How big was our European road trip before the season?
I didn't think we'd win ten games this season, but it appears that Coach Beilein's trip to Europe really helped out. Sure, we didn't win many games during the trip. Yes, Hardaway Jr. blowing up definately helped us out. Does anyone else think that getting those games in at the start of the season gave us an extra experience edge? I think they gave players like Morgan and Hardaway some confidence and got them ready for the season, but I'm no expert.
February 27th, 2011 at 1:27 AM ^
I went to Europe a couple a years ago. It did me good in that I didn't really realize how bad a lot of our beer was. Also the girls weren't nearly as sluty as I would have expected from Europeans. I hope my opinion has helped this discussion.
February 27th, 2011 at 2:25 PM ^
Hey man, Budweiser is the king of rice beers.
February 27th, 2011 at 2:54 PM ^
There is life beyond Bud Light and MGD. Take the next step and get Heineken, Sam Adams, or some Bell's or KBC if you can find it. Congratulations on your discovery.
February 27th, 2011 at 1:11 AM ^
Berlin's the greatest city in the world.
As for the basketball team, it's hard to tell. The MSU win did more than anything, though.
February 27th, 2011 at 10:00 AM ^
Amsterdam begs to differ
February 27th, 2011 at 2:26 PM ^
Oaksterdam's got one up on Amsterdam, it's in California.
February 27th, 2011 at 5:14 PM ^
Walking past that place every day on the way to work always makes me chuckle
February 27th, 2011 at 12:03 PM ^
Not trying to start any poo throwing, but what about Berlin makes it so great? I would say Amsterdam, Rome, Paris, Prague, London, Vienna, and maybe even Madrid (in no particular order) come before Berlin. And of course there is Ann Arbor on a saturday in the fall.
February 27th, 2011 at 3:22 PM ^
That was obviously an opinion. I'm not sure "Best City in the World" is an easily quantifiable claim.
February 27th, 2011 at 6:06 PM ^
Seconded. Also, Barcelona > Madrid.
February 27th, 2011 at 1:37 AM ^
Big...very big..even with the heartbreaking losses this team is way beyond expectations...
February 27th, 2011 at 2:45 AM ^
I think it helped a lot for team bonding purposes.
I was thinking how important it was at the time but if you think about it now, Vogrich was one of the best players on the trip, Morris was horrible, and Jordan Morgan didn't do much. I think the growth of Morris and Morgan over the course of the season and the recent Hardaway explosion have put this team in the position it's in now.
February 27th, 2011 at 4:17 AM ^
It were big, bro. Big. Huyge.
February 27th, 2011 at 7:37 AM ^
...Es hat dazu beigetragen stark. Sie sind zusammen zu spielen. Aber ich glaube, daß ihre shorts sind zu lang.
February 27th, 2011 at 10:02 AM ^
It has helped greatly. They are playing together. But I think that hershorts are too long.
February 27th, 2011 at 1:03 PM ^
...expected no less. Now, if you had been an MSU fan, well, that's another story!
February 27th, 2011 at 8:59 AM ^
I don't know how much Europe helped, but I've been wondering about the power of C.J. Lee recently. His last year as a player he was definitely the calming force for a lot of young talent on that team in 2008/2009. And the year he wasn't there didn't turn out so well. I don't know what an "administrative speciallist" is, but I think he should be around for a while.
February 27th, 2011 at 11:44 AM ^
That's all I have to add.
February 27th, 2011 at 9:44 AM ^
I would have thought after playing in Europe we would be better at guarding big white dudes that can shoot the 3. Unfortunately this didn't turn out to be the case.
February 27th, 2011 at 2:56 PM ^
Actually, we're second in the conference in 3-point defense. The white dudes only make threes when they're banked-in prayers.
February 27th, 2011 at 12:27 PM ^
It got a young team extra practice time and they got to play road games that were tougher than a lot of Big Ten road games. Beilein got to get the kids used to his system earlier than they normally would have. The kids got a taste of superior competition a couple of months early.
I think it helped a lot and gave them an extra month or two to make the adjustments and changes they would have normally been making in January.
February 27th, 2011 at 12:30 PM ^
February 27th, 2011 at 3:10 PM ^
They went to Belgium, the land of waffles, no government and deepening linguistic hatred, so I will offer my take in the two official tongues (French and Flemish*).
C'était énorme. Ces voyages offrent plus d'occasions d'éntraînement, qui est inestimable pour une équipe si jeune (elle est 342e parmi les 343 équipes dans le taux d' expérience cette saison). De plus, c'était une chance de découvrir un autre pays et culture. Ce genre de voyage est typiquement superbe pour la camaderie d'une équipe.
Het was super goed zoals zij heeft hen de kans om te eten wafels en drinken bier legaal.
*Dutch, but more slurred, thanks to the Belgian beer.
February 27th, 2011 at 6:50 PM ^
it seemed to really bring the guys together personally - they all seem very close friends. And I like to think that helps when times get bad like they did in the middle of the season