Recruiting concerns.
There is an elephant in the room. We dance around it and it's time to stop. We don't have the proper athletic talent at our 4 and 5 spots. We try and win with middling talent in the paint and stretch 4 and 5s!?!?! This is not going to work for this program in my opinion. The Center for SMU had 8 dunks tonight. 8! That's absolutely a result of inadequate recruiting and coaching in the paint. We have som great wing players but we sorely lack in the paint. We are one of the worst rebounding teams in the B1G year in and year out and have to shoot extremely well to win. Connecticut ..Xavier and SMU all featured athletic front lines and all 3 embarrassed us badly. Many will think we lost tonight because Caris shot miserably. We lost because we have guys playing in the paint that simply can't get it done. It's very similar to our line backing core down the stretch. The level of athleticism simply isn't there to compete on an elite level.
The Xavier game sticKS out most because that Center was from Detroit....and he manhandled us. We have 3 players at the 5 spot that are not physically able to compete on an elite level. Moritz may get there and has talent and youth on his side. He may turn out to be an exception and is very likeable. The other 2 just have not progressed and are assuredly great kids...but not effective simply put. Why does DJ Wilson not play? He's by far the best athlete and plays the least. It's a head scratcher for me because his ceiling suggests that he'd be worth the invested minutes. He gets scrap minutes...and is our best athlete in the paint. This wouldn't be as troubling if there wasn't more of the same coming down the pipe in recrutiing. We still don't have an athletic big coming in for the next 2 classes and Beilein seems to be willing to settle with this. This is simply upsettling. Webber...Howard....Baston....Taylor...Trayor......hell even Courtney Sims and J. Morgan! Where are our athletic bigs these days? It sure seems like everyone else has them. We used to have them and we've gotten completely away from it.
You do NOT win without athletes in the paint. Simple and plain. The notion that we can shoot our way around it or hit on one single big recruit (Mitch) in a 4 year span is absolute rubbish. Something needs to change. Michigan used have some of the most dynamic athletes in the country in the paint and until we get back to that it's just going to be hard to stomach. We need to recruit Detroit for starters and play our athletes. We can continue to avoid this elephant and make excuses as to why we are consistently losing to physical front lines...or we can adapt and change. We are not going to win without help in the middle. 8 damn dunks from one player.....that's not even pride. If Bacari is in charge of the bigs....then he needs to be held responsible because it's awful. Youth is something everyone plays with and isn't an excuse.
Recruit Detroit please...or at least fight like hell to do so. Tired of seeing homegrown talent go elsewhere and us running to the damn burbs to grab underrated kids who don't play with the same explosiveness and passion. Enough is enough. Your 5s don't need to be able to knock down 20 foot jumpers. That's horse crap. Get some dogs in the paint. We look straight up soft right now and thats the worst thing to look like.
December 9th, 2015 at 7:13 AM ^
The team has a problem inside, as the players in development are struggling on the defensive side. But it's still, what, 9 games into the season? This team isn't a top 10 outfit, but it will get better. It just won't be a sweet 16 team.
December 9th, 2015 at 8:10 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
December 9th, 2015 at 9:43 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
December 9th, 2015 at 7:50 AM ^
December 9th, 2015 at 8:12 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
December 9th, 2015 at 7:54 AM ^
December 9th, 2015 at 8:17 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
December 9th, 2015 at 8:24 AM ^
December 9th, 2015 at 8:28 AM ^
Recruit more Detriot, less Indiana.
There. I said it.
December 9th, 2015 at 12:37 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
December 9th, 2015 at 8:28 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
December 9th, 2015 at 8:42 AM ^
that lost 4x before Christmas to Iowa State, Charlotte, Duke and Arizona and then on December 27th, announced Sporting News, Pre-Season All American, Mitch McGary was out for the season. What happened to the team after that? I seem to forget.
December 9th, 2015 at 9:03 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
December 9th, 2015 at 9:03 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
December 9th, 2015 at 9:20 AM ^
McGary didn't play after Christmas. So that leaves you with two guys that play in the NBA that led us to the Elite 8 and an outright conference title. This team has anywhere from 1-3 guys that will play in the NBA.
December 9th, 2015 at 11:17 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
December 9th, 2015 at 11:50 AM ^
Also, I could possibly see Irvin, Wagner or Walton getting a look.
December 9th, 2015 at 11:52 AM ^
December 9th, 2015 at 9:46 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
December 9th, 2015 at 10:30 AM ^
I don't think its fair to compare every year we have a bad start to the 2013 sesason.That year we lost on the road in close games top 10 Duke and ISU, and by 2 to #1 Arizona. The Charlotte loss felt like an outlier even at the time. That team also had 3 NBA players on it and a center who is better than anyone we have now. This team has 1 player who will go pro, and no one else who will even get a sniff, and has been blown out by the three good teams they have played. We may get things going in the right direction and put together just enough to get into tourny, but to compare this team to 2013 is to complpetely ignore a lot of factors as well as just a plain old eye test.
December 9th, 2015 at 11:11 AM ^
December 9th, 2015 at 11:21 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
December 9th, 2015 at 11:37 AM ^
so please stop trying
December 9th, 2015 at 8:45 AM ^
December 9th, 2015 at 8:54 AM ^
Guys like Stauskas, Mitch, Tre... Are in the league, but are not starters.
Recruiting isn't the issue as we have never had top talent.
December 9th, 2015 at 11:09 AM ^
December 9th, 2015 at 8:56 AM ^
December 9th, 2015 at 9:02 AM ^
Ole shit
December 9th, 2015 at 9:06 AM ^
Maybe you can use your bagman/recruiting powers on a few basketball players.
December 9th, 2015 at 3:10 PM ^
December 9th, 2015 at 4:22 PM ^
I'm pretty sure the University of Iowa is convinced you're a bagman.
December 9th, 2015 at 9:06 AM ^
December 9th, 2015 at 9:08 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
December 9th, 2015 at 7:15 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
December 9th, 2015 at 9:12 AM ^
December 9th, 2015 at 9:12 AM ^
Relax. Beilein will adjust, coach, and get the ship going in the right direction just like he always does. This team will continue to improve all season. That is what makes Beilein a great coach.
December 9th, 2015 at 10:02 AM ^
December 9th, 2015 at 10:55 AM ^
December 9th, 2015 at 11:39 AM ^
The others, not so much.
December 9th, 2015 at 9:21 AM ^
got them feelings...
December 9th, 2015 at 9:28 AM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
December 9th, 2015 at 9:29 AM ^
you don't need to be a big time recruit to be able to block out. our bigs are not coached to take a guy, put their butt into them and face the basket and stay with him. my old coach would tell us, you can block out anyone for the rebound, no matter how big or athletic they are. just stay in front of them. i don't even see our guys moving in front of players to attempt to block out.
blocking out and getting the defensive rebounds is a coaching, not a recruiting, problem. it's pathetic what we saw last night.
anyone can block out anybody, or be fouled.
December 9th, 2015 at 10:53 AM ^
December 9th, 2015 at 9:30 AM ^
I have got a shocking fact for people. WE WERE THE BIGGER TEAM LAST NIGHT! We have more size, SMU without Kennedy does not have a single player on their roster over 6-8, and one of those players didn't play and the other is a 205 lb wing. That Tolbert was 6-7 and 240.
SMU without Kennedy is quite a small team. They only played 1 player last night after Kennedy went out a few seconds into the game that was over 205 lbs. We got outrebounded 45-20 by a team that is much smaller than we are. Purdue, Iowa, MSU, and Maryland might hold our team to under 15 rebounds.
December 9th, 2015 at 9:34 AM ^
Beliein needs to stop offering 2 stars like the center from Plymouth Township.
December 9th, 2015 at 9:40 AM ^
Amen, preach brotha. I feel the EXACT same way you do. Youth is not an excuse, and we look super soft. Time to start picking up guys who demonstrate that explosiveness.
December 9th, 2015 at 10:36 AM ^
December 9th, 2015 at 11:25 AM ^
...look, I agree right now the Big Man situation for UM isn't responding, and doesn't look good enough to have the inside presence they need for BIG 10 play. But, it is still early in the season, and several of their "key" guys are either injured, or coming back and not all the way back from it, such as Spike and Irvin in particular. The flow of the game in college basketball is and virtually always has been controlled by good quality point guards. Right now, there is no flow with Walton completely out, and Spike not healthy yet to be effective. I'm definitely not saying the big man thing isn't an issue, but as the above guys get back, and get healthier, I do believe the big men will also benefit from it, probably on both sides of the ball. Remember too, that the team had average big men, at best(yep even McGary was just average maybe a tick above most of that season)while both having a great regular season, and then making the run to the championship game just a few years ago. The key is finding big men who can rebound and at least put a body on someone inside defensively. They absolutely can continue to do what they've done recruiting wise and compete. Beilein has done it before, and will again in his way. They need another big man with some presence, no question. I'm also in agreement with those that say DJ Wilson needs more minutes to see what they have.
December 9th, 2015 at 12:06 PM ^
For us to win a national championship under Beilein something will happen that has never happened:
(1) A team wins with a Kenpom adjusted defensive efficiency ranked outside the top 21
(2) A Beilein team has an adjusted defensive efficiency ranked in the top 21
Kenpom's data goes back to 2002. In that timeframe, here are the Adjusted D's of the national champions:
7, 14, 5, 12, 6, 17, 1, 21, 8, 13, 8, 3, 10, 12
Here are Beilein's adjusted D's in that timeframe:
34 (last season at Richmond), 112, 92, 102, 70, 90 (last season at WV), 100, 69, 58, 37, 61, 48, 109, 107
Which is more likely: Beilein figures out a way to get our guys in the top 21 in adjusted defensive efficiency? Or we win the title outside that top 21? If the odds of both of these are low, then we are essentially employing a strategy THAT HAS LOW ODDS OF EVER WINNING IT ALL. Personally, I would rather take a chance on a completely different system that may be worse than ours as long as it has a chance of putting us in that top 21 adjusted D.
December 9th, 2015 at 2:54 PM ^
Nothing against basketball, but I assume everything is football unless otherwise stated. I was thinking this was a football recruiting concern only to find out it was basketball. No biggie, but I follow basketball much less closely.