yeah, does it boil down to bad philosophy or bad execution
It would sure suck to be UConn missing the NCAA Tournament considering they have won 4 national titles in the past 16-17 years. If Michigan was winning a national title every 4 years or so I would be ok with missing the tournament one year here or there.
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I still believe itâs a bit of both. For example there are probably some guys that have a skill set to be good defenders but the staff/philosophy isnât getting the most out of it. Then there are other players who donât have any real good skills that can be utilized on the defensive end and it shows on D or their playing time gets reduced to nil.
I think the point is that good teams and programs miss the tournament sometimes. I also wouldnât compare last year to the 2010 team because there were some very different circumstances (injuries).
The tournament thing is really why I think Wisconsin and Michigan State have been so impressive over the last decade and change with their consistency in making the dance. Funny that Bo got out now when his streak might end 
Thad Matta and Matt Painter are probably in that next tier of Big Ten coaches other than Bo/Izzo and theyâve both had blips on the radar (Painter obviously more than Matta), but theyâve generally bounced back as well.
Iâm with you on next year not looking great but I totally disagree about last year. Their two best players were injured and they had a ton of new players. Combine that with a lot of close losses and itâs pretty easy to see why they ended up with the record they did. I donât put that on the staff. What I put on the staff are the obvious recruiting failures coming off the Success from 2012-14
Like Dylan said, the points is some of the top tier programs in the country miss the NCAAT. Michigan isnât a top tier program.
Also, my response was to him saying that Michigan shouldnât miss the postseason for ANY circumstances. Now you guys are making stipulations (Kentuckyâs #1 class and UConnâs national titles), which is a start.
Lucky in what way?
Well Michigan won a national title in 89, missed the tourney in 91. I doubt the fans were that upset because of what happened following that.
Maybe time for another post about why Michigan isnât a top tier program.
Itâs kind of interesting, Sane, the way some of these guys see things. If JB recruits well, heâs lucky. But if he doesnât get the top tier athlete that they wish he would get, he canât recruit. Must be nice to just sit behind a computer screen and analyze and criticize those who are in the arena working their tail off. Sorry, I just couldnât help it. JB may not be perfect but he has done so much more in the game and FOR the game than I can even dream about and I COACHED for 29 years for Heavenâs sakes! Again, sorry for the rant.
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If you agree that there ARE certain circumstances where missing the NCAAT isnât the end of the world, then we are on the same page. My reply was to the poster who said Michigan shouldnât miss the tournament under ANY circumstances.
IMO the issues are all centered aroundâŚwellâŚthe center. And the 4 spot. And the philosophy.
Our guard recruiting (and defensive play) has been really good.
I think our PGs are always good defenders. MAAR and Caris - good defenders.
Poole coming in. We got in the mix with 5* Battle.
I canât fault the coaches for any guard recruiting.
Their bigs though baffle me. Get another Jordan Morgan - undersized but quick feet and strong.
Let your bigs go get the boards. Donât bank on your PG to get it.
The four spot thing is more interesting than the five in my opinion. If Michigan lands Vince Edwards instead of Kam Chatman, the roster looks completely different. Hard watching that guy at Purdue when heâd be such a great four here.
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I think I loved Vince Edwards more than most. It seemed that Beilein backed off of that one. Am I correct in that, Dylan?
Digging back into the memory⌠He was kind of always favored to choose Purdue, even when Michigan started getting involved. Then they showed him some strong interest for a bit and things started to brew a bit, but I think eventually they saw the writing on the wall and focused their efforts in other directions.
Rightly or wrongly, I continue to believe that the switch to Nike & Jordan will eventually pay dividends on the recruiting trail if marketed correctly. Go Jumpman!
The non-conference slate featured many patsies and so the jury is still outâadjusted SOS or notâmy tendency is to take the relative offensive numbers with a grain of salt. I think we look like a team that may not be terribly resilientâif one key player goes down the season may be over. Certainly, with Spike out of the picture our margin of error is reduced. And in the one game where we really needed Caris to come through he disappeared. Previous Beilein teams often showed an ability to clamp down on D just enough, as the season wears on, to eke out wins. Letâs see what happens.
They shouldnât miss a tournament. Stop wording it as if Iâm speaking specifically about the NCAA tournament.
Since 2010 (and just to name a few):
UCLA missed the postseason entirely.
Indiana missed the postsaeson entirely.
UConn missed the posteason entirely (not eligible).
Syracuse missed the posteason entirely (not eligible).
Illinois missed the posteason entirely.
Florida missed the postseason entirely.
Maryland missed the postseason entirely.
But yeah, it should not happen under ANY circumstances at Michigan.
Ok, how about he was Lucky that McGary had three friends on the team and that OSU didnât want Burke? I mean sure some luck is involved in all recruiting but I donât think itâs a stretch to say that those classes now look like an anomaly for JBâs career.
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I have to respond to this. Excluding the two ineligible teams(why they are listed I have no idea) how many of those teams fired their coaches shortly after??
Now I know Florida did not of course they werenât that far removed from ready for this Hail BACK to BACK National titles.
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