Michigan Basketball: Should we expect lineup changes vs Oakland?

Michigan basketball will be back on the court for its second game Sunday and one question worth asking is will we see a different starting lineup?

One of the biggest questions heading into Michigan basketball‘s opening game against Bowling Green was what starting lineup would Juwan Howard use?

Would Mike Smith start at point guard or would he come off the bench? And what about center?

We obviously got the answer to the those questions on Wednesday as Smith got the start at point guard and excelled with 14 points and eight assists. He only missed two shots, ran the offense like a sweet-purring classic car and was efficient as all get out.

So if anyone was wondering who the long-term point guard was going to be this season before the season opener, the questions have fallen off a little.

Certainly, one game isn’t a big enough sample size to declare Smith a solid replacement for Xavier Simpson, but after his first game, he does offer some things that Simpson didn’t.

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A year ago, teams figured out how to defend Michigan’s pick-and-roll offense by just going under and forcing Simpson to become more of a scorer. And while he got better at it, thanks to his jump hook, Simpson isn’t the kind of ball-screen scorer that Smith is and he never will be.

If you give Smith the kind of shots Simpson was getting last year, defenses will regret it. He also showed a knack for getting to the hoop and also unlike Simpson, he’s an elite shooter at the free throw line.

So I wouldn’t expect any changes in the backcourt and as good as Chaundee Brown is — he came off the bench to hit five 3-pointers and score 19 points — the sixth-man role seems like his best fit.

However, there is one change that we can see coming down the road and that’s at center. Austin Davis got the start against Bowling Green and played just 12 minutes and didn’t make a huge impact.

Hunter Dickinson though, the 7-foot-1 freshman played 18 minutes, scored 11 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked a shot. He also had a nice assist. He looked comfortable and in decent shape, even in this weird season.

Davis is a solid player and he is one of the better low-post scorers in the Big Ten. He’s also a solid rebounder and in 10-12 minutes, he will be one of the most efficient players in the conference.

Dickinson should be the starter though and while the switch probably won’t come Sunday, if the freshman puts together another strong performance, it could force Howard to make the change.