Jordan Morgan lovepost

Submitted by Erik_in_Dayton on

I'm really impressed with the mental part of his game.  While so many first-year players hit a wall, Morgan just keeps getting better.  He's finishing well around the basket (dunking when he should), playing with confidence, and making the occasional nice pass.  It looks like he really understands what the team wants to do on offense and how he fits into that plan.  The free throws he hit late and the late draw of the charge showed great poise. 

Given the lack of enthusiasm about Morgan coming out of high school, I almost couldn't be happier with his play this year.  I'm excited to see what he can do in the future.  I also hope that he'll eventually have enough success to convince highly-rated big men prospects that they can come to Michigan and flourish.

My guess is that Bacari Alexander must deserve a lot of credit for Morgan's play this year.  It looks like Beilein did very well for himself when he replaced his assistants this offseason. 

Anyway, great win and go Blue!   

bleedzblue

February 20th, 2011 at 2:55 AM ^

Your a complete idiot, he asked you to provide any evidence for your ridiculous statements and you go on to talk about how the Michigan Woman's BBall team was a better game then the men's? Did you watch the game? It went into overtime, usually when that happens you know it was a close hard fought exciting game. If you didn't think today's game was exciting then have fun watching your woman's bball game. The only thing that made today's game bad was the refs calling fouls on both teams every time down the court, that shit gets annoying.  

Wissssy really? You are the epitome of an Mlive poster.

A2MIKE

February 20th, 2011 at 8:00 AM ^

I don't agree with the poster saying Beilein sucks, but Matta is a good coach.  He is a good coach in a different way than JB.  Matta recruits better than anyone else in the B1G.  He does develop talent, ala Evan Turner.  He takes 4* and 5* talent and turns them into all-americans and lottery picks, which FWIW is a lot more than a coach up in East Lansing can say.  Matta might be the best coach in the B1G, behind Bo Ryan.  You have to look at the complete package.  Recruiting is part of coaching in college.

umchicago

February 20th, 2011 at 2:15 PM ^

matta is a good coach like bill self or calipari is (except matta doesn't have the success those 2 have).  he's a helluva recruiter, but i stand by my claim that he's the worst "coach" in the big 10.

that's all he gets is 5* and 4* players, yet his teams seem to struggle every game.  they've won a lot of close games this year, and i will give them some credit for that.  but that team should be much more dominant during games.

and please don't tell me that matta developed the likes of oden, conley and sullinger.  i will give him mild credit for turner.  but even he was frosh of the year i think.

bronxblue

February 19th, 2011 at 10:31 PM ^

So bt your logic, the job being done by coach Adam Walsh of 0-27 Centenary Gentlemen is the exact same as that being done by every other coach in NCAA basketball.  I'm not knocking Mr. Walsh's abilities, but coaches are judged largely by wins and losses and player development, and on both fronts Beilein has exceeded most UM fans' expectations this season.  That is a pretty phenomenal to me.

Kvothe

February 19th, 2011 at 10:06 PM ^

most of the credit should go to coach Alexander.  I think he was a great hire and really knows how to coach the bigs.  If JB had him from the start we may have kept Udoh around.  Remember the coaches trying to teach him how to shoot from the outside?  We don't see that with Morgan and I think it is because Alexander really knows how to coach big men in the paint.

michfan4borw

February 19th, 2011 at 10:50 PM ^

can still be great in my book.  He's a true FROSH and with more coaching from Bacardi and others, his emergence can make us great next year. 

Had Beilein been able to keep Udoh, I think Michigan would probably have playing in the tournament at least twice by now too.

umchicago

February 20th, 2011 at 2:09 PM ^

i just want him to play good solid D and rebound; including the occasional offensive rebound.  hopefully he can add 15-20 lbs this offseason to help toughen him up. 

i'm tired of seeing novak playing against 6'10" guys on D.  even the mediocre iowa bigs were able to dominate him.

a solid horford would give JB a lot more match up flexibility.

jethro34

February 19th, 2011 at 8:13 PM ^

I really hope this young nucleas all stays together and no one leaves early or gets into stupid trouble.  Indications suggest that they're all bright kids likely to make good choices.  Most doubt any would leave after this year, but depending on how things go next year there could be departures.  Crazy, considering how little was thought of them nationally out of high school.  Morris was highly rated, but Morgan was considered a big, fluffy kid who peaked early and was then an injury concern, and Hardaway was a talented kid but his name was bigger than his game.

Now?  They're the biggest surprises in the conference.

lhglrkwg

February 19th, 2011 at 8:29 PM ^

i just love having a big man who can throw it down

i remember watching the all-guard-squad and its so refreshing to see a pick and roll finishing with morgan throwing it down

Blue Bunny Friday

February 19th, 2011 at 10:07 PM ^

It was a road win in the Big Ten. It's where MSU lost by 20 and Wisconsin escaped with a 3 point win.

UM didn't play it's best game and got out of there with a W. This was marked as a probable L before the season. THJ had a great game. Morgan played well. There are positives, but you want to focus on it being Iowa (a bad/young team that has been improving).

bleedzblue

February 20th, 2011 at 3:12 AM ^

Why do you have some many spaces between your commas  ?  and your next word    ?

 I think you may be an alias of teamort2, you both put dot dot dot on your curse words, both of you put extra spaces between your punctuation and your writing style is identical. When teamort2 stops posting all of a sudden Cigarro pops up? Hmm, it's pretty damn funny your calling yourself out though for spelling Juwan wrong, very clever. I'm on to you buddy.

bronxblue

February 19th, 2011 at 10:38 PM ^

Great game by Morgan and clutch free throws, but this team didn't give up being down 10 on the road in the 2nd half.  I still think this team falls short getting to the NCAA tournament this year (I'm a pessimist when you consider the chatter about 11(!) teams from the BE getting in), but just a great season and one that gives me immense hope for the future of this program.  It is scary that I'm nearly 30 and this basketball team gave me so little hope of sustained success since I was about 15 until Beilein showed up.

aenima0311

February 19th, 2011 at 11:37 PM ^

I always thought there was a good amount of enthusiasm about him coming out of highschool... That'd he'd be a solid workingclass big as an upperclassman. That he's doing this as a redshirt frosh is even better.

Zoltan's futon

February 20th, 2011 at 12:32 AM ^

I watched him three years at my high school, and he has definitely improved a lot. I hope this means he also improved in being a clutch player in close games at the end. Often times, he seemed to be a non factor within the last three minutes. I really hope this has changed though. He's a good kid, and props to him.

bleedzblue

February 20th, 2011 at 11:59 AM ^

There is a reply button Cigarro/teamort2/MfaninOH, got it? Probably not because your about 12, but it's right there in the lower right hand corner of the comment box.

Don't you mean when you want my opinion you'll ask for it? Because saying when you want my opinion you'll give it to me makes no sense. You have got to be, no you are, the dumbest poster on this site. Congratulations. You and your alias' need to go away, like yesterday.

Don

February 20th, 2011 at 11:36 AM ^

I'm sure he enjoys playing for his dad at CMU, but right now they're 8-18 and not going anywhere post-season while we look to be a lock for the NIT with an outside chance at making the NCAA.