MBB Wish List for Next Year

1. Rahkman - Develop into a very solid distributor, and have more of the offense run through him more as it did LeVert when he was healthy.

MAAR already takes good care of the ball, has really improved his outside shot, obviously is great on the dribble-drive, strong on defense, makes big/clutch plays, and has a lot of flare in his game. He should be the alpha-dog of the team sooner-or-later.

2. Irvin - Less hero-ball, work on shooting mechanics, not chuck up the ball on bad looks. Hopefully start looking like he did towards the end of his sophomore year again.

3. Wagner - Hit the weight room. Hard. Another 30 lbs of muscle would really help him channel that energy into productive play.

My wish -  nail Donnal to the bench until he develops some fire. He has some talent but plays with no passion. He gets his weak layups blocked as opposed to Wagner getting a questionable offensive foul going hard to the basket. Even sweaty Doyle with his lack of ups goes hard to the rim (and misses some dunks).

If Donnel had no skill it would be one thing but he has a complete lack if fire. I don't know if he is too nice, is simply a finesse player, has no desire for contact, or ?? but I think we win if he plays fewer minutes last night.

I'm frustrated by Irvin but never question his effort or passion. Not sure why Wagner did not get more time this year, especially yesterday even with the foul trouble.

Morris, Burke, Stauskas and Caris in recent seasons. I don't think Walton is measuring up to those standards. MAAR hasn't shown the aptitude and the burden has hurt Irvin. I look for Beilein to change that up next season with Wagner and Robinson taking on bigger roles. The team is going to be much better next season than some think.

Fire Sanderson. Starting 5 of Walton, Rakh, Robinson, Donnal, and Wagner. Bring in Irvin, X, Dawkins, and Doyle off the bench with regularity. Hire a defensive specialist. 

1. More Wagner -- along with improvement from all starters and bench
2. More focus on defense (and recruiting)
3. Take SMU, Pitt, Marquette, and Cinncinatti behind the woodshed -- none of that early season losing to every opponent with a pulse.
4. Win a banner -- improve (or luck up) enough to tie/win the conference or B1G tournament or Final Four.

We need to open some roster spots for recruiting. Wilson for sure, maybe Chatman or Doyle if they can't deliver more.

More solid depth.   With so few backcourt folks healthy, JB absolutely coached the team to not foul even more than usual.  More depth allows: more energy (fewer minutes played), more aggression (competent backups), and sustained shooting later in the year (again with fewer minutes played/game).

Health.

Rahk to find an appropriate role.  He was a black hole these last few games.  Very inefficient.  If he can learn to pass, great.  If he can't, then be much more selective in going to the hoop.

One of the existing not--quite bigs to be a solid backup at the 4 for Irvin.  UM relies on the 4 to give a bigger positive mismatch on offense than the negative that they are on defense.  Kam showed some flashes, including being able to defend the 4. or...

JB to tweak his offense to allow one of the bigs to play a more traitional 4 without losing his JB-ness.  With the number of bigs on next year's team, this would help the depth problem in the backcourt.

Continue to be a very good defensive rebounding team (even if most don't realize it) and a very good team at not allowing transition baskets.

That should lead to the double-bye at next year's BTT.

 

Play with some grit and toughness. Play better d.

if you do, actually, decide to accept the position?

My wish list is one that will probably forever remain a fantasy. 1. Hiring an assistant coach who knows how to teach players and especially bigs how to play offensively in the low post. 2. Coach B to agree to throw the ball into the low post every now and then. I mean, we seriously don't do it at all. Many teams run mostly perimeter or 3 point shooting offenses, but most still run post up plays from time to time. We literally sometimes go a whole game without doing one post up play. I'm surprised more people don't consider that an issue and one of the main reasons why we have so many scoring droughts. ND's low post scoring from their best player was the difference in the game. They didn't really need to rely just on jump shots to fall. 3. Coach B to allow his players to go for offensive rebounds. Put backs on the glass can lead to so many extra points during the course of a game. Coach B wants his players to just get back on defense, probably because we're usually so poor on defense. 4. Get an assistant coach who can help teach better defense. 5. Think about possibly hiring another strength and conditioning coach. Some of our players just don't seem to have the physical strength to win more on court battles. We look physically soft at times.

Overall, despite some painful games we had a solid year. I agree with the wish list. I'm still annoyed that Irvin thinks he's some clutch player. You can't be consistently inconsistent get emotional every time one of your shots goes in especially when it's rare. The only way he gets better is if he learns to play with the system. Unless he matures next year will be as frustrating when Irvin is a senior and tries to be a leader. He's a role player. Ness to understand.

We are just one or two pieces away from being a very special team. Robinson exceeded my expectations this year, although he disappeared later in the season, much like Stauskas. I expect him to be a consistent contributor next year. I would like to see Wagner get time at the four and getting close to 25 or 30 minutes a game. MAAR to become our leading scorer. I think this is inevitable. Simpson to be a poor man's Trey Burke. If he can give us 15 good minutes a game, that could be the difference.

I see alot of names being thrown out there as possible attrition...but its highly unlikely that Wilson or Donnal would transfer. Both of them have already redshirted once so they would lose a year of eligibility if they transferred. Of course, they dont lose it if they have graduated and go the grad transfer route. In cases like these, even if someone desired to transfer they would likely wait until they graduate so they wouldnt lose a year of eligibility (since they have already redshirted).

Its always more likely that transfers come from guys who never redshirted...while they still have to sit out a year, they wont lose a year of eligibility in the process.

Competency, that's all I ask for. Also, I would like to not lose 8 games where we were leading by double digits at one point.

And the 97-98 Navy and Yellow Team Jordan's.