U of M MEN'S BASKETBALL 2016-2017

[Hannibal]

With Beilein I was willing to wait out this season and fire him if he didn't make the tourney. But we all kind of accepted that it wouldn't happen anyways because of the contract extension.

[Kstat]

and because he's an excellent coach when he has a healthy team to work with.

[hack]

So.... some of you wanted to fire you head coach mid season?


:::walks out of the room:::

I gave up on Beilein, though obviously nobody thinks he's on the hot seat or expected him to be fired. I don't regret doing so at the time and don't regret being wrong now. I think it was the right approach given the information we had to work with on Feb. 4.

[Hannibal]

and because he's an excellent coach when he has a healthy team to work with.

Eh. I don't think that his ten year track record speaks to excellence per se. Too many failures. With that said, another Final Four this year would move the needle for me.

[hack]

Yeah assuming that it would be Kansas, man, that would be a tall, tall task. Even though this entire run has been damn near the stuff of fairy tales...it would seem likely that even this fairy tale would die at the feet of the Jayhawks...they're freaking good, man.

First Oregon. Oregon is a good team.

Kansas will want payback from us for '13, and its basically a home game for them, in Kansas City. Then again, they have one big who is a major contributor. You never know the way it turns out, but I could see a game in which we get that guy in foul trouble, if not for Wagner to go wild but to compensate for our rebounding troubles. If Michigan can avoid getting outboarded, and wins the turnover margin like it usually does, it gets to that shot-parity scenario Beilein seeks. Walton will be going against Frank Mason Jr., and he seems to save his best for when he's going against a higher-touted player at PG, like Evans in the first round, or when he carried the team on his back against the Goofers and Mason. It will also be really important for Wilson to use his length to make life marginally harder for Jackson than it usually is.

Lots of ifs there. It may take some or all of them hapening to pull off a win, but I sure wouldn't bet on it.

[Kstat]

Eh. I don't think that his ten year track record speaks to excellence per se. Too many failures. With that said, another Final Four this year would move the needle for me.

He hasn't been the best recruiter but he's generally done great with what he's had to work with. Last couple of years have been lost to really bad injury luck.

His teams are routinely among the most efficient in the country. I really enjoy his approach to handling his players as well. Very refreshing to see a coach command respect from his kids without screaming at them like a drill Sargent.

[hack]

Eh. I don't think that his ten year track record speaks to excellence per se. Too many failures. With that said, another Final Four this year would move the needle for me.

Results are results. Having an excellent team to work with means improving recruiting.

Overall, Beilein has been a bit of a boom/bust scenario. He's not Izzo, who is going to ring every drop of success out of whatever group he has (unless they are very talented freshmen). When it works, holy fucking shit does it work. Beautiful basketball. When it doesn't work, it is extremely ugly.

[Niffla]

I gave up on Beilein, though obviously nobody thinks he's on the hot seat or expected him to be fired. I don't regret doing so at the time and don't regret being wrong now. I think it was the right approach given the information we had to work with on Feb. 4.

Yeah at the time -- that marked 2 and a half years of very, VERY mediocre basketball. And with the schedule that loomed after Feb. 4, it looked like it was a 98% probability that it would be 2 out of 3 seasons not reaching the tournament. With a first round tournament exit sandwiched in between -- that took a miracle three pointer by Kameron Chatman (of all people) in the Big Ten Tournament for us to even get to a point where UM could be an opening round ouster. Without that buzzer beater UM doesn't even get into the First Four.

So yeah, it was a very, very underachieving 2 and a half year stretch of basketball. Now yes, and no I haven't forgotten -- Caris Levert's injury plagued issue(s) obviously hurt. A lot. But still. A lot of the fan base was upset/concerned for good reason. It wasn't pulled out of thin air.

But yeah, this run has been nothing short of phenomenal. I don't think even family members of the players could've seen this run coming.

[Niffla]

First Oregon. Oregon is a good team.

Yes, no question.

[hack]

So yeah, it was a very, very underachieving 2 and a half year stretch of basketball. Now yes, and no I haven't forgotten -- Caris Levert's injury plagued issue(s) obviously hurt. A lot. But still. A lot of the fan base was upset/concerned for good reason. It wasn't pulled out of thin air.

And the season-ender to McGary, and Spike's injury and Walton's injury. No doubt about it. But you still want to see whomever's on the court go out there and play hard. Which they were not doing. And they were still getting punked before the injuries. They lost back-to-back at home to NJIT and EMU before LeVert and Walton were hurt.

[Niffla]

And the season-ender to McGary

Jeez I almost forgot completely about that one. Yeah that was a killer.

[hack]

And they still were perhaps Beilein's best individual coaching job, that team. I thought he was a genius after that season.

[Hannibal]

I also haven't forgotten that it took Beilein until year 6 to make a decent tournament run. It took him too long to get to that level for my taste and then we didn't stay there for long enough.

[The Oracle]

"Never Forget". Catchy. Relevant.

[entropy]

Hanni.. so, he's the L. Carr of basketball and is having his lucky run..?

:::exits more quickly this time:::