Say what you will about Johnny B–but he is a leader of men. Set the record for UM wins today, and continues to demonstrate why UM is home of leaders and the best. I know many on this board wanted/still want him gone. But, incidents like the one this week show us that basketball is just a game. Our coach’s greatness extends to off the court as well.
"Sanderson, Shepard and sports information director Tom Wywrot all used the same word to describe Beilein.
“Unbelievable.”
Beilein had fumes pouring in his face as helped hold down the inflatable chutes. Once everyone deboarded, he checked with each person individually."
The more I read about it, the more insane it becomes. I had no idea it was so close to being a Marshall-esque tragedy. Indeed, it’s a proud day in the UM family. The stories coming out about the incident are just inspiring.
Beilein has received a lot of criticism because he can’t recruit, but the guy keeps delivering. He has turned this program around since he has taken over. He has made two and three star recruits into All-Big Ten performers. One stat I never considered is that UM has one of the slowest-paced offenses in the nation, but yet is always near the top in terms of offensive efficiency. Beilein is an offensive mastermind and I hope he coaches for many years to come.
I have long been an admirer of Coach B. He most certainly is one of the classiest gentlemen in sport. He is a man of impeccable character and the highest standard of ethics. In the adversity that the team suffered Wednesday, his leadership, calm demeanor, and character once again came shining through. John Beilein never complains. He defers praise, instead giving it to others, in this case his players, managers, and basketball staff as well as the flight crew. There are those who say he is a great offensive basketball coach. While I don’t believe that can be disputed, some of his detractors do give him credit as a “good” or “very good” offensive coach. Folks who coach this game call him an offensive genius. His peers in COACHING know he is a great offensive coach. His detractors say he is a mediocre defensive coach or worse. Hopefully this second half of the season is beginning to refute some of THAT criticism. There are those who would attribute our recent defensive success to Billy Donlan. Coach B would probably be one of them. Coach B HIRED Billy Donlan. Coach B has deferred to Billy Donlan, and has adjusted his defensive philosophy in accordance with that hire and Donlan’s defensive expertise. THAT is leadership. There are those who say Coach B “can’t recruit.” I will not criticize any player Coach B hasn’t recruited or hasn’t prioritized that folks on here would like him to recruit, but Coach B recruits kids who HE believes will fit the culture he has established and built and continues to build here. I am so thankful that Coach B has recruited high character kids, well spoken kids, kids who simply don’t get in trouble, and who CAN play. I’m so thankful he recruited Dwalt, and Zac, and MAAR, and DJ, and Wagner, Duncan, and yes, Mark Donnal, who quickly took charge and got that emergency door open so his teammates could escape. These kids, ALL of them, handled adversity extremely well. And it continued through the night, and the next morning having to get back on an airplane, flying to DC, fighting traffic, arriving late to the arena, and THEN playing one hell of a game. Coach B recruited these kids, and they are a reflection of him. Have I always agreed with everything Coach B does with his kids on the floor? Not always, but he has forgotten a hell of a lot more than I ever knew about coaching, so I’ve learned to trust him. I admire his ability to adjust, and to prepare his team. He doesn’t often get out coached. Oh, and by the way, he now is the winningest coach in Michigan Basketball history! I don’t know how the kids will play today. They very well could, a day removed from all the adrenaline and energy they displayed yesterday, and just two days after their near tragedy, come out a bit tired and flat today. Then, too, they may play with the same energy and effort they displayed yesterday. They are kids. Maybe their shots will fall and they’ll dominate Purdue like they did the last time we played them, and maybe they won’t. Maybe tired legs will catch up with them. What I DO know is that win or lose, I am proud of these kids, and I’m proud of their coach, a man I admire greatly. Thanks to whoever started this “Beilein Appreciation Thread.”
Not sure what the back story of but people questioning the tests effort or toughness at times or beleins track record in these areas isn’t an attack on them as human beings.
Early in big ten play the team was playing soft and with no energy. I don’t think people are bad fans for questioning players effort, decisions, skills. That’s what message boards are for. To discuss the team whether their playing good or bad.
Thanks, U. I understand exactly what you are saying and I agree. I, too, have been criticized for criticizing fans who have criticized our kids and our coach. Just last week I made a comment that I think was reasonable, well thought out, and very positive. I posted it because of my great pride in our kids and our coach who most definitely have been criticized, I think unfairly, this year. There was one poster in particular who had said some particularly nasty things a week or so earlier. That was my first comment in several months because I just don’t like the tenor of some of the posts (comments) on this message board. None of those negative posters said a thing after that post because, quite frankly, what could they say. I got a couple of “likes” and a “great post” from someone. While I appreciate that, I don’t really care what people say. Interestingly, this is now my third post in two days and my fourth in about a week and a half. I don’t want to make it personal, so I won’t, because I was warned about that some time ago. Although, sorry Dylan, I really don’t care about that either. Please don’t be offended as none was intended. And I will say, Dylan, I think you do a great job on this board. Your write ups are exceptional, and I always enjoy your graphics and statistical analyses. What I find very interesting is there are posters on here who criticize kids and coaches and then claim that’s fair game, but who can’t seem to handle being criticized for THAT in return. Now, today’s game. We didn’t shoot the ball well, did we. I think with everything that’s happened, our legs were a bit tired. We got stagnate in the second half, and we didn’t always cut hard. We missed shots that we made yesterday. BUT, we played with heart and grit. No one better criticize the color of our collars or claim we’re lazy with that gutty performance we just watched. These kids fight through adversity. They get stabbed in the heart, a pinpoint perfect almost miracle pass at Northwestern, the officials stealing the game from us at Minnesota, a plane crash Wednesday, and a fr^*#@^ng TIMING error today, and we don’t hang our heads. We use that adversity as motivation. And how about the way our coaching staff prepared these kids to play today, and the halftime adjustments they made. So, U, I “get” it. I understand. It’s driven me away from this place. But I keep coming back because there are a lot of really positive posters, too, and guys like sane1, who in addition to being positive is just THE most SANE guy on here, in my humble opinion. So I’ll say again, PROUD of our kids, PROUD of our coaches, PROUD to be a Michigan Wolverine…ALWAYS!
Appreciate the support man. It’s nice to see so many gracious UM fans out there.
I think the main reason I started this thread was in response to some of the criticism Beilein has received from portions of the fanbase over the last few years.
Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t satisfied with our play during that stretch to start the Big Ten this year. I think many people had good reason to bring up concerns. But, as a high school teacher/basketball coach, I couldn’t help but feel some kind of way about some critiques coming from our own. There’s so much out of a coach’s control when it comes to winning and losing basketball games. That’s just a fact.
The problem with forums like these is it turns everyone into an analyst. Many Beilein critics had this know it all attitude regarding their diagnosis of the team’s ills. It was irritating. Our poor energy, defensive rotations, taking a step towards the basket on a shot instead of into an opponent, closing out with hands down, not having a hand up and out, weak side help coming over late etc…You KNOW these were addressed/taught, yet it took a while for many of our players to internalize and break bad habits. Sometimes, you have to take some L’s to finally be convinced that what the coaches are saying is the path to victory.
I think we saw today the growth of this team. So much of that is coaching. A lot of it, like the mistakes earlier this year, reflects the growth of our young men, the student athletes.
When all is said and done though, I think Johnny B has proven to be an offensive mastermind, a great man, a great teacher, and great representative of the University. Let him finish his contract and become a UM hall of famer. We should appreciate his contributions more. thus, this thread
I don’t think it gets more personal than questioning a player’s toughness or effort. These aren’t measurable statistics, they are just subjective conclusions. I think it could as easily be said that Michigan was going through an adjustment period with two first year starters in the lineup and new defensive concepts. There is nothing more deadly to playing with energy as uncertainty. It’s true defense is largely about effort, it’s also true that good team defense requires everybody being on the same page, playing on a string as they say.
I graduated from Michigan. I considered the worl load from my classes to be more than a full time job between classes and studying. I will never think a kid who plays a major sport lacks effort.
Once again, Beilein is proving his critics wrong. He has his team playing at their best in March, they are playing tough, playing good defense, and winning games when they don’t shoot well. Now, if he could just recruit better players.
Thank you Kellen for starting this thread. I love UMHoops site, but years ago stopped participating on the website because of a few people who were so negative especially about Beilein. While the criticism about his recruiting is a worthy discussion, I feel it gets too exaggerated as a shortcoming. The man has recruited 2 B1G POY.
Love Coach Beilein. He got somewhat blindsided with all the early entries followed by his next leaders up all dealing with various injuries, but he has shown to be a great coach worthy of support.
Another great run by a JB team late in the season. One of the trade marks of great teaching and coaching. JB, a leader of men and builder of culture. The kids are playing well now…everyone’s contributing. Looks like JB will be around for as long as he wants to coach. What a great shot of DWALT and John walking off the floor…for the love of the game and the MICHIGAN brand!
GO BLUE!!!
UMJBfan, all I can say is don’t stop doubting him cause I want him to keep proving you wrong!! LOL Once again, what a masterful coaching job! And as always, he’s classy. He’s humble. He never makes excuses. He defers credit to his players and his assistant coaches. And did you see him with that water machine gun in the locker room after the game. Love his core values!
I hope everyone now understands why Beilein recruits shooters.
We only made 6 threes today and half of them were by the bigs and they made 3 on 5 attempts.
I had to laugh when Oklahoma State’s coach was reciting their rebounding and points in the paint advantage. He said the game has changed. Beilein is ahead of that curve and yet so many of his detractor’s complaints are based on a decade plus old view.
