Why am I not surprised…Caris is not playing tonight.
I won’t be watching hope they win though .
I believe I said I love coach b. I’ll ride with him to the wheels fall off. Sorry I was bored and my mind wandered. Same reason I like fantasy sports. Fun to throw names around imo.
Ok this might be a post that’s coming fresh off emotion but I’m sorry JB has done great things here but I just don’t like his brand of hoops I have never seen a team that double digit leads evaporate so fast . Very frustrating.
It’s fascinating to watch a team that has all these offensive gifts ball movement, shooting, dribble drive etc… Then you see them on the defensive end and seemingly they haven’t a clue what to do. Like it or not for a team that can’t stop dribble drive they are in dire need of a shot blocker.
They played mandator defense there late. Looked like they were scared to touch someone. Very odd. I also thought their d early was bad Minnesota just can’t shoot. On the plus side Robinson stepped up and rahkman played big. Aubrey had a good first half too. Derek self explanatory. I’m a sucker for d Walt. Wish he attacked the rim more. Seems like he can get there and to the line. Good spread on offense. They just really have to want it more on d. Thank god rahkman saved the day.
Yeah we already know that. You want more hood. Got it.
Maybe teske can be that guy
When we haven’t (last year) lost one of the best big men in college hoop to marijuana, or Spike and Caris this year. It’s not that Beilein isn’t the man responsible, it’s just clear that there have been a helluvalotta cirucumstances beyond his control. And it’s not that you or anyone can’t criticize–I myself question whether he’s lost some fire. But no amount of red-faced screaming gets him fired this year, and repeating the same tired complaints endlessly is detrimental to the site.
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What a fresh take. No one knew that you felt this way. Could you elaborate? Or perhaps keep posting similar comments on a daily basis?
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I need to say I was very pleased with how our bigs played. Overall it was a decent performance by both Donnal and Doyle even though it was not against elite big men.
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We are who we are. I root no matter how frustrating our play is. It was nice to see some different action to get Duncan some shots, as well as a couple different offensive sets. Defensively we are just so inept it is laughable, but that’s not likely to change anytime soon.
As we review our B1G season so far, we have beaten the teams we should have and been undressed by the elites ( sans Terps ).
7 of our 8 wins have come against teams with a below .500 conference record ( 15-54 combined record ) with 4 of our 8 being wins over PSU and Minnesota.
When we’re on from three we can compete. When we’re not it has a tendency to get ugly. This teams ceiling is so limited going forward because we just can not stop anybody, and that includes when we’ve had Caris. ( SMU-Xavier ).
Hope we can sneak into the NCAAs, but it will likely be a one and done if we do. WE JUST CANT STOP ANYONE!
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Our defense was statistically average (relative to power-5 teams) before and during Burke’s time here. What has happened to us? I know the easiest thing is to point to a lack of athleticism, and that is partly true. But it can’t tell the whole story. The 2014 defense was quite bad defensively, but they weren’t much different than the 2013 team from an athletic standpoint, and the 2013 team wasn’t terrible defensively. A top-60 defense rating in KenPom would be light years better than what we currently have.
I think the biggest thing is the regression from Jordan Morgan to the current state at the five. Morgan wasn’t a shot blocker, but he made every rotation and was there to help, take charges, etc.
The 5 has ( Donnal, Doyle, Wagner, Wilson & incoming Davis, Teske ) so many schollys dedicated to it that you would think it has to get better. I have my doubts going forward. Morgan had much more athleticism and grit than any of these players, despite being undersized. Granted he was a five year player, but this group is underwhelming at best. I have serious doubts about Teske being a savior, and fully expect him to RS next year.
It seems we have little appetite as a team to dig in and muck up opponents possessions for a focused 20-25 second buy in consistently.
You can not underestimate the lack of quickness and agility on the perimeter though. Guys blow by us like the wind thru a screen door.
We have no defensive togetherness or identity, nor does it seem like we want to get one. We talk a good game about it, but our results are self incriminating.
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Would Jordan Morgan be as effective with the new circle and the way charges are called now?
Those charges used to be our saving grace for not having a shot blocker.
No matter what the outcome this year, JB should NOT be fired.
My wish is he retires. If his recruiting and strategies do not change going forward, he’s going to get pushed out and he doesn’t deserve that after all he’s accomplished here.
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Yeah I think he would. It’s not just the taking charges, it’s being in the right spot to help. Morgan anchored the whole defense by the time he was a senior. And there wasn’t really foot speed out in front of him either with Stauskas, etc. on that team.
This team has defensive issues – no doubt. There’s no reason that they should be worse defensively than they were last season.
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Yeah, it’s actually kind of strange when you look at this year’s starting lineup defensive ability compared to 2014.
Walton - Walton is the same
Caris - Caris/Maar is about the same. Caris wasn’t/isn’t a good defender (unless picking passing lanes).
Stauskas - Robinson are both probably similarly bad.
GRIII - Irvin are about the same. Both overmatched against 4s but give a good effort and hold up for the most part.
Morgan - Donnal/Doyle is an obvious downgrade.
Only obvious downgrade defensively is at C. Kind of nuts.
Not going to be fired under any circumstances, no matter what some fans might wish. Agree that he likely retires when the writing is on the wall. Don’t think the writing is on the wall.
I think part of it comes down to whether you like his style. As I’ve said, his teams at their best are pure joy for me; I totally accept his approach to D when his teams are playing well on offense. I am disappointed, though, because both his great teams and his gritty Novak-year teams all seemed to be able to dig in. Not for the last two years. Seems to me that the notion this is all on Beilein is silly, considering the past record, but I was interested in your observation that he spends little time on D. Thanks for the response.