The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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NOVEMBER 2017 THE WOLVERINE 41 2017-18 BASKETBALL PREVIEW "Every player is like that. As a player, you come in and you see it, and go after it. That's what he's been doing. He's working on getting that shot off quick and shooting it a little better than he was." His willingness to instruct doesn't mean Simpson is conceding any- thing, Haynes assured. Simpson showed some flashes in his 38 game appearances a year ago, tossing off four assists in a win over Maryland Eastern Shore. He's a competitor who will simul- taneously sacrifice for the team and battle for time, according to the new assistant coach. "He might say, 'You coming in as a fifth-year guy, I'm not going to take the back seat to you, but I'm going to teach you. We're all one. Team, team, team. We're going to do it together,'" Haynes said. "That's what Zavier 's been doing with Jaaron and Eli. "Zavier played behind Derrick Walton, and Zavier can help even teaching me the offense. I can work with him on some of the things I learned being a point guard. We all just put it all together and try to get better." Simpson knows every position on the floor and very rarely comes up on the short end in a five-on-five setting, Haynes observed. "Man, he's a winner," Haynes said. "He hates to lose. One thing he needs to work on is his jumper. Coach is showing him film and saying, 'Hey, you need to take some of these shots.' "He's always the guy to think pass first. But when you get into the lane, you may have that floater, you may have that pull-up. Master that shot now so teams will play you honest. If they think you're not going to take that shot … "He's been working on it every day — getting shots off quicker, lots of threes, pull-ups. Once the season starts, he can put that into his game and be more of a threat on the floor." Brooks has time to develop as a freshman, and he'll use it. He brings some skills to the table and can move from shooting guard to point, accord- ing to Haynes. "He's really good," Haynes said. "He's a good shooter. He's young. He's got those freshman tendencies right now, but he's getting better ev- ery day. He can really shoot the ball and he's a team player.