Dylan, how come no article on the coaching change at OSU? Seems directly related to UM bball. I also wouldn’t mind more info on the changes at Indiana and Illinois.
Just suggesting…
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Yes, of course. My point is simply that it turned out he couldn’t do much with a talent advantage - he really needed an overwhelming talent advantage to have that success. I look at the guys he signed the last 5 years and it’s hard for me to believe UM wouldn’t have been delighted to sign those guys (as long as grades were in order). Some of them, UM distinctly lost out on. I mean, maybe Amir was always going to be unenthused and ineffective, or maybe at a player development factory he has a different career. He had a ton of talent in these last five plus years, just not overwhelming talent and it was surprising to see how little he could do with the talent that he had.
I mean: Amir Williams(49), Sam Thompson(51), LaQuentin Ross(44), Shannon Scott(33), Loving (63), Kam Williams (84), Russell(13), KBD(24), Tate(55), Lyle(49), Giddens(57), Grandstaff(60), AJ Harris(93) - those are Scout ranking, for whatever they are worth, but man, not being able to do much of anything with those guys, that just seems like basketball malpractice to me. That’s a pretty sick amount of top 100 talent to be so mediocre with.
Would be good to dive into. Probably will do an offseason power rankings to look at some additions (players/coaches/etc.) coming up soon.
I think the ability to assemble a team with overhwelming talent is the goal here. Whether you do that by developing them, recruiting them, whatever. You are trying to assemble to best team.
The list of kids that you mention is filled with ‘recruiting misses’ like Amir Williams, Shannon Scott, Kam Williams, Jaquan Lyle… Guys that either weren’t good for the team (Lyle, Williams) or just weren’t quite as good as people hoped at one time (Scott).
The 2015 class was obviously a huge disaster (and most responsible for the recent slide) but I don’t think that means Matta can’t coach or can’t develop talent. It means he made some mistakes in evaluation or tried to push his luck a bit too much.
We’ll have to agree to disagree here. To me, that speaks to some weaknesses in player development. I look at a lot of those guys and think Beilein could have gotten a lot out of them. I think a Kam Williams or even a Scott could have had a very solid career in AA.
I never doubt him as an in game coach - no issues there - but I came to seriously doubt him as a developer of talent.
Is Fife even any good?
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To be fair, Beilein evaluates a lot of things beyond what ranking services consider. In his estimation a team of talented players with incompatible personalities or personal agendas is not going develop at the pace their talent might suggest.
We only really recruited some of those guys right? Kbd, Tate, and grandstaff we were interested in if memory serves.
We definitely wanted Amir.
Yes, but Scott was about as attitude free as it gets, and Kam could have been a handful, but it could have gone either way. His shooting would have been a beautiful fit for our offense. I don’t know enough to know what he’d be like in a better environment.
Wow. In 17 years in Division I McDermott has 1 regular season conference championship. He went 18-46 at ISU. He has never made it past the round of 32 in the NCAAs. In the 3 years since Dougie left Greg has averaged less than 8 conference wins, never exceeding 10. Firing Thad Matta in June to hire McDermott two days later – he may work out great but as a Michigan fan I’ll take this turn of events.
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That seems an undersell - they were good last year until their season took a sudden left turn. OSU is pretty much a sleeping giant - have to think he’ll be recruiting at a higher level in Columbus. I’d see that hire as a push. Not as scary as some of the other possibilities, not a bad hire, though.
Well when the lunatics down south set the bar at Brad Stevens and Billy Donovan, Greg McBuckets has to feel like repeated kicks to the groin. So that is amusing.
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Challenge matchups coming out today…
Duke at Indiana, Notre Dame at MSU, Miami at Minnesota already leaked by Goodman.
Michigan at North Carolina
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That should make Wolverheel happy. Big time opportunity. So Maui, @UNC, @Tex, vUCLA. That’s a pretty solid nonconference slate. Oh, and UD of course.
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