MICHIGAN'S MEN'S BASKETBALL: 2015-2016

[Dr. Strangelove]

We're not that good either, Hack. Shot miserably against UNC today

[whodean]

It's a down year, the Sweet sixteen expectations were unrealistic but JB will get them back up there

[hack]

It's the same group that played Villanova to a standstill. The talent's there to play harder and to beat NJIT and EMU. Something went off, somehow, and they're not bouncing back.

The season's long, but so far this isn't Beilein's best coaching job. EMU was an example. Playing lazy in Tuscon was another example. I don't know how the effort was today.

What I like about Matta is that those teams play pretty hard. He can succeed with less talent than Beilein can. Michigan sometimes has to lay a nice foundation of bricks before they start going after the hustle points.

[iam416]

OSU's zone is miserable.

[Kstat]

It's the same group that played Villanova to a standstill. The talent's there to play harder and to beat NJIT and EMU. Something went off, somehow, and they're not bouncing back.

The season's long, but so far this isn't Beilein's best coaching job. EMU was an example. Playing lazy in Tuscon was another example. I don't know how the effort was today.

What I like about Matta is that those teams play pretty hard. He can succeed with less talent than Beilein can. Michigan sometimes has to lay a nice foundation of bricks before they start going after the hustle points.

Maybe, just maybe, the Villanova game was a fluke. Every other game has been to the contrary.

[hack]

Not the Oregon game or the games before it. Oregon is also a quality team. So who knows? No point in pretending you do.

[hack]

I still haven't seen OSU this year, or its zone.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Sparty shocked by Texas Southern. Fire Izzo!

Texas Southern's only prior win was over Lamar. Some bad OOC losses this year for the league...

[Mike]

I'm looking forward to basketball season. Anyone know when it starts?

[hack]

After looking forward to basketball season for so long its only natural to now switch to looking forward to football season.

[The Oracle]

#1, they need to make shots. Irvin airballed a wide open corner 3. That's his sweet spot. WTF. They're obviously in a tailspin now. Plenty of time to turn it around, but they are still out of sorts with their roles. Their scoring droughts they are going through this year remind me of the the 07-08 and 08-09 teams...that's not good.

They've got plenty of time to turn the ship, and the schedule is there to do it. I won't panic until they're under .500 half way through the B1G season. As evidenced by the last couple of weeks, a lot of other conference teams have their own issues.

[Hannibal]

Good ol' John Beilein, going to probably miss the post season entirely for the third time in eight years. Just to give you some perspective, Thad Matta and Tom Izzo have never missed the post season once in the 33 seasons that they have been head coaches, unless you count the one season at OSU where they were ineligible. Izzo went to four Final Fours in his first eight seasons. Thad Matta went to two. Beilein has been to one.

Beilien has a .400 winning percentage against his two biggest rivals, with an average margin of victory of 5.3 points and an average margin of defeat of 11.0 points. That's good old Beilein for ya. The only coach in basketball who can lose to his rivals 60% of the time (getting blown off the court in about half of those losses), be below .500 in conference play through his first five years, never win a conference tournament (not even winning two games in a tournament until year 7!!), miss the NCAA tourney more often than he makes the Sweet Sixteen, and still be considered a "great" coach.

[hack]

My institutional memory at this forum extends to the past three basketball seasons. You've said something like this each year. This year, if they actually don't make the tournament, then you would be right for the first time in four years.

I think there's plenty of room for a reasonable critique of Beilein and his approach. This isn't likely to stand out, in the end, as his best coaching job on a year-in-/year-out basis. He's had plenty of time to get some goddamn bigs and to fix the rebounding problem and to a lesser extent the defense problem. But, again, you're gonna be lucky to be batting .250 with that pet prediction of yours.

[Hannibal]

My institutional memory at this forum extends to the past three basketball seasons. You've said something like this single year.

Bullshit. I said that they would make the tourney in 2012 and then again easily in 2013. The most I got down on them last year was to speculate that they were a bubble team when it was announced that McGary wasn't coming back. Before last season I was pretty bullish on that team too, moreso than most people. Your memory is off, and you're living in la-la land if you think that last year is even remotely applicable to this year.

[hack]

Last year after the Charlotte loss you said it. Two years ago after the first Indiana loss you said it. Three years ago, frankly, it was actually somewhat reasonable until late January or so to wonder, but, still, you were wrong. And you're much more likely to be 0-4 than 1-4, frankly. Again -- plenty of room for a reasonable critique of Beilein. That'd be a much better discussion to have.