Jay Bilas weeps uncontrollably. Tommy Amaker and Harvard shock New Mexico

Submitted by Blue boy johnson on

Congratulations to Tommy Amaker and the Harvard Crimson, for pulling of the biggest upset of day one in the round of 64

Unfortunately things didn't work out well for Amaker in AA, but he is doing a bang up job in Cambridge Mass. Amaker lost two key players before the season started to academic scandal, but still managed to win the Ivy League, then beat a 3 seed in the NCAA Tourney without the benefit of scholarship athletes

Jay happy:

Tommy too:

jmblue

March 22nd, 2013 at 7:55 AM ^

The transformation of Amaker from a coach who could recruit somewhat well but couldn't seem to coach his guys up (as he appeared at Michigan), into a legtimately good bench coach (as he appears at Harvard), is astounding.  I definitely did not see that coming.

Good for him.  He's a really good guy.

jmblue

March 22nd, 2013 at 11:07 AM ^

He was not an idiot; he did improve the program from where Ellerbe left it.  But we couldn't take the next step and get into the tourney.  Coaches aren't robots.  Their ability to do their job changes over time.  It may be that we hired him too early in his career and that Harvard's gotten a more finished product. 

Maybe he's better at choosing his assistants now.  Beilein inherited some of Amaker's assistants at first, and the results were underwhelming.  Beilein then brought in Alexander and Jordan in the 2010 offseason and the program has taken a major step forward since.  Perhaps Amaker has found his Alexander/Jordan.

 

 

dahblue

March 22nd, 2013 at 12:06 PM ^

While Amaker is indeed a good step up from Ellerbe (which is like saying a car is a step up from a skateboard), you're right in saying that Amaker couldn't take that next step.  Your notes on the assistants, however, are incorrect.

When JB came in, he made his own moves, but quickly learned that without Mike Jackson (one of Amaker's assistants and a former UofD player and assistant), we'd be in bad shape with local recruiting.  He also would have lost DeShaun and Manny.  JB then lured Mike back to A2 where Mike was the glue for DeShaun and then Manny (as much as there can be "glue" for Manny).  Mike was a huge recruiter for us, but he made (what I think to be) a bad choice in leaving for Purdue after the Manny implosion.  Bacari, who should have been in A2 sooner, then continued the Titan connection in A2 and is doing a great job for us.  Mike got hit with a DUI at Purdue where Painter fought for him but the administration did not.  So, he's now doing well at Providence (who has some great kids coming in). 

It's hard to imagine how we could do better with recruiting at the moment, but I wish we could have had Bacari and Lavall working with Mike.  Those three would be great together.  In short, it wasn't that the assistants hampered JB; building a program takes time and JB has done well to evolve his own approach to the game.

dahblue

March 22nd, 2013 at 4:14 PM ^

We didn't just keep Jackson...JB let him go and then reached out to hire him back on the staff after Mike got a job elsewhere. 

As far as coaching goes, I have no clue.  We get to see Bacari's (fairly lame) motivational speechs on the tv, but I'm not knowledgable to know what goes in during practice and who has what level of influence as a coach (vs as a recruiter).  That said, I know that JB trusted Mike enough to make him a high ranking assistant and had Pat (JB's son) spending time with Mike as well.  JB was "unhappy" (to say the least) when Mike left for Purdue.

APBlue

March 22nd, 2013 at 8:38 AM ^

I know New Mexico had a nice season, but I think they were overrated as a 3 seed anyway.  Since I don't think NM was going to offer much resistance, I'm not sure this has too much impact on OSU's path.  I expect OSU's foe in that round will be Arizona anyway.  

HarBooYa

March 22nd, 2013 at 11:38 AM ^

In any event, when I watched, they seemed solid, athletic and well-coached.  Harvard has no business upsetting them with their two best players out and basically no scholarship athletes.  Its a notable upset.  Might not be a typical 3.  Again, still think OSU would have handled them.

APBlue

March 22nd, 2013 at 2:11 PM ^

I didn't say you couldn't do that, I just implied that doing so isn't very smart.  

If you just watched the Michigan game at Michigan State this year, you wouldn't think that Michigan was very good, would you?  

Would you be right?  No.  

You would have an ill-formed opinion based off of watching one game.  

Now, if you had watched a broad cross-section of Michigan's games (home and away), then you could have formed a more complete opinion on their abilities.  

Anybody can play lights out for one game.  It doesn't necessarily mean much, evidenced by your opinion of New Mexico and the results of their first round game.   

ClearEyesFullHart

March 22nd, 2013 at 8:11 AM ^

He had a rough go of it here, but through it all he exhibited the class you would expect from a Michigan coach. Fuck Bill Martin. Go Blue, and go Crimson!

Section 1

March 22nd, 2013 at 8:24 AM ^

Are you mad at Bill Martin for hiring Tommy Amaker?  Or are you mad at Bill Martin for having fired Tommy Amaker?

Are you mad at Martin for having given Amaker six years?  Was that too long?  Or too short?

In reply to by Section 1

Lionsfan

March 22nd, 2013 at 8:50 AM ^

I think there's a difference between knowing you have bad facilities, versus being told things are going to be upgraded but it never happening

Section 1

March 22nd, 2013 at 10:16 AM ^

100% pure, unadulterated flamebait.  If this isn't flamebait, what exactly would qualify as classic flamebait?

I'm tempted to add the standard caveat, that it is another Rodriguez-hater, picking another fight in a thread where none existed.  But I have no idea what you think about Rodriguez; I suspect that this was such low-level thread vandalism, that it was simply to provoke a reaction.  So maybe "Trolling" would be better.  That's all the thought I'm giving it.

ClearEyesFullHart

March 22nd, 2013 at 11:57 AM ^

An article in the print Wolverine(Yes I got that back in the day, judge me if you will) In which Martin said, "If [basketball recruits] care about facilities, they won't come to Michigan.".

This from our athletic director. And he was employed for 5 or 6 years after that.

Wolverine Devotee

March 22nd, 2013 at 8:37 AM ^

Uh, if there is any AD to be mad at, it's Tom Goss. I wouldn't say fuck him because he was a player here in the 60s, but he was a bad AD.

He was responsible for the following disasters-

  • Firing Steve Fisher
  • Hiring Brian Ellerbe
  • One word: Halo. And I'm not talking video games-

APBlue

March 22nd, 2013 at 8:50 AM ^

Are you suggesting that, as the Head Coach of the Basketball team, Steve Fisher shouldn't have been fired?  

I don't want to get any farther offtopic than we already have, but I would suggest reading this summary from the Michigan Daily.  http://www.michigandaily.com/content/ed-martin-revealed-his-long-and-infamous-road-michigan-basketball-history

I would also suggest that, as the Head Coach, Fisher deserved to be fired for, if not anything else, not having control of his program.