It would be the highest ranked road win in the history of Michigan’s program, passing #3 Wisconsin from 2013/14. I know UCLA was known for having pathetic crowds over the last several years (averaged about 7,500 in a 13,800 person stadium over the last 5 years), and I wonder if that will change with all buzz around the program right now.
The biggest thing and something I mentioned was the inconsistent play from two seniors in Walton and Irvin. More so Irvin because he is so up and down, next year is going to be real interesting how this team offensively changes with those two guys gone. The question is way are they so inconsistent as seniors?
Going to be some heat on Matthews to be a driver, would really like Ibi to make a big jump cause we will need a couple of those guys. A grad transfer wing would be a great addition. Also it’s still way to early to judge X but no matter what Brooks is going to have to be ready to go.
Is it a legitimate question to ask about their 4 year development under Beilein? Or does the injury narrative disqualify any objective analysis? They were both top 50 recruits I believe.
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I think questioning their development is totally warranted, even with injury caveats. It’s pretty hard to explain their plateaus, since there is glaring weaknesses that need to be fixed even beyond athleticism.
I don’t care about their “Top 50” status anymore, but I do care and worry about their plateaus. I don’t think ANY athlete should be reaching their ceiling at age 22(ish).
With that said, I do think for some reason that their bad games stay in our memories a lot longer than their good games. It’s not like Walton/Irvin haven’t led us to any significant wins in their tenure.
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Development is a two sided coin. It is on the player and the coaches. I don’t think coaches work hard for some players and not for others, unless they feel the player isn’t receptive or has already reached their potential.
Some players peak sooner than others. Some don’t improve after high school while others keep getting better throughout their NBA careers.
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One thing it might be legitimate to ask is whether D Walt and Zak just lack confidence right now, have it in them to play better–or whether Coach B can make adjustments that put them in a position to better succeed. . . OR whether they have hit their ceilings, and/or teams pretty much have the formula to take them out of games. Long season if the latter is the case. I don’t have the answer, but am interested in other people’s take.
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Mixed success with development for those two guys. Irvin did develop - he was only a shooter freshman year, and his handle, passing, defense, and rebounding all improved. And he looked pretty darn good against SMU, Marquette, and most of VA Tech. However, he seems to have maxed out below what might have been hoped for, especially with respect to ball-handling and decision-making.
Derrick developed on defense and shooting off the dribble, but stalled out too in terms of half-court offense and decision-making.
Both guys seem to be players that are often quite good but if you make them do what they don’t want to they may struggle mightily – i.e., they’ve developed in various ways but their weaknesses can still be exposed. I do think their injuries (and Caris’s) stalled their development, both in terms of actual time on the court working on their weaknesses and in terms of confidence.
Beilein is one of the best at developing wings and guards, but that doesn’t mean that every guy who comes through here will turn out to be an NBA player.
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I remember during Irvin’s freshman year it was discussed a lot how he shot a great percentage despite having some weird funky spin on the ball. I recall Beilein talking the year after that about how they worked on his form, and I know he still brings the ball up from the side but is it just me or instead of that spin does he massively push it now?
Thread title. Is this still the upcoming season? We have played 9 games. Just saying.
Michigan's game at UCLA next week will be U-M's eighth true road non-con game vs top-25 team under Beilein.
— Brendan F. Quinn (@BFQuinn) December 4, 2016
0-7, avg margin of defeat: 18.6 pic.twitter.com/jLedFhM2Wf
Depressing stat. Blindly hoping we see a different outcome today.
Surprised we didnt grab a few W’s with Trey and Nik
True, but even with those guys we struggled in places like Assembly Hall and Cameron. Luckily, Pauley is not that kind of environment, but still wouldn’t be surprised if they came out cold, tight, and athletically overmatched.
So we’re due
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True road non-conference is very specific. Eliminates the preseason tournaments/neutral site games; eliminates conference road games; eliminates NCAA Tournament wins
Less than 1 opportunity per year. And let’s take a look at those opportunities.
4 games on the road against AP top 5 teams.
2 games on the road against AP top 2 teams.
1 game on the road against AP top 25 team.
Those losses aren’t that depressing at all.
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We did beat #3 MSU at Breslin and #3 Wisconin at the Kohls Center.
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Anybody watch Maryland basketball? I haven’t seen them play much this year but I was looking over the big ten stat leaders and noticed Melo is very absent in almost all categories. I have always thought Melo was hugely overrated but not this bad-- He currently only has 35 assists to a whopping 34 turnovers. That is crazy. Theories or explanations?
I apologize for putting this comment in the wrong category…
How is the team shooting? It’s tough to get assists when you play with bricklayers…
I have only watched them a little. No comment on Melo, but it really makes me sad to see Heuter playing for them. Beilein was in on him early. The kid can play. He would be starting here at the 2. He is a pretty complete player for a freshman.
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