For the most part, that article is fine, but one major fallacy kills its credibility. The basic premise is that, in order to be successful against a defence that can play the way TTU and MSU play, Michigan’s offence has to be better able to play isolation ball. Also, Beilein has made a major change to the program’s approach in the recent past, so he is perfectly capable of making a less major adjustment going forward. Those things are true. It’s a simplistic article in some ways, but that’s almost always going to be the case in a quick hitting, heat of the moment piece.
The thing I didn’t like about the article is the statement that despite winning 30 games, Michigan “didn’t win anything” this season. That’s just silly. It falls right in line with the typical macho post-season statements like the season’s a failure if you don’t hang a banner, or if you don’t beat your biggest rival, etc. Bounce that type of thinking re: 2018-19 Michigan off of any coach in the country, and they’ll laugh in your face. If you win 30 games after losing 3 major contributors to the prior season’s team; if you have one of the top few defensive teams in the country; if you dismantle several tournament teams, both at home and on the road; if you crush 2 tourney teams in your conference tourney; if you advance to the sweet 16 in the NCAAs; you have won, and you have won a lot. People who don’t understand college sports, and competition in general, can say what they like about seasons being defined by tourney outcomes, or outcomes against your main rival. I guess they can be defined that way for those fans. But, to people who get it, this was a great season, with some disappointment sprinkled in.
Tweet seems to imply that Dad’s not happy that the coaches tell Jordan to sit in the corner and wait for the ball. So, I think there’s a possibility of non-NBA attrition there…
That’s an emotional tweet after a game from a parent. I don’t think anything can be gleaned from that. Also **** you to anyone that bashes any Michigan players on Twitter
I think that Dylan gets it right in his recap that it all feels a little hollow right now. But I can promise you that the coaches and players WON’T view the season as a disappointment in a few years.
And although there are a few people on this board who swear they knew this could be a team of destiny, I can pretty much guarantee that John Beilein didn’t. Dylan’s preseason analysis often questioned where the points were going to come from. And a lot of the talk was about how next year, not this year, was going to be Michigan’s year.
Some of us scoffed at preseason rankings and projections which had Michigan at 19 nationally and third/fourth in the B1G. We know that Beilein has consistently made them look silly. He DID that, and for the moment, of course, we’re disappointed anyway; an end-of-season walloping will do that to you.
Where I AM in sympathy with some people like Reegs is in thinking that in some of these key games it came down to poise, and we didn’t have to lose. But poise for me is different from guts, and I don’t think this team lacked for the latter. If you think that four of these seven losses were to MSU and TT. . . Michigan just didn’t have the answer on the floor in those games. I don’t see anyone to point a finger at.
Vedder is a clown, but Twitter is full of clowns. I’m sorry Jordan’s dad got drawn into that. It IS interesting that the offense has not really been built more around JP, as has been noted here. It may have been a little tough to swallow having Iggy come in and become the focus; more than one player might have had to rearrange some mental furniture for him. . . If–just if–JP had had more plays run for him he might well have evolved more. That’s not necessarily a criticism of John, who has to figure this out on the run every year with a constantly changing cast. Iggy, despite his tunnel vision, did get the ball in the hole for a team in desperate need of buckets.
Hope Jordan stays, but there has been some ugly stuff from fans, it can’t be denied.
I don’t want to get dragged into the whole thing, but if you listen to Coach B’s postgame, it’s clear he thinks no one should go, except Charles. Doesn’t take a lawyer to parse and if you missed it, listen again. Doesn’t mean that’s what will happen, but Coach B completely tipped his hand on the issue in that video.
It’s still a heck of a year and a heck of a run. Imagine losing MAAR, Duncan, and Mo and still get to 30 wins and make a run to the Sweet 16.
When shots were falling, particularly at the beginning of the year, this team looked like a national championship contender. Just like with any team, when shots don’t fall, they don’t win. Michigan State and Texas Tech exposed the holes on the team. Not enough playmakers off the dribble and lack of consistent shooting.
IMO 30 wins and a Sweet 16 appearance is a great year. (Good = Tournament, Excellent = Final Four) Bittersweet, sure, but great nonetheless.
From a fan’s perspective, they were a lot of fun to watch, offensive droughts be damned. Zavier’s hook, Teske’s threes, Poole’s 4-point plays and fun style, Charles’ clamps, Iggy’s flexing, etc. I really enjoy the journey more than the destination and when a team has the capability of winning it all/Final Four, it’s all the more better. It’s exciting knowing even with some attrition, they’ll have that talent again next year with more talent coming in to keep rolling.
On this year, I still believe their success ultimately helped aid some of their “failure”. Failure in quotes since as mentioned above, it was a great year. The weaker non-con schedule and early beat-downs of the good teams didn’t give them much in-game adversity. B1G play brought some of that but still not a whole lot. Hell, this team only trailed at half I believe 5 times (HC, @PSU, @Iowa, MSU, TT). Even the close games they were mainly in control. There just wasn’t many games like @Maryland where they were challenged at a talent level and had to dig in for 40 minutes, in a tough environment, and go back and forth.
I’m not trying to compare this team to last year. However, using it as an example, if last year’s team didn’t face all the in-game challenges they did, I’m not sure they end the year hot and make that run. Likewise, you can argue the Poole shot was luck but does that happen if not for the Maryland home game earlier in the year? They got to run that same play in a live game. Things like that which this year’s team didn’t face much of, mostly because they were an elite team.
One thing I could never reconcile is how our team had a top 25 offense. We were 18 on Kenpom before the Texas Tech game I believe, which was higher than last year. Never felt like it. Maybe it was just the highs and lows of the offense, or a very good offense that had significant limitations when defended a certain way. Great season. I’ll take 30 wins and a sweet sixteen every year. After that, it’s a lot of luck.
We got the Poole shot last year. This year, the basketball gods evened things out against TT. We’ll be back next year!
Twitter is a cesspool, but even here, people sometimes seemed to make it personal with their criticism of Poole. If he blew an assignment or turned it over, it wasn’t just “bad play by Jordan” but “Once again Jordan looks like he doesn’t want to be here.” There’s criticizing and then there’s piling on.
There are plenty of valid criticisms one can level on every player on this roster. Simpson can’t shoot, Ignas can’t pass, Livers can’t dribble (I’m being hyperbolic)
There are criticisms against Jordan too.
But shit, if anyone says that Jordan “doesn’t look like he wants to be here”, I must have been watching the wrong kid for the last 70sh games.
I wouldn’t pay attention to his dad’s tweet:
Parents and young men, if you recall, don’t always see eye to eye
He was responding to assholes on twitter shitting on his son
He just watched his son get his ass whipped for 40 minutes, something, I assure you, is much more personal for him than the loss is to any of us.
IMO the future adjustment is Jimmie’s and Joe’s, not Xs and Os. There’s nothing wrong with the system or Beilein. Getting to truly elite means having players who can shoot AND defend, not either/or. That way execution doesn’t have to be perfect. There was zero margin for error this year, but Beilein’s system generated clean looks from 3, as it always does.
Next year could be truly great. Serious battles for playing time, seniors who will run the offense better. A few slots to be filled, hopefully by better shooters. If one of those spots is one vacated by Iggy or Poole, that’s a bummer but not a crisis.
Dylan: I echo the comments on the excellent job you do with this sight. The only thing I’m disappointed with is the piling on with all the negativity by some of the posters here but that’s social media I suppose. Any way I look forward to seeing the recruiting updates and all the other off season stuff you provide.