Bielien working Neb-Minn on BTN right now

Submitted by Grampy on February 8th, 2021 at 9:04 PM

Our former coach just wrapped up the first half (Minn 45, Neb 30) and is a nice change of pace from Bardo or Dakich.  Smart, observant, and polite almost to a fault, John Bielien is a marvel.  He talked about his unshakable belief in auto-benching, defending it as working 'thousands and thousands of times'.  The game itself is a dog, but the interplay between Dave Revsine and Coach Bielien is worth catching in the second half (starts in 10 minutes?)

Michfan777

February 8th, 2021 at 9:33 PM ^

I wonder if Penn State or someone similar hire him? He’s old, but he’s probably the best FA coach out there. No buyouts, no checkered past. Plus it’s PSU where expectations are not that crazy for basketball.

Joined: 10/10/2018

MGoPoints: 24520

redjugador24

February 8th, 2021 at 9:53 PM ^

Was flipping through and thought "who is this buffoon announcer quietly and politely picking apart a college player's lack of fundamentals......oh wait, that's Beilein."  And actually he's been rather enjoyable and just caught me by surprise because he's so different (in a good way) from most commentators. Don't care for his cadence/lack of presence, (his voice just isn't exciting and there's a lot of moments of silence), but his content and detailed analysis more than makes up for it.  Kids could learn a lot listening to a game he calls.  I love that he keeps describing drills he runs to improve specific skills.  

Joined: 11/08/2015

MGoPoints: 5461

rice4114

February 8th, 2021 at 9:59 PM ^

Here is why autobench is inefficient. Anytime you autobench and a player ends the game with 4 or less fouls you have left minutes on the bench. You are penalizing your own team early for what might happen. Whatever you were going to do can be done with 4 fouls or 3 at the minimum. Sitting a player 15 minutes to save 5 at the end seems very counterproductive. If you HAVE TO autobench do it at 3. 

Joined: 08/26/2010

MGoPoints: 47300

redjugador24

February 8th, 2021 at 10:04 PM ^

He explained that his philosophy is that guys play more tentative with foul trouble, and the opposing team will attack tgat player and try to draw the next foul. 

I still think game situation and trust for an individual player should be factored on, autobench is not always the right move. 

Joined: 11/08/2015

MGoPoints: 5461

Two Hearted Ale

February 8th, 2021 at 10:25 PM ^

If a player knows he will be pulled if he gets a second foul in the first half wouldn't he play "tentatively" because he's in defacto foul trouble?

If "attacking" a player in foul trouble is good strategy shouldn't opposing coaches attack any player with one foul in the first half?

If I were a coach I'd make sure my players knew they would not be pulled because of the number of fouls they have accrued. That seems to solve both of Beilein's points.

This coaching convention is baffling to me.

Joined: 06/10/2011

MGoPoints: 1773

MGlobules

February 8th, 2021 at 10:45 PM ^

The reason this isn't good logic? Because it does not--cannot--account for what would have happened if the player had been left in. 

Personally, I hate the ironclad autobench. I'd yoink the player if a) he were a little out of control, b) it was clear the game was likely to ride on that player's shoulders, or c) if it looked like the refs were singling him/her out or calling the game in a way that s/he was likely to collect a third. And if my team was getting down too far and I thought the player would make back the difference, back in they would go. 

Joined: 11/17/2008

MGoPoints: 47677

Markley Mojo

February 9th, 2021 at 9:25 AM ^

The minutes during a game do not have equal leverage on the win probability of the game. You want your best players on the floor during high-leverage situations. Generally (not always), those minutes and situations occur toward the end of the game.

There's also an option problem. Owning a stock has a certain value, but owning an option to buy that stock itself has value, even if that option may be underwater at the moment. Similarly, knowing that you have a player's minutes to spend, even if you don't end up spending them, has value throughout the game. It's only when the option expires at the end of the game that the remaining time (or timeouts) are worthless.

None of that should be construed as a defense of autobench. The optimal benching strategy would likely include a lot of dynamic calculation ("coach's intuition") ... I just wanted to point out that 5 minutes at the end can theoretically be more valuable than more-than-5 first-half minutes (although to my untrained eye, 15 sure does seem like a lot).

Joined: 03/04/2016

MGoPoints: 1707

JamieH

February 8th, 2021 at 11:52 PM ^

Autobench is IMO one of the few flaws in Beilein's approach.  It drove me crazy.  

No coach should EVER have black & white rules that dictate their strategy.  Every game is different.  Every situation is different.  Is it good to maybe get a guy out of there for a bit after his 2nd so the other team doesn't immediately attack him for a 3rd?  Sure.  But refusing to ever put him back in can be counterproductive.  If you pull the guy and things are going fine, they sure, sit him out the rest of the half.  But if the guy is your star and you are getting run off the floor because he's benched, then ADJUST.   

The best coaches adjust on the fly to any situation.  Rules like autobench stop you from thinking and put the coaching on autopilot, which is never a good thing.  

When Beilein talks about fundamentals and his drills though, people should listen.  His MIchigan teams took care of the basketball better than any teams I've ever watched.  

Joined: 09/05/2009

MGoPoints: 28331