November 20th, 2008 at 11:55 PM ^
Fuck yeah. That was exciting. Watched with a bunch of dorm buddies.
November 21st, 2008 at 1:29 AM ^
I was buzzed before tonight, but now I'm drunk on the Beilein kool-aid. This guy is an awesome coach-- succeeds exactly where Amaker failed: in-game adjustments, rotations, X & O's. He's a coach's coach.(Granted, they probably should have fouled in the last 4 secs). He's got Anthony Wright, David Merritt and C.J. Lee playing big minutes and not killing us. Imagine now when we get LLP and next year's freshman class. Some observations:
UCLA plays great defense. They keyed in on Manny Harris all night and did a good job on him, but what's good news for Michigan is how Harris fought through it and still had a productive night. He was real strong coming out of halftime.
1-3-1 was the difference. UCLA could not overcome it. To be fair, from the Bruins' perspective, they could not have played worse. This was a good matchup for U-M. UCLA does not have a go-to post scorer, they don't have a lights-out offense period. They're overrated right now, like Dickie V said.
Deshawn Sims was the best player on the court. The big thing Beilein has done with him is give him shooting range. Now he's got the inside-outside thing going for him. And most of all, he played with great intensity. And confidence. He had the look of a guy who was sick and tired of losing. Team leader.
Kelvin Grady may have been Michigan's best player in the first half. Love his speed. Not a bad outside shooter either. Just needs a little more control.
Stu Douglass=Shooter! A classic Beilein player. Played real good perimeter defense as well. 4 year contributer, program builder.
Having said all that, lets not book our tournament tickets yet. I'll have a better feel after tomorrow. I think Duke is really a horrible matchup for U-M, although they too lack a big post presence. If we try to shoot with Duke we'll get murdered. My guess is Coach K will have them better prepared for the 1-3-1 than Howland, and unlike UCLA they are going to try to run. But hey, we already got our resume builder in NYC, so let's have some fun. Go Blue!
November 21st, 2008 at 4:43 AM ^
Incredible game! Belien seems to have UCLA's number. Althou im still a bit sceptical of the Belien scheme. I tend to feel that being a team that lives and dies by the three is a risky business. Granted the college 3 is a few feet shorter than the pros, but even a good 3 point shooting team can go cold...and based on last yrs numbers were not a good 3 point shooting team. I just dont know what consistency we can have shooting that many threes. Althou its hard to argue with the history that his teams have had.
However the defense blows my mind. I like the idea of the 1-3-1: getting in the passing lanes and forcing turnovers. But y does the pg have to be the player under the hoop. Hes nothing be a liability if the ball gets into the post, not to mention on rebounds. Wouldnt it make more sense to have at least a forward under the basket so that he can attempt to defend the opposing center wen he gets down low. Mabe then we woodnt be the worst rebounding team in the big 10. And Beliens teams have never been great defensivly, so y doesnt he look to change things around.
Belein has done a pretty good job recruiting all things considered. As the program begins to creep back up the ranks, we should see the recruiting improve exponentially. Who needs football (im not at all serious)
November 21st, 2008 at 6:03 AM ^
Yeah. now we just have to make sure we show the recruits how good we are and then they'll want to come play for us.
November 21st, 2008 at 11:53 AM ^
for this moment since paying attention to Michigan. Every year talk centers around other programs. Mention Michigan and they say,*Sure pops,sure* or *We watch the games you have on tape or dvd but what have Michigan basketball done lately?* Well tonight (since they couldn't stay up to watch the game with me last night) hot wings,kool-aid(blue of course)and the BEST win by a Michigan team in the last ten years will be tivo...GO BLUE!