Men's Basketball: John Gasaway's thoughts on Michigan's Offense
Some high praise coming in recognizing our team's elite offense from Gasaway (a writer for espn and basketball prospectus). Notably, he was one of the bigger skeptics of Michigan before the season started, if I remember correctly.
Of note from the short article:
"Whether your preferred standards of sublime-efficiency comparison are Kentucky in 2012, North Carolina in 2009, or Illinois in 2005, Michigan’s offense has to date benefited from the same kind of network effects as all those other eminences. It works like this:
You have a first-team All-American. Let’s call him Treytythonyeron Burkebrowngilchristborough. He’s having a season for the ages. But he additionally finds himself in happy proximity with another guy or perhaps even other guys who will also play in the NBA at some point."
http://www.basketballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=990
January 7th, 2013 at 1:57 PM ^
January 7th, 2013 at 2:01 PM ^
It wasn't pretty this year at points, but the day you see Michigan Football offense mentioned in the same paragraph as "Kentucky Offense" is the day this place burns to the ground.
January 7th, 2013 at 2:36 PM ^
to recall the year 2008 ever existing. Strange.
January 7th, 2013 at 3:30 PM ^
I do, but Michigan only played one game that year. It was Wisconsin at home.
January 7th, 2013 at 4:26 PM ^
rain? I was there for the second half, but I can't recall the first two quarters.
January 7th, 2013 at 5:37 PM ^
Actually, they played two. They had an away game at Minnesota to balance out the season.
January 7th, 2013 at 2:01 PM ^
"If sports actually mattered, the 15-month transformation of Burke from high school who-dat into Oscar Robertson II would have long since resulted in recruiting analysts being subpoenaed to testify before Congress."
I love that. Talk about a real hidden gem. I'm sure tons of coaches are absolutely kicking themselves over missing out on Trey. And, even if they don't admit it, I'd be willing to bet a majority of buckeye fans would trade Aaron Craft for Trey Burke.
January 7th, 2013 at 2:06 PM ^
AWESOME AWESOME
January 7th, 2013 at 2:09 PM ^
Reminds me of that one Comcast commercial. Televisiphoniewhating?
January 7th, 2013 at 2:45 PM ^
that I have actually done this dance by myself in my living room while watching M bball this season is both wonderful and embarassing.
January 7th, 2013 at 3:13 PM ^
January 7th, 2013 at 2:56 PM ^
Eastern Europeans represent!
January 7th, 2013 at 3:35 PM ^
Khazakstan is in Central Asia.
January 7th, 2013 at 4:03 PM ^
but the scenes were filmed in rural Romania, and the people dancing are Romanian.
January 7th, 2013 at 4:31 PM ^
Borat's "Kazahkstan" was filmed in Romania (Eastern Europe)
EDIT: Beaten to the punch...so I will add a point of interest from the movie's wiki page: SBC (Borat) spoke Hewbrew most of the time when he was supposedly speaking Kazahk, while his companion (Azamat) spoke Armenian
January 7th, 2013 at 2:27 PM ^
Something I found interesting about our offense so far this year...
Our Adj O ranking is 3.1 points higher than #2 Indiana (123.2 vs. 120.1), the next drop in 3.1 points puts you between the 8th and 9th offensive teams. It just goes to show how high of a level our offense is playing at right now, even relative to the nations best teams.
Also, I don't expect to see a very large regression, as I think the emergence of McGary and LeVert on the offensive end will soften some of the blow from other players regressing slightly from their current pace.
January 7th, 2013 at 2:39 PM ^
January 7th, 2013 at 2:41 PM ^
January 7th, 2013 at 2:42 PM ^
January 7th, 2013 at 2:29 PM ^
Put these games into your memory banks, because the way this team has been playing is very special. Every now and then you get lucky, and this is our time. Beilein talks about how this team likes playing together and it is very obvious from their style that he is right.
January 7th, 2013 at 3:09 PM ^
...right now exists as filler between MBB games. (please don't tell my wife, kids, or employer)
As you can tell by my MGoName, I witnessed both the national championship and Fab Five eras.
Those teams were both incredible, but, somehow, this year's team seems just a bit more special. I'm not sure if it's because I've been lucky enough to share the experience with my 11 year old son...or because it was somewhat unexpected...but it's incredible to witness how this team plays together.
They aren't quite elite defensively, but I've never seen an offense perform at such a high level. It's truly like a world-class ballet or symphony. Each player fills their role almost perfectly. Very few errors. Everyone seems to be where they need to be...when they need to be there.
This group is truly bringing the genius of Beilein's system to life.
January 7th, 2013 at 5:11 PM ^
The 89 team was a NCAA tourney sucess but the regular season was good not great. The Fab 5 seemed to do enough to get into the tourney and then turn on the show.
This team is playing well all year which I have never seen before. After this nebraska game is when the meat of our schedule comes into play. If they play like this the 2nd half of the season I don't think i'll fully notice no football for the first time in 10-15 years.
January 7th, 2013 at 8:28 PM ^
The Fab Five actually went 26-4 in the regular season and got a #1 seed their sophomore year. They were pretty dominant all season. It just happened that they lost two heartbreakers to an equally dominant (before Alan Henderson got hurt) Indiana team, which cost them the Big Ten title.
January 8th, 2013 at 2:21 AM ^
no :(