I was writing a nearly identical post @BleedBlue . Bear is right that JBâs always been more enamored with offense, but in the past he could rely on mixing in zones just to keep the opponent off balance. But now, he doesnât have the horses who can execute the zones consistently, nor can they man upâŚand the B1G has some excellent coaches who have kind of figured out how to beat the 1-3-1 if we employ too much of it.
Maybe you have never heard of players just being bad defensively (Doyle) and having bad defensive posture and awareness (Dawkins). Sometimes players come with deficiencies that they never overcome because of bad early coaching. Under most circumstances players who have it come to college with it or the athletic ability to become adequate at it. Sometimes it wonât matter in situations where bigger is better. You may think I am giving excuses for JB but that is how I see some of the issues with the team defensively.
I donât think moe and kam are bad defenders
Unfortunately for your theory, JBâs teams have been historically bad on the defensive side of the ball.
I do agree to an extent that the type of player you target and recruit plays into the poor team defense. Overal philosophy plays a much bigger part IMO.
And yet after nearly 40 years of running an offense his way, he changed how his offense ran and incorporated new ideas with major input from assistants.
I am skeptical as well. But he has given defense plenty of talking time in interviews since the season ended. And if he hires a guy that is a defensive specialist, it starts going from words to actions.
We will see what happens. Iâll criticize JB as much as anyone if we still arenât putting more effort into defense. But youâre being far too absolute about it IMO.
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Admittedly, I am being pretty absolute about it. I hope Donlon gets the job and I hope defense becomes more of a priority.
We are all going to find out together.
We will save the discussion on how much JB has actually tweaked his offense for another day. 
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Windsor: Beilein âremodelingâ U-M for return to success
I read that this morning and it made me chuckle about how so many UM fans say things like âHe is going to play a lot of 1-3-1 zoneâ or âHe never plays two bigs togetherâ, etc. As if he doesnât ever change how he does things. Give the man credit for not being stuck in a rut or afraid to try new and different things.
I guess we will find out how willing he is to adapt his system when Wagner picks up 2 fouls in the first half.
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I find it interesting that seemingly everyone on this board criticizes JB for the two foul âruleâ, yet it has been around for quite some time and was utilized long ago by the late great Al Maguire as well as other very good coaches over the years. Iâm not saying whether I necessarily agree with the âruleâ the way Coach B uses it, although he certainly knows more about his team and players than I do, but what I find interesting is that so many people on here talk as if THEY know whatâs best as it relates to coaching philosophy, and Coach B doesnât. I find THAT laughable.
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i donât agree with this at all. There are times when auto benching makes little sense to me (veteran perimeter players without a fouling history and no depth at the position), but with bigs, where there is contact on every possession, it generally does make sense, and with Wagner, who is extremely foul prone, and will be rotated with a guy who averaged 10 and 5 in the BT regular season (Donnal), it would seem mandatory to me.
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So you really have no opinion on the matter but want to criticize the ones that donât like the autobench. Whatâs next âif you didnât play or coach the game you canât have an opinionâ line? You should just say you trust Beilein.
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So you would at least agree that applying the auto bench 100% of the time, as in the past, would not constitute âadaptingâ, right?
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There are a lot of places to adapt. This is not an all or nothing proposition. Iâd like him to make some changes on auto benching, but if, for examples, we make changes in defensive philosophy, ways we approach certain recruiting situations, rotations, etc, or even some of those, Iâm not going to call JB unadative simply because he doesnât change in one area.
And even on auto benching, thereâs a difference between taking a guy out when he gets his second foul and keeping him out for the remainder of the half, and taking him out and reinserting him late in the half especially if things are going badly. Iâd venture to say that the overwhelming majority of coaches at least do the second, and that doesnât bother me at all.
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Oh, I DO have an opinion. I just donât care to share it with those who really donât care about that opinion. However, I will say I think there are nuances to the âruleâ which perhaps preclude it being a hard and fast rule. And, yes, I do trust Coach Beilein. Oh, and I do think if youâve never coached itâs pretty presumptuous of you to think your opinion really has much credibility. I do, however, believe you have the right to express that opinion just as I believe I have the right to laugh at it. Finally, and Iâve certainly made this point before, I get really tired of the criticism of our players and Coach B that seems to pervade this and other message boards. I know, I knowâŚI donât have to read it. Thanks, and GO BLUE!!!
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I get what your saying but just because you havenât coached before doesnât mean you donât know what your talking about. It just means you didnât pursue a career in coaching.
Sly, I agree, and I may seem a bit arrogant at times. OK, sometimes I may seem very arrogant, but I feel that if one hasnât actually called the shots he probably doesnât really get it. Thatâs probably unfair but it is how I feel. And, while I do trust Coach B, believe me there are some philosophical differences I have with him. He is, however, our coach and he does know much more about our kids, the current state of our program, and the rigors of Division I coaching in 2016 than I know. Besides that, Iâve never attained the stature in coaching that he has. So, I donât air those differences, in the rare instances when they exist, in a critical manner on a public forum. That may also be due to the fact that I am an old man and am fairly new to this social media thing where people feel they can say whatever they want whenever they want. But I do hear what you are saying. Just because one has not made basketball coaching his profession doesnât mean one canât have an opinion about basketball coaching. I will say this, however, I will almost always pay more attention to the opinions of those who are professionals, who have been in the arena so to speak, than those who are not professionals. Sorry I brought any of this upâŚagain.
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I donât have any problem with auto-benching if a game can be kept close. A guy with two first half fouls becomes a target for the opponent and/or becomes a soft defender trying to avoid his third foul. If he picks up his third foul then he starts the second half playing softer trying to avoid his fourth.
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The whole thing about needing to have played/coached to have an opinion is really silly. Thatâs equating basketball with professions that are beyond a laymanâs comprehension, like neurosurgery. Some things meet that standard but most donât.
Jean van de Velde can play circles around all of us, but that doesnât mean you canât question his thinking on that 18th hole a wee bit. To say otherwise is to say you canât think for yourself.
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Letâs just say we agree to disagree. I do think the neurosurgeon argument is a bit disingenuous, though, and a major straw man. I will say, however, that having an opinion is one thing. Setting oneself up as an expert and beating it to death on a public forum is quite another. As far as the golf analogy goes, youâre right in my wheelhouse now. Iâm a pretty good player and worked as a golf professional, coach, and teacher of the game for many years, and while Arnold Palmer could certainly âplay circlesâ around me, Iâd never question decisions he made on the golf course especially as it relates to his game and the strategy he was employing at the time. Never. But again, we can agree to disagree. I would hope we can leave it at that because I donât think Dylan would want us to continue this discussion here, and I respect that.
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