John Beilein Appreciation Thread

Yup. Guys came in and left the exact same player. Great recruiter, though.

The star has faded a little on Beilein, but there are very few names for whom I'd gladly replace him.

I'm not that down on Beilein's recruiting.  

All five members of the 2014 recruiting class (Wilson, MAAR, Dawkins, Chapman, Doyle) have started for us, and the first two are key members of this year's team.  The much bigger issue IMO is that three of them have since transferred.  While we don't necessarily miss them this year (maybe Dawkins) I think we can raise some questions about Beilein's roster management over the years; he's lost his share of transfers.    

The 2015 class was just Wagner and Robinson (transfer) - hard to complain about those two.

The 2016 class admittedly hasn't had much of an impact, but they are true freshmen on a relatively experienced team.  Time will tell with them.   Simpson is starting to show us glimpses of why he was Mr. Basketball in Ohio.

I'm excited about the 2017 class.  I think there's a lot of potential there.

Sometimes it takes a while for new coaching to set in.  What looks like a lack of intensity is really hesitation resulting from uncertainty.  After a period of time it starts to feel natural.

Also, there are plenty of examples of teams having a period of success, then falling off for a few years.

look at MD after their title or unlv or iowa after the early 80s or st johns or georgetown the last decade.  there are many others.

I hope you're kidding with that list. Once you realize that McGary basically only played one season at U of M and once he had his back surgery we were left with a complete lack of depth. At one point that year our assistant coach LaVall Jordan had to suit up as the scout team because we didn't have anyone to even practice with. 

That was 4 seasons ago! Its been 4 seasons since we've had anyone worth a shit playing in our front court. That's a major problem. Sure enough Wagner could be a complete baller next year and future lottery pick but adding Wilson to that list is ballsy since M recruited him at SF. 

Like I said, I love Beilein and everything he's done but you can't have rose colored glasses on for everything. Our recruitment of bigs has been troubling until the emergence of Wagner. What if he turns in a lights out performance in the NCAA and bolts? Then what? Are you still happy with what we'd be left with?

Its exactly like what Hoke was doing. "Ok well we got Shane Morris at QB, I guess I can call it a day!"

I have always been an advocate that Michigan should be a good basketball team, but at no point in their history have they consistently put forth an elite product, and that's where I think the argument about "low expectations" comes from.  I expect them to make the tourney most years, maybe have an Elite 8/FF-type year every couple of years, and generally stay above the fray and out of trouble.  But Butler missed the tourney 2 of the last 5 seasons, and Creighton are going back for the first time in 3 seasons this year.  And for both those teams, basketball is the undisputed kings on campus, something that wouldn't happen at Michigan.  Oregon is absolutely on a nice run recently and that could be Michigan's goal, though my lingering sense with Oregon athletics and Phil Knight's involvement is a little bit Ole Miss-like, given that Chip Kelly had an 18-month show-cause penalty attached to him for recruiting violations on his way out.

But to a greater point, I just think basketball at Michigan will always be second-fiddle, and that limits the types of coaches you can bring to the program.  Elite HCs want to be "the man" on campus, and when you know you'll always be second-fiddle to the the football coach, that can be a hard sell.  This was probably a rumor and post-event rationalizations, but I remember there being talk of Petino being HC instead of Amaker, but he passed (in part) because he wanted more of the spotlight.