how 'bout some love for the hoopsters?

It is very nice to finally see some size on the court, even though the talent is still raw. Horford has potential, and I think Morgan could be a big contributor. Hardaway looks very good already, and his future is very promising. This team will have some ups and downs this year, but could really surprise some teams if they have a hot night from behind the arc. It will be fun to see them down the road, and see what can become of this bunch in the future, as many are still very young. Here's to hoping that the D can step up this year and that they can build off of this W. Hail!

bowling green\=\ big ten opposition. expect the worst but hope for the best

I know it was just Bowling Green, but this team looks like it has a lot of potential.  Mostly, it's because they aren't giving away height at every position on the floor anymore.  The young guys have bought into the system extremely well, and Morris is providing the leadership a PG should provide. 

 My preseason "prediction" was that they would have to work hard to win fourteen games.  That may still be the case, but I can see them getting over .500 (minimum seventeen countihg the tournament) now.  It all depends on whether or not they get pushed around too badly by Big Ten teams. 

This team is tall enough to rebound now and has enough shooters that a different player should be able to get "hot" every night.  They won't face situations like Illinois not even having to jump to out-rebound them anymore, but physical teams like Wiscy, MSU, etc will still be problematic.  If this team can take care of business against the bottom rung and spring a few upsets, it may even make the NIT this season. 

And they should set a nice foundation for being a perennial NCAA team again, possibly as soon as next year.

Let's see how the identity of the team develops.  I think the things that really plagued us in the past couple years was how we just had so many people out of position.  We've got a pure point guard with a year of experience in place (Morris), we've got multiple big bodies that we can rotate, and we can put our existing guys in better positions to suit their talents.  Plus, Beilein's got a team that's now completely full of guys he has recruited to play his system, so everyone looks more comfortable with the scheme.

That being said, let's see what happens when we play a team that actually knows how to play basketball. 

definitely looked good.  The passing was awesome, and they made good decisions.  Smotzright looked good, shot shot well.  Agent Zero was a maniac on the boards and hustle plays.  2 blocks on breakways.  Kelser said he looked like Lebron.  Honeslty, they looked better than last year's team with the consistent ball movement and uptempo offense. 

As for players and improvements:  Darius Morris seems to be coming into his own, and with Manny gone, he has not choice but to initiate the offense.  If he continues to play like he did last night, we will be more consistent on offense (if not as explosive to the hoop).  Jordan Morgan looks like the real deal.  Not much competition last night from BGSU big men, though.  I'll be interested to see how he does when we get into the big 10 season.  He has a knack for getting open and moving with the ball around the basket.  He could use some finishing work, but I'm pleasantly surprised.

Hardaway looked ok.  He's far from our most talented player or recruit.  He'll be serviceable.  He looks turnover-prone in the set offense though -- I question his ball handling ability, but he'll get some time and he seems like a streaky shooter.  He is also very long.

They have so much youth, I don't think they have a senior on the team.  I agree that a NCAA bid is a strech, but next year I think it will happen.

Hi,

Even though its painfully obvious that we just aren't all that good (watching IL vs TX after our game was over seemed like watching a different level of basketball!) these guys will sure be fun to watch. Perhaps it's a bit of a stretch (hehe, I just made a pun...) to compare them to our over-achieving FB team - specifically, our hard-working but woefully young & overmatched "D" - but Beilein sure seems to have them similarly motivated!

And - they are FAR from being talentless: Hardaway looks like he'll soon have us not hardly noticing that Manny is gone. Novak is not just a hard worker - he is a genuinely talented ballplayer. And we sure have some good shooters - that Smotcryz (sp??!) kid reminds me of Pitsnogle! (again - sp???)

If only we had more size/bulk in the middle. I'm afraid that many Big 10 teams will just pound us to death.

he would be the best point guard in the nation.  BUT even though his jumper needs some serious refinement, he can still run the offense extremely well (a la Rajon Rondo).  Basically, we have a team with a point guard who is not only great on the fast break, but is amazing at breaking down defenses and finding the open man.  Then we have four dudes on the court who can straight up knock down treys.  This could be an interesting year.

I liked what I saw last night.  They all appeared to be on the same page and provided offense from every spot, which is nice.

My one complaint was the minute distribution in relation to Douglass.  I am fine with the starting lineup of Morris, Novack, Hardaway, Smotrycz, and Morgan.  But, I would rather see Novack be the backup at the three and move Douglass into the 2 when Hardaway goes out.  I just don't have any faith that Vogrich can cut it against real competition.  I think Stu is one of the most complete players on the floor and him only getting 18 minutes last night is a little disturbing.  I'd like to see the combination of Morris, Novack, Douglass, and Hardaway all getting around 30 minutes in the 1-3 spots.  This team needs to have its best players on the floor as much as possible, and I think it's pretty clear that Douglass >> Vogrich.

I know we aren't a very big team, but we won't be grossly outsized like in years past.  Morgan and McLimans are both pretty talented and 240lbs (I believe 6'8" and 6'10", respectively).  Our 4's are who, Metrics and then Horford and Colton Christian, and Colton had 6 rebounds off the bench last night. 

All 5 of those guys are freshmen, true or redshirt, and they will improve over the course of the year.  Some teams will be too big for us to handle, but not most or all of them like the last couple years.

what is this "basketball" team you speak of?

Liked what I saw.  The team put togehter a dominant run 22-5 to close out the first half and into the second, which is what a team like UM should be able to do to most MAC-level opponents.  The shooting was better, and the kids rebounded better than I ever expected.  They will get rolled by some bigger, more talented teams, but an NIT bit is definitely a possibility for this team.

We're gonna lose a ton of game, many by unfortunate margins.  But there are no expectations at all, and I've always loved watching Beilein's system in action (and have been doing so since he coached in the MAAC).

He's implemented the 1-3-1 and offense fully, the kids are big, they play very smart for being 50% freshmen of one type or another, and they'll beat some teams they have no business beating.  That's a fun year for a team picked to finish last in the Big Ten, and it will get a lot better.

went in our favor- as they should.... let's just hope when we play teams like Kansas, Sparty, Illinois, etc. that we stay competitive... we got a very, very young team and all you can do is hope for the best.

Watching this team vs. last year's team is very different thus far. It's hard not to get excited about where this team will be next year - Novak and Douglass providing senior leadership, another year of development for the 3 bigs, with Burke and Brundidge into the mix. I'm fully confident in Coach B. 

It's been a promising start.  I'm excited to see where we go from here.

but there's hope.  Jordan looks like he's going to be someone special and Novak is hard not to love for his pure work ethic.  He's finally getting right-sized match-ups and I expect a big year from him.

Darius is the heartbeat of this team, but for the folks out there dissing Hardaway by comparing the two, why?  Give Son of Tim another year to grow and be in Coach B's system and he's going to be awesome.  He's already showing flashes of brilliance.

I think this team is going to be competitive, and that's all I'm asking from them right now.