A first step in the right direction to become more appealing to kids is to dump Adidas and go back to Nike. We need to do that ASAP. Without mentioning their crappy designs and low quality products again, Adidas just doesn’t have the pull on the AAU circuits where these five stars play.
Next step would be for the fans to start packing Crisler the way they pack Michigan Stadium. I swear, you watch games on TV and you wonder about how many people are actually at the game. Its usually not rowdy in Crisler. Last year, when we beat Iowa, Michigan State, and Indiana, it was a great atmosphere. Need to bring that for every game, not just the big ones.
It doesn't have to be a majority. That's just more proof of how pompous you are. The fact is that there are more than a few posters here sick of your incessant criticisms of this program. If you could keep your agenda isolated to a thread or two, fine, but you can't. We've already lost at least one good poster because of this and I'm afraid we may lose more. It sucks because that is no way to build a solid community, which is the goal of this forum.
Let's just all chill, I'm a new poster but I've been lurking these forums for awhile and, from what I've read, while MattD might be a bit more pessimistic than others, he's still a positive contributor to this forum. No need to throw names around just because opinions don't align.
I don’t post often either but I do keep an eye on all the recruiting threads and I’m tired of reading MattD’s ending all his posts with something along the lines of “too bad we’re not as cool as UK so there’s no way we get him.” I get the picture, you don’t have to beat a dead horse.
Hope is a good thing. Obviously things aren’t going too well right now on the court so having some optimism for the future whether it be for next game or a 2016 recruit can’t hurt. Criticism when things are going well is healthy but your attitude has remained negative this entire season and it just feels like you’re throwing salt on the wound when you keep mentioning that we’re only early players for these top tier recruits.
To be honest, my goal is not to appease you, or anyone else for that matter, with hope. My goal is not to be positive (or negative), my goal is to present my realistic opinion on UM basketball…and if you, or anyone else happen to disagree, so be it.
As long as I’m respectful toward others, it’s my choice what to post. I don’t care if you don’t like it. Just be mindful that some on this board are also sick of the blind faith/positive spin when things are obviously trending the wrong way, and have been for quite some time. If you take that as me being a UK fan, that’s your problem…their model works and it is too bad we can’t recruit at that level.
Bottom line, anything I say in terms of recruiting/scheme/culture is going to be interpreted by some as an attack on JB or being “negative”…I get it, but that doesn’t mean its deserved.
A first step in the right direction to become more appealing to kids is to dump Adidas and go back to Nike. We need to do that ASAP. Without mentioning their crappy designs and low quality products again, Adidas just doesn't have the pull on the AAU circuits where these five stars play.
Next step would be for the fans to start packing Crisler the way they pack Michigan Stadium. I swear, you watch games on TV and you wonder about how many people are actually at the game. Its usually not rowdy in Crisler. Last year, when we beat Iowa, Michigan State, and Indiana, it was a great atmosphere. Need to bring that for every game, not just the big ones.
It boggles my mind and sickens me that shoe affiliation has anything to do with where a recruit ends up, but such is the state of affairs. Has the NCAA ever tried to reign in the AAU circuits or do they just not have jurisdiction?
The few things the NCAA has control over is when the viewing periods are for college coaches to view athletes. Those rules are basically only for D1. D2 can view a lot more and D3 has no dead periods. And they make sure all the coaches that coach during the live periods are certified through their certification process (which is super easy unless you have a criminal record).
An interesting tidbit in regards to Brown, he played for an adidas team in AAU and his HS seems to be sponsored by Nike. I have no idea if this hurts/helps in his recruitment.
I get it - players voice opinions on just how much they like JB's utilization.........:but they just don't like it enough to commit. Bottom line, lip service means nothing, pen and paper mean everything.
Honestly, in terms of HS recruits, the only upper tier PG/wing players we’ve brought in are Trey, Nik, Walton. 3 isn’t really all that impressive during an 8 year tenure…just saying
On your first point, do you really think that the major reason that kids are choosing other places is because they don’t like our style of play or utilization?
That and Beilein’s personality doesn’t resonate with them the way Matta’s or Calipari’s does. Both are factors.
MHoops, you don’t get it. We’re talking about RECRUITING here. Sure, Tim, Glenn, and D-Mo ended up in the NBA, but they were all 3 star prospects. The argument here is that Beilein’s system isn’t attractive to 5 star talent, not that it can get 3 stars into the NBA. How many of our wing recruits are in the NBA is irrelevant to the recruiting success we have. Is it great that Beilein can develop players into NBA talent? Of course, but it’s just plain wrong to say it’s not much easier when getting guys like Booker, Blackmon, etc. While I don’t fully agree with every aspect of MattD’s argument here, you have to at least acknowledge what his argument is and attack it, not just talk about how many NBA players we have.
Yeah, we can’t forget that the kids that we’re talking about grew up during one of the darkest times in Michigan basketball’s history. Surely the negative attention to the program from those times has some kind of effect on them.
MHoops, you don't get it. We're talking about RECRUITING here. Sure, Tim, Glenn, and D-Mo ended up in the NBA, but they were all 3 star prospects. The argument here is that Beilein's system isn't attractive to 5 star talent, not that it can get 3 stars into the NBA. How many of our wing recruits are in the NBA is irrelevant to the recruiting success we have. Is it great that Beilein can develop players into NBA talent? Of course, but it's just plain wrong to say it's not much easier when getting guys like Booker, Blackmon, etc. While I don't fully agree with every aspect of MattD's argument here, you have to at least acknowledge what his argument is and attack it, not just talk about how many NBA players we have.
I think I get it pretty well. I don’t think that it’s Beilein’s system which isn’t attractive to 5 star recruits. Per Kenpom, Kentucky is #242 in adjusted tempo this year, Kansas is #120, Florida is #309, UConn is #251, do I need to go on? All of those schools consistently get highly ranked recruits and athletes. Why do you think kids don’t shy away from the slower pace at those schools? And, if the argument is that we’re not “tough” enough for those kids, then why isn’t MSU getting highly ranked recruits either? In the '13, '14 and '15 classes, MSU has gotten exactly one top 50 kid–Deyonta Davis–and he was a 3 star when he committed.
Look, there are any number of reasons that we’re not getting kids–they may range from the way Beilein recruits from a personality perspective to the way he recruits from a follow the rules/gray areas perspective to some of the recruiting choices we’ve made, etc. But, the notion that after we’ve been as successful as virtually anyone recently in terms of putting kids in the NBA, kids won’t come because of playing style, is counter to actual experience.
MHoops - to put your tempo comparison in context though, if a team is slower it would generally indicate that those teams prefer to play a post oriented game and recruit accordingly. Kansas and Florida have certainly been able to do that. Also, sample size isn’t really your friend in this battle. 18-20 games in ONE year don’t really tell us much.
Problem with our tempo/style in relation to recruiting is this - we play a slow game, but don’t feed the post. In essence, no upper tier bigs want to come here (I think the great majority will concede this). On the other hand, we don’t play pressure defense to the extent that a player with good lateral movement, speed, and verticality would thrive or have a desire to come here unless said player has great shooting and/or ball handling. In other words, our style of play is very attractive to PGs because we run PnR and place the ball in their hands a great majority of the time. In our offense, there is a LOT of dribbling by 1-2 players and a LOT of standing around for the other 3 players on the court. I don’t think a screen setter role or a corner shooter role is very appealing to many players unless they lack the athleticism or skills to thrive elsewhere. In my view, this is why we attract a lot of one dimensional players.
Why would he have even planned an OV anyway? If he’s not that serious about coming, likes NC, it’s cold up here right now, and we’re having a weak season…What’s there to see?