Don’t forget Nairn is likely to play a lot. Winston will play but it might only be 15 minutes or so to begin. Also remember Winston won’t play if he doesn’t play D.
I might be in the minority, but I don’t think Nairn is good. Like at all. They have been so much better since McQuaid took his place in the lineup. Nairn is a better defender (although McQuaid is not as bad as I would have thought), but he gives them absolutely nothing on offense.
And with next year’s team, I think there is even less of a role for Nairn. They’ll have athletic slashers galore to go along with Davis down low. A floor spacer like McQuaid or Cassius (or even Harris) would make their offense much scarier, without much of a drop off in defense.
I agree, Nairn isn’t very good. But Izzo, more than most, values effort and leadership. This year’s MSU has that without him, with Valentine, Forbes, and Costello. Next year, all the Freshman may need Nairn on the court to keep them focused and disciplined. I kind of hope that’s the case…the less talent they field at the same time, the better.
3 Likes
Remember Michigan State had success with Travis Walton as a starter. Nairn is better than Travis Walton.
Is he? I’m not being snarky. I really don’t remember Walton very well. Their stats are almost exactly the same, though.
And Walton’s 4 years coincided with what would probably be Izzo’s worst 4-year stretch as a head coach. They made the F4 in Walton’s senior year, but we’re 28-22 in conference during the other 3 years and lost in the first round, second round, and then sweet 16.
I’m excited for a backcourt of X & Poole but more athleticism at the other positions (or 2 of the 3 other positions).
I see harbaugh just offered the #2 prospect in the country a scholarship. Maybe beilein will notice and step his game up.
Lol. I’m sorry, but it was time I stopped reading this blog and contributed. This thread epitomizes everything wrong with the Michigan fan base IMO. I love UM. Grew up thirty minutes from AA. But, we have run off soooo many good coaches.
I coach on the high school level. If winning was easy, everyone would be a champion. Expecting sweet 16 every year is an elite expectation that I don’t think is fair. UM is simply not in that elite company of KU, Duke, UNC, etc.
Johnny B has had some rough luck. He’s provided us with consistency that has been hard to find in 20 years. He runs a clean program and his teams have generally been entertaining and competitive. Not sure why in the world we’d want to change direction… who’s the “elite” coach we somehow are missing out on? Because those aren’t exactly easy to find…
2 Likes
I think Izzo slow plays guys. That is one reason why he doesn’t lose as many early departures. He doesn’t want them to get too much exposure or develope too quickly. Why wasn’t Davis starting or playing more minutes? We’re the guys ahead of him really better?
2 Likes
Good bye. Thank you for the announcement.
Is your opinion the only one that matters on this board?
Absolutely agree. Izzo is a master manipulator of perceptions.
Stupid comment. Very few people are saying he needs to be fired right now. But we are headed a bad direction with a real possibility of no tournament yet again. One more year of that should not be ok from anyone’s standpoint. Smart is the one coach I wish would be out coach right now. I love beilein but he does seem to be slipping a little bit. The point of being entertaining as a reason to keep him is foolish. I’d rather win more games and play ugly. At the end of the day, wins/losses is what matters.
2 Likes
Not at all. What does that have to do with posters making announcements they are leaving?
It’s the RR epidemic which was spread by mgoblog.
Entertaining overtook actual winning.
1 Like
By what people say on these boards it’s pretty true. Win games, that will solve all of this. Yeah shooting 3s is the popular thing these days. It’s embarrassing watching our guards getting blown past every time down the court and our big men getting a combined 2 or 3 rebounds. Or out big men getting the ball inside 7 feet and missing consistently. That’s far worse than any 3 point shooting in my eyes. With how we’ve played, I think it’s a miracle we are 10-8 with even a prayer of getting big in the tournament. I for sure would not pick this team.
That’s a crazy straw man. Who is saying to expect sweet 16 EVERY year? We aren’t even making the tourney man. That’s why people are upset.
3 Likes
There have been posters who say we should expect to be in serious contention for the B1G championship and in the sweet 16, every year. But I agree, while that would be ideal, I think that expectations should be closer to a top 4 B1G finish and an obvious NCAA bid
1 Like
Oh great. This tired and stupid false argument again. No reasonable fan is expecting us to be KU, Duke or UNC every year. There is Grand Canyon size hole between where those programs are and where we are. Expecting the program to be better than it is does not equal expecting it to be a top 5 program every year. Nice try though.
2 Likes
Before you get too worked up, look at the actual numbers. Over the past 12 years (basically since Roy and Self took over at their respective programs), KU has averaged 2.25 wins per tournament (basically a sweet sixteen every year and an extra win every fourth year), Duke has averaged 2.3 wins per tournament, and UNC 2.6 per tournament. Over that same time period, Duke has won 3 ACC championships and UNC has won 7. KU has obviously dominated the B12 during Self’s tenure.
For comparison, Izzo has also averaged 2.25 tourney wins per year during that time period while winning 3 B10 titles. OSU had averaged 1.72 tourney wins per year during Matta’s tenure with 5 B10 titles.
Many people on this board (possibly you, too, though I haven’t gone back to check) think that as a minimum, Michigan should be a sweet 16 team and compete for conference titles every year. If we did that, we’d be a top 10 program, possibly top 5. Are those realistic expectations? Only time will tell.