EMU Snowflakes

Submitted by Black Socks on

My opinion - with McGary we win by 15, without him we lose.  Bummer.

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Basketball

michiganman01

December 9th, 2014 at 11:04 PM ^

At least Football BEAT Akron and UCONN and we all saw how that season played out. For the first time ever I actually am doubting Belein a little. If we are within 15 of Arizona it will be a suprise.

Joined: 08/27/2013

MGoPoints: 896

db012031

December 9th, 2014 at 11:17 PM ^

Thank You!

I love Beilein and believe he is one of the 10 best coaches in all of College, but he does make some very questionable decisions from time to time.  

We looked very unpreparred for this modified 2-3 zone (it was really more like a 2-2-1).  The other thing took some issue with is that when shots are not falling, we need to crash the boards.  The two pointguard lineup was used much too long in the second half.   Although Kam is freshman, he is 6'7 and is averaging about 5 boards a game.  He need more time in the second half to help with the rebounding.  We had too many one and ones.   The 2 point guard line up works in spurts, but it isn't effective when used for the entire second half.

 

Again, Coach B is an amazing coach, but you do have to question some decisions.  

Joined: 03/12/2010

MGoPoints: 973

Steve in PA

December 10th, 2014 at 8:45 AM ^

Spike on several occasions was waving for the ball and not seen.  *Using Hoke voice* "They didn't execute"

 

All night there were open shots available off the swing pass before the weak side of the zone adjusted.  Instead they would just pass from player to player up top while the clock ticked down.  One more quick pass as the ball moved from corner to middle would have netted layups or good looks.

Second half they started running an overload to either side of the zone and it was open except nobody was passing it to the baseline corner area and when they did it was too late.  Irvin was open quite a bit off this but I did notice at times he was setting up behind the basket which takes away the shot.

 

They are young and they didn't execute.  Those two go together.  The team I saw last night is a bubble or NIT team.

Joined: 08/10/2009

MGoPoints: 6327

freejs

December 10th, 2014 at 12:27 AM ^

with a better plan at half to defeat the zone - although honestly, if you can't hurt them down low, and they can play the zone that high, I don't know what they were going to do. 

This may sound silly to some, but DJ would have been great in this game as he's pretty nifty around the basket, and could have attacked when he received the ball in an advantageous position near the hoop. 

Still, anyone bailing on the Beilein plan, I mean, just, wow. 

Joined: 04/07/2010

MGoPoints: 9002

lilpenny1316

December 10th, 2014 at 9:37 AM ^

I think a best case scenario for this team was making it to the Sweet 16, but making it to the dance was not too much to expect with the returning cast, plus the freshmen.  And I don't think this has changed.  Just chill and allow everyone to learn how to play in JB's system together.  Plus we've been young and small the last few years and those turned out fine.  

Joined: 11/19/2009

MGoPoints: 61833

ThadMattasagoblin

December 9th, 2014 at 11:07 PM ^

There was always gonna be a bit of a step back but we still have Levert, Irvin, and Walton all key players last year. I really have no idea what is going on. We were fine for the first month with a little bit of a bad game against Detroit. We didn't recruit well enough in 2014? Chatman was recruited by a ton of blue bloods. I don't know. God hates us.

Joined: 08/24/2011

MGoPoints: 64068

Blue Since B.C.

December 9th, 2014 at 11:13 PM ^

He could have used a timeout to set up a play with 10+ seconds left in the game. And he should have fouled NJIT with 40+ seconds left on Saturday. Two glaring coaching errors. But he wasn't missing all the threes and turning the ball over every other possession.

Joined: 09/17/2013

MGoPoints: 2861

Blue Since B.C.

December 10th, 2014 at 11:43 AM ^

I hear that too, but I think this team is too fragile at the moment, and he needed to take the TO there.  If we're talking about the Michigan teams over the last 3 years, I'm fine with letting it ride in that situation because Trey, Tim, Nik, Caris, Glenn, Mitch, etc. could have made a play.

We didn't look like we knew what we were doing all night, so why expect us to be able to get a quality look against the EMU zone with less than 10 ticks left in the game?

Joined: 09/17/2013

MGoPoints: 2861

xcrunner1617

December 9th, 2014 at 11:31 PM ^

Doesn't come close you say? So this team has played really well and lost a coin flip to a top ten team and it has now played poorly in two games against inferior competition. Experience would certainly help with this teams consistency. Oh and so would Burke, Stauskas, Robinson, McGary, or Horford. But yeah, having to play guys like Spike and Bielfeldt most of the game with no other viable alternatives has nothing to do with our performance...

Joined: 02/11/2009

MGoPoints: 1569

xcrunner1617

December 10th, 2014 at 12:38 AM ^

You can't use experience when we are ranked behind both of those schools and #322 overall in experience. Talent-wise are we better? Absolutely. Experience. Not a chance. And sometimes those young guys take a few years to turn the corner and play consistently good basketball. Michigan basketball has been lucky to have freshman and sophomores capable of stepping up in the past two years but lets not act like thats a given. Some guys take more time. Chapman will be one of those. His top 30 ranking belies his future potential. Not necessarily instant impact. Thats okay. But if thats the case, we are left with our three guards, Spike, and a bunch of raw freshman. When those four are on we can beat very good teams. But if one or more struggle we can lose to anyone. Just give it time. This season will be a roller coaster but I expect them them to improve given Beilein's track record and probably surprising you at the end.

Joined: 02/11/2009

MGoPoints: 1569

freejs

December 10th, 2014 at 2:24 AM ^

Chatman is 6'7"+ and extremely coordinated for that height (he also has long arms).

His shot needs a lot of work and he needs a physical transformation to truly reach his potential. 

He's not there yet, not even close. I hope he can make progress in-season, but this guy's career will be defined by his off-seasons. 

Tbh, I took one look at that body and thought there were serious concerns about how ready to contribute he would be.

Tbh, Beilein recruited for the future with this class, and it's hurting us now. 

I will tell you this, and I don't want to put pressure on the kid, but if DJ Wilson applies himself, stays patient with himself, and sticks with the program, I guarantee you a re-ranking of the class four years down the road will put him top 25, easily. 

If only we could get Caris back (not bloody likely), 2015 could be an amazing year. Even without him, I have extremely high hopes for that team. 

Joined: 04/07/2010

MGoPoints: 9002

xcrunner1617

December 9th, 2014 at 11:18 PM ^

This team has five schloarship players that aren't freshmen. Three of those are two star flyer level players and one of those has improvred to be potentiallly an all-big ten player. In the past two years we have lost five players (4 first round picks and an early second round) early to the NBA and another one (Horford) because he thought one of those guys (McGary) wasn't going to the NBA. Does that justify these two losses? No. Is this rough to go through? Absolutely. But at some point these defections along with not recruiting like the Dukes of the world every year was going to catch up. Everyone just needs to relax and be willing to tough it out with this team. There will be more heartbreakers. And there will also be reasons for optimism. In Beilein I trust.

Joined: 02/11/2009

MGoPoints: 1569