That loss is on Beilein
That loss is 100% on John Beilein. It is frustrating to see Michigan outplay Arkansas for 30 of the 40 minutes and lose. How, HOW, does a team go up 20 in the first ten minutes and the coach not call a single timeout? Arkansas was obviously feeling it. They could not miss, the crowd was going crazy, they have all the momentum, and you don't want to try and call a T.O. to see if you can kill it? That just blows my mind. I literally cannot comprehend not calling one timeout in those first 10 minutes. Arkansas went on a run probably 4 or 5 times, and you did not try to stop at least one?
Beilein is a good coach, and seems like a good guy, but you will never convince me he is not completely to blame for this one. That is coaching 101.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:28 PM ^
You're stretching the definition of the word "we." As the guy who constantly trolls the liveblogs, and declared "game over" during the Sugar Bowl... when the score was 3-0 in the FIRST QUARTER, call me crazy to think you might not exactly be a die-hard.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:31 PM ^
January 21st, 2012 at 4:33 PM ^
Wish I could say it was nice knowing you.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:34 PM ^
And just what in the name of the wide world of sports do you contribute?!
January 21st, 2012 at 4:38 PM ^
I bring punch and pie. Regularly.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:32 PM ^
Wait, you're a mod! You can do something about it! (Or at least the race baiting troll in the Novak foul thread).
January 21st, 2012 at 4:30 PM ^
you've isolated the pattern: difficult to win on the road in college basketball.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:24 PM ^
If he was 2-8..well you get the idea
January 21st, 2012 at 4:26 PM ^
totally overrated.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:26 PM ^
Arkansas being unconscious from everywhere on the floor in the first ten minutes. Give them some credit.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:33 PM ^
their center even hit a turnaround fadeaway 18 footer during that stretch. i damn near fell off my couch.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:49 PM ^
the brick he threw in when Michigan was making their run. His shot hit the flat back part of the rim and somehow spun in such a way as to roll into the hoop. If it hits anyplace else, fans may have been hurt.
That bucket stopped a 6-0 run by UM and put the lead back to 7 and then Ark turned that into a 6-0 run the other way.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:26 PM ^
January 21st, 2012 at 4:26 PM ^
I set the over/under on useless cliches in this thread at 1000
January 21st, 2012 at 4:29 PM ^
Yer battin a thousand Gordie! Defense wins championships!
January 21st, 2012 at 4:35 PM ^
True dat, but you also have to come out ready to play
January 21st, 2012 at 4:26 PM ^
100% agree, he did not do enough at the start of the game, regardless of the TOs. Hope he is able to make some adjustments. We can't afford to fall apart like that; looking for #4 over MSU will add some reassurance
January 21st, 2012 at 4:40 PM ^
I think you managed 3 cliches in 3 sentences. Impressive
January 21st, 2012 at 4:27 PM ^
Perhaps you are overestimating the powers of the timeout? Timeouts don't score baskets or play defense. And there's a lot more to coaching than calling timeouts.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:39 PM ^
That could be right...
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<br>/s
January 21st, 2012 at 4:28 PM ^
January 21st, 2012 at 4:35 PM ^
let's not give beilein any credit for constantly mixing up the D in the second half, which obvioulsy confused them a bit. their TOs skyrocketed and their shooting % plummeted.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:44 PM ^
January 21st, 2012 at 4:28 PM ^
i agree with the OP. we start so slow on the road, show no fire and play no D for the first 15 minutes. happened at IU, happened at Iowa. that's coaching. i love beilein, but he has to fix that.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:33 PM ^
As a coach of a team that also tends to start slow, let me say that your attribution of starting slow to coaching is far overrated.
I realize my team starts slow. We talk about it. We talk about it at practice, before games, and after games. We've changed pre-game routines, practice order. You get the point. The coaches can't go out there and box out with 4th quarter intensity during the 1st quarter for the kids. At some point someone has to step up and do it. Last I checked, coaches aren't out on the floor.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:58 PM ^
Almost every team starts slow on the road...that's why road wins are so hard against good competition.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:29 PM ^
I won't put this on Beilein. For us to be in this game to the end, with how we are shooting threes, is incredible. The team did not give up, and dug itself almost out of a huge hole. I do believe that Hardaway and Smotrycz will turn things around soon, which will reflect itself in the win column. I also don't think we will face another team like this for some time, if at all.
Beilein has this team believing in themselves. After today, I believe we will end the year with 21 or 22 wins, win at least one and probably two in the Big 10 tourney, and win at least one, possibly up to three, in the NCAA tourney.
I think that this loss is critical in a good way. It is going to toughen us up enough to win at least three if not four or five games on the road in the conference. I think that this loss will pull Burke, THJ, and possibly Smotz, into a higher plane and different dimension.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:31 PM ^
The point of calling a TO would have been to settle things down, yes? Well, the TV time-outs didn't do anything to settle them down, and they eventually pulled out of it without timeouts and played damn well. The first 10 minutes were gonna be brutal no matter what happened, and those TOs came in pretty handy down the stretch.
Beyond that, this is a learning experience for more important games later on in East Lansing, Columbus, and the tourney. Long term, I like the way things turned out today... minus the L.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:31 PM ^
or another decent big man. Why we dont have another like Morgan is a recruiting gaffe I think.
But why do we have to spot every team 20 points while ON THE ROAD?
Seriously. We get blown off the ball for every road game. That isnt a good team when it cannot win on the road.
And when I saw Burke play at start of season, I said to myself that he'll be the best player on the team.....and he is, but you know, this seems to be to the detriment of Hardaway, who seems to be void of the offense with Burke playing. Burke must EFFECTIVELY get Hardaway involved, otherwise kiss the season goodbye.
We're gonna get blown out by MSU in EL, unless they stop spotting teams 20 pts.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:37 PM ^
You just answered your own question. We do have another big man, but he's injured. Hardaway has to get himself involved in the offense. Half the time he stands at the baseline on the 3pt line and does nothing.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:42 PM ^
don't blame hardaway's troubles on burke. burke gets him plenty of open looks when he kicks the ball out to him THJ is just missing the shots at an alarming rate anymore. and today, when he drove the basket, he was out of control. that's not on burke either.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:32 PM ^
The idiots really just come out of the woodwork after a loss. Arkansas shot 70% in the first half. They ran like demons in the first half, especially because this was the biggest home game so far this season. That translated into fatigue and weak legs in the second half which resulted in missed shots and lazy defense from Arkansas, which allowed us to come back in the game. Against a team like Arkansas, and the way the play, a timeout really only benefits them by giving them a breather. Our guys were trying to slow the game down in the first half and conserve energy. Please, feel free to have an opinion, but when you clearly know nothing about the opponent, basketball or the coach, expect to get ripped. =)
January 21st, 2012 at 4:36 PM ^
Its funny to read through the posts. A lot of people disagree, and that is fine, but probably 70% of the people who disagree don't add a single substantive thing to the discussion.
So because you disagree with me, I know nothing about the opponent, basketball, or the coach? You do not know me, know nothing about how much basketball I have played, coached, or watched. Apparently Beilein and I have starkly different philosophy's about T.O.'s and stemming a run. But your ad hominem attack when you know nothing about me is ridiculous.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:39 PM ^
You're clearly on the verge of a McFarlin style meltdown. On second thought, keep it up!!!
January 21st, 2012 at 7:39 PM ^
Who was the last one...Wolverine318?
The mods have gotten way too good at their jobs. Or the really crazy ones have learned to quit just before they go TOO far.
January 21st, 2012 at 5:00 PM ^
Nice to see that tough guys don't take the weekend off.
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<br>Just relax. You start a thread saying a coach is 100% to blame for a loss, no questions asked, and are surprised people disagree. Regardless of your intent, this post comes across as an irrational post from a fair-weather fan, and so people are going to call you out. If you don't like the response, then don't invite it
January 21st, 2012 at 4:33 PM ^
This poster must be on an account that Jay Bilas and Tommy Amaker share.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:33 PM ^
Nothing to do with Coach but does anyone know if we scheduled a home and home with Ark?
January 21st, 2012 at 4:42 PM ^
They're coming to Crisler next year.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:34 PM ^
The thing is, this is the game you want to lose if you're going to lose one right now. By forcing the team to play through the adversity, you gain that experience for later in the season when you might not have time-outs to use.
I'm not thrilled with the performance today, and obviously it would have been awesome to get this win, but in the grand scheme of things, dropping an out of conference away game is not going to hurt us.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:34 PM ^
Michigan, outside of Trey Burke, doesn't have the athletes to handle pressure that well. I'm surprised more teams don't press Michigan because of this. You saw MSU make a comeback last year when they started to press (and Michigan only really had Morris to handle the rock against it), and then Arkansas. They actually adjusted to it very well.
The problem is that they didn't respond quick enough, and they should respond quicker. This isn't a moral victory type of thing, they still lost. But I still don't mind not calling a timeout in that situation, it helps a team grow and next time they face pressure like that they will be much better off. It's a game they should have won, ok, but in the long run they will be better. If something they don't respond well to happens come tourney time I expect a timeout and things to be fixed sooner so they can win these games they should, but in this situation it just sucks they lost, nothing more.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:35 PM ^
Desmond Howard disagrees with you...
Desmond Howard @DesmondHoward
Tough loss for @umichbball but impressed by coach Beilein's adjustments to control the tempo & allow Michigan to climb back into the game.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:35 PM ^
I'm interested in hearing Belien's rationale for no timeouts early on. But that game had trouble written all over it from the get-go. To come back as Michigan did was remarkable.
I've been watching Michigan hoops since the 70s and Belien is the best coach we've had since at least Johnny Orr. When something he does turns out badly, that's unusual. I am grateful to have him, and I love this team. All its parts may not mesh enough of the time to reach elite status this season. But we are headed in the right direction.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:42 PM ^
"Beilein is a good coach, and seems like a good guy, but you will never convince me he is not completely to blame for this one. That is coaching 101." - Fresh Meat
You will also never be convinced that the fact that they were able to control the tempo a little bit in the second half and get within a single possession are indicative of good coaching, right? We struggled early, but I am not going to throw Beilein under the bus for this one. The "L" sucks, but they made it close and made great adjustments after Arkansas' initial tear in the 1st. I'll take the things I saw in this game into the next and say it can lead to a "W". If you're going to lose a tough road game, this might be the one to lose, and it won't kill us at the end.
January 21st, 2012 at 7:22 PM ^
And tell me again why he couldnt have this team prepared and adjusted for arkansas BEFORE the game started instea of waiting till 10 mins into the game when your already down 20??? Thats what a good coach is suppose to do, have their team ready and know what the other team is going to do BEFORE the game...
January 21st, 2012 at 4:43 PM ^
But you gotta bring it STRONG on the road. This lack of intensity (especially by Novak) is infuriating. Don't these guys want to win. It kills me that they don't give a shit when they stink up the court. Did you see the happy look on Burke's face when his shot rattled out. Total fucking apathy.
January 21st, 2012 at 4:53 PM ^
The coach needs to call time out and her these Fockers playing!
January 21st, 2012 at 7:20 PM ^
You just criticized Novak for lack of intensity? The kid comes out every game and works his ass off! All he has is heart and intensity- Not to mention he led our team in scoring and rebounding today. If he was anymore intense he would turn green and be called a The Hulk
January 21st, 2012 at 7:38 PM ^
Zack Novak was asked to comment on your sarcasm meter. His response: