MAAR's comments re: motivation, "nice kids"
I haven't seen MAAR's postgame comments mentioned directly in any of the bball posts or threads. If I missed a discussion on this, moms feel free to delete. It's rare to get brutally honest admissions like this from players, so I thought it was worth discussion.
“I could just see that Derrick wanted it a little more than the rest of us,” said Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, who was second on the team with seven rebounds. “I think we all have to get that and want it just as much as he does.” When it’s suggested that it’s time to stop simply talking about that, Abdur-Rahkman said, “I think so too. It’s just frustrating when you go out there and let a game slip like that.”This space has talked about Michigan seemingly needing external motivation to play its best. Abdur-Rahkman was asked about that after the game.“I think we’re all nice kids and we need something, that extra push to set us off and have that extra motivation going into games. … That’s what we’ve been trying to work on, trying to get that motivation from something else other than bulletin board material. … Get that from our inner selves.”
February 5th, 2017 at 8:16 PM ^
Sometimes you need/want to say something to a player that's not right to air in front of the coach/boss.
February 5th, 2017 at 2:16 PM ^
I agree with you when it comes to professional sports. College sports involve more emotion, so it;s at least worth a shot.
Obviously coach isn't motivating them, so maybe they can rally around playing for each other instead (which any good coach would have instilled from day one).
February 5th, 2017 at 2:04 PM ^
As much as I like Bielein as a man and appreciate what he has done here, as a coach he has run his course at Michigan. I will never forget the Final Four team but we have to move on, new coach, new culture! Go Blue!
February 5th, 2017 at 2:12 PM ^
Palm meet face. 
February 5th, 2017 at 2:21 PM ^
February 5th, 2017 at 5:23 PM ^
got outrebounded 42-24. Next practice, they should just watch film of Rodman, Barkley, and Walton rebounding for 2 hours.
February 6th, 2017 at 1:31 AM ^
its easy to put your big guys out of range when they're all running around the 3 point line and someone puts up a shot. Somehow there's got to be a strategy even if its a shot clock cue where the guy with the ball is gonna have to take the shot with some aid from a pick and 3 others are going to crash the glass. The lack of consistent rebounding means its shoot the lights out or die. The two extremes are seen v Indiana where they did shoot the lights out and v Osu where they didn't.
I do get frustrated when so many times a dribble-drive ends up being a pass out to the perimeter and not a hard slash to the hoop. Not so much with Walton as he can get a lot of shots blocked against other bigs but Wilson doesn't seem to have the confidence to force contact/foul as he attempts to dunk over the top of the defender's head.
The turnovers, however, are all on the players. I swear there were like 3 turnovers in a row vs OSU with 4-5 minutes in the game....not acceptable.
February 5th, 2017 at 2:16 PM ^
February 5th, 2017 at 2:29 PM ^
February 5th, 2017 at 2:31 PM ^
February 5th, 2017 at 4:11 PM ^
February 5th, 2017 at 2:38 PM ^
February 5th, 2017 at 2:45 PM ^
for the name on the FRONT of the jersey isnt good enuf, you should NOT be at MICHIGAN
February 5th, 2017 at 2:56 PM ^
February 5th, 2017 at 2:54 PM ^
February 5th, 2017 at 2:56 PM ^
February 5th, 2017 at 3:09 PM ^
This is what happens when you recruit an entire team from the suburbs.
February 5th, 2017 at 3:15 PM ^
“I think we all have to get that and want it just as much as he does.”
Was I the only one that winced when they read this quote? That's definitely not a hopeful statement, and it seems like one of those cases where excessive honesty is indeed detrimental to the confidence of fans.
February 5th, 2017 at 3:26 PM ^
Coaching a different sport, with younger kids but kids who excel at their respective sport I can tell you it is VERY difficult to get a kids motor UP over long periods of time. Kids who need to be motivated generally stay that way - there is only so much a coach can do. Because they are going up AGAINST kids who often have high motors.
Self motivated people are just self motivated - they are a PLEASURE to coach and you can take them so far. Your practices are awesome because they PUSH each other. That pushes them even farther individually (iron againstr iron sort of thing); practice is where the work is really done.
As a coach the kids with talent who do not push themselves drive a coach nuts and you waste a lot of time and resources on those kids which should be going to the general team.
I do think the Patriots put emphasis on these sort of things more than "combine scores" and I do think it matters. At the NCAA level it's about recruiting. John has missed out on some great players - I mentioned TJ Leaf and Blackmon on another thread. What would this team look like with Blackmon at the 2 and TJ paired with DJ Wilson. He is ave 17 and 9 for UCLA as a freshman. I have no idea if those 2 players are "self motivated" or not - but they play like it. When you miss on your plan A or plan B targets you go to guys not just with lesser talent but sometimes lower motors.
There are also guys out there with less talent but high motors. Those seem to be the type of guys we get crushed by. Which frustrates to no end. A lot of our plan C type of guys seem to me moderate talent with moderate motor. And we are pooling them in bunches on recent versions of our teams - so I cannot imagine how difficult it is to get a practice going at very high tempo with that group. It also frustrates the high motor kids you have, trust me.
February 5th, 2017 at 3:30 PM ^
February 5th, 2017 at 6:33 PM ^
February 5th, 2017 at 3:41 PM ^
All different sorts of coaching styles can work. Beilein has won over 750 games with his style. He can't just say I'm going to become a Tom Izzo screamer and have it be authentic or effective. His style is not working this year and I think it depends upon a Novak, Burke, or Stauskas type leader, even a Spike. We don't have it and yes that is JB's fault in not having that person on the team. He has gone after very athletic players- see MSU's current one and doner, but he has not been able to close those deals.
Donlon has been a huge disappointment as a defensive coach.
February 5th, 2017 at 3:47 PM ^
What a surprise!
February 5th, 2017 at 4:14 PM ^
His firing was very questionable. He was fired after a 22-13 season and 2nd place finish in the Horizon League.
February 6th, 2017 at 1:16 AM ^
February 5th, 2017 at 4:15 PM ^
Don't blame Donlon. Beilein's teams will always have shitty defenses. You could get Gregg Popovich to coach the defense and it wouldn't matter. Just like when we thought Nussmeier would fix Hoke's offense.
February 5th, 2017 at 5:35 PM ^
February 5th, 2017 at 6:27 PM ^
February 5th, 2017 at 4:15 PM ^
They need more talent as much as they need more effort.
A lot of their problem is that they don't have enough talent to keep up without 110% effort.
But it's hard to gin up that kind of effort every single game.
I'd settle for more talent that can win some games with less than perfect effort.
February 5th, 2017 at 4:07 PM ^
February 5th, 2017 at 4:41 PM ^
Nobody is saying MAAR speaks for the entire team. Maybe Zak Irvin really believes he's playing with 100% intensity.
But when a player makes comments that mesh with external criticisms, and does it in such a candid and direct fashion, I find it interesting.
Almost all players, even those who aren't known for being particularly intense or focused, will get defensive if their motivation is questioned -- it's an insult and players know that.
A Michigan player was just asked if he or the team was struggling with motivation, and he basically just said, "Yup."
February 5th, 2017 at 6:16 PM ^
February 5th, 2017 at 4:18 PM ^
How hard is it to find a few times a year to watch the entire trilogy of Lord of the Rings?
February 5th, 2017 at 4:27 PM ^
But it's unthinkable that a team of "men" at this age playing D1 college basketball at the University of Michigan lacking motivation to play the game they supposedly love...
Is Belein really recruiting nice kids? Look at guys like Desmond or Peppers, two of the nicest guys to ever put on the Michigan jersey but had fire in their bellies to compete. Give me a two star who wants like hell to win and you can have all the zak freaking irvins you want...inexcusable.
February 5th, 2017 at 5:18 PM ^
February 5th, 2017 at 5:28 PM ^
I was a nice kid, too. But I would have ripped my tongue out of my head before I ever said anything like this. I don't understand people who can put in that much time and effort and then have the attitude toward wins and losses that Rahk apparently does - and the rest of the team, too.
As a coach, I couldn't abide this attitude in a player.
February 5th, 2017 at 5:32 PM ^
says it ALL
February 5th, 2017 at 5:57 PM ^
February 5th, 2017 at 6:15 PM ^
February 5th, 2017 at 7:00 PM ^
The knock on this team the last few years has been that they were too laid back and don't have that killer instinct. Guys like Trey, Stu and Zack got that and they were great leaders. D- Walt is trying to do that but can't do it by himself. But guys like Irvin, Robinson and Donnal simply don't have and certainly haven't tried to become leaders. When opposing teams are publically calling us soft you know there are issues. The coaches aren't off the hook either. Its there job to recruit kids who can move the program in the right direction. Right now we aren't moving that way and unless someone buries their fucking pride and says enough is enough and does something. We will continue going down this same road
February 5th, 2017 at 7:55 PM ^
February 5th, 2017 at 8:59 PM ^
Effort and toughness are major issues, no doubt, but the primary issue is it's just plain hard to beat better players.
Mich is 7-28 over the past 3 seasons against the RPI top 50. Teams in that ballpark include Nebraska (7-25) and Penn State (5-21). We're like them: We're just overmatched.