MICHIGAN'S MEN'S BASKETBALL: 2015-2016

[The Oracle]

Looked pretty bad.

[The Oracle]

We'll see what happens. Hopefully Caris can round back into form. That said, MAAR has looked damned good the last handful of games. If we can get to the point where we can bring Caris off the bench and actually have him be productive, we could be getting somewhere.

[The Oracle]

9-4 in conference too BTW.

[hack]

Honestly I think the difference is gonna be ``juice''. They can have or not have it with or without Caris. If the defense could improve from awful to bad, the number of transition opportunities that would create would be significant.

[hack]

LOL -- over at KU/OU they're talking about it. ``Michigan's having a hell of a season without Caris LeVert.'' Bilas: ``it's the three point line.''

Whatever. I'll take the praise. But that's why Dakich is so great right now. He knows what's actually happening.

[The Oracle]

Well, taking the hard-ass wanna be, no excuses persona out of shit, they've done well with out their best player. I don't think people realize he was leading in points, rebounds and assists when he went out.

[hack]

In the end, yeah. I think it's true that they win or lose based on effort and D, and I don't see Caris being the difference in those awful losses. But, 8-4 and 4th in the conference, and even with the performances being awfully unimpressive it's still 8-4 and 4th in the conference.

[hack]

And, really, I should say -- I don't think the players are lazy or in need of some Ditka screamer type. IMO Beilein needs to spend much more time in practice on defense. Dakich does a great job of breaking down the defensive issues. I think we'd see more ``juice'' if they were better equipped to get some more . Great defensive possessions get people fired up on the team, the bench and in the stands.

The Minnesota finish was infuriating. Winless in the Big Ten and penetrating with abandon all damn day. MAAR was supposed to be a good defender. Irvin came the program with the reputation as a good defender too. Down the stretch, I read that nobody out there for the Gophers was shooting 3s at a clip greater than 31%. And still, penetration all damn day.

[WM Wolverine]

Wasn't able to watch it but seems like Irvin caught fire in the 2nd half. Speaking of Irvin, imo defending the opposition's four could affect his game on the other end of the court. He just doesn't seem to be the same player we saw in February, March last year...

LeVert saw a lil' action to test what he can do, 5 rebounds in 11 minutes, him being 100% would be huge for M, he's by far M's best player... Walton 0-7 from three? If you miss your first 3 or 4, do you keep launching them?

Gaining a bit more confidence that this team can beat a tournament team in the first round. Especially if LeVert can be near 100%, the program actually needs to make a decent run.

It really hurt the program to lose both Battle decommit and Langford (who was allegedly ready to commit) and that turn of events helped our in-state rival tremendously. Josh Jackson #1 overall recruit is looking like a Sparty lock, he's likely only a Sparty for a year but the recruiting momentum of the program when Battle committed has been entirely lost.

[hack]

I think without question the idea of competing on an even footing with MSU is a pipedream right now, whereas two years ago it was looking quite different.

Wasn't Michigan not bothering with Jackson b/c the recruitment of him was expected to be dirty? If Izzo's in on the kid, then that dirty stuff is looking like an excuse. I dunno.

[hack]

Now, that said about defense and effort and all, the statistics show that Michigan's defense was much better when it was a much less athletic and talented team, but did have Zack Novak. So there's a few things at play here. Beilein has to recruit better but he also has to bring in some guys who are going to play emotional, and he has to do a better job addressing the weaknesses. Maybe it's time for an assistants reshuffle. Find a collegiate Tom Thibodoeau to be defensive coordinator.

[The Oracle]

I think without question the idea of competing on an even footing with MSU is a pipedream right now, whereas two years ago it was looking quite different.

Wasn't Michigan not bothering with Jackson b/c the recruitment of him was expected to be dirty? If Izzo's in on the kid, then that dirty stuff is looking like an excuse. I dunno.

I don't have the energy, nor the time to look deep into it. However, my 2 brother in laws, 1 grad, 1 lifetime fan, even admit Izzo is wandering into the dirty area now. After he got burned(in his eyes) by Okafor and Tyus Jones, they think he's getting desperate. I'm not ready to make any accusations, but it's refreshing to hear State fans admit it un-provoked. Jackson's recruitment is 98% dirty.

[hack]

Interesting. Perhaps that explains things lately. The story I'd heard is that after getting Cleaves he said Never Again.

[CGVT]

Now, that said about defense and effort and all, the statistics show that Michigan's defense was much better when it was a much less athletic and talented team, but did have Zack Novak. So there's a few things at play here. Beilein has to recruit better but he also has to bring in some guys who are going to play emotional, and he has to do a better job addressing the weaknesses. Maybe it's time for an assistants reshuffle. Find a collegiate Tom Thibodoeau to be defensive coordinator.

It seems to me that teams can get the ball inside whenever they want. If you add that to an overall lack of intensity on defense, you are not going to do well against good teams.

They did play with intensity down the stretch today, though

[WM Wolverine]

Jackson for some time was supposedly certainly going out of state (source Rivals).