game, play every game, and one of these days he’s going to come out of these struggles.”
Brooks makes the other four better offensively, he added.
“It’s that simple. Defensively, Z makes the other four guys better,” Beilein said. “Eli seems to be a quick study. He’s a guy we go game to game to game, can make really good changes.
“You haven’t seen the stats. Eli can really shoot the ball. That’s another thing. People are playing us a certain way, playing off, and we need one more guy that can shoot it when they go under screens, sag on the ball screen.”
• Beilein hasn’t give up on redshirt frosh big man Austin Davis, even though Davis has regressed this year.
“He’s playing one speed too much,” he said. “He’s got another gear, and we’re going to teach him that. Great hands, just the speed of this game, he can catch up.
“He hasn’t played as well as he did last year in practice. We’re going to work to get him back to that level. He was okay today. He’s got to get his hands up more, play harder. He’s going to be good when he does that.”
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