Is MGoBlog broken? Is anyone awake right now?
Today is the slowest day I can remember on the blog, so I'm offering up an open discussion for those of us still awake. My topics include...
TWD: This episode was great. The antithesis of last week, but understandable after the intensity a week ago. The last 3 minutes were funny and amazing at the same time.
Endzone: I know I'm the last person on the blog to read it (lay off me, I'm in grad school), but I'm about 1/4 through the book. So far my favorite part without a doubt is "Camp David." If I ever walked into a place that had "CD" embroidered everywhere, I'd probably call Mary Sue or Woodson or anyone who would listen and sound the alarm.
Today's game: Yes, there was a brief discussion about it in the snowflakes but my thoughts are this: even though we hung tough on the road against the #6 team in the country, I felt like that game was ours for the taking and we squandered it. But at the same time, playing like that for the rest of the year will get us into the tourney, and we might even win a couple games.
Beilein: I still have 100% faith in him. He's been snakebit for the past couple years but I still think he's one of the best in the country.
Goodnight and Go Blue.
February 22nd, 2016 at 2:37 AM ^
Jack Hammer...comments are more appreciated than upvotes at this point.
EDIT: Same goes for Captain Hindsight...
February 22nd, 2016 at 2:42 AM ^
11:30 in Seattle and headed to bed right now. Just finished putting together notes for an 8am meeting tomorrow. I'm wearing grey sweatpants and a charcoal hoodie (over my UM-Seattle Alum t-shirt of course). I enjoy long walks through the forest and cold, drizzly evenings next to a warm fire listening to Miles Davis and/or Bob Ufer CDs (depends if my wife has ditched me that night or not). Earlier tonight I played Euchre at my neighbor's house and won 2 games to 1 with a nice final card set for match point. Enjoyed three fingers of Woodford Reserve that has me feeling just right. My deepest desires include a UM basketball 2016 team out-of-body experience that propels us to somehow win the BTT go on to play in the round of 16. JB can do it. Good nigh... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..........
February 22nd, 2016 at 2:43 AM ^
Euchre in Seattle? I'm calling bullshit on that.
February 22nd, 2016 at 2:46 AM ^
We have a lot of midwest and Canadian transplants here. We actually have tournaments from time to time.
February 22nd, 2016 at 2:50 AM ^
I didn't know Canadians actually played. I know there's the "Canadian Loner" variant or whatever it's called, but I thought that was a slam on Canadian intelligence more than anything.
February 22nd, 2016 at 2:54 AM ^
Never say that to a Canadian. (More specifically someone from Ontario.) They would become furious and may even stop being obtusely polite for 2 minutes. I'm fairly sure they believe that the game is actually theirs.
February 22nd, 2016 at 4:40 AM ^
My wife is from Ontario and everyone I know there plays Euchre. At the cabin near Wawa when I was a kid the guides would play Euchre all evening and let me watch. Euchre is as much Canadian as Michiganian. Well at least Ontario if not all Canada.
February 22nd, 2016 at 6:07 AM ^
of us who absolutely can not stand comercials and are carefully waiting for the DVD. Reading any further will cause you to learn some things you don't want to know. So go back to your caves and place your fingers back in your ears while simultaneously singing fight song and you stand half a chance of getting through these next 8 to 10 weeks till the show is old news, Good luck to you from someone who understands your irrational desire to watch the show without any interruption what so ever.
February 22nd, 2016 at 8:13 AM ^
Anyone who is involved with Rick dies...Michonne you better watch your ass!
February 22nd, 2016 at 8:58 AM ^
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February 22nd, 2016 at 9:01 AM ^
But it even begins with a different method of dealing. However, much like other Michigangers, i was far polite to say anything negative as opposed to our neighbors in Eastern Michigan. Lovely lot by and far. I love them more when they are farther though.
February 22nd, 2016 at 11:40 AM ^
played Euchre in Spain with some Kiwi backpackers from NZ ...were surprised to find out they played Euchre there. Knew about the Canadian version so maybe that's the connection over the years..
February 22nd, 2016 at 11:55 AM ^
So you don't even need midwest transplants.
February 22nd, 2016 at 2:47 AM ^
Beilein has been snake bitten I agree and the leadership on the floor with spike and caris out is lacking.
The walking dead was a great episode and makes me want to know more about this guy and thank god for more Darryl
End zone is a great book and you should look forward to finishing and I agree camp David was over the top...
February 22nd, 2016 at 2:57 AM ^
Expecting a performance like that from Donnal the rest of the way is asking a hell of a lot. If he gave half that output moving forward, I like our chances.
Losing Caris sucks, no doubt, but I love Walton and think he's as much of a "floor manager" as we need. I love Spike, but I think Derrick brings more to the floor.
Yes, this Jesus guy is intriguing. He threw a couple impressive ninja moves on Rick...
My second favorite part of Endzone so far was Sarah Harbaugh sneaking into the locker room and then subsequently saying (after listening to Schembechler tapes in the car): "That's who you were impersonating! You were being Bo!"
February 22nd, 2016 at 4:52 AM ^
Relative to my expectations, Derrick Walton has underperformed. I expected a junior Derrick Walton to average around 15-16 ppg, 5.5-6 apg, 4-5 rpg while shooting around 45% from the field.
He is now shooting 39% from the floor. That's simply not good enough.
And it goes beyond the numbers.
One of my criticsms is his unwillingness to attack the basket off the dribble with hard drives. He's obviously not the tallest of point guards so I expected him to become crafty and add a number of things to his arsenal - like a floater. I've yet to see him attempt one much less make one (and I've watched about 80% of the games).
By comparison, Kentucky sophomore PG Tyler Ulis (5'9") is undeniably out-performing a junior Derrick Walton. In his last 16 games (starting with the win over in-state rival Louisville), Ulis is averaging 20 and 8 and shooting nearly 50%.
It pains me to say this but Yogi Ferrell is more in the mold of an attacking point guard like Trey Burke. Walton plays more like a combo guard.
I can only wistfully imagine how different our team would've been if Beilein had decided to take both Derrick Walton and Monte Morris.
February 22nd, 2016 at 8:49 AM ^
...coming out of high school who's currently playing with several future lottery picks.
Walton was a Top 50 player coming out of high school who's currently playing with zero future lottery picks.
Their situations are about as different as possible, so comparing them is useless.
February 22nd, 2016 at 9:16 AM ^
Look, you make some good points (especially his lack of creativity around the basket and lack of a floater), but Walton is one of the things keeping us afloat right now. Also, it was his spark and leadership that kept us from getting run off the court yesterday. Irving was sulking midway through the half and Walton netted up and made some great plays. Note also, Walton has outplayed Trimble both times they've played this year.
February 22nd, 2016 at 9:16 AM ^
Look, you make some good points (especially his lack of creativity around the basket and lack of a floater), but Walton is one of the things keeping us afloat right now. Also, it was his spark and leadership that kept us from getting run off the court yesterday. Irving was sulking midway through the half and Walton netted up and made some great plays. Note also, Walton has outplayed Trimble both times they've played this year.
February 22nd, 2016 at 2:53 AM ^
I defended him for a long time. But this season has led me to sour on him.
As good as he was in 2012, 2013, and 2014, he has been nearly as disappointing in 2015 and 2016. No one can place all the blame on him because injuries have hurt this program 3 years in a row. We overcame Mitch's injury in 2014 to win the Big Ten regular season championship, runner-up in the Big Ten tournament, and reach the Elite 8. But these past 2 seasons have exposed problems with Beilein's philosophy that were present in 2011-2014 but were masked by team success and an elite recruiting class.
I have 4 major problems with Beilein:
1. Defense
He has never fielded an elite defense. I looked at the efficiency numbers of his West Viriginia teams (03-07). They all display the same thing - great offense, horrible defense. Sound familiar?
And there are a range of other problems related to defense - most notably ineffective rebounding.
2. Tempo
Believe it not, we are one of the slowest teams in the country in terms of possesions per game.
3. Free Throws
We don't get to the FT line as often as elite teams do (like Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, etc.).
4. Recruiting
Beilein has made mistakes in recruiting. For instance, he should've taken both Monte Morris and Derrick Walton but decided to make it an either/or scenario. Last summer, he stopped recruiting Josh Langford after Tyus Battle. We were leading for Langford and turned him away. He'll now be an annoying problem as a Spartan.
Beilein can't keep relying on diamonds on the rough. That's not a sustainable approach.
The new generation of kids don't realize how good a basketball program we had before the sanctions. In fact, Duke and Michigan were comparable programs until the late 90s when things started to diverge...
In conclusion, I think Beilein is a great offensive coach. But he needs to hire someone who excels at teaching defense. This current staff clearly does not compensate for this glaring deficiency.
February 22nd, 2016 at 3:07 AM ^
You make a ton of good points. I admit, I'm more of a football guy than basketball, but I will say the following:
-Getting to the free throw line isn't even helping us. I don't know the stat, but I feel like we're struggling shooting free throws. And that's been really mind-boggling to me so far.
-Football was almost as dead as basketball in terms of kids recognizing tradition/greatness. Hoke and Harbaugh recruited their asses off, and I don't think it was because of tradition; it was good salesmanship.
February 22nd, 2016 at 3:10 AM ^
February 22nd, 2016 at 4:03 AM ^
I'm confident Beilein doesn't care for things like that in recruiting. I firmly recall we were leading for Langford. He made the same mistake he made in the Walton/Morris scenario when he made it either/or.
February 22nd, 2016 at 8:28 AM ^
February 22nd, 2016 at 9:18 AM ^
Disagree with you, Frank Chuck. That is to say, I'm disappointed, but still love Beilein. Here is my analysis of the problems.
- McGary was the one who smoked weed, not Beilein. If it wasn't for that, McGary plays another season. Huge, massive difference. FTR, this isn't about whether or not pot should be legal, or whether smoking pot is against the NCAA rules, with violation bringing draconian concomitant penalties . If something is against the rules, don't do it.
- Irvin, Walton, LeVert all went out with injury last year. So, in 2014 - 2015, we lose 4 starters (McGary, Irvin, Walton, LeVert). And you're putting that on Beilein? Sure sounds like scapegoating to me. Oh, and I didn't hear a lot of whining from Beilein when this happened.
- It turns out Spike was injured as well. We lose him, and then LeVert again this year. So, in 2015 - 2016, we lose two of the three best ball handlers on the team. And our most athletic player in LeVert. And you put this on Beilein as well? You want him to have pressured LeVert to play? If that happens, and LeVert is injured permanently, whose head is that on?
- I'm somewhat frustrated with defense. But part of Michigan's defense is a good offense. In the last two years, if we have all our main players on the floor, Michigan's offense hums, and we don't have the same problems on defense. More made shots mean less fast breaks for the other team, and Michigan gets back in their defensive set. This year and last, better ball-handling means less steals, and again, less transition offense for the other team.
- Recruiting. This is dicey. Not everyone wants to play for Beilein. There was someone here who said Beilein was too clean, we needed more bag men, we needed to play more "black" basketball (whatever that means), that black Chicago coaches steer their kids elsewhere. I don't know what to say. I personally like things the way they are. I felt that under Bill Frieder and Steve Fisher, discipline and oversight was lax. Do you want to go back to the days of Ed Martin? Yeah, I think we could do something more with recruiting. In some respects, the playing field isn't even. When you've got other teams giving under the table untraceable money to family members, for rides and clothes and other expenses, if Michigan isn't doing that, it is hard to compete. I wish things had played out differently with Battle and Langford. Partially, I think Michigan got played. But that's water over the dam. Hopefully, we learn from this. Oh, and I'm thrilled that Xavier is coming on board next year.
February 22nd, 2016 at 10:38 AM ^
WOW it's HILARIOUS that only Michigan coaches get to cash in on the excuse exchange!
February 22nd, 2016 at 12:36 PM ^
February 22nd, 2016 at 2:51 AM ^
February 22nd, 2016 at 2:52 AM ^
February 22nd, 2016 at 2:52 AM ^
February 22nd, 2016 at 2:53 AM ^
February 22nd, 2016 at 3:08 AM ^
I don't think there is an obvous "unicorn" replacement. But after landing Jim Harbaugh, I think folks are thinking that anything is possible. Unfortunately JB is a victim of his success in a way. After nearly winning the tournament with a team chocked full of NBA players we expect that every year. More precisely, "I" expect that every year. (Isn't that the attitude we have as Michigan fans? Shouldn't we expect excellence in academics and athletics?) As Frank Chuck states previously, I think we should be able to recruit much, much, much better than what we have been the past couple years. I feel very shitty doubting JB given what he has done for the program and the two exceptionally fun runs he made recently. But at what point to we suppress that guilt and aspire to the next rung of consistent excellence?
February 22nd, 2016 at 3:15 AM ^
Hey hoser-lover, shouldn't you be sleeping?
I agree recruiting isn't going well, but I feel like you're ignoring the McGary pot/Caris/Spike situation, not to mention the guys that legitimately left too early.
And to say football landed Harbaugh so basketball should land...Rice? That makes no sense.
February 22nd, 2016 at 3:49 AM ^
February 22nd, 2016 at 4:34 AM ^
I think Archie Miller is a possbility but I wouldn't take a chance on him until next season at the earliest (assuming Michigan misses the NCAAT 3 years in a row).
February 22nd, 2016 at 9:56 AM ^
I've never understood the rational behind keeping a coach you think isn't getting the job done because you don't know who to replace him with. It doesn't matter - if he's not getting it done, replace him! Things will either get better, or they'll stay not good enough. Either way, if change is needed to improve, then change!
I don't follow bball enough to have a relevant opinion on whether Beilein needs to go, or not. But if so, just pull the trigger and find someone we hope to be a better option. If it turns out to not be better, then try again. We just went through 7 years of that in football, and it sucked. But that process seems to have us in good position now! HARBAUGH!!!
February 22nd, 2016 at 7:54 AM ^
Nothing chocked about it.
February 22nd, 2016 at 3:10 AM ^
Harbaugh?
February 22nd, 2016 at 4:21 AM ^
Firing Beilein isn't an option. I've soured on him but I'm willing to give him another season or two unless shit really hits the fan and we miss the NCAAT for 3-4 consecutive years.
Under normal circumstances (i.e. no post-season bans, scholarship reductions, etc.), Michigan Basketball should never be in jeopardy of missing the NCAAT 2 seasons in a row.
Beilein resurrected this program. But people forget that he was on the brink of getting fired in year 4. Who else remembers the improbable victory in East Lansing which propelled us to a 9-9 record in the Big Ten (good for 4th place)? We qualified for the NCAAT with 13 losses, dismantled Tennessee in the round of 64 and nearly knocked off #1 seed Duke in the round of 32.
That said, there are a few replacements available:
The easy answer is Archie Miller. I've had my eye on him even since he became HC of the Dayton. What he accomplished in 2015 was incredible (and in my opinion a better coaching job than when he led Dayton to the Elite 8 in 2014). Read up on it. Dayton was hit by the injury bug (just like Michigan) but he was able to coach a group of 6 (at most 7) players to the NCAAT.
I just hope Warde Manuel can return Michigan Basketball to elite status.
February 22nd, 2016 at 7:14 AM ^
Mike Krzyzewski, Phil Jackson ... just to name a few.
February 22nd, 2016 at 3:08 AM ^
February 22nd, 2016 at 3:46 AM ^
What are horseshoes?
Are there any horsesocks?
Is anybody listening to me?
February 22nd, 2016 at 4:15 AM ^
No bullshit, I was thinking of that exact Billy Madison scene as I wrote this. Well done.
February 22nd, 2016 at 3:58 AM ^
February 22nd, 2016 at 4:14 AM ^
is that you asked if there were anyone awake for the sole - and what turned about to me - the abvious reason, was that if if you were fortunate to find someone awake, you would then have someone to say goodnight to.
February 22nd, 2016 at 4:17 AM ^
My wife drove to Vegas to hang out with her dad (from Alpena) and I don't know how to entertain myself.
February 22nd, 2016 at 6:52 AM ^
February 22nd, 2016 at 10:18 AM ^
Really, this isn't just limited to guys. Just sayin'.
February 22nd, 2016 at 9:22 AM ^