How to solve Michigan basketball issues
I'm not sure that there's much you can do at this point. We are way too young everywhere and our experienced players are all injured. We need to find someway to score. Irvin, Walton and Spike need to take it to the bucket either by ball screens or isolation. That will lead to kick outs for threes or lay ins. In the offseason we need to make sure Levert comes back. I think it's mutually beneficial as he'd rise on the boards next year when he's not being asked to do everything and being the man who's focused on completely by the opposition. Also, at this point it's evident we need to recruit someone in 2015 at center or the wings. If you can get a 4/5 star 5 man then you can move Donnal to the 4. If these things happen then I think we can be back to big ten contention next year.
December 14th, 2014 at 9:10 AM ^
This team already has enough talent. They're banged up, why is that so hard to understand?
December 14th, 2014 at 9:20 AM ^
A banged up team still would have beaten NJIT and EMU.
December 14th, 2014 at 10:37 AM ^
like you seem to be implying, how do we beat still Syracuse, Oregon, etc.?
December 14th, 2014 at 11:13 AM ^
Bad doesn't mean you play terrible every game. Right now, the data say this team is pretty mediocre, and not likely to make the tournament. That doesn't mean they won't beat a decent team once in awhile. But frankly, Oregon and Syracuse probably aren't very good either.
That is OK. It's unrealistic to expect that Beilein can just wave a magic wand and fix the kind of NBA attrition we've had recently. At least this is a young team that will have the chance to get older.
December 14th, 2014 at 9:35 AM ^
December 14th, 2014 at 9:52 AM ^
December 14th, 2014 at 10:28 AM ^
December 14th, 2014 at 6:17 PM ^
December 14th, 2014 at 6:48 PM ^
agreed ... time will heel this team. Here's my prediction .. this team will finish about 5th in the B1G reg season and play on Sunday in the BTT.
About a 7 seed in the NCAA and make it to the 2nd weekend! Beiline is a stud ... bottom line!
December 14th, 2014 at 9:02 AM ^
You're getting a little ahead of yourself. Its a long season and these players could get a whole lot better by the end. Our dropoff is not only because we have injuries and youth in general, but also because our freshman are playing like exactly that.. freshman. Having Stauskus, GRIII, and McGary (and maybe Levert and Spike) kind of spoiled our perception of how freshmen play. They'll get better with more touches.
December 14th, 2014 at 9:04 AM ^
December 14th, 2014 at 11:19 AM ^
For better or worse, I think Beilein's system has a repuation for being much better for guards and shooters than for classic "big men". There aren't many of those guys, and it's hard to recruit them, especially here. They all end up at Kentucky anyway.
We had candidates for "impact freshman" this year, but it looks like they haven't really panned out. Again, that's OK -- you can't find Trey Burke or Nik Stauskas every year. But to just expect that there should be no drop-off after three underclassmen go to the NBA is goofy.
December 14th, 2014 at 9:16 AM ^
December 14th, 2014 at 9:24 AM ^
"Irvin, Walton and Spike need to take it to the bucket either by ball screens or isolation."
Our bigs simply do not screen well enough and Irvin/Albrecht do not have the skillsets to do this consistently
"In the offseason we need to make sure Levert comes back."
Not happening.
December 14th, 2014 at 9:28 AM ^
December 14th, 2014 at 9:46 AM ^
December 14th, 2014 at 10:36 AM ^
Nik Stauskas or THJ would be scuffing a bit too if their frontline was Chatman and the center grab-bag.
Caris is going to the NBA after this season, as he should. Nothing has changed from the NBA perspective. Michigan's team success should not be conflated with it's individual NBA prospects. Caris' stock is fine. Irvin's has taken a bit of hit from the top 10 player some people expected.
The biggest culprit in this season's struggle is JB's recruiting failures. He took 5 guys, only one of which is a clear Big 10 player. Many of the rest will get there but it will take time (i.e., years not months). Michigan can't afford time because Robinson, Horford, and McGary all left in the offseason. If Beilein had been able to retain any of the 3 this team would have 3 or 4 more wins.
Chatman played an extemely low level of HS ball so his bumpy transition should have beeen expected. He's going to be really good down the line.
The other big problem is that Donnal has been relatively slow to develop, as Horford was.
Bottomline - if Michigan landed some of the kids they targeted in recruiting we wouldn't be in this situation. This is what happens when you miss in recruiting and end up with plan D and plan F types 9 times out of 10. The Spike Albrecht instant impact freshman are extremely unusualy when you are talking about 3-star type players.
December 14th, 2014 at 1:26 PM ^
December 14th, 2014 at 10:43 AM ^
December 14th, 2014 at 10:40 AM ^
If you're undersized, usually you press and force turnovers and play an uptempo offense. You play more like VCU.
We're undersized, but we don't play that kind of basketball.
Part of me says you have to start Doyle and Donnal and get bigger. The other part says go 1-3-1 and pressure the ball on defense and create turnovers.
Offensively, teams are just crowding the 3 point line knowing we only have 1-2 players who can create shots and no interior presences.
This team will get better, I still think they'll be a bubble team in the tournament and I think they'll beat someone they shouldn't like Wisconsin just because it'll be the one game during the year where they can't miss.
That said, when we lost McGary and Horford. We lost an elite team and even a "solid" team.
December 14th, 2014 at 11:04 AM ^
Recruiting in basketball is not like football. In basketball,. while there are several exceptions, generally the freshman that make the most impact are in the top 30-40 out of high school. This limits the amount of instant impact guys and most of these guys want to go to the Kentuckys, the Dukes, and the Kansas's of the world.
Keep in mind, Walton, Irvin, and Chatman were top 40 recruits and Donnal was a 4 star, so our recruiting has not been that bad.
December 14th, 2014 at 11:31 AM ^
Good God will everyone please relax the big ten season hasnt even started and we just played the toughest game of the season. They will be fine. are they gonna win the big ten no but they WILL finish in the top 5 of the big ten and make the NCAA tourney mark it down
December 14th, 2014 at 11:57 AM ^
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December 14th, 2014 at 11:48 AM ^
At this point chemistry seems to be the biggest problem that I see. These guys do not play well together. That can change of course, and probably will with time, however at this point they just are not on the same page.
December 14th, 2014 at 12:00 PM ^
December 14th, 2014 at 12:18 PM ^
just don't use them for practice window dressing. Not a talent issue.
We're undersized, a Beilein-system charactistic. Interestingly Beilein will compliment teams with bigs, i.e. how well they play against us, yet he has trouble making that systemic adjustment. Hard to teach an old dog new tricks, as they.
December 14th, 2014 at 2:59 PM ^
the Big Man ship has already sailed for 2015. There is nothing left out there we are in on.
Re:Caris---he's gone. As he is currently projected in the top 15, it is hard to argue it would be mutually advantageous for him to return.
December 14th, 2014 at 12:24 PM ^
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December 14th, 2014 at 2:26 PM ^
JB is a fine coach who was many times "done more with less". Right now you're seeing a team on the floor that the coaches didn't expect to see until next year. It's a symptom of success.
Even Kentucky who just reloads with a pre-NBA roster every year had the same trouble. In 2012 they won the NCAA title. In 2013 they lost to Robert Morris in the post season NIT.
It's the price of having or developing talent that can be NBA picks.
December 14th, 2014 at 2:57 PM ^
December 14th, 2014 at 2:57 PM ^
December 14th, 2014 at 4:40 PM ^
If the players can each figure out their roles (even the "veterans" on the team seem to be struggling with this) and develop and mature, this could be a decent team by year's end. I still don't think they will be good enough to challenge for the Big Ten title and might not even make the tournament, but they should be significantly better than they are now.
December 14th, 2014 at 6:05 PM ^
What I don't understand is what happened after the Syracuse game. Bad teams don't defeat teams like Oregon and Syracuse.
December 14th, 2014 at 7:04 PM ^
We don't do it. Period.