John Beilein ties Johnny Orr for most Big Ten wins at Michigan with 120

Submitted by Bambi on January 29th, 2019 at 11:29 PM

Tweet

Another big milestone for the best basketball coach in Michigan history. Hail

MGoBoard

True Blue Grit

January 30th, 2019 at 8:42 AM ^

Damn right.  I've seen the U-M coaches from Orr and on, and Beilein is definitely the best.  And to me, it's not that close either.  I was literally waiting for decades to see a Michigan team that actually stressed and played with fundamental basketball skills/strategies.  For years, we out-talented many teams, but still lost to teams we had no business losing to.  It still happens, but a lot less than under the Frieder/Fisher regimes, when Michigan often had very talented teams.  

Joined: 01/21/2011

MGoPoints: 32432

True Blue Grit

January 30th, 2019 at 8:40 AM ^

To at least be fair to Orr, he was certainly underpaid back then.  Don Canham, as great of an overall AD as he was, was also a cheapskate.  He underpaid Bo as well.  And as loyal as Bo was, we almost lost him too.  The story with Orr leaving though was apparently Iowa State came sniffing around at Bill Frieder.  And when they asked Orr for permission to speak with him, Orr said he was interested.  Almost certainly, money had a lot to do with the move to IS.  

Joined: 01/21/2011

MGoPoints: 32432

MadtownMaize

January 30th, 2019 at 9:25 AM ^

It wasn't just money that sent Johnny Orr to Ames. Orr knew he had a chance to really be loved at Iowa State, and he was. Iowa State is a place where the smallest of victories is celebrated. The football team has never won a conference title of any sort in over 100 years of action. Johnny Orr won Big-8 titles, and with the help of Jeff Hornacek and Jeff Grayer he led Iowa State to the Sweet 16 (unfortunately at the expense of the Big 10 Champ and 2 Seed Michigan) in 1986. Johnny Orr will always be loved at ISU.

Joined: 09/14/2009

MGoPoints: 3252

outsidethebox

January 30th, 2019 at 8:00 AM ^

Orr was Michigan's coach when our family lived in the AA area. Loved making the trip to Crisler with my younger brothers, usually on a Saturday, to watch them play. People leave for all sorts of reasons. Johnny Orr was a tremendous coach-his teams played the game wonderfully well. 

Joined: 01/23/2017

MGoPoints: 18818

Frank Chuck

January 30th, 2019 at 5:38 AM ^

"John Beilein is the greatest Michigan basketball coach of all time."

Gosh, I hope not. If he is the greatest, then it's all downhill after Beilein because everyone else who comes after him will be not as good.

I hope Beilein wins a National Championship or two before he retires.

And I hope his successor, whoever it is, builds upon Beilein's foundation and takes the program to even greater levels of success while steadfastly maintaining Beilein's level of integrity.

But I agree that the court should be renamed in his honor.

Joined: 05/01/2015

MGoPoints: 15911

Michigan4Life

January 30th, 2019 at 12:06 AM ^

I find it hilarious to see it in retrospect but John Beilein has earned a long leash and leeway because he took his team to the NC appearance as well as first NCAA tournament appearance in over 20 years. It was ridiculous then and still is to call for his head. The two seasons that he had was mostly due to injuries with Walton and LeVert hurt. It forced MAAR to grow up quickly and they reaped the benefit last year when MAAR became instrumental to the team's success.

John Beilein will have the job as long as he wants and Michigan should feel so lucky to have him as a coach

Joined: 07/29/2010

MGoPoints: 25519

MaizeBlueA2

January 30th, 2019 at 12:08 AM ^

Best coach in Michigan history...pains me to think about all of the people who wanted to run him out.

Not only is he a great coach, he's run a clean program and an ELITE program for the past 5 years.

Give me Beilein, Wright, Few, K and Williams.

Bennett and Smart are next, Keatts is coming.

Cal, Izzo, (Pitino), Self, and Boeheim can suck it.

 

Joined: 11/06/2018

MGoPoints: 50271