On Michigan and defense

Well, everything is a balance between offense and defense. If you have a really efficient offense, of the kind that Beilein has been putting out there, you can have a less than stellar defense, and just average rebounding, and still win a lot of games. But I think it’s fair to say that Beilein has never put a first-rate defense on the floor, although he’s had some that were good. Maybe it’s just that the kind of lineup he favors for his offense is not well suited to playing really tough defense at the same time, but quite a few teams every year do manage to have a very strong offense AND a very strong defense together, and those are the teams that are toughest to beat. It seems like there could be a better balance between the two than a #1 offense and a #100 defense.

What JBlair says is exactly it. Typically if you recruit the skilled, shooters on offense, you sacrifice some athleticism. Obviously better athletes are better at defense most of the time, but often times are not as good at shooting. It takes a specific type of player to play in Beileins offense since he values shooting and protecting the basketball so much

Last season, we ranked #215 in opponents’ FG %. Not great. UK was top 50. Duke ranked #268. Yet I’m sure that Coach K can coach defense. Even though our opponents’ FG % defense is below average, our opponents shoot fewer free throws than against just about anyone in the country. Hence, while we are only average defensively on the FG% metric, what we give up defensively by not fouling we make up defensively with fewer free throws by opponents and offensively because our key players rarely get into foul trouble. If your team is not deep, that magnifies the importance of limiting fouls. So, even though we were 215 in opponents’ FG%, we were 51 in scoring defense. UK was 80. You have to look at the whole to judge defense.

BTW, if you want a measure of how much Calipari relies on overwhelming talent to win, UK was #270 in assists last season.

Well, looking at the Ken Pom ratings for defense (only one measure, I know), Duke’s ratings for the last eight years were: 7, 8, 36, 8, 21, 81, 31, 116. Michigan’s have been 33, 100, 69, 58, 37, 61, 48, 109. Michigan State’s have been 13, 32, 8, 27, 30, 2, 7, 28.

Despite a few off years, there’s more than ample evidence that Coach K can do defense. And Izzo’s worst year in there is better than Beilein’s best, so I think it’s fair to say that coaching defense is not Beilein’s forte.

Well, looking at the Ken Pom ratings for defense (only one measure, I know), Duke's ratings for the last eight years were: 7, 8, 36, 8, 21, 81, 31, 116. Michigan's have been 33, 100, 69, 58, 37, 61, 48, 109. Michigan State's have been 13, 32, 8, 27, 30, 2, 7, 28.

Despite a few off years, there’s more than ample evidence that Coach K can do defense. And Izzo’s worst year in there is better than Beilein’s best, so I think it’s fair to say that coaching defense is not Beilein’s forte.

Never said it was Beilein’s forte. We’ve been average overall. We don’t play physical, aggressive D, and that keeps us out of foul trouble, keeps our best players on the floor and keeps the opponent off the foul line. The more interesting thing in those Ken Pom stats is that we played the second toughest schedule in terms opponents’ defensive rankings but had the #1 most efficient offense.

Beilein is an okay defensive coach. Looks worse than he is because he gives a lot up in size and athleticism for the type of offense he runs. Also, likes to keep his guys in the game and have them not be over agressive and avoid fouling. But either way you can’t say he is a great defensive coach. Might be the best offensive mind though, probably is.

Matt D starts this crap just to get everyone going....sometimes I think he's a troll from another school. JB gets picked as one of the top ten coaches in NCAAB and now he can't coach defense...LMAO! look at the results....this kids credibility is so limited. Just ignore him....

Just another viewpoint dependent criticism of me. To say I’m a troll based on my conclusion that JB isn’t a good defensive coach seems a bit strange considering it’s almost universally accepted that we produce poor defensive teams under JB. Once again, no insults(although I’m being insulted) but still the backlash. Bottom line is that if I’m critiquing JB people don’t like it

You can’t say he is a bad D coach if the numbers say UM #'s are average.

He is an elite offensive coach & an average D coach. You have no ground to stand on to say otherwise and the numbers/record & success posted above prove it.

Our defense has certainly been underwhelming while JB has been coach, that is proven by stats. However, whether it is because of JB’s coaching, out player personnel, or a mix of both is up to interpretation.

Sounds good Matt…I say JB is a good defensive coach! Look at the results.

Chazer - you’re a troll for thinking that way.

Obvious sarcasm in an effort to reflect how extreme and insulting you can be at times. Tolerance my friend, tolerance

I think the majority of your views are perplexing at best, but I’m not going to insult you because of it. Instead let’s offer some evidence to rebut and take it from there.

If you’re going to play the role of expert you should expect to be criticized yourself. You make bold statements about a coach that is very successful at his profession and one that has the utmost respect from his colleagues and players. I will generally stick up for JB because he’s earned success through results. He’s not perfect and makes mistakes but to say he’s not a good defensive coach is just not true.

You insulted JB and I take offense to it! There are a lot of bad coaches, he’s not one of them!

Enough said.

I didn’t say he was a bad coach in general, I simply said he’s not a good defensive coach. If, by saying that JB isn’t a good defensive coach im “playing the role of expert”, aren’t you doing the exact same thing by taking the opposite stance? Aren’t you making a bold statement by saying that JB is a good defensive coach? And since you take offense, how about you refute, in an objective, empirical manner that JB is a good coach. From that standpoint it appears that you are simply biased to a large degree

I requested you provide some evidence to rebut above, but once again nothing in the way of objectivity just your unsubstantiated opinions. So, once again, instead of being emotional and taking offense, how about debating through empirical data? I suspect you don’t have very much that supports your stance

Resolved

We are an elite offensive program, and that influences our defensive abilities. I agree with what many of you have said. I think it’s fair to say that we have a lot of issues defensively those past years. But it’s a choice. Beilein decided to go all in on shooting and elite offense (although non physical). That hurts defense but everything is a trade off.

Of course it would be amazing to have both. But I would rather have this than great defense and poor offense (as our football team demonstrates every Saturday).

You can't say he is a bad D coach if the numbers say UM #'s are average.

He is an elite offensive coach & an average D coach. You have no ground to stand on to say otherwise and the numbers/record & success posted above prove it.

In no way do the numbers say we are an average defense. You have no ground to stand on to say otherwise. The defensive efficiency rankings during JBs tenure certainly confirm this.

I understand the inclination to say JB is a great offensive coach and a good coach overall, but to say JB is a an average defensive coach is an exaggeration and I think most of us know that.

Also, what is with this misconception that a team can either be good offensively or Defensively? I never knew it was impossible to have both. Balance is always the key to having a championship team, and the kenpom averages confirm that. You simply can’t win a title with a defense in the mold that UM has displayed during JBs tenure. However, it is possible to win a title with average offense and elite defense.

I would bet JB could coach defense with anyone. Or I would put it this way - if JB wanted to win with defense as the primary strength of the team, I bet he could do it. He’s a brilliant x/o guy and pays attention to so much detail.

There’s more than 1 way to win the game…he just chose to take a different route.

To be fair, “average D coach” numbers could come from anywhere. If you believe Kenpom (not saying you do) then Michigan has been average/slightly above average for the last few seasons. That said, there is some intrinsic expectation for much better than average with a certain type of blue chip recruit. If you are restricting your pool for average to more than “all D1 teams”, then fair. Otherwise, it may be a step too far to say there are no numbers that support Beilein as an average defensive coach.

I would bet JB could coach defense with anyone. Or I would put it this way - if JB wanted to win with defense as the primary strength of the team, I bet he could do it.

I am not as sure about this JBlair. Just being good at X’s and O’s doesn’t mean you can be good at both sides of the ball. You have to have the right mindset for either one. I do not think Beilein can likely ever be as good at defense as he has shown himself to be at offense. I do welcome the opportunity to be proven wrong.

The more interesting thing in those Ken Pom stats is that we played the second toughest schedule in terms opponents' defensive rankings but had the #1 most efficient offense.

…in the entire KenPom era.