Best Beilein era point guard that isn't Trey Burke
Leaving Burke out of the equation who was the best point guard in the Beilein era? IIRC, we have Darius Morris, (Trey Burke), Derrick Walton, Zavier Simpson.
I would go with:
1. Walton - all around great point guard. Could score, assist, rebound. Always remember him making about 7 free throws in a row to close out the win at Breslin his freshman year.
2. Simpson - obvious offensive limitations but tough as nails
3. Morris - probably more natural talent than Walton and Simpson just base on his 6-5 height and probably would be #1 on my list if he had stayed for his junior year. Still controversial around here is his decision to go pro after soph year.
Last 20 games (give or take a few) of Walton’s career are up there with best stretch of play from any Michigan player I’ve ever seen (born in 89, so can’t really remember anything clearly before 2000 aside from a few moments here and there).
Simpson was more consistent at a high level through most of his career, and Walton dealt with injuries so I’d probably put Simpson above him just because he played better for longer stretches. But Walton’s best was better than Simpson’s best
I always struggle to consider what you talked about properly. Personally, I value someone's peak much more highly. Walton>Simpson because for half of a season Walton was one of the best players in the country, and even though Simpson will go down as one of the most accomplished players in program history for his career efforts, he never reached the point where he was unquestionably 'the guy'.
And Morris? People forget how dominant his sophomore year was. He should have been an All-America candidate that year. 15 ppg, 6.7 assists (on a team without a ton of scoring options), 4 rpg, 49% shooting (53% on twos). Jordan Morgan's best offensive season was that year, when Morris kept feeding him on the pick and roll. His only weakness was that his range stopped at about 17 feet. If he could have added 3-point range he would have been NPOY material.
His shooting would have been much better without so many chucked up threes. He’s still at the top of my list
All three had their moments but I can’t disagree with your order. I despise trash talk, but the thought of putting Morris at 3 doesn’t seem fair with respect to his glorious “Get the fuck off my court” verbal jab towards Lucas. I get giddy just thinking about it.
"I despise trash talk .... except when it's used to ether a Spartan" is actually a consistent position. What a great moment.
Tough call, in my eyes, between Walton and Simpson. I'm tempted to take Simpson because he's a better defender and an assist machine. He just seemed so in command with the ball in his hands. But the last couple of months of Walton's career here were pretty darn good. And he was absolute money from the line. Something we can safely safe that Simpson wasn't.
I'll probably take Walton just because he is a better scorer and he was so reliable in crunch time. Simpson was more consistent throughout his career, but I can't rely on him much on the offensive side, save for making assists.
I am a big fan of Simpson, but c'mon guys you can't compare him to walton or morris. His offensive game was so limited compared to the other two. He was a dog on defense (Clear defensive drop-off on the last year), and could pass, but that was about it. Walton and Morris were game breakers.
This list has no Merritt.
Bravo. You can Spike the football with that one.
Trey Burke wouldn’t have been TREY BURKE if DMo had stayed.
Definitely could have affected some vintage Trey moments like the layups against OSU to clinch the win (in my view the most important Beilein-era regular season game) and the assist to beat MSU.
Or they could have played together as an incredible backcourt. (Not that THJ was any slouch.)
Guess he would have been Alfonso Burke had Morris stuck around. Oh what could have been!!
Never forget Walton's final stretch. An all-time Michigan basketball player.
Walton gets an extra half point for being from the D.
Simpson wasn’t the best, but he was my favorite. He got so much better at Michigan.
If we're talking pure PGs, I think this list makes sense. Who's 4th? Spike?
If we could bring in combo guards, I'd put MAAR ahead of Morris just because he gave so much more to the program, and stuck through the bad times in his early years.
MAAR is undoubtedly the most underrated player of the Beilein era
Oh without question. I remember exactly where I was when he committed, and I said who the hell is this guy? And IIRC, he was a last-minute signing due to attrition or something along those lines.
What an absolute star. He was the guard version of Tim Duncan; he literally said nothing on the court and had that blank stare most of the time, but he can play.
Well, calling him Tim Duncan might be overdoing it but he was a really solid guy for four years. Always seemed to make big buckets when we needed them.
Makes you appreciate how spoiled we've been as Michigan hoop fans for the last decade. Guys we could trust with ball in their hands. Great defenders. Team players. Big legacy at Point Guard U
I would put Simpson ahead of Walton. Better distributor, better defender, better overall record when starting point guard (I didn't check this last one, but I think it's a significant difference). I personally enjoyed watching Simpson play more, so I'm somewhat biased in that regard as well.
Morris is for sure #3, but that's no knock on Morris. Simpson took U of M further, but when the offense dried up while he was point (and that happened a lot), Simpson couldn't jumpstart it the way Walton did. Having a PG who can knock down a pull up 3 is just too important. Walton was no slouch in other areas as well. 5th all time in assists, and owns the single game record. 7th all time in steals. And he did that in 19 less games than Simpson.
So I agree with the OP here.
Many people overlook how important Simpson was to the offense in his junior and senior year. Our offense would have been DREADFUL without him. How else would the team have been a top 20 offense without Simpson leading the most efficient ball screen offense out of all Power 5 conferences?
Of course he had limitations individually, but they weren’t limitations for the team. Simpson’s presence actually allowed us to become a much better three point shooting team, contrary to what most may assume.
With that said, there’s no doubt that Senior Walton was on a completely other level offensively. Just depends on what you value, consistency or peak.
I'd take Morris. A big PG who could see over the double-team and had probably the best floor vision of any player in the Beilein era. Not a great outside shooter but could score anywhere inside the arc.
His somewhat questionable decision to go pro (and disappointing pro career) causes fans to underrate him. He had a great year in 2010-11, carrying that team to the tournament. He outplayed Kalin Lucas in both meetings and punctuated it with the "GTFO my court." If his shot against Duke had gone down (and we had won in OT) he'd be a legend.
I'd also take Morris....and it's an easy call (although Walton was tremendous down the stretch). My only wish is that Morris had dished it off to Stu Douglass for that last second shot against Duke. If memory serves me correctly, Douglass was open on the wing and I think that he would have stepped up in a clutch moment.
I’m going to go with Stauskas on the 2014 team as a kind of Steph Curry PG. He initiated the offense more than anyone on that team and was a really good passer and decision maker. There were three other really good ball handlers on that team and he was also really good off the ball, that kept his raw assist totals low but he was more the starting PG on that team than Walton was, and won Big Ten player of the year.
Some highlights
https://youtu.be/IwWFgomoRy0
Darius Morris had the natural talent to be the best by far, but need to go with Walton -- he turned it on so, so, much late in the season.
Morris. He played on shittier teams than the other two and was a beast from the get go. His pick roll and game with Morgan was lethal.
Gary Grant
Beilein era?
Even in his 50s, Gary Grant
Gary Grant
Gary Grant
Gary Grant
Gary Grant
I think we would have seen a lot more out of Walton his junior year, had LeVert not been hurt. There was no great scoring option on the team after that, due to inexperience. Once Moe, MAAR, D-Rob and DJ gained more experience, Walton and the team were much better the next year.
Walton's senior year was one of the best couple of seasons by any Michigan player in this century. At worst, I'd put it 4th behind Trey's sophomore year, Stauskas' sophomore year, and Moe's junior year.
So yeah, including Trey, I'd go:
1. Trey Burke
2. Derrick Walton
3. Zavier Simpson
4. Darius Morris
5. Spike Albrecht
All 5 guys were fantastic.
Walton was one jumper away from moving into possible legend status. A couple more games and his final season could be right behind Treys season.
Jeff Jackson Simpson was the most embarrassing Pg of the Coach Beilein era. He played tenacious D with the AAPD. They couldn’t get rid of him. “Why is he sticking around”
Simpson had an overall better career than Walton, but Walton had a crazy good end to his senior year that influences people's perception of his career. When you say "best" I'm not sure if that means best player overall, best at their peak, or most accomplished. If you mean most accomplished, I'd take Simpson, but if you mean best player at their peak then definitely Walton