A few Beilein quotes tonight

The only issue I have with Donlon is I could see him only being around for 1 year and he goes for another head coaching gig at a small school. I do find it interesting there is larger than usual emphasis on defense. Why is it starting now? It was deteriorating a couple years ago. Do we even know if the current roster is equipped to play real good D? Michigan was 109 in D couldn’t they improve to mid 80’s and still be pretty bad?

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I agree, and there is stuff to learn from people who more and who less favor JB’s choices and methods. But there are some folks who 90% of their posts are just repeated pot shots at Beilein and that will never, ever change, and the best thing to do is ignore them. It’s annoying and hard to do, but in the long run it’s the best option.

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I liked JB’s quotes a lot. I am glad he sees this as a year which should have high expectations with 5 starters coming back. I like that he is going after defense and a new approach, and that he is still active on the grad transfer evals since having Spike would be better than having no one.

I think there are people who try to forceably win their arguments on both sides of the JB fence. Repeated pot-shots seem worse b/c they aren’t positive, but in theory the forum doesn’t benefit from either side being so polar. I fall on the “JB needs to show me something” side this year given what he has returning, but I"m glad that he is saying the right things. More than willing to be an optimist if there is acknowledgement of what needs addressing and what expectations should be.

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How exactly do you know that he is ignoring his assistants “pleas”? SOME of you guys on this site PRETEND to have so much insight, but in reality you really have none.

First it was coach Beliein was ignoring assistants when it came to recruiting when in fact it was Bacari and Lavell who had insight on current players and we signed Spike, MAAR and Duncan Robinson via word of mouth from other sources and videos.

Now it’s he ignores their “pleas” for defense.

Don’t take this personal but you appear to be one of them posters that is overly pessimistic about EVERYTHING .YOU continuously attack recruits , currently and the coaching staff when you can and appear to never be optimistic about anything.

But “Fans” are entitled to pessimism. I wish that theirbwas a way that I could block certain posters post. Pessimism is the norm I suppose.

Anyways with that being said…I have absolutely no reason to not to believe that Beilien will find the best possible assistant candidates to help this program - I recall that people were upset over Lavell and Bacari. Also I believe that our current roster can developed and compete - despite any pessimistic opinions and backlash that I may receive.

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I wish that I could like this post twice. I couldn’t have stated this any better. Pessimism is accept but positivity will get you blacklisted . Smh.

I will follow suit with your advice. It’s tough to do but I really enjoy reading the insight of others on this site.

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I know with 100% certainty he ignored Bacari’s pleas to spend more time and by more time I mean, any time working on the defensive side of the ball during the season.

You don’t have to believe me. In fact please don’t respond to my posts. I will not lose sleep.

Here’s the article on the recruitment of MAAR. At no time during this article was Bacari or Lavall mentioned. This was all based off a contact Beilein had.

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Great story. It amazes me when a kid like rahkman is not recruited big time. The first film I watched it seemed so obvious to me. I told my friend who is also a Michigan fan that he was my favorite kid in the class and exactly what we needed. Glad he made that call.

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This is interesting, Bear. But what you did was take a generic potshot. That’s what I responded to.

I am not ready to write off the 2014 class after just two years.

I didn’t either if you read what I said. We lost two, so that is minus points. Maar is a star imo. I think Kam we be a good role player and I said will Wilson ever figure it out. Pretty fair assessment.

My original post about someone asking JB if he would listen to his assistants about defense is a legitimate one. I guess you can take it as a pot shot but the defensive rankings the past 2 years warrant the question.

If he hires Donlon, why would he do so if not to use him on the defensive end? It’s not for his offensive prowess–in 6 years at Wright State, Donlan’s team never got above 237 in offensive efficiency rankings, adjusted for competition. It’s not for his recruiting prowess with big timers–Donlan has never played or coached at a high major, or even a mid-major above the Wright State level. Donlon’s calling card is defense. Unless you think Beilein is an idiot, it makes zero sense that he would hire a guy with one overriding great attribute and simply ignore him with respect to that attribute. And given that the potential assistant coaching list included 3 former Beilein players INCLUDING HIS SON, and a current staff member, it would be unthinkable for him to reject all of those guys to hire a guy he’ll ignore.

Donlon hasn’t been hired yet. If he is though, there is no way to look at the hire in any rational way other than that Beilein wants better defense and is looking for ways to get it.

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He didn’t use his previous 2 assistants defensive suggestions is why. What makes you think he’s going to veer from how he’s handled the defensive side of the ball 30+ years into his coaching career?

Listen, I hope you are right but all evidence points to JB not giving 2 craps about that side of the ball after preseason is over.

We’ll see. It’ll be interesting to hear how different practice is ran from my old roommate this upcoming season. He attends roughly 3 practices a year which includes the practice prep meeting the night before. I doubt much will change regardless of who is hired.

So why hire Donlon? Why add someone who only brings defensive expertise to the table, and over former players and current staff at that? Did his previous assistants have the same defensive credentials when they were hired (answer: no)?

Lol. Our previous assistants are now head coaches for crying out loud.

Why hire Donlon? I have no idea. Donlon isn’t even hired yet.

The only way I see JB changing how he runs his program is if Warde had a end of the season talk about it with him. So assuming that is true, I welcome Donlon and JB’s philosophy change. That’s all of course, wishful thinking.

And Donlon just was a head coach for 6 years and was the head coach at a school known for its defense.

Okay… I still ask, what makes anyone think, after 3 decades of coaching, that JB is going to change how he handles the defensive side of the ball?

I hope he changes. All previous evidence suggests he’s not going to.

We shall see.

Because he’s said in almost every interview since the loss to Notre Dame (including in the tunnel after the game I believe) that they need to make changes on the defensive end of the floor.