ANN ARBOR — Michigan hasn’t reached its potential offensively this year, though the Wolverines have had their moments. Head coach John Beilein is looking for a couple of outliers to help them get there.
Whether it’s freshman point guard David DeJulius, frosh forward Brandon Johns, sophomore Eli Brooks or someone else, Beilein needs someone to step up to help provide something more.
U-M next plays a Minnesota team fighting for its tournament life Thursday.
“We saw it the other day with David and when Brandon got in there,” Beilein said. “Who knows [where it will come] this game? We’re trying to lengthen the bench a little bit, but it still isn’t out there yet. If we only have six or seven … we can’t tweak too much because of that. But we hope that shots will fall, and they will. I’m confident.
“But is it Dave, Brandon, Colin Castleton, Isaiah Livers? Zavier Simpson … all of a sudden say he doesn’t miss a three the rest of the year. It’s very possible. The other day shooting threes he made 82 out of 100 on the move. That’s almost a Duncan Robinson type number.”
Or it could be a starter who gets hot, reminiscent of Glen Rice in the 1989 NCAA Tournament. Coincidentally, the program will host Rice, the 1989 Finals MVP, and most of the rest of the team for a 30th anniversary this weekend.
Though he was good throughout the season, Rice elevated his game and became the NBA’s No. 4 overall draft pick.
Beilein isn’t likely to get that kind of contribution, but he's not discounting anything, either.
"Anything can happen,” Beilein said. “Outliers could be anybody on the team … Charles Matthews, Jordan Poole, somebody who gets hot here and also plays good defense.
"You’ve got to think of it that way. The possibilities are endless.”
Poole might be the most likely of the bunch. He’s shooting less than 30 percent from three-point range in Big Ten play since January, and he’s better than that.
“He just needs to make one or two,” Beilein said. “As we’ve gone through this year, somebody probably said that about Iggy [Brazdeikis], Zavier, Jon Teske, Charles. I just don't really address it that much. I just say, ‘hey, they’ll start falling; just keep taking good shots.’ The shot selection the last couple games has been good … at least the last game.”
He was on fire in Tuesday’s practice, Beilein added.
Another possibility: Brooks. The sophomore had some nice games earlier in the year and was a confident shooter, but he’s struggled to find the success he enjoyed early in the year.
“Eli has been terrific in practice, but he hasn’t been quite able to do it in games,” Beilein said. “He and Isaiah have given us great defense off the bench. If we feel defensively we need a spark but Zavier is in foul trouble or needs a blow and a guard is giving us trouble, we’ll probably go with Eli over David. If we need some penetration, then it may be David.
“Both fill pretty good roles, and I like them both to enhance those roles. Jordan Poole needs more rest, and so does Z. Those other guys could be outliers.”
The sooner, the better if they are. The starters have shown signs of fatigue, and there are only five games remaining, starting Thursday night at Minnesota.
“I know it’s really important for Minnesota, but it’s just as important for us,” Beilein said. “As you see we’ve got a great battle for about five or six teams that still have a chance to win the Big Ten regular season championship, get one of the first four Big Ten byes in the Big Ten Tournament, so there’s a lot at stake in all these games.”
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