When did this team win you back?
Obviously a lot of us, or nearly all of us, lost faith in this bball team midway through the Big Ten slate, so the question is, what game got you back on the bandwagon? For myself, it was the win at the Hall of Horrors as not only was it a decisive double digit win at an unspeakably hard place for us to win at, but it was a potential letdown game after the pummeling gave our main rival the game before
I've been behind the team from the start. I think however, that this was the point people began to come back to the team.
I was a Fire Be-liner. There was no one moment when I turned. I listened to his comments on WTKA after the games. He seemed genuinely upset that they didn't take the ball to the basket more often. That told me he was trying to change the offense even though it wasn't evident.
Once the defense picked up, it was obvious his hiring of assisstants was paying off. I think it was unrealistic to assume they could turn around a defense immediately just by adding a new coach. That was my mistake.
The other thing that I can't explain is I don't remember seeing that stretch of games where the entire team shoots 28% from 3 while refusing to take the ball inside. This team doesn't just take a lot of 3s, they are consistently making shots. They always had games where they shot well but it never continued this long.
They really started out in that tournament at the start of the season where they beat SMU and the defense looked fantastic. I was surprised when they regressed, but if they hadn't started out with such a complete game it probably wouldn't have been surprising at all.
Put me in the never camp.
John Beilein is probably one of the best coach Michigan has hired in any sport. The idiot fans are fickle and want coaches fired after practically every loss, and I pay no attention to them.
Michigan is lucky to have such a fine gentleman represent ther school.
Beilein will not cheat in order to get top recruits. Simply as that. In football its a little easier to get top talent without literally giving them cash. Although football still loses guys every year becuase they won't match the SEC cash machine. And yes i'm not naive enough to think Michigan has never supplied any athlete with benefits. The differance is many schools are organized from the Head coach down in order to pay players. At Michigan the coaches and staff go out of their way to avoid paying players. It is just not a level playing field. Allowing schools to pay players would help Michigan for sure.
Allowing schools to pay the players would be the great equalizer for us.
But even still, I have a hard time believing that schools like Purdue are out there blatantly cheating. We should be able to recruit at least as well as a program like Purdue.
I have a hard time believing that schools like Purdue are out there blatantly cheating
Why, because Painter has the haircut of an honest man?
Frankly, the way they flipped Swanigan seemed a little fishy.
Well, I'm not from Indiana, but just from reading a Purdue blog recently after we played them, it seems that they've made a few accommodations for Swanigan that seem out of the ordinary, even for an athlete. Apparently, he was allowed to live off-campus as a freshman, and takes only online classes. Those may not be NCAA rules violations but seem a bit sketchy all the same - they aren't things that Michigan does (even under Fisher, guys like Webber had to live in the dorms) - and make me wonder if Painter is willing to bend the rules beyond that.
Takes only online classes? Now I won't judge but give him a literacy test or ask who is actually taking his classes. Oh he lives with a graduate student who just happens to share a computer? I suppose I am judging without knowing but seems like a massive possibility to cheat there.
Yep, MSU probably would have had him play the 5, but he wanted to play the 4. Also, MSU wouldn't allow him to live off campus. He didn't want to live in the dorms because he has eating issues and thought dorm food would be unhealthy for him. At Purdue, he lives alone in a one-bedroom apartment near the arena.
We do recruit as well as Purdue. Swanigan can be considered their McGary, except he's been healthy. Swanigan and Haas are the only top 100 players on their team. In fact we probably recruit better than them as a rule. I know that's not a huge barrier but still.
The key is not so much as recruiting top 30 players consistently, it's not going to happen under Beilein and quite frankly won't happen as easy as some think it will with a new coach either. The key is finding the right players in the top 50-150 range. That's where everyone gets 90% of their roster outside of Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, UNC. Wagner was 114, Wilson was 122, Walton was 44. Then dip into the top 30 every once in a while for a McGary type and that's how you get another 2013 team.
March 15th, 2017 at 12:28 PM ^
We are due for another instant difference maker McGary-level recruit.
March 15th, 2017 at 10:23 AM ^
I think it comes down to more than just flat out paying players in basketball. The one-and-done type talent are not coming in to play school. They are only showing up for their required layover prior to going pro. It is pretty obvious that Beilein has no interest in that. He is going to bring guys in to teach them his system while emphasizing fundamentals. At this stage in his career, I don't see him switching to AAU style, And-1 mixtape type ball with a different roster every year.
Beilein is squeaky clean (one of the reasons I love him), and college basketball, most decidedly, is not.
Basketball at Michigan is not analogous to football. Michigan is, and always will be, a football school, with a storied history, the largest stadium, and probably millions of dedicated supporters.
Michigan basketball, on the other hand, is #2, in every respect. There's just not nearly the same level of emphasis or support. The Crisler Center is now a pretty nice venue, but it's still just 13k and often not close to full. It's probably not an exaggeration to say that Michigan football has 10x the support of basketball.
I've said it before - there's not a single school that is "blue blood" at both football and basketball. Florida had a very brief time at the top of both sports, and Sparty and Wiscy have recently had a brief period of success at both. Those are short-term, fluky events.
The big-time basketball schools, without exception, are not big-time football schools. UCLA, Ohio State, and Michigan probably come as close as anyone to being good at both sports.
All that said, it's fair to say Coach Beilein is not a top recruiter. He is a top developer of talent and a premier offensive strategist.
Beilein has built a winning program here. He's done it without cheating, and represents our school with class. He never lost me.
And it's not a Michigan thing....because Harbaugh recruits top 5 classes in football.I think it is a Michigan thing, because people also complained about Amaker's recruiting. Post-Ed Martin, we don't want to play the dirty game anymore. It is what it is. I bet people will end up complaining about Beilein's successor's recruiting, too.
Amaker finished second for a lot of recruits, often in seemingly dodgy circumstances. People grumbled about his recruiting (as well as his player development).
The "blue collar" game when they wore the away blue unis at home to make a point.
I thought that was a great motivational move.
It won me back because it showed they get it . . . they were playing too soft, they knew it, and they were going to do something about it.
That always frustrated me with Brady Hoke, when he just seemed too complacent with poor results. Where was the urgency?
Well, I felt the sense of urgency during the "blue collar" game. It was the turning point of the season.
The loss at Wisconsin, actually. Defensive renaissaince started there. Though the Ohio State loss sorely tested my resolve.
55-29 at halftime against State...yeah that.
Michigan State is the most obvious answer. It was nice to finally shut down the "Why can't we be more like Izzo" talk at least for a little while. There were some real low points in the season, and the @Illinois game is the lowest. They completely broke us and that was when our D was playing its worst.
Besides the obvious fun of winning, it's nice to FINALLY hush up some of the Beilein haters. I know that as soon as we lose in the tournament, they'll be back, but honestly it's just fun to have every fan in the same boat at least for a little while. These people are such a fun-suck to this board which really makes the season not as fun sometimes (I always have the option of not reading, of course). I wonder if every fan base is as self-loathing as Michigan fans can be. Sports are supposed to be fun! Not every mistake is a fireable offense. The mindset of "If my team wins then that's awesome, but if they lose I'm just proven right. Sorry for having high expectations!" is exhausting.
Anyway, the answer is Michigan State
woke me up.
I am an unabashed JB fan. But I have to admit that I lapsed into a semi-catatonic state during the middle of the season. I still watched every game, but was not very excited for tip-off. I live in Madison, and even admitted that I was not paying close attention to the game calendar when UM visited Madison (I normally line up tickets in advance, or at least have the date circled on the calendar).
The State game changed it all. The glimmers of hope the team provided in the midest of the slump finally crystallized. Purdue provided more mojo. Even the Northwestern loss was not devastating - I saw a completely different team than mid-season. Despite the late season rally, I did not see the 4 games in 4 days post plane crash run materlalizing. These dudes played out of their minds. And I love them for it.
not everyone was jumping off the ledge. i wasn't.
What a joke. This team has always had promise, it was only a matter of time before they started firing together
...watch them in new york, and were basing your assessment *only* on the struggles in january, i'm not sure you're a fan etc.
did i worry that the season might be disappointing? sure. did i think it was going to be a "failure?" absolutely not. they showed too much to me in december for me to give up on the season, or on beilein.
Never missed a game.
I was very much in the camp of finding another coach. That doesn't mean I hated the team and wanted them to lose. UM never needs to "win" me back. Hell, Beilein didn't need to win me back. I've always wanted every coach UM has ever had to be the best. I didn't hate the guy, I just erroneously deduced he had passed his prime. I was wrong and happy as hell that I was. I'll never be sorry for wanting UM to be the best.
at the Trohl Center in a game where they were hardly to blame for the loss. I'll admit I wavered slightly after the disappointing loss to OSU though.
I won't lie, after Marquette and SMU I was thinking B1G contender and at least Sweet 16. That was obviously a bit premature, and after that Illinois loss I was not quite a fire Beileiner, but I was starting to wonder if it might be best (for both parties) to part ways.
THen, gradually my expectations started to grow again. The first major jolt fo enthusiasm was the Indiana blowout, but I kept my expectations tempered after the loss to Ohio State. I was confident we'd make the tournament after the State blowout, but I still thought it would be more similar to last year, or one of the Novak teams that pushed a high seed but ultimately fell.
Beating Purdue at home is what told me "When clicking, this team is dangerous enough to beat anybody and they're starting to click a lot more often." That's still where I'm at now.
This is a sad statement. Frankly all you bandwagoners can kick rocks. Was I annoyed with the way this team played at times? Yea, but not once did I think to stop watching and supporting the team. The fact you had to be won back is pathetic.
This again points to the fact so many of you are fans of Michigan just so you can brag. Pick a team and support them when they are shit or good. I remember sitting in Comerica Park with about 100 other fans when the Tigers were on their way to 100+ loses. That's a fan.