U of M MEN'S BASKETBALL 2016-2017

[Kstat]

As last shots go, that was awful.

Wagner again goes the full game without seeing the ball consistently.

[hack]

Yup. Terrible last-shot call.

The defense could have been a lot worse given it's Beilein's Michigan. It sure wasn't good though.

[Kstat]

I'm honestly not even upset. They deserved to get beat.

No one on this team wants to rebound the ball. Some good long armed defenders but no bruisers. I still question why teske can't get a shot. Donnall is soft as charmin tissue.

Problem is even terrible shooting teams like Ohio state see missed shots as assists against Michigan. Just toss up whatever slop and go and get it under the basket for layups.

[hack]

As long as this counts as a nail in the coffin, there's some greater good to come out of it. Outworked and outhustled at home by a cellar dweller. I love those two bigs but they are not getting the coaching they need to thrive out there. Waste of talent.

[Kstat]

Wilson and Wagner are the least of Michigan's problems. There's no one competent backing either ther guy up.

The starters usually get off to a hot start and the bench is what generally loses the game for them.

[hack]

The coaches are Michigan's problem. Which is one reason why Wagner and Wilson can't stay out of foul trouble. These aren't true freshmen. And they both draw exactly the same fouls over and over. They aren't coaching themselves out there.

[Kstat]

Walton reminds me of Lindsey hunter. Good tough scoring PG but has no count vision at all and forces terrible shots in clutch situations.

Zak Irvin is just a waste of time. Waste of recruiting, waste of a scholarship, waste of minutes.

[hack]

Walton is what he is. It's too little too late, but at last he's stepping up finally.

Irvin came to Michigan with a rep as a defender. Used to ask to get put on Gary Harris when they played each other in HS. He will leave Michigan as one of the softer players in recent memory. On offense, it's Year 4 for him and he still gets break layups blocked because he starts the motion with the ball at his waist and does not protect it on the way up. On both ends they play as if defense doesn't exist. They don't expect to be defended, and they don't expect to have to defend. I would posit that here, again, look to the coaches.

I think, in the end, Stauskas set a bad example in 2014. He was so damn good on offense the team could get away with being that awful on defense. Irvin was the freshman understudy that year.

[Niffla]

I'm done with Beilein. Sooner he goes, the better

Welcome to the club. My utter disdain for him has grown to a point where it knows no bounds. But the unfortunate reality is, I highly doubt his bum ass will be going anywhere anytime soon.

So anyway, hack, now that you're on the Beilein Is Trash train with me -- when are you gonna join me on the SVG Is Total Puke Garbage bus?

[Hannibal]

As with Brady Hoke and RichRod, I think that people could be overestimating the amount of tolerance that the rest of the fan base has for a mediocre program with a lingering malaise. Beilein just got an extension and basketball isn't the flagship program though, so we'll see.

[hack]

Welcome to the club. My utter disdain for him has grown to a point where it knows no bounds. But the unfortunate reality is, I highly doubt his bum ass will be going anywhere anytime soon.

So anyway, hack, now that you're on the Beilein Is Trash train with me -- when are you gonna join me on the SVG Is Total Puke Garbage bus?

Well you know I love travel.

[iam416]

Hard to imagine the two coaches in yesterday's game are on the outs.

[hack]

What is going on down there? You know I've always liked Matta, who doesn't outsmart himself with the chalkboard. Recruiting clearly fell off, and the Russell year not amounting to much was a red flag I guess.

Amazing Tate's a junior already. I remember as a frosh I felt like he would be killing us for four years, and probably would do things I really admire, and in very meaningful games. I guess the silver lining is that we've not been good enough for him to really hurt our post-season positioning?

[iam416]

They typically do just enough to lose. They've lost at least two games on awful FT shooting and would have lost yesterday if they were their standard 67%. KBD has also been out for most of the season.

Every player has a significant "hidden points" flaw. Loving is mediocre to bad on defense and routinely takes bad shots. Tate is great, but he can't shoot FTs. Lyle's decisons reflect a belief that he is better than he actually is. It's a hodgepodge of crap. Fortunately, I divested immediately after they lost to Florida Atlantic.

Everyone but Loving is probably back next year! I say probably because Lyle may do something crazy.

Upside is I'm coaching my son's 4th/5th Grade team and that's a nice hoops fix. Only get one hour of practice a week, though. But they set ball screens, box out and show vdecent defensive awareness! Off the ball movement and spacing are unicorns, but it's still a blast. And I don't mind one bit if I miss shitball OSU play.

[hack]

So more of a bunch of bad recruiting decisions then? I forgot about KDB. Jesus. Michigan is so shit.

I would love to coach those kids. I've coached my kid's soccer team, but basketball would obviously be better. Tried a zone? I know my kid can understand ``this is your area on the floor so get in anybody's way if they come in it'', vis-a-vis ``stay between that guy and the basket.'' I couldn't even get most of the kids on the soccer team to shadow one player. Only one kid really got the concept. 8-year-olds, dude.

Last week my kid had his Iverson/Larry Brown moment. Came home from the game bitching about playing time. Coach told me he hadn't been going to practice. I asked him about it and he said he was already good at basketball so he didn't need to practice.