Albrecht, I’m not talking in this thread about whether this team has a high ceiling, has played well overall against good teams, has played even adequately defensively, etc. In evaluating team performance, all phases count. We were horrific on defense against Purdue, Iowa, SMU, Xavier and Indiana to the extent that even great offensive performances might/would not have made a difference. I’m not suggesting otherwise–I’m not even commenting on overall coaching/recruiting/performance this season. I responded to MP because he took the specific position that Beilein wasn’t a great OFFENSIVE coach, something which is belied by empirical and anecdotal evidence. I raised WVU because MP responded to me by saying that his offense only looked good when he had stars like Trey and Nik to bail him out–in that context, WVU, and offensive performances from this year are, in my opinion, directly relevant. That’s all.
I agree with you that Florida is unlikely to make a deep NCAA run. We might be unlikely as well. I would note that Florida has played exactly 1 game this year without 1 of its top 3 players, whereas we’re at 16 (and possibly counting), so it’s not quite as clear, at least not to me.
You should go listen to that Dan Dakich interview with Beilein. He explains his philosophy and how it evolved quite clearly. No on has to like it, but it’s quite distinct. And he’ll be practicing it until he leaves.
I have NO PROBLEM with the offense. I have a problem with the talent. The offense somehow worked in '12 and '13 with talent. It works to a degree (against most unranked/undercoachedteams) with the talent we have now. But were not going to compete with the best without the appropriate talent. Bottom line.
Agreed. But can that philosophy translate into being a yearly B1G contender going forward? This team is sincerely void of foot speed and lateral agility, and routinely looks greatly overmatched against “good” teams. I like JB, but he needs to take a good look in the mirror if he thinks this roster is a threat to win anything meaningful in the future.
Without any attrition next year, this roster is going to have Wilson, Doyle, Donnal, Chatman, Davis, and Teske suiting up for us. Assuming Teske doesn’t redshirt, which he definately needs.
That is not what I’d call high end B1G talent, and certainly very subpar physically and athletically. Michigan should be able to attract much more gifted and college ready talent than that. Especially with our facility upgrades and endless resources. Add in Nike and Jumpman’s appeal, and we should be in the hunt for some nice players.
We already know this roster can’t defend the perimeter as its constructed today, and counting on 5’ 10" Xavier Simpson to make a difference as a Frosh is a stretch. Watson will play minimally if at all next year.
We need talent more than philosophy, and unfortunately neither is changing much until JB retires. I readily acknowledge his past success, but it’s extremely unlikely that this presently constructed roster ( only lose Caris ) is hanging any banners going forward.
I listened to the DD interview…basically it sounds like Coach Beilein agrees that we’re soft and he’s okay with that because we’ll chuck threes and win the turnover battle.
Except in our 6 losses - to good teams yes, but basically we’ve lost to any good team we’ve played. Here’s what happened to his philosophy:
3PT Shooting: 33% (UM) vs 43% (Opp) Made same amount of 3’s but they did it in 43 less attempts
Rebounding: 29rpg (UM) vs 40rpg (Opp)
Assists: 11apg (UM) vs 19apg (Opp) 66 assists vs 112 assists. ouch!
Turnovers: 10tpg (UM) vs 10.5 tpg (Opp) 61 turnovers vs 63 turnovers
So basically not only did our opponents destroy us on the boards but they beat us at our own game!
This is interesting as recruiting has been talked about quite a bit. Michigan hasn’t had a freshman make big contributions since Walton. So you go through the list over the past 2 years and very little impact from the first year guys unless you want to include Dawkins this year. Some can include Robinson in the contributors but he’s not a frosh and he sat out last year. Next year it will be up to Simpson or Watson to make that big contribution, I don’t think anyone believes Teske or Davis will do that. It’s only his first year but I am having trouble finding why they burned the rs of Wagner, he might be good but since his big performance against NC State.
14 GP
2 DNP
112 minutes played
26 total points
20 total rebounds
0 blocks
his last 3 games he 1 DNP and 4 total minutes. You can make the case his first year is being wasted now.
So out of those 6 losses Walton missed 1 game correct? As I said this team goes as Walton goes and since he’s not a great facilitator, a penetrator to make teams pay in the lane this team will have issues with similar/greater talent.
I agree with a lot of the assessment of the offense despite the numbers. When the offense is clicking it’s great but we have a lot of possessions as stated by some, where they just swing the ball around and then get stuck in the end of the shot clock. We usually get a real bad look at this point. I like that we go after the three ball but I wish there was a bit more balance. I feel to often we will have numbers or a good situation at the rim just to kick it out for three. In a 3 on one I’d rather take the layup or dunk every time.
Also no matter what year it was our style of plAy will alwsys lead to at least one extended drought. I know bball is a game of runs but coach b’s teams at least once a half go cold for four or five minutes. Sometimes more. This is just killer. Then guys tend to start throwing up horrible shots or chucking threes trying to shoot their way out of it. This is when it’s crucial to go inside or to the rack for an easy look or more importantly get to the foul line. This is how good teams handle cold shooting or a drought. We make things harder then they need be. This drought happened against Indiana and combined with no d we went from up eleven to down basically twenty. Absolutely disgusting.
One last thing. Why is coach b so tough on Wagner? Kid makes one error and you don’t see him the rest of the game. It’s so odd to me. Let him plays through his mistakes. He’s shown positive flAshes that he could really help if given a shot. You only hurt a player by doing thst. Tightens them up. But especially when we’re struggling I’d like to bring him in.for his energy and since I’ve seen him finish well and create on some up and unders maybe he could help get us out a funk,
We need a win here. I felt we needed to win one of these two matchups. There’s no moral victories for this team. Personally I think st although deep is a bit overrated for once. I was more scared of the Hoosiers and my gut feeling was right. I think we can take the Spartans easier. If we lose this one I fear the season is going to go very bad. Good teams don’t get swept at home in one week. Two tough teams but still winnable games. I hope they come out to play with a chip on their soldier/attitude. We need to get some looks at the rack. I’m looking at you maar zach and Walton
Man you read my mind its like lets just accept failure mindset. Then when Its a talented guy we don’t even try to Recruit they just assume they don’t have the grades.