If I had one word to describe the Michigan Basketball program and John Beilein I would use underachievers. This years team should not be playing like this and I blame the coaching. The defense is just atrocious. We just saw vs Maryland what happens when you leave good 3 point shooters open, they will hit the shots. I am here to say John Beilein needs to be fired if they do not finish the big ten in the top 5. He may be good with the X’s and O’s but there are no excuses with the outcomes. He continues to under achieve ever since the elite 8 run. Quite frankly, I do not see another tournament run past the sweet 16 in the near future. I am ready to see change especially if they miss out on the tournament this year which is very possible.
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I’m done. I hope Beilein retires after this year, as I never want to say “fire beilein” and mean it. We’re officially on the outside of the bubble now, I’d assume.
@MattD: Crow has been eaten, you were 100% right.
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this was the “easy” part of the schedule too…sooo…
Bracket matrix had us as one of the last teams in before this, so yeah we are probably out as of now.
No heart and no fight on this team. Every game is a bear fight. We will not win another game by 8 or more this year (except hopefully rutgers). I can not believe what has happened with this experienced of a team. I agree with what @tarverine and am sincerely apologizing to @MattD for the arguments because he was and is right. Crow has been eaten.
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The only positive in this game is maybe their starting to see how the offense needs to be run with this roster. Hopefully they adjust from here on out and feed moe full time.
Glad to see maar wake up a bit too. His slashing is a necessity.
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The “hard” portion of our schedule is coming up and if Illinois loses to IU today, only 1 of our next 9 games will be against a team that has a better record than we do.
I’m as frustrated as everyone, but the B1G is a s*** show this year and it’s a very long season. If we miss the tournament (which yes, looks possible) then JB’s job can come into question.
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Just imagine if we hadn’t made that unbelievable comeback against Penn State. So much for experience and seniors.
I’ll take talented Frosh over mediocre Seniors any day
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In no way do I think JB should leave. More losing will not change my opinion. However, I am losing respect for JB insofar as JB allows players–like Walton today–to get away with not playing up to their potential in terms of effort…If Walton sits the next game as punishment for his monumental lack effort on display, then I am more than cool with accepting a loss as a consequence of that punishment.
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Agreed he seems to give certain guys a long leash over the last few years and not others. We are worse because of this imo and it has hurt the team/ possibly cost us games.
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Last year, I said that if JB had a bubble team this season or missed the tournament, his position should come into question. I still believe that. We do not have a great team. But we have enough talent on the roster to be beating a Maryland team at home or a mediocre Iowa team on the road.
We were close today. We were close against Iowa. We were close against Virginia Tech. We were not too far off against UCLA. But that’s the problem. We’ve been close too much without closing the deal.
Luckily, in basketball, one addition or one change can make a big difference. If we get Bamba or find a late blooming wing that can create or Matthews becomes a solid shooter, our outlook for next season can change. Or if Walton starts playing more consistently to his potential, our team is not losing this close games at home this year.
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I have to admit, I am starting to lose faith in JBs future as an upper echelon coach.
This team has the experience that a coach dreams of, yet is the epitome of inconsistency and lethargy.
They consistently come out in a slow starting malaise with very little passion and energy. At what point does accountability fall on the head man to facilitate?
We start 6-20 from the floor today often settling for crappy looks and dig to deep a hole. The defense just doesn’t have the personnel to impose any will on the opponent and it becomes target practice more often than not against capable teams.
We can’t close out on shooters because we don’t try or because our athleticism is to challenged to get there on time?
We have been favored in all three of our B1G games to date, according to the experts.
Gut check coming up against the Illini.
Either two things could happen from here. A they spiral and become a bottom team in the big ten this year. B the team is tired of this and steps up and wins some big games. One nice thing is that our next two games are at an inconsistent Illinois team and home vs a Nebraska team who has been overachieving. Two very winnable games. If they go 2-0 in those games I am hopeful that this team woke up and will finish strong. 1-1 or 0-2 will not be too good. This is the turning point. In regards to the NCAA tournament right now we control our own destiny. Joe Lunardi has us at 9 seed as of earlier this week. I would say his next update we will be a 10 or last 4 in. I think it is still too early to hit the panic button.
Exactly what I’ve been talking about. There is simply no accountability standard under John Beilein
I’d love to be back to where we were in the Novak/Douglas years. They might not have made it far in the tourney ever but at least they played their asses of every game and wore the block M with pride. I’d rather have that than a bunch of mediocre, uninterested, and underachieving players like this and last year. We have one player in Mo who shows constant energy no matter what. Everyone else sulks or whines when things don’t go their way. I almost wanted to rip MAAR a new one after he missed that fast break layup, not for the miss, but for the fact that he had his head down for about 3 straight possessions after that until he scored again. Show some heart and yeah, we’ll be frustrated with physical limitations, but at least I won’t say I can’t wait until your senior class graduates. Walton and Irvin appear to be extraordinarily bad leaders, at least in game.
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THIS! What I’ve been trying to say for years. People laughed at me another thread when I tried to make a distinction based upon losing for lack of effort and losing for lack of skill. I LOVED those Douglass and Novak teams! So gritty!
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As I said earlier, I will absolutely eat crow and apologize to you, Matt. I now firmly believe you’ve been correct the whole time.
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The saying in football is “it’s Jimmys and Joes not X’s and O’s.” That is even more so in basketball. Every coach needs talent to win and as good as JB is on other areas he simply is not a good enough recruiter. That’s been apparent for awhile now.
That worked well for Michigan State today.
I’ll take some talented seniors please 