Mostly fluff and very maddening to read because nearly every sentence is its own paragraph. And I laugh at the premise that Beilein has to change everything a year after sweeping MSU, winning consecutive BTT titles and making it all the way to the national championship game. The biggest problem is not having enough shooters.
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Yes, Michigan just did it this year.
Yes the idea of Beilein needing to make sweeping changes because of one (successful) year is silly, especially in light of sweeping MSU last year. I do think Beilein could come up with different ways to attack switches, which this site has mentioned several times. But its not sweeping change
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I wouldnāt say it was an abject failure, but I donāt think you can call it a good season for a program at our level. Gonna be defined by choking in the highest leverage games. 0-3 vs MSU. One win away from each B10 title. As I said, I thought this team could very much be this good in the preseason (the defense was obviously going to be elite and I thought JB could muster a top 20-30 offense), so I donāt think we overachieved. The only real difference in expectations is that Nova wasnāt very good and we beat UNC.
Itās a good sign for the program that we can win this many games and feel disappointed, but ultimately they donāt raise āBeat UNC in November at homeā banners. I can promise you the players view this season as a disappointment.
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Whatās a good season then? Banner or bust?
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These are two different arguments. No one will argue that the program has come a long way and is in great health, this is an undeniable fact. What Beilein has done the past 11 years has been marvelous.
But that doesnāt change the fact we failed to meet all of our objectives this year, and our rival wiped the floor with us. You donāt raise banners for winning 30 games. Itās okay to have high expectations for a team and be upset when they donāt meet them.
The expectation isnāt to raise a banner EVERY season. But when it becomes crystal clear the team is capable of doing so and they fail to do so, I donāt know how anyone can walk away satisfied.
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Depends on the quality of the team and the talent you have, IMO. This team had the talent to win a banner if they had kept their head mentally in the toughest games or if JB had designed a better way to attack switches. It was all controllable and didnāt come down to luck or lack of talent. So, you need a banner to have a successful season. Would have been a different situation/expectations if the roster was different.
I disagree that their biggest problems were mental, as you (and some others, most notably Ant) have pushed. And ultimately that will bring us to different conclusions on how this team performed relative to talent and expectations.
Agree not enough shooters, last year we had Mo and the year before Walton.
I think this teamās problem was what we all believed the problem to be from the very beginning. Before the season started I vividly recall Burkhardt & Quinn podcasting about the teamās lack of shooting prowess. We lost 3 experienced players who also happened to be fantastic shooting talents. Wagner also had the ability to take big men off the dribble and make things happen. Give us a Ryan Kline and last night may have gone somewhat differently.
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I think JB would agree with the assessment atleast somewhat. This team wasted possessions on a routine basis with really bad shots. If in the B10 championship game, Iggy and Poole has kept their heads and ran offense consistently in the last 6ish minutes of the game instead of taking contested pull up 3s in the first 10 seconds of the shot clock, we probably win. All the MSU games came down to that kind of stuff one way or another. I think the team had skill deficiencies, but they could have overcome them.
With Iggy and Pooleās NBA decisions looming, Iām wondering how much roster composition could impact the areas they need to work on. Iggy needs to improve passing and playmaking as a primary ball handler, Poole needs to show he can be more consistent as an Option 1A type ball screen scorer at all levelsā¦do either of those happen when senior Zavier Simpson is running the show next year? I canāt imagine the ball is coming out of Simpsonās hands any more than it was this year, and rightfully so with how effective he is as a facilitator.
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Or if Simpson hits a wide-open three with 50 seconds left, thereās a good chance we win the BTT.
Thatās the #1 thing I hope to see next year - X being able to knock those down. That alone would open up a lot of things for us offensively.
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That is an interesting thing to think about. I think it can happen for a few reasons. First, I think Iggy needs to less worry about passing from a primary ball handling situation and more in the secondary role he had this year. Heās not gonna be a primary creator at the next level, he just needs to learn to make the right reads on his drives. Second, there is definitely room for another ball screen scorer, even with Simpson. But JP being able to take that role also involves X improving his jumper so that teams canāt clog the lane.
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I think he was being facetiousā¦wasnāt he??? Yeah, he had to have been. There is only one team in America whose season will not end with a loss.
I am disappointed that we lost so badly last night. Give credit to TT. Their defense was nothing short of phenomenal, and once they got it going on āOā they were outstanding, perhaps unbeatable. They certainly looked, at least last night, like the best team left in the tournament, like they just may be the only team in America whose season will not end with a loss.
I refuse to feel bad for myself. I am just a fanā¦a fan who loves Michigan Basketball. We won 30 games this year, and these kids gave us a lot of joy and a lot to cheer for. I cheer for THEM. I FEEL for them. I hurt for THEM.
Keep your heads up, boys. This Michigan fan, and a whole lot of other Michigan fans, is proud of you and your efforts this year. Listen to your heart, believe in yourself, and come back even stronger next year. Go Blue!!!
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Personally, I think there is quite a bit in between abject failure and satisfied. I donāt think finishing 3rd in a very tough conference and winning 30 games for only the 5th time in program history is an abject failure. This is not a team that people thought would wipe the floor with competition. We started off great, but we played just about perfect against Nova and UNC. Perfection isnāt sustainable. A 30 win year with no banners would be an abject failure for a team like Duke, who started out as preseason #1. We were a preseason top 20 team, and finished as a 2 seed in the Sweet 16 losing to a 3 seed. If thatās abject failure, the standards required to meet satisfaction must be FF or bust.
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Those are really good points. In regards to Iggy, I think I agree with @stephenrjking ās post in the other thread that he could be an unstoppable ball screen scorer with dedicated improvement to his vision and passing ability this offseason. Iād be surprised if thatās not something scouts mention as an area theyād like to see him work on. But I guess I canāt envision a season next year where Iggy gets ball screen playmaker opportunities if Simpson (and Poole to a lesser extent) are still on the team
We always have to be wary of extrapolating a couple results over the course of the season. Nova and UNC were great wins. But we also saw the South Carolina game, WMU, Air Force and NāW before we lost our first game. Those ugly wins are more data too.
Iām far more disappointed about not getting a share of the conference title than I am about losing ugly to Texas Tech.
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Iggy can improve a bit passing out of ball screens, but when it comes to passing ability you either have it or you donāt IMO. Very difficult skill to improve dramatically IMO. I think poole is a much better hope to develop as a better play maker out of ball screens, he makes some wickedly good passes sometimes.
The game was really disappointing, but the season itself was pretty damn terrific. 30 wins. And who really expected Michigan to be this good this season, after losing Moe Wagner, Duncan Robinson, and MAAR?
That being said, Iggy was the only player that seemed to exert any effort last night. Zavier and Charles were turnover machines, and everyone else was just kind of waiting for someone else to do something.
And one thing is painfully obvious - nobody on this team is a particularly good shooter. Nobody can make a running floater like Cassius Winston does repeatedly. Poole and Matthews can occasionally make a jump shot or a fadeaway, but not with any kind of consistency or intention. Usually they make those when they get stuck and cant figure out what else to do. Nobody is a consistently good 3-point shooter, and those that can make 3-point shots from time to time still need 3-4 seconds to get their feet set, get their body organized, figure out where the basket is, etc. Contrast that with shooters like Matt McQuaid or Ryan Cline - the ball leaves their fingers towards the basket a millisecond after they get the ball, they donāt even have to be squared up towards the basket.
So thatās what every returning player has to focus on over the next six months - developing a shot that they currently donāt have. Instead of Camp Sanderson, we need Camp Shooterson.
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Welp. Bye Jordan
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