Zavier Simpson, who graduated and is now longer with the Michigan Wolverines, was the most productive ball-screen passer in the country last season. 7-foot-1 center Jon Teske is also gone, after scoring 11.6 points and grabbing 6.7 rebounds per game last season.
The Wolverines' offense in 2019-20 predicated primarily on high ball-screens for Simpson, with Teske being a productive screen-and-roller, finding himself on the receiving end of dime passes from Simpson.
With those two gone, the strength of U-M's team is on the wings, with senior forward Isaiah Livers, sophomore guard Franz Wagner and senior Wake Forest transfer Chaundee Brown all being proven commodities. Head coach Juwan Howard, in his second season on the job, is planning on playing to his team's strengths.
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"I would say there’s more playmakers," Livers said. "‘X’ [Simpson] did a tremendous job leading the offense last year and creating plays for others, but this year is kind of different when you lose a guy like that.
"The style of play is going to be multiple guys bringing the ball up the floor, multiple guys can start a play, multiple guys can guard different positions, so that’s going to be huge for us."
Livers is one of those playmakers, and so is Wagner, who appears to have taken his game to the next level after averaging 11.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per tilt.
"He definitely worked over the offseason," Livers said of Wagner. "I’m pretty sure after the pandemic he went out and hung out with his brother [Wizards forward and former Wolverine Moe Wagner] in Washington. He had a lot of work, he was working with Moe, getting stronger, he got a lot bigger.
"I’m pretty sure he got taller, he’s like 6-10 now. He can dribble the mess out of the ball, he can handle it. He’s just a guy you can trust — he’s going to do his job on the defensive end, he can shoot the ball … I don’t know what to say that he cannot do, because Franz is Mr. Versatile. He can do a lot of things.
"What’s not to like about the guy? He’s 6-10 and can move around like a guard. He’s getting better each year and he’s only a sophomore, so his ceiling is very high."
Fifth-year senior Columbia graduate transfer Mike Smith is expected to play the point guard role this season, along with senior Eli Brooks, with the two being tasked with the job of making plays and getting the ball to the wings and others.
"We’re not gonna sit here and say Mike can pass the ball like Zavier Simpson, because that would be a lie," Livers said. "But Mike brings other things to the team. He can shoot, he can score, he’s a leader, he has a lot of experience and with a point guard like that, you can go a long way because he leads the team.
"We don’t have that dominant-voice point guard, that leader like how Zavier Simpson was, so a lot of us is going to fall on us, because a lot of the wings played more in the Big Ten.
"We have only one point guard that played last year and has experience in Big Ten play. Eli is obviously still teaching Mike and [freshman] Zeb [Jackson] about the Big Ten guards and just Big Ten defense and offense. With the wings we have, we can get out and run, create plays.
"We’re the focal point; we’re probably going to be the people the other teams are focused on in scouting. But you can’t just scout two players because there’s other players on the team that can make a lot of plays."
As Livers mentioned, the makeup of the leadership on the team will look and feel different, too, with himself, Brooks, Brown, Wagner, fifth-year senior forward Austin Davis and others having to step up and have more of a voice.
Livers said that he is personally continuing to get acclimated in his new role after learning from the leaders that came before him.
"There is no captain, I think, in college basketball that was like Zavier Simpson," Livers said. "He was very, very vocal. He will not shy away from letting you know that you did something wrong or you did something great.
"Teske wasn’t the most vocal leader, but he would sit back and he would be that caretaker type guy, he’d pull you to the side after you do something, either to congratulate you or tell you to tweak something or do it a little better."
"Right now, I’ve been just trying to find my balance of what kind of leader I want to be. I’ve been more vocal and I’ve taken some of what Jon Teske did. I’ve taken both of their kind of leadership styles, trying to turn myself into the ultimate leader."
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