How to solve Michigan basketball issues

Submitted by ThadMattasagoblin on

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.

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johnthesavage

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.

Joined: 03/30/2013

MGoPoints: 2112

kody99

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!

Joined: 12/11/2014

MGoPoints: 143

Gentleman Squirrels

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.

Joined: 06/03/2014

MGoPoints: 43421

Chameleon Eyes

December 14th, 2014 at 9:04 AM ^

We need the past few years of excellence to start paying off with top of the line recruits. Impact freshmen, and preferably, impact big men. Really thought we'd be recruiting at a higher level based on the work Beilein and staff have done to develop talent into NBA picks.

Joined: 08/20/2014

MGoPoints: -9999322

johnthesavage

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.

Joined: 03/30/2013

MGoPoints: 2112

TruBluWolv55

December 14th, 2014 at 9:16 AM ^

Why isn't our success on the court bringing in better talent? The team is young and will improve because Beilein has proven he can develop the players he has, but it just seems like our talent levels have dropped this year.

Joined: 11/28/2010

MGoPoints: 8442

reanimator

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.

Joined: 02/01/2014

MGoPoints: 826

megaswami

December 14th, 2014 at 9:28 AM ^

A lot of factors have led to this. We have been spoiled by Freshman who have played out of their minds. Burke took a lot of pressure of those guys as well. Instead of being go to, he set them up like nobody I've ever seen. I think we miss out on some guys because we do it clean! I also think that a side effect of developing players is you unintentionally start to reach a little on guys. Not everybody develops at the same rate. I think the team at the end of the yet looks a whole lot different than what we've seen the last 3 games. When we are off from the perimeter we are gonna lose because our bigs are still wet behind the ears and we don't rebound well. We are not getting any putback points. We really miss Horford.

Joined: 08/23/2008

MGoPoints: 1010

UMaD

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.

Joined: 07/02/2008

MGoPoints: 4960

AlwaysBlue

December 14th, 2014 at 1:26 PM ^

recruiting failures, it's his success. With the exception of Mitch there wasn't anybody projected to be a two and done. A college team needs some program guys, some 3* types that stay 4 years. They provide the framework within to teach and develop the incoming freshmen. Michigan isn't going to be Kentucky where they just keep reloading. JB hasn't had success because he uncovers the inner athlete but because he's able to combine basketball IQ, system and the skills they have. Right now the team seems overwhelmed.

Joined: 11/23/2008

MGoPoints: 7854

chatster

December 14th, 2014 at 10:43 AM ^

Based on recent play, MGoPessimists might argue that this may be the least talented team John Beilein has had at Michigan since his first season in 2007-2008, and that this losing streak (and injuries to the top players) could cause a downward spiral that could make this season end poorly. . . while MGoOptimists might argue that the coaching staff could make some adjustments, as it has in the past, that will enable the team to improve enough to finish with nothing worse than a bid to the post-season NIT.
 
Their next game against SMU will be a challenge for this Michigan team.  Larry Brown’s team is 6-3 and on a four-game winning streak and has an RPI rank of 60 on CBS Sports.  They have seven seniors and no freshmen on their roster.  Their leading scorer, 5-9 junior point guard Nic Moore, is averaging 14.3 PPG and hitting on 47.2% of his three point shots. Their leading rebounder, 6-8 sophomore Ben Moore, averages 7 rebounds a game.  They’re both averaging over 30 minutes a game.  LINK to SMU Stats
 
Even if Michigan’s losing streak continues against SMU, it still will have a good chance to end the non-conference schedule with a record above .500 when it faces a 1-8 Coppin State team whose only win came against 3-8 Division II Goldey-Beacom College. LINK to Coppin State Hoops Page at CBS Sports
 
Unfortunately, although the Big Ten may be significantly weaker now than it was last season, according to CBS Sports, Michigan’s current RPI of 97 is worse than every Big Ten team other than Indiana (129), Iowa (120), Nebraska (144) and Purdue (131.)  Even if this team improves throughout the season, you can’t expect that the other Big Ten teams won’t improve, so starting conference play with a 7-5 record may mean that Michigan could struggle to be playing in a post-season tournament in 2015. LINK to CBS Sports Standings and RPI Rankings
 
Last season, the 32-team NIT field had only eight teams with fewer than 20 wins and no teams with a record below .500.  The 16-team (“pay-to-play”) 2014 CBI Tournament had three teams with records below .500, including Penn State. LINK

Joined: 09/14/2010

MGoPoints: 26926

Mr. Yost

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.

Joined: 07/25/2011

MGoPoints: -9898220

bluestan

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.

Joined: 09/17/2011

MGoPoints: 650

goblue16

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

Joined: 03/28/2010

MGoPoints: 17468

Jaxpo

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.

Joined: 08/17/2014

MGoPoints: 2421

atom evolootion

December 14th, 2014 at 12:00 PM ^

Besides size and inexperience in the paint, the thing that seems to be missing the most is confidence. The I-got-hair-on-my-chest attitude that Spike normally brings, which has always rubbed off on the rest of the team, isn't showing. Donnal is naturally passive and always has that Chicken Little look on his face. LeVert is naturally passive, but he's skilled enough to carry the team against certain teams that are weak against tall, penetrating guards (that second half he had against Duke stands out to me). Assertiveness is difficult to inject into passive people. Irvin isn't feeling it. He'll find his shot again. Chatman is feeling his way around. Doyle is aggressive enough on the boards, but he doesn't know what he's doing just yet, like the other freshmen. Walton is the one who surprises me. He's not passive. He shows that "dog" in his play. He just doesn't seem to be able to get anything going. Perhaps it's because everything isn't operating like clockwork at the moment. Last year, the offense was the best ever and Walton did well. This year, it's sputtering, and I believe we'll see Walton's jump when the offensive sets become more fluid. At the end of the day, I think the boys'll go dancing in March.

Joined: 11/03/2013

MGoPoints: 1069

JoFree

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.

 

Joined: 11/25/2012

MGoPoints: 203

umumum

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.

Joined: 01/06/2011

MGoPoints: 7864

GoBlueInIowa

December 14th, 2014 at 12:24 PM ^

Play together longer - team chemistry just isn't there yet that added to the inexperience of the bigs is the problem. Think team is going to struggle early in Big play, but will pull together a run during the back half of Big season. Enough to get off the bubble but not a very good seed. Will get some tough games in tourney and match ups will determine if the get a 2nd weekend - if the run up against a 1 seed in game two, it could be ugly. Interested to see if this whole squad could come back next year, then they could make another run, but at least one goes pro.



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Joined: 03/05/2011

MGoPoints: 5084

Steve in PA

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.

Joined: 08/10/2009

MGoPoints: 6327

o0MaizeNBlue0o

December 14th, 2014 at 2:57 PM ^

How about making some shots. Shooting 30% won't win too many games. While ball movement to get it to the open man wasn't great, Michigan still missed many uncontested 3's. Gotta make those shots.

Joined: 12/12/2014

MGoPoints: 2180

UMgradMSUdad

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.

Joined: 07/02/2011

MGoPoints: 13178