Bandwagon Check?!?!

Submitted by Ziff72 on

Been pretty positive on the board lately.   The bandwagon is pretty full.    Anybody willing to call themselves out for a comment made in haste last month?   In trying to fill this agonizing last 6 hours before tip off have some fun and go back and look at some of the posts from our less than stellar games.  Here is a rather timely one I found.

 

So why are the freshmen getting worse, then? Or why are almost ALL of the players getting worse? Hardaway isn't where he was. Morgan can't make layups. Robinson looks terrified. Burke is awesome, but even his game is less efficient than it was at the start of the year. Shouldn't well-coached teams improve as they continue to play together?    

 

Yes none of the freshmen have improved on this terribly coached basketball team.   This comment was made 24 days ago and was not negged -1000000000.  Hahahahaa.    Beilien is the Man!!!  Go Blue.

YakAttack

April 8th, 2013 at 2:44 PM ^

particularly the first half of the Kansas game. So much so that it gets requested when the team needs a jolt. And yes, I feel I deserve a ring when they...I mean We...win tonight.

Danwillhor

April 8th, 2013 at 2:44 PM ^

I admit to admitting the obvious that the B10 is the hardest/toughest/best conference in the country and at one point the Freshman hit a wall. I also admit to calling us "soft as baby shit" even after a close win late in the year as our "bigs" were getting out-muscled and rebounded by 6' guards. Yet, I also admit to saying that this is a TOURNEY team regardless of seed. Also, if we lucked out and got in games with smaller teams that run we could do damage. Finally, I'll admit to not liking the Kansas match-up. Actually predicted a loss "unless Kansas' Andre the Giant's Ghost Center decides not to show up and we shoot 75% from the field".

MGoBender

April 8th, 2013 at 2:47 PM ^

I'll proudly say I never "called anyone out" or doubted the abilities of this team.  In fact, I took quite a beating in Game threads before deciding to abandon them because I was defending Beilein and Morgan and others.

Fuck y'all, we're winning a championship!!!

Bodogblog

April 8th, 2013 at 2:48 PM ^

Know-it-alls rarely look back and acknowledge errors.  Once they gain the self-awareness to recognize past mistakes and project that inherent human fallability forward, they cease to be know-it-alls.

ChuckWood

April 8th, 2013 at 2:50 PM ^

I wouldn't call people getting more interested because Michigan is  good at basketball again a bandwagon fan.  Support a team that supports you by winning.  It's tough to maintain interest when a program is devestated by sanctions like Michigans was.  But Michigan has shown their fans that they are serious about basketball and being a competitive team.  From the facility and lockerroom renovations to recruiting higher caliber players, Michigan has finally given their fans a reason to be outspoken and excited about the team.

Now for those that said they don't care about basketball and Michigan is purely a football school, this is your chance to apologize.

dothepose

April 8th, 2013 at 2:51 PM ^

I'll be honest...I hate people like you...good luck in life if you are a young guy, you will be the person everyone hates in the office. If you are an old guy, then everyone in your office hates you already...

Ziff72

April 8th, 2013 at 3:29 PM ^

If you're the guy in the office who acts like he is James Naismith every Monday and says "Beilien sucks, all we do is shoot 3 pointers, we're soft".   Then yeah,  you probably hate me when I come back and give you facts that make you look stupid.  

Speaking of facts...... Bet on Beilien-15-2 against the spread in the NCAA tournament.   Guy can coach a little.

dothepose

April 8th, 2013 at 3:38 PM ^

I just think calling out people on today is just inappropriate. We should be rejoicing what this team has done. No point in calling out people that may have said some things they regret now.

brandanomano

April 8th, 2013 at 2:56 PM ^

I said before the tournament that I wouldn't be surprised if we got knocked out before the sweet 16, but that I also wouldn't be surprised if we won it all (one of my 2 brackets has us winning it all). Reasonably, I saw us losing to Kansas, or if we were lucky, in the Elite 8. Essentially, I didn't know what the hell was going to happen. I wasn't a pessimistic asshole though.

TheGhostofYost

April 8th, 2013 at 2:56 PM ^

I don't see anything wrong with that comment.  It's not being a bandwagon fan to question where things are going, and at one time, it appeared the team was in fact getting worse.  

JHendo

April 8th, 2013 at 2:57 PM ^

I picked Michigan to lose in the first round of the tourney.  It was more of a strategic way for me to limit my emotional attachment to the team and/or my bracket (if they lose, at least it helps my bracket, and if my bracket gets busted, I can't get upset about it because it's my team doing the busting).  A lot of negative setiments about teams are from their biggest fans, who also serve double time as the team's biggest critics (unless you are irrationally positive).  Being critical and getting overly upset about the Wolverines when things don't go as expected doesn't necessarily mean you're a bandwagon jumper, it means you care.  

Besides, I don't prescribe to the Sparty way of doing things.  If you want to cheer for Michigan, I happily will take you in with open arms when that time comes, even if it's for one game.  There is no such thing as a Walmart Wolverine.  Tonight, everyone is either a Cardinal or a Wolverine. Go Blue!

Jmilan

April 8th, 2013 at 3:02 PM ^

I in fact buried this team midway through the Kansas game much like many I'm sure. Thankfully they have proved me wrong since that comment.

FreddieMercuryHayes

April 8th, 2013 at 3:03 PM ^

I think many people were frustrated in the B1G season because the team wasn't playing up the level it was capable of.  This was mostly because of freshmen, something I think most people were just glossing over.  But now the team is playing up to it's potential.  Still young and at times it shows, but at this point I don't care too much about all those people who wailed and gnashed their teeth.  We're in the championship game.

M-Wolverine

April 8th, 2013 at 3:31 PM ^

Does everyone who beat the drum saying "they're only freshmen, they can't be expected to be great" now have to apologize too...or did they stop being freshmen between the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament?

While a lot of people were making excuses, others saw the talent this team had and was worried that they were going to miss out on a rare opportunity to do something like this with all that talent. They just pulled it together at just the right time (or McGary was finally ready at just the right time).

gwkrlghl

April 8th, 2013 at 3:05 PM ^

because the team looked awful at times last month and definitely looked like they were gonna flame out in the tourney. Honestly, without Mitch McGary we probably would've lost a long time ago. It's not like Burke, THJ, Stauskas, etc have been on fire every night.

McGary has been our rock in this tournament and he is why we're playing tonight. Recant suggestion denied. McGary praising approved

Jeff09

April 8th, 2013 at 3:06 PM ^

There may be a time for this, but now is not it. Just support the team, enjoy the ride, and give thanks that we get to experience this.

joeismyname

April 8th, 2013 at 3:11 PM ^

i will admit to calling Beilein "very good, but not elite" while criticizing him about the teams rebounding and big men....Mitch and John have proved me wrong, now they need to do it once more.

 

GO BLUE!!

ryanlove12

April 8th, 2013 at 3:19 PM ^

To calling the team soft. To wanting gr3 benched for the season, and being pissed at the world for not playing two bigs. I have to humbly say that I am thankful that I kept watching and rooting (even when it got hard) and an so proud of the toughness they have shown in this tournament. Regardless of what happens tonight, I am thankful for this ride and for the resiliency this team has shown.

ryanlove12

April 8th, 2013 at 3:24 PM ^

Be a lesson in the future on this site. When people rant on here, it is to vent. It is not to proclaim that they aren't Michigan fans. Everybody who bitched on here was showing passion, and I am glad to have that in our fan base. I'm also glad that this team has done what we all bitched about them not doing ( rebounding, defending, and showing heart). I think that has brought more praise than the wins themselves.

M-Wolverine

April 8th, 2013 at 3:23 PM ^

But it does question the mentaiity of someone who during the most exciting day of Michigan athletics in years has as a first thought "I told you so."

A Lot of Milk

April 8th, 2013 at 3:24 PM ^

I regret saying Beilein took this team "as far as he can" after losing to Wisconsin in the B1G tourney and saying that we should begin looking for a replacement. But I am perfectly content with finishing 5th in the B1G and winning the National Championship!!

WMUgoblue

April 8th, 2013 at 3:25 PM ^

I've attempted to stay away from game threads since the Indiana game. You get the crazy people who want Beilein gone and think that people aren't trying because the other team saved a loose ball from going out of bounds, then you get the people calling out the crazies which just creates more stress for everyone. Just sit back and attempt to enjoy what has been an incredible season, vent when you need to but please don't go overboard.

Soulfire21

April 8th, 2013 at 3:30 PM ^

I did say at one point that we look like a team that could be the first 1-seed to ever lose to a 16-seed (@PSU game comment).

I also did say I would have a hard time picking Michigan to go past the Sweet 16 (post Wisconsin in the BTT loss).

On multiple occaisons I have remarked about how we are a soft team, squishy, and we don't go up to the basket near as hard as we need to.  Those criticisms have been non-existant throughout the tournament.

If you count profanities strung together by a 60/40 mix of non-English/English words into half-coherent sentences as a negative comment, there may have been one or two or twelve of those.

LB

April 8th, 2013 at 3:36 PM ^

Sorry, took my seat on the Michigan Bandwagon a lonnnng time ago. I'm not giving it up to some johnny-come-lately.

DavidP814

April 8th, 2013 at 4:10 PM ^

Yes, all the "Fire Beilein"-type comments look idiotic now, but they were idiotic after Penn State and the 2nd Wisconsin loss.  Granted, that team did not look like a team with a reasonable chance at a national championship, but there was obvious progress between this year and last year even if post-season results are ignored.  

Remember looking at the bracket last year?  I thought the team had a good chance at a Sweet 16, but that team was never running the #1 UNC/#2 Kansas gauntlet to get a FF berth.  This year, I looked at the Sweet 16 game apprehensively, but I'm not stunned by this run.  This was always the ceiling for this team.  

All of Beilein's teams play a high variance brand of basketball.  That Elite 8-Pittsnogle team lost by 40 to Nova in Big East play before coming thisclose to a Final Four.  If WFVU basketball had a blog back in 2005, I'm sure some WFVU fans would have been calling for JB's job that January.  UM will probably lose to one of the Northwestern/Nebraska/Penn State triumverate next year, as well as dropping a game or 2 OOC that we shouldn't lose.  JB's teams shoot a lot of 3s, don't go to the line, and don't play aggressive D.  But this is the new ceiling.  And it's amazing.

More importantly even than National Championships, though, is having a team and coach every fan can be proud of both on and off the court.  Billy Gillespie, Mike Rice, Rick Pitino--John Beilein is not.  A wild night for the man probably involves Jared from Subway and a lot of mayonaisse.  The players are not racking up DUIs and making midnight Spice runs.  Win or lose, every student, alumnus, professor, and fan can be proud of this team.  That, THAT, is Beilein's legacy.  He has made Michigan basketball both nationally relevant and nationally respected.  God bless John Beilein.

Yeoman

April 8th, 2013 at 6:13 PM ^

Elsewhere on the board lately I've seen him lumped with Calipari. Their mutual dislike is well documented, and a big part of that seems to be Pitino's contempt for the Worldwide-Wesleyization of Calipari's programs.

His personal life aside, what is it that Pitino's done that's supposed to be sleazy? I've had nothing but respect for his coaching and I've never seen anything with the way he handles his programs. What have I been missing?

get-on-my-lawn

April 8th, 2013 at 5:58 PM ^

Where this team was struggling and there WERE a lot of questions that needed to be answered. You can't neg someome for telling it how it was at the time because that just about summed up how it was going. There is no bandwagon involved, the team just is finally playing to its fullest potential. Now quit worrying about that petty shit and stop killin the vibe!