EQ RC Blue

History

Member for

1 year 39 weeks

Blog

View recent blog entries

Karma

Current value

1

Recent Comments

Date	Title	Body
2 weeks 3 days ago	Beilein's track record with preferred walk-ons is impressive	Former walk-on Sai Tummala just committed to Arizona State as a scholarship player.  Other guys like Eso and Josh turned down mid-majors or playing time at Ivy schools.  It might not be quite as flashy as the improved top-end recruiting, but getting these guys is another example of JB and crew doing the work from top to bottom, of working on the top five recruit starter to the practice squad behind the scenes leader.
2 weeks 6 days ago	According to Tillman's AAU	According to Tillman's AAU coach, Tillman has interest but no offer yet from UM.  This is from a @UMHoops RT of a tweet from the coach @MichaelAllie
3 weeks 4 days ago	The effort to downplay Nik's	The effort to downplay Nik's year is peculiar to me. In B1G play, Nik had the 12th best 3pt% in the entire conference, and was 3rd for freshmen (behind Harris and Dekker), not bad when "don't let Stauskas shoot a 3" was the 1st or second emphasis (don't let Burke into the lane being the other) of every defense.  He currently stands 3rd in career 3pt% in Michigan history (behind Rice and Higgins) and his season was the 9th single best season in 3pt% in Michigan history (all the others occurred wh the line was shorter, by the way).  He shot "just" 38% from 3 for the tournament.  That seems pretty good.  Trey shot 31% for comparison.  It's also easy to play the "if you take" game.  If you take out Nik's worst game of the tournament, he shot 45% from the field in the tourney.  If you take Nik's two worst B1G games out, he shot 41% from 3.  So, I guess it's true that Nik doesn't shoot as well as a freshman in B1G play when some of the best defenses in the country are keyed on stopping him from shooting the 3 as he does in the video, but he still shoots awfully well.  And he does so in large part because of all the time practicing shooting, just like the video demonstrates. Some people appear to have been blinded by Nik's almost inhuman start to the year to the excellent year Nik had.
3 weeks 5 days ago	I agree completely that	I agree completely that students who show up late -- especially after the game starts -- shouldn't automatically get better seats than students who were there early.  But this "slap in the face" thing, I mean, for some students Michigan football is a fun part of going to the school but they don't live and breathe it.  I don't remember for sure, but I don't think students can even buy single game student section tickets.  Some students want to go sometimes but not others, or for a half but not the whole game.  It's frustrating for others that they have such good tickets and don't make use of them like devoted fans, but being jealous doesn't make anger a sensible or productive response.  Part of being a student at UM is getting perks re: UM athletic games.  The fact that worst seats in the student section are not always full is not intended as an insult to alumni (and others) who wish they could have those seats, it's just college kids making decisions.  A few empty rows in one corner of the endzone isn't a crazy price to pay for being a college team.
3 weeks 5 days ago	If Rutgers and MD do turn out to be good for business...	...and the fact that they bring in two of the biggest media markets does turn out to help the B1G financially, are we going to get one of those one sentence apologies and then be expected to pretend like all the rage and wrongness never happened -- you know, like the whole we should keep RR for a fourth year instead of hiring Hoke thing?  Just want to be prepared.
3 weeks 5 days ago	If it makes you feel better,	If it makes you feel better, I laugh at the umbrage toward current students.  I happened to be one of the students, back in the day, who sometimes slept until 1 or 2 pm because I was socializing or playing music or reading or watching movies or running around the arb until 4 in the morning.  Regardless, it doesn't seem like too much for current students to have less than 20% of the stadium's capacity, including some of the worst seats, and to have a some relatively small percent of those seats empty in the lesser important games of the season.  And the RR years cannot have helped.  Now, that does not mean the AD is wrong for going to GA and rewarding kids who come early or doing some other rewards program.  But all the anger toward current students for not filling up their section to absolute capacity right at tipoff is goofy.
3 weeks 6 days ago	Good point	We have guys that can play multiple positions, and they likely will (particularly the upperclassmen), in order to deal with match-ups and get our best guys on the floor.
3 weeks 6 days ago	Beilein said he believe the	Beilein said he believe the team to done with attrition of any kind (and Blake has considered a graduated senior), so Blake probably will be the last one transfering.  Unless you know more than Beilein does.
3 weeks 6 days ago	Let's look at what Beilein said:	On Glenn Robinson III’s future position: “We’ve always envisioned him to be a three man. This year was like, how do we get our best five guys on the floor as much as possible. Just like we did with Novak. That’s the plan. He can do it. There’s no question he can do it.” On what he expects from McGary and Robinson: “What we envision for both of these guys is what they want to develop. It’s more than just a number, playing a three or playing a four or wherever you want to play. You’ve got to work more now. They have to work at it and I have no question that they will.” On what he sees in McGary’s future: “His goal should be to be able to play face-up, as a high post player. But also, when they put smaller guys on him, being able to just go down on the block and put it in. He has gotten much better at that.”   (This is Bacari now) On whether Mitch is better suited for the four or the five: “We like Mitch on the floor… It’s really one of those things where Mitch’s skillset whether he’s at the four or the five in coach Beilein’s system calls for some of the same things. The ability to extend his shooting range, draw fouls and get to the charity stripe and the ability to defend multiple positions. When you ask the four or the five, we need Mitch McGary to enjoy the minutes that he displayed in the NCAA tournament more than anything else.”   So, JB didn't say that GRIII would play only at three - and he certainly didn't say that McGary would only play at the 4 or even start at the 4.  JB is clear, though, that both players will be given opportunities to do things associated with the 3 and 4, respectively, assuming they prove capable.  GRIII will handle the ball more, be the ball handler in pick and rolls, take off once he gets rebounds, etc.  Mitch will shoot more jumpers, handle the ball more, get more post-up opportunities, etc. (Although I think that opposing coaches might choose to put their 5 on McGary and small 4 on Morgan or even Horford if we go big).  I'm not saying they won't play at the 3 and 4, or maybe even start there.  What's clear, though, is that those guys will be given opportunities to do 3 and 4 type stuff no matter the lineup.  Getting the best 5 guys out there, though, isn't going to disappear completely.
4 weeks 4 days ago	Well, score one for reading	Well, score one for reading the article.  If they've actually used "that team up north" then I guess that's reasonable.  For some reason I think of them as saying "that school up north" though.
4 weeks 4 days ago	You beat me too it. I kept magnifying it on my screen...	...thinking I must be wrong.
4 weeks 4 days ago	Is that a reference to the OSU-UM score with UM as "TUN"	I'd get TSUN as "that school up north" but what is TUN?
5 weeks 5 days ago	Exactly.  We played the P&R	Exactly.  We played the P&R the same way all year, essentially regardless of personnel/habits of the opposition.  If there was coaching error, it was this year-long decision, as diverting in the most important game from the one way we played it all year would've been questionable.  With the offensive struggles this team had at times, the coaches were probably thinking that they had to get the guys to play one defensive strategy well.
5 weeks 5 days ago	THJr had a great first	THJr had a great first weekend -- shot very well (8-12 from 3) and was a huge part of breaking the VCU press.  He had 21 assists over the 6 games to only 7 TOs.  He rebounded well.  He was the leading scorer against 'Cuse.  He was 5-9 from 2 in the final.  It would have been great if he could've shot better, especially from 3, over the last 3 games in particular.  Whatever you think of his upcoming decision, he didn't have such a bad tournament.
5 weeks 6 days ago	I think it's someone's job on the bench to keep track of fouls	And that someone is not named John Beilein.  So It is true that he's covering for someone.  On the other hand, there were probably monitors at the stadium that listed the team fouls, and it would've behooved JB to be absolutely sure about the situation.  So it does fall on him, to some extent. And they would certainly like those 14 seconds back, although it probably would have been more like 10 in the end.  It made an already unlikely comback a little more unlikely.  They still probably wouldn't have won, and they still could've won regardless, but it didn't help matters.  Even great players and great coaches aren't perfect.
6 weeks 5 days ago	The hire better not turn on Jones and Vaughn signing with Minny	I'm sure Rich Pitino will put on the full court press, and maybe he's a great recruiter, but I'll be surprised if either, nevermind both, sign with the Gophers.  It ain't easy for a mediocre program to just start pulling guys away from Duke, NC, Florida, Kansas, KY, Ohio State.  If they do, it's a great hire.  But it better be a good hire even if they don't from Minny's point of view.
6 weeks 5 days ago	I wonder if we'll see pick and rolls at the top of the zone	I know it's not a traditional way to attack the zone, but we're so good at running it, and UM Hoops linked this old article showing how the P&R can be used against the zone: http://tlorc.wordpress.com/2010/11/21/william-and-mary-screens-the-zone-of-syracuse/ One advantage of the zone is that it gets teams away from the things they're used to doing.  If we can (a) keep using something that's worked well for us and at the same time (b) attack the zone in a way that 'Cuse isn't used to seeing, that could be a positive.
6 weeks 6 days ago	A few thoughts	GRIII did shoot 3-3 from 3 against SDSU, for what it's worth. This year's team would have some advantages you haven't mentioned.  It's a much better shooting team - 39% from 3 compared with 33% (note: I'm using the 91-92 stats, which seems fair).  I think the line was actually shorter back then, too, but I might be wrong about that.  This year's team also shoots the three a lot more.  I think Ray made one three all year.  He averaged less than 5 points a game.  The 1992 team also turned the ball over a lot more than this year's team.  And as for Jimmy "quieting" Nik, it's not a one-on-one game.  And Beilein has been known to beat some more athletic teams in his day. To me, this comes down to an era thing.  Do we think every team back then was better than every team now because people stayed at least two years, often more.  Do we think players now have better workout techniques, trainers, coaching, etc.?  Because in this era, this year's team is pretty much as good, if not better, than the 91-92 team was for its era.
7 weeks 17 hours ago	Kampe is mad that Beilein stopped playing Oakland at the Palace	JB wanted to play at Crisler instead. Kampe went off about how JB was scared to play them.  Brian even bought it for a while.
7 weeks 18 hours ago	Selling Stauskas Short	In the 5 games before "the epic slump," Stauskas had shot 50% from 3 -- 40% if you don't want to count the MSU game from which he was KO'd.  In the 9 games before that he shot 50% from 3 twice, 60% twice, and 40% once.  He shot 37% for the conference season.  He's still currently on pace for the 5th best 3pt% ever at Michigan.  Agaisnt KU he shot 4/7 total - the best shooting % of any starter besides McGary, had 3 assists to 1 TO, and had 2 rebounds. This entry makes it sound like Stauskas played well until OSU, then was essentially lousy until yesterday.  Not at all the case.
7 weeks 3 days ago	We'll see if Smart and Stevens sit tight for >5 years	First, people seem to think these guys are going to be able to "compete at the highest level" year after year.  Well, despite back to back final fours, Butler has exactly one four star recruit since, a fringe top 100 guy.  So, a guy below Stauskas is the best recruit Butler has picked up over three years.  Maybe Stevens can get these guys to go back to the final four as juniors and seniors, but there are other very good coaches out there getting more talented players.  History says it'll be hard to compete.  Maybe Butler's recruiting will pick up more as it moves to the Big East, but so far they've been beaten out for guys by IU, PU, UM, etc.  They were around 50 in kenpom this year, lower than Michigan was as a 9 seed a couple years ago.  Second, the pressure will start to pick up if they don't replicate the magic.  Now, the glow from two years ago still shines, and the places are just happy to be there.  In a few years, if the teams haven't gotten out of the first weekend in five years, people will start asking why they're paying nearly 2 million for a coach who isn't producing any out of the ordinary results.   They're not going to leave for the Minnesota job.  But when elite jobs come along, we'll see.  UCLA is a good test case.  Would Stevens turn down IU if that job came open?  OSU, MSU, UM, Duke?  Would Shaka turn down 'Ville, where a roster that suits his style might be set up.  Now, these guys get calls every time there's an opening.  What happens when some openings occur and they don't get interest?  Maybe they will stay.  Mark Few has, at least so far.  In general, though, these guys are becoming smarter and more patient about when and where they jump, but most still go.
7 weeks 4 days ago	Excellent point, and...	...those passes are very important in getting our running game going.
7 weeks 5 days ago	The big man analysis is off	"I don't think there's a huge gap between Michigan's three big men offensively, aside from McGary's stellar offensive rebounding;" McGary brings a lot to the table: a free-throw line jumper (that goes in more than his free throws seem to); the ability to put in on the floor - anyone remember Mitch taking it almost from the 3pt line in for a layup against SDSU?; faking the hand-off and going strong to the hoop; making steals up high and going for the transition dunk; making great back door passes; and finishing off passes or putbacks with better efficiency. Horford has some decent post moves, but not the overall game McGary has.  I'm not saying McGary is going to take it to Withey, but the post-men are decidedly not the same offensively.
7 weeks 5 days ago	I hope GRIII stays	GRIII seems right at the point where it could go either way.  If he's projected late first round or lower, seems like it makes sense to stay and move up.  Anything solid in the lottery and it makes sense to bolt -- although staying can also be a good option, like it was for Zeller and Sullinger, who, despite being drafted perhaps lower, made a final four and seemed solid once he got to the pros.    Obviously it would be nice if THJr played another year, but I think we will be okay at 2-3 with Stauskas, Levert, and Irvin, as well as Spike being able to soak up some minutes there.  I think we are less prepared at the 4.  We could see some double post looks with Bielfeldt, McGary, or Morgan at the 4, and maybe Donnal will be ready. I also think THJr is closer to reaching his potential physicall and mentally than GRIII, so staying an extra year would give GRIII more time to grow in a MIchigan uniform.
8 weeks 5 days ago	I don't think that's an apt comparison	Sure, Joe Flacco wouldn't have gotten his contract this year had he been on a last place team.  But as of now, a ton of NFL teams would pay him a lot of money.  Despite Denard's fame and performance, no NFL team would pay him a ton of money.  Add up his out-of-state tuition, room, board, etc., and he probably got what he's going to get next year in the NFL.  Moreover, nothing was keeping Denard from going pro last year.  If he thought he was worth more, he could've left early and got his worth in the marketpace (at least insofar as NFL draft rules allow, about which I know little).  Let's look at basketball players, who can leave after one year.  First, the vast majority stay.  In other words, in their estimation they are getting more for their services in college than they would as professionals.  And these same writers that criticize schools for not paying their players generally criticize those players that do leave early, saying for most that it's a "bad decision."  Better than paying players would be the elimiantion of age restrictions in the NFL and NBA.  Those are lawsuits I'd like to see.  Wasn't Clarett or somebody involved in one?  Then a player who thought he wasn't getting his market value good go there.
8 weeks 5 days ago	Where would Denard be without UM?	In this particular case, without RichRod being at UM, Denard would likely either be (1) a good but not particularly famous WR or maybe TB at another BCS school, or (2) a QB at some lower level school that made some ESPN top plays but wasn't particularly well-known.  What were Denard's other offers to play QB?  And even at Michigan, who knows what would've happened if Tate hadn't been a flake or RichRod been more established. In general, even the very best players would almost certainly be much worse off if football just had a minor league system like baseball without the universities.  Imagine basketball players with just the D League. So determining their "market value" or what they're worth just by looking at university AD revenues is flawed.
8 weeks 6 days ago	Yeah, isn't this what's happened with college basketball?	At least, you've taken the top sophs, juniors, and seniors and sent them to the NBA.  College baskeball seems to still make a good deal of $.
8 weeks 6 days ago	Are the "Go with the flow" t-shirts a Jake Ryan reference?	You could argue that at least Jake signed a contract with UM and gets something out of it -- not just the degree that gets poo-poo'ed, but the coaching (that could help land bigtime NFL dollars), the fame, the alumni connections.  What does he get from the t-shirts sold showing what probably is carefully designed so that everybody knows who it is but can escape the cease and desist letters.  Or the twosie shirt that carefully omits actually using Lewan's name, even in the t-shirt rollout, even though everyone knows who it's about?
8 weeks 6 days ago	For the record...	...I'm not asserting that Brian (or even ESPN, for that matter) is exploitative.  I'm just pointing out that media businesses drive the vast majority of money/increases/decisions, yet everyone in the media somehow ignores this, calls the ADs "vampires," and considers themselves champions of the downtrodden.  I do think an interesting discussion could be had on who brings what to the table and who are the vampires/leaches/whatevers. As for your first point, sure, ADs do make mistakes -- so do governors, presidents, etc.  I guess you could argue (and some people do) that any one person is irrelevant and could disappear, but the general consensus is that those jobs are important. Health insurance might be a great use of the funds, particularly as some of the sports seem to put students under great physical risk.
8 weeks 6 days ago	Brian wanted a 4th year of Richrod instead of Brady Hoke	Maybe ADs are important? You can mock it all you want, but tons of people spend tons of their time and money watching and reading about college athletics, especially football and basketball.  The same people that go crazy about uniforms also call the guy in charge of that irrelevant.  That seems contradictory.  You may not like the AD, but he apparently makes all kinds of decisions worth obsession over. Plus, the media's obsession with this issue strikes me as hypocritical.  How much money does ESPN make off college football?  CBS off of the tourney?  Mgoblog make off of Michigan athletics?  Yet somehow these folks consider themselves as part of the "vampire" contingent. Who would watch minor league football or basketball without the association of the universities?  Most student-athletes are much better off because of the system. I'd think a much better approach than paying the players would be mandating that a certain percentage of revenue be spent on financial aid to students, research into relevant areas, like athlete safety and health, and funds to help injured student-athletes, or something along those lines.

more