Michigan Basketball: 5 Things we learned about Wolverines in 5-0 start

Mike Smith is the point guard

One of the biggest reasons why Brown fits coming off the bench is because the Wolverines were able to also get Mike Smith in the transfer portal and the former Columbia standout has locked down Michigan basketball’s point guard job.

Eli Brooks is better suited to being a two-guard and while he can take over the ball-handling duties when needed, the offense runs best when Smith is running the show.

Smith leads the Wolverines with 26 assists and through five games, he has only seven turnovers. Brooks has 20 assists compared to 11 turnovers. Mike is also the team’s best creator out of ball screens as Dylan Burkhardt of UMHoops details here (subscription required).

"“Through five games, Mike Smith grades out in the 98th percentile as a ball screen scorer and the 98th percentile as a ball screen passer. Michigan is scoring 12.8 points out of the 8.6 ball screens that Smith handles per game. Smith’s 1.49 points per ball screen play (including passes) leads Division I among players using at least five ball screens per game.”"

The other thing about Smith is that he hasn’t even shot the ball that well. He is doing a good job of getting to the basket and is making 43 percent overall but just 16 percent from 3-point range.

So if he starts making more of shots he could be even more productive, although those points won’t come as easily in Big Ten play. Still, there’s no doubt that Smith is this team’s lead guard.