Michigan basketball 2015-16 snowflakes
This season was as fun to watch as this site has been fun to use...which is to say, not fun, there has been literaly no fun at all.
March 19th, 2016 at 12:23 AM ^
Please for the love of god Beilein hire a defensive assistant (from Wichita St or UVA preferably). Even with all the offensive woes, Michigan would have a Sweet 16 floor with an average defense.
Oh and recruit better!
March 19th, 2016 at 12:25 AM ^
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March 19th, 2016 at 12:31 AM ^
Not great success by recruiting 2 stars. We need to land 4 and 5 stars period like Ohio State or Florida have in the recent past. I don't get not offering Josh Jackson. The worst that could happen is he turns you down.
March 19th, 2016 at 12:34 AM ^
Not to mention YOU WOULD THINK Michigan would have a slight recruiting edge with his girlfriend being Kysre Gondrizeck, who is Michigan WBB's best recruit ever.
March 19th, 2016 at 12:47 AM ^
March 19th, 2016 at 12:53 AM ^
Yep it's true. Imagine what Harbaugh would do if he found out a top recruit's gf goes to Michigan. He would do everything possible under (even skirting) the rules to get that kid here. Beilein isn't even trying.
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wanted to come to Michigan. It didn't matter on how much effort JB put in to recruit Josh Jackson. He was never going to stay in state.
I keep hearing this, yet MSU is right in the mix on potentially signing him so... shrugs...
Trust me, he's leaving out of state. He transferred out of state to play his final year of high school basketball. MSU was never under consideration at all
Josh Jackson might go to MSU so the thing about him going out of state isn't true.
MSU on the list is just window dressing. Izzo has a stellar recruiting class and don't have a scholarship left for Josh Jackson. Izzo knows that he has no chance.
March 19th, 2016 at 12:34 AM ^
"Recruit better"
"better defense"
These are more complex isues than you make them out to be
March 19th, 2016 at 12:39 AM ^
Hence why the new assistant can solve em and I can sit on a blog ranting about it.
:)
Beilein gets paid 7 digits to solve them. Or he won't be making 7 digits every year at Michigan in 3 years time.
Uh, "BursleyBaitsBus:" why are you bitching? This is a snowflakes thread: not a "whine about the coach" thread.
Under the current system, Michigan is not going to recruit like the UK's and Dukes of the world. This team basically had no scholarship seniors playing the last two thirds of the season, nobody playing their way into the NBA and still won one more game in the NCAA than Sparty did. And before you even think of calling it a "play-in" game: Michigan beat a possible 11-seed while Sparty lost to a 15-seed.
March 19th, 2016 at 12:23 AM ^
I really am proud of these players for a run.
But that was one of the worst games Beilein coached this year. Absolutely no second half adjustments, terrible subbing strategy and the failure to call a time out at the end was unforgivable.
We totally should've won this game and choked in every way imaginable.
The worst moment of the game was that horrible call on Wagner that took away an and one and put him on the bench. Donnal, Irvin, Doyle and Beilein shoulder all the responsibility for this loss.
JB coached an A+ games. Not his fault that players missed wide open looks that he drew up for them. It was there for the taking and the players just didn't finish the perfect executions.
JB tried to tell Irvin to call a TO because of the new NCAA rule but Irvin never saw it. That's on Irvin, not JB.
March 19th, 2016 at 11:34 AM ^
I want to see Robinson develop a step-back 3. Last night I kept seeing him get handed the ball with a sliver of space and wishing he'd do a one or two dribble, step back shot instead of passing it to one of the other guys to never get the ball back to him.
March 19th, 2016 at 12:34 PM ^
It's the most simple stuff with these guys. Play defense, box out/rebound, attack the rim at some point. Rahk is the only guy who goes to the rim which frustrates me so bad. They do all this pick an roll stuff which is the easiest way to score but cant half the time. No one knows how to roll or find an open spot during the play. I've watched hundreds of back door cuts/screens to be wide open and the ball is never delivered. My god, on camera every time you can see the UM player visibly is full body length ahead of his defender with a wide open lane to the hoop. That means the pass can and (should) be made. My 8 year old niece could easily make that pass and assist. Basketball is so simple its not even funny. I don't get what they have going on. It's pretty mind boggling. Edit: Oh and why in the hell can't a big man finish at the rim? Or sell a good pump fake to not get blocked every miserable play? If the bigs cant make a mid range jumper or finish at the rim on a consistent basis something has to be done. They cant beat the best bigs on the good teams. Hey I have an idea, I'll enlighten all of you once again so someone finally gets it through their thick melon to pass the message across to them over there. You need to pack on MUSCLE! Get your candy ass,powder puff, Jibrony loving self in the damn weight room. Problem solved. Boom goes the dynamite.
March 19th, 2016 at 12:22 AM ^
got outcoached by mike brey and we are supposed to be ok with this? Beilein was shit in the 2nd half.
March 19th, 2016 at 12:26 AM ^
It looked to me like we just got tired legs in the second half. Also got on the wrong end of a lot of 50-50 calls.
March 19th, 2016 at 12:27 AM ^
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March 19th, 2016 at 12:46 AM ^
He did a great job putting the players in position to win the game outright yet the players can't convert wide open looks.
What game were you watching? Beilein botched the rotation severely in this one and didn't adjust when ND made their run to get back into the game early in the second half. I'm not in the Fire Beilein crowd, but you can't possibly think JB coached an A+ game.
March 19th, 2016 at 12:22 AM ^
Flawed team with a bunch of second bananas (maybe including Caris, but definitely Irvin and Walton) forced to be primary players.
Lock Wagner in the weight room for six months.
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March 19th, 2016 at 12:23 AM ^
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March 19th, 2016 at 12:26 AM ^
Meh is right.
March 19th, 2016 at 12:23 AM ^
the effectiveness of the S & C program for this team.
Too many injuries have plagued us the last few years.
March 19th, 2016 at 12:26 AM ^
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March 19th, 2016 at 12:43 AM ^
March 19th, 2016 at 12:44 AM ^
March 19th, 2016 at 12:55 AM ^
Agreed on the small sample-size, but a small sample size also doesn't preclude a problem either. e.g. a both a positive and false positive look the same initially.
The only reason I bring that up is because you would be very surprised at how many "old school" (read: archaic) strength and conditioning coaches are still kicking around at high-level programs, hell, some of the World Cup soccer S&C coaches have been found to be using decades old performance models and methods.
Additionally, basketball players also have completely unique demands on their bodies compared to most any other athletes (hockey players and skaters--cross country skiers) rival them as well), in that their height and overall length, create much, much larger forces. Many people don't know this but basketball players are anatomically much different than the average person (as skill level goes up--in the NBA they're all freaks), and I'm not talking about height. Ankle-mobility, foot length, foot arch, tibia length/femur length, freakish arm length, short torsos, long inseams all while having very slight, yet strong, frames etc.
Their joint angles are so different that most basketball players shouldn't/can't lift weights using the "normal" exercises that we all think about.
Again, the sample is small. But it will always be. That's what a coach gets paid/fired for, an intuitive knowing. It's why coach-speak makes zero sense to 99% of people, except other coaches.
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March 19th, 2016 at 11:47 AM ^
mcgary had back issues. Irvin had back issues.
For years people complained about how Gittleson was becoming so ineffective for the football team and the major bonus in hiring RichRod was bringing in Barwis.
Everybody was so excited that Harbaugh was going to steal the Stanford S & C guy because he was so effective at keeping his kids healthy.
How is it that key players at MSU are able to stay healthy?
March 19th, 2016 at 12:23 AM ^
March 19th, 2016 at 12:25 AM ^
Its hard to be excited for next year.
March 19th, 2016 at 12:34 AM ^
How can you not be excited over an NCAA Tourney Team that returns literally everyone and adds four freshman?
March 19th, 2016 at 12:51 AM ^
With the exception of Wagner, none of these returning players will be any better next year
March 19th, 2016 at 11:09 AM ^
Irvin was better late last season than he was all year this year. Call it health issues or whatever, but I'll bet you he's improved in his final season.
Donnal got a lot better this season, even though he still has a long way to go. He's never going to be great, but I think he'll continue to improve. His decision-making still leaves a lot to be desired - that's one of those things that tends to improve with experience.
MAAR got a lot better this year. As he improves as a facilitator, this offense is really going to click. He can get to the basket almost at will. He's going to create some easy buckets for others as he continues to develop a knack for it.
The game should slow down for Robinson as well. You can tell at times things are moving too fast. This may have been his second year of playing, but it was his first at the DI level.
I am not much of a JB apologist as far as this season goes. The injuries cost us, but the defense was never where it ought to be, and the decision to barely play Wagner most of the season seems baffling now. But having everyone on this team return has got to be some small reason for optimism. I'm not pencilling us into the final four just yet, but there are some good players on this team that are going to improve.