MGoPodcast 6.18: Autobitchin'

16408950267_da92951e78_z

play this man in all kinds of weather [Bryan Fuller]

BASKETBALL

Autobench bitchin'. 1-3-1 after halftime not a great move. Would still give Beilein all my food. In praise of Spike. Center position down the road. Dawkins offer lack confusion part sixteen. Chatman! Life!

HOCKEY

Back in it. Margin of error very slim now. Werenski a terror on both ends, no matter who's defending. Goalie business.

GIMMICKY SPRING PRACTICE SECTION

TOP FIVES! Our top five most secure and least secure projected starters. You'll never guess what our least secure spot is. (You have never seen football and are naming positions in cricket.)

MUSIC

"Across 110th Street"
"King of the Road," (spectacularly drunk) REM
"Wabash Cannonball," Townes Van Zandt
"Hercules," Aaron Neville

THE USUAL LINKS

Comments

Ziff72

March 2nd, 2015 at 3:00 PM ^

I agree with you 100% on the auto benching, but this is similar to my argument about managing relief pitching in baseball.  If every coach does it it becomes more difficult  to crtiticize him as opposed to the profession?   I don't have any data but it appears that almost all college coaches use the auto bench as a general rule.

Are there any anayltic type coaches( or any coach in college) that don't follow this rule at all?

 

 

 

Mweasel

March 2nd, 2015 at 8:57 PM ^


"as a general rule"...

But in the context of a National Championship game or this past game when the season is going nowhere, your roster is depleted, you're playing a ranked team on the road...

Then you grow a pair - trust your national player of the year point guard ... go all in and play for the freaking WIN!!

 

 

sdono158

March 2nd, 2015 at 4:43 PM ^

Has anyone asked about the auto bench in a press conference? Its maddening when the drop between players is such a chasm. I am better than Andrew Dakich and I rode the bench in high school.

 

Md23Rewls

March 2nd, 2015 at 4:45 PM ^

Pretty much the greatest thing ever. Any of those early 80s REM studio outtakes are the best. My all time favorite is Voice of Harold when Stipe forgot the words to 7 Chinese Brothers and just read off liner notes to a record he found in the studio during his take.

SFBayAreaBlue

March 2nd, 2015 at 7:16 PM ^

When you're working with young men, sometimes you have to lose a few battles to win the war. 

Last year I was teaching this Div1a kid who was just a complete waste of space in terms of work ethic and classroom performance.  But our head BB coach was too much of a spineless snake to discipline him.  And our dean of students was also a pushover for the athletes. I can just imagine that even at a school like Michigan there are BB players with similar character defects, if not the whole suite combined in one ass-wipe.  Luckily for that guy, he's over 7ft, so he was able to find a college coach that would also let him slide. 

If Belien has certain rules and he sticks to them even in the face of short term games, bully for him.  It helps to set expectations for the kids so that you don't have arguments or flareups down the line.  

I'mma let the man with the awesome resume' do his thing without grumbling, even if I don't fully understand him.  And besides, autobenching is what Norman Dale would do. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITGwzan_0FY

Kilgore Trout

March 3rd, 2015 at 12:19 AM ^

Unlike the guy above, I don't think this makes any sense at all in regards to setting standards and teaching. I think what you teach by dogmatically sticking to rules that go against reason is that you are stubborn and that you can't be fully respected and taken seriously. Maybe it's the whole nurturing parent vs stern father thing, but sticking to non-sensical things just because you are the boss is a sign of weakness or lack of intelligence. 

SFBayAreaBlue

March 3rd, 2015 at 7:43 PM ^

When sticking to the rules taught a sense of trustworthyness and integrity. 

I also disagree with your assessment that he's autobenching against or without reason.  There may not be a reason that you or I can easily discern, but that doesn't mean there isn't a reason. 

It's been my experience that doing what you say you're going to do is one of the few ways to get young men to respect you. 

 

Kilgore Trout

March 3rd, 2015 at 11:41 PM ^

I get where you're coming from in general, but I think it's a fine line. If we're talking about rules like don't kill, be a decent person, take responsibility for your actions and such, I'm with you.

But, when it comes to sticking to a policy that is not mathematically sound and is demonstrably hurting your chances to win, I think you risk losing your place of trust and respect as a leader.

I don't teach kids, but in my career I have a group of 65-70 people who look to me to lead them. I have found that making a good faith effort to always consider different approaches to problems has gained me a lot more cooperation than simply laying down the law.

Sac Fly

March 3rd, 2015 at 7:33 AM ^

The Wisconsin program is in turmoil.

Behind the scenes Mike Eaves lost his team quite a long time ago, he's tried moving players around, benching his seniors, bag skates, yelling, not yelling. Nothing works.

Gary Shuchuk thinks that the players don't trust the coaches anymore, they do what they want and ignore what the coaches ask them to do. Now they're losing recruits. It's most likely the end of the Eaves era.

DomIngerson

March 3rd, 2015 at 8:58 AM ^

I'd listen to an MGoPodcast about pretty much anything.  I want more on the Iowa trip.  Specifically, awkward interactions with (presumably) conservative Iowa folk upon meeting their niece’s “blogger” husband.

Uncle Clarence:  (walking up thinking…”my god, that hair”)  Pleasure meeting you Ryan

MGoWife: It’s actually Br…

Uncle Clarence:  (interrupts MGoWife abruptly)  I hear you write about college sports in Michigan.  Detroit Free Press or News? 

Brian:  Well…

Uncle Clarence:  (interrupts) I’ve always enjoyed the Free Press myself.  The News is such a liberal rag.

MGoWife: He is the founder of MGoBlog, one of the largest college…

Aunt Marla: A blog? But what do you do for work?

Brian:  MGoBlog is my work.  It’s a Michigan foot…

MGoWife: (interrupts..) It's really popular.  He has a degree in Enginee…..

Aunt Marla: Is that like an internet newspaper?

Uncle Clarence:  No, Marla.  A Blog.  Like one of those gardening chat rooms you’re always on WHEN I'M TRYING TO USE THE LANDLINE.  So Ryan, when you’re not “blogging” (uses “ “ hand gesture), what do you do?