Michigan Basketball: 5 Things the Wolverines need for Christmas in 2018
By Adam Childs
3. Eli Brooks continued maturation
Zavier Simpson has been the unquestioned leader of this team. He has been great running the point on offense and has been the Wolverines best defender. But he can not play every minute for the Wolverines this year. So that is where Eli Brooks has come into play.
Brooks started 12 games last year but still only averaged about 10 minutes per game. He replaced Simpson when he was struggling early but normally would just play sparingly. This year he is up to 15.7 minutes per game and he is starting to gain more trust from Beilein and company.
He came up big against Northwestern when Simpson went through a slump shooting and the Wolverines could not afford to have him on the court anymore. Brooks would find a wide open Brazdeikis for a tying three and the next possession he hit a go-ahead three that was key in Michigan’s win.
While Simpson is a better defender than Brooks, he is not as good of a shooter. Brooks has come in and hit some big shots and is shooting 37.5% from outside. There are going to be games when Michigan will need another spark off the bench or he will need to pick up Simpson when he might be in foul trouble or struggling to find his shot.
If Brooks can continue to show the maturation in his game that Wolverines have seen recently it will make for a deadly one-two punch at the point guard position. He also may be needed late in games if Simpson continues to struggle from the line. When Brooks is playing well it gives Michigan options they did not have at the end of last year.