The Final 2011 Season Installment of The Bartelstein Blog
Read this thing. It sums up this incredible MBB team and their season so very well. Some excerpts:
A year ago, people hung their heads when they talked about Michigan basketball. There was no excitement. It looked like we were going into complete rebuilding mode. It is amazing what a lot of hard work and a group of 15 teammates and four coaches can do when they only have one true goal in mind.
We went to Belgium and played against four professional teams. We went 1-3 and the alarms started going off. How could a team that was supposed compete in the Big Ten not even win in Europe? But we had a great time on the trip and it was an extremely successful journey. The bonds we shared walking through Belgium and Amsterdam, seeing where Ann Frank lived and making the climb to the top of the Eiffel Tower are memories I will never forget. We will never forget and the bond of 15 young men really accelerated across the pond.
It was during that 1-6 start our point guard and head coach made statements that would change our season. Darius Morris made a public statement we are going to win at least 20 games this year. He was dead serious and the team took on his belief. We were going to find a way to win 20 games and make the NCAA tournament. The second moment came after our toughest loss of the season in my hometown of Chicago, coach Beilein knew we were really down, searching for answers. But he said, "this group of players will play in the NCAA tournament, it might not be this year, but you all will." Just like in all cases this year, Coach B was right. But even he wouldn't have known that it would be this year we all made the tournament.
We were ready for Duke. We played our hearts out and that game defined our season. Nobody is supposed to come back from 15 in the second half against Duke. We did. And we were an inch away from sending the game to overtime. But basketball can be a game of inches sometimes and that's just the way the ball rolled. We redefined what it means to be the comeback kids. We were resilient and as so many alums have told me, we were true Wolverines all the way to the end. The two hours after that game were as tough as you can imagine. But it really should be. When you invest as much as we did, and spent every day together for about seven months, it really, really hurts.
You hear it all the time in sports, but we felt like we were family. When a member of our team had a bad day, we all felt it the same way we all loved seeing a teammate's success. This is the reason I know we have greatness ahead of us. Not because of how talented we our on the court or how good our coaches can be at preparing us, but because we have guys who love each other, love the program and love Michigan more than anyone can imagine.
And then it closes with some very good news about a young cancer patient the team befriended during one of their visits to Mott.
...in the process of writing this last blog I got an email from Rory's dad who just told me Rory is cancer free after his second bout with the disease. I have been sad since yesterday, but I can't help but smile now. We all believed in Rory and he came through. I can't wait to tell all of my teammates.
J-Bart: You did an incredible job this season with your 28 posts to The Bartelstein Blog. Thanks for providing an insight into the team. It's been said so many times, but we fans (alumni, students and everyone else) couldn't be more proud of the 2010-11 Michigan Wolverines Men's Basketball Team. This alumnus is sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that you do have greatness ahead of you. We'll be watching and rooting and hopefully, we'll be reading The Bartelstein Blog throughout the 2011-12 season.
nice work on the blog, indeed. when you can see on tv how much these kids care, it really means something. this is my favorite M bball team ever, i think.
This team is by far my favorite Michigan team, I like most im sure can remember the Europe trip like it was yesterday, the hearsay, what haver you. Love how they pulled it together literally against all odds and a fanbase that thought 15 wins would do. My favorite part about this team is that they will all be back next year, how often can you say that?
Congrats to the team and to Rory; hopefully Bartelstein keeps writing, he's good.
March 22nd, 2011 at 10:36 PM ^
What a great read. This is a really special group of guys.
It's really interesting now to look back at some of his earlier entries. Here's one from before the season:
Last year, we depended on Manny (Harris) and DeShawn (Sims) for so much of our scoring that teams knew going into games if they could shut down those two they would have a good chance to win. This year we have a plethora of scoring options. Stu, Darius (Morris), Zack (Novak), Matt, Tim (Hardaway Jr.), Evan (Smotrycz) and Colton (Christian) are all guys who can put the ball in the basket...
Everyone is going to pick us near the bottom, but I really think we are going to surprise some people. It's too hard to predict wins and losses but I know we are going to give everyone our best shot.
http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/102610aab.html
March 22nd, 2011 at 10:42 PM ^
"This is the reason I know we have greatness ahead of us. Not because of how talented we our on the court or how good our coaches can be at preparing us, but because we have guys who love each other, love the program and love Michigan more than anyone can imagine."
I really like that both the basketball and football head coaches have put a premium on kids who love the programs and the school.
Every school and every coach puts a premium on kids who love the program and the school. If you pay attention to more than one team, it's one of the biggest cliches in sports. I still like it, but neither Michigan nor its two current coaches have a copyright on kids loving their school and their teammates.
March 23rd, 2011 at 10:04 AM ^
But we're also talking about a roster that seems to be made up mostly of players not from Michigan.
I was especially taken by Morris. He started off well, the game got chippy for him, and he regained his poise. The team rode on his shoulders.
After he missed the potential game-tying shot, he ran off with his head buried in his shirt, and you could feel his sense of loss.
I also felt sorry for Morris and the rest of the team because i felt, as the season wore on and the wins started coming, the team was ONE player away from being able to do serious damage and make a real run in the Tourney. What this team could have been had Sims or Harris been here one more year. Oh well.
March 23rd, 2011 at 10:39 AM ^
Had Sims or Harris been here, I'm pretty sure this wouldn't have been a tournament team. Neither of those guys were great leaders last season and were more concerned with individual stats than the team. A classic case of addition by subtraction. Both those guys were talented players, but they didn't fit the system the way the current players do.
March 23rd, 2011 at 10:54 AM ^
Another great contribution from a poster that helps make this blog great.
March 23rd, 2011 at 11:56 AM ^
People have been saying that more as this season unfolded.
However, Sims and Harris were outstanding enough to get Michigan into a second-round game of the NCAA tourney the year before last.
It's just another hypothetical, that's all. In my opinion, had Harris come back, he would have made the commitment to Beilein and his system.
But more to my point, and again it's all conjecture, this team was one player from doing serious damage.
But as we look forward to next season, i wonder if there are enough, and the right kind of personnel to get beyond this season's accomlishments other than "another year of experience." We'll see.