MBB: Better with Teske at th 5? Brooks at PG?

Submitted by ypsituckyboy on

Call this a snowflakes thread if you will. Few questions for the hoops fans out there:

1) Better with Teske at the 5 than Wagner? Mo had a nice finish, but Teske sure looked good today. Great passer for a big man, keeps the ball moving, and is developing some post moves. He's better than Wagner on D by a decent margin IMO. His height and mass is a big advantage on the block and on helpside D.

2) Brooks or Simpson at the point? Simpson is clearly the better defender, but I think Brooks is better on offense at this point. If Simpson can get more aggressive offensively, I think he'll win the battle but it's still up in the air. 

 

What say you?

Cali's Goin' Blue

November 22nd, 2017 at 7:32 PM ^

Wagner is definitely better than Teske. A season where he could've left for the NBA vs 2 kinda good games.... Wagner provides spacing, which doesn't get recognized by the average fan in terms of driving and cutting lanes. There are a few other reasons why this idea is dumb that I think most people can realize without explanation. 

And the Brooks vs simpson question is a wait until more information. I think Simmons ends up starting later because he seems to be the best option(once he starts taking his shots and understanding his place in the offense). But for now, Brooks definitely seems more useful than Simpson, although Simpson's defense is definitely better. I don't know about what you guys think, but Brooks seems to give up the ball much faster than Simpson and get the offense into its sets. 

Cali's Goin' Blue

November 22nd, 2017 at 7:41 PM ^

Maybe you mean Wagner at the 4 and Teske at the 5. That is a better question but you should've made that clear. I'm not sure you meant that, and even that situation is only plausible where Teske replaces Robinson, where once again, we lose almost all uncontested drives and cuts that provide Belein's offense with his very high percentage shots that most other offenses don't create. 

MGoHarbaugh77

November 23rd, 2017 at 10:43 AM ^

Also will be nice to emphasize this lineup in crunch time. Brooks looks like he can be the better PG down the road, but neither he nor Simpson is going to be much of a plus with the game on the line. Brooks ball-handling and lack of defense arguably cost them LSU. He definitely provides more life to the offense, but not enough to keep him in during a close game. MAAR seems like he can handle a lot of ball handling responsibility. 

Roy G. Biv

November 22nd, 2017 at 7:24 PM ^

From the very limited bit I've seen, it looks to me more than anything they need a PG who is strong on the dribble and is a threat to hit a 3.  I could be wrong, but it looks like there have been 3s available from the top that aren't being taken advantage of.

taistreetsmyhero

November 22nd, 2017 at 7:26 PM ^

If this team wants to go anywhere. But Teske is a great back up to have, and should get more minutes in games where Mo is struggling like today. I don’t really know who should play PG. None of the three options are currently doing enough to lead the Beilein offense. Hopefully at least one makes some great strides this season.

TrueBlue2003

November 23rd, 2017 at 1:56 AM ^

Teske is the much better center on defense and he's closing the gap on offense.  Wagner's D is killing us the way it killed us last year before he got benched.  We were a better team when he was on the bench and DJ was playing the 5 and we're rapidly approaching that scenario with Teske.  He has improved a tremendous amount.

goblue16

November 22nd, 2017 at 7:26 PM ^

We would be better with teske at the 5 and Wagner at the 4 problem is our only backup is davis and he hasn’t proven anything

TrueBlue2003

November 23rd, 2017 at 1:57 AM ^

15 min of Teske at the 5 and Mo at the 4

10 min of Teske at the 5 and Duncan/Livers at the 4

15 min of Mo at the 5 and Duncan/Livers at the 4

That gives you 30 min of Mo (when he can actually go that long without fouling out), 25 of Teske and 25 of Duncan/Livers.

We need to find a way to get Teske on the floor in the middle as much as possible.  I don't think Wagner can be worse guarding wings than Duncan is, so I'd be very curious to see those two play together.  It'd actually be better for Mo's NBA prospects because he'd be a wing there.  Might as well let him show the scouts what he can do there (because watching him try to play defense at the 5 is very painful).

If you play Teske and Mo together sometimes, it doesn't mean you can't also play Mo at the 5 when Teske needs a break.

goblue16

November 22nd, 2017 at 7:28 PM ^

So far pg play has been poor. I was saying why Beilein is playing Brooks but the rest have been awful I was hoping Simmons takes over but so far nothing still a long season but point guard play will determine how far this team goes

Walter Sobchak

November 22nd, 2017 at 7:41 PM ^

I think Simpson is the best fit at PG, but he needs to be more aggressive.

I don't know if Teske and Wagner can play together on the floor at the same time without creating a defensive mismatch, but it's worth a try.

Senator

November 22nd, 2017 at 7:56 PM ^

Teske looks like the real deal at the 5. 

I'm so curious about a lineup that looks like this:

1. Rahk

2. DRob

3. Matthews

4. Mo Weezy

5. Big Nasty

Huge. Athletic. Sieves on defense? Probably. But I bet that'd be a fun 5 minutes!

(Also realizing Matthews is in desperate need of a nickname.) 

As for PG... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

All three look in over their heads. I miss LaVall. Go Butler! 

 

 

Senator

November 22nd, 2017 at 8:13 PM ^

It is kind of relative, though, isn't it? 

Right now he's second in assists with 18 to Zavier's 19. 

3.6 AST/game to Zavier's 3.8.

He might not be Walton, but given what we got, he's nearly just as good a distributor as our number 1 assist guy and provides offense Zavier doesn't. 

Mr Miggle

November 22nd, 2017 at 8:49 PM ^

There's a lot more to playing PG than making fhe final pass. When the ball is being passed around, MAAR does pretty well. Putting the ball in his hands and having him create has never gone very well. He tends to put his head down and drive, not see the court. He just doesn'ty look like what you want in a PG.

That big lineup would be a big liability in ball handling. 

WolverineMan1988

November 22nd, 2017 at 9:36 PM ^

You could definitely play this lineup in spurts, particularly against a team that doesn't pressure the PG a ton or full court press. But today against a team like VCU, it was necessary to have at least 2 good ball handlers on the court even if they're not a real threat to score.

N. Campus Tech

November 22nd, 2017 at 7:56 PM ^

Teske is great. Woulnt mind seeing him at the 5 and Mo at the 4.

PG is a mess. I thought Simmons was going to be better than this. He was considering the NBA draft last spring. now he's behind a Sophomore that can't score and a freshman.

bronxblue

November 22nd, 2017 at 7:57 PM ^

I could see Teske and Mo both on the court when Beilein wants to go big and still not totally sacrifice shooting and defense. Teske isn't a great defender, but he's big and athletic enough to deter drives, and then you have Wagner able to pull a guy away on the offensive end, which you need if Teske is out there and sits near the basket.

A lineup of Teske - Mo - MAAR - Robinson - Matthews, in bursts, would be interesting and really difficult to defend for most teams on the schedule.

Wolvie3758

November 22nd, 2017 at 8:00 PM ^

has had a big impact in 3 of our games...The team seems to play better with Teske..Wagner is inconsistent..One day good next not so good. Robinson is still underporming after all these years...I like what I see with Teske and Matthews

CLion

November 22nd, 2017 at 8:04 PM ^

I definitely hope to see Beilein work on a line up with Wagner at the 4. Teske is a fantastic surprise.

As for PG, it seems like Beilein has hope for Brooks to claim the job. Simpson can contribute but is definitely limited. Simmons has been very disappointing so far.

Bb011

November 22nd, 2017 at 8:07 PM ^

I was expecting Simmons to take the lead as guard, but he just hasn’t really done much yet. As much as I am happily surprised at how good Matthews looks, I am that surprised in a negative way with how Simmons looks. If brooks or Simpson can step up it won’t matter much, but disappointing nonetheless.