Michigan Basketball: 3 Things we learned in win against Bowling Green

Mike Smith will continue to start at point guard

Michigan basketball fans didn’t know what they were going to see in Mike Smith. He was a high scorer on a bad team at Columbia, but how he would fit in with the Wolverines?

The answer is perfectly.

It was just one game of course and it was against Bowling Green, but Smith will be the Wolverines point guard this season. He’s a natural with the ball and he’s not just a natural scorer, he’s a really talented distributor too and it showed last night.

Juwan Howard likes to utilize ball screens in his offense, which who doesn’t, and Smith is by far the most effective player in those sets. The offense ran really smooth when he was in there and he did an excellent job of getting shots for others, as well as creating on his own when needed.

In the first half, when the offense was in a bit of a funk, he used his quickness to get to the bucket and earned eight trips to the line, knocking down seven free throws.

His defense wasn’t great and isn’t going to be. He’s 5-foot-11 and that will cause some problems. But his offense will make it well worth it, especially if the coaching staff can find some ways to hide him a little on the defensive end.

Eli Brooks is certainly capable of being the point guard, but having him off the ball is just a better fit for this roster and he proved he was a deadly shooter in those situations last season.

You don’t always know how transfers are going to work, but in Smith, it looks like Howard found the ideal point guard for his offensive system and on that end of the floor, Smith will be a star.