Let’s get the typical Michigan overreaction out of our system right now and just say it: the sky is falling. Trust me, I was just as upset as you were during the game but I have attempted to take a step back before analyzing it. At the end of the day, Michigan still needs 2 more wins. They let a golden opportunity slip away but there are three more games left on the schedule.
This one was there for the taking, Michigan had a 4 point lead with only 68 seconds to play but they just couldn’t close it out. Michigan had the big Douglass three pointer but Iowa managed to tie the game with four Matt Gatens free throws in the last minute. Jake Kelly took over the game in overtime on the offensive end and helped Iowa outscore Michigan 14-4 in the extra time.
Michigan shot 44% from the field (and from long range) in the first half and held a one point lead at the break. The second half and overtime were a different story. In the second half, Michigan shot 29% from the field, 36% from long range, and only 23% from inside the arc. Overtime was even worse — Michigan made only one out of ten field goals in the extra time. Shooting as poorly as they did in the second half I think it is a bit surprising that Michigan even had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation.
Looking at the four factors, the big advantages for Iowa were effective field goal percentage and free throw rate. I was very disappointed with Michigan’s defensive effort throughout. The Hawkeyes scored 1.09 points per possession and shot the ball well with an eFG% of 55.9%. This was by far the worst defensive performance from Michigan since the Ohio State road game (1.08, 65 eFG%) and roughly since CJ Lee’s insertion into the lineup. Iowa ran the pick and roll to perfection in the second half and Michigan just couldn’t stop it. Time and time again Jake Kelly got a really good look or Peedi got caught out of position and found Cole for the easy bucket. Jake Kelly was a mismatch problem because he’s 6-foot-6 and running the point, his size allowed him to get off his shot anytime over CJ Lee. Kelly’s career night (23 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals) coupled with Bawinkle hitting his open looks from the corner (4-8 3pt fg) were just too much for Michigan.
On offense Michigan hit twelve three pointers but it wasn’t enough. The most frustrating part for me was how many shots Michigan missed inside the arc. Sims had an awful time finishing inside and he wasn’t alone. Michigan finished 8 of 28 on two point field goals, a mere 28%. That is downright awful. In a lot of ways it reminded me of the Ohio State home game when Sims got plenty of good looks in the paint but just couldn’t finish. Neither team had many offensive rebounds but that doesn’t change the fact that it was one of Michigan’s worst offensive rebounding performances of the year.
As I am sure you have read about in the comments by now, Manny didn’t play in the overtime. I wasn’t on the bench in Carver-Hawkeye Arena so I have no clue what happened down the stretch but I find it hard to believe that nothing out of the ordinary happened. The last possession was clearly botched but I think there is something at play beyond that, here are the quotes from the Free Press:
“I didn’t think he was playing well, didn’t think he looked fresh, wasn’t himself so we decided to go another direction,†Beilein said.
“We lost the game, I don’t know why I didn’t play,†Harris said, adding that Beilein did not talk to him about it.
“I don’t know nothing,†Harris said. “It was a play he drew up and it didn’t work. It wasn’t for me to take the last shot.â€
A lot of the typical company line going here, I don’t think Manny or Beilein want to air this out in the media, this is something that will be handled internally. Beilein also infers that the play was supposed to go to Stu or Zack and it just didn’t go the way it was planned. In regards to Manny, this isn’t the first time Beilein has thrown Manny on the bench and left people screaming; Central Michigan last year and Penn State this year come to mind. It’s looks questionable but we honestly just don’t know what happened. I find it hard to judge without the details. If it was some sort of insubordination, Beilein has to do it his way. If it was just poor play, the decision is clearly questionable. I am also curious if Manny really did try to check himself into the game because that is sure what it looked like about halfway through overtime.
This loss really hurts and there is no denying it. Taking a step back kind of goes to show just how lucky Michigan has been this year. Michigan was 3-0 in overtime games before this one and they also had two comebacks of 20 points or so. If you keep playing with fire eventually you are going to get burned. If the ball bounces a little differently against Savannah State or in Bloomington this season looks a hell of a lot different. A year after a 10-22 season it is pretty remarkable that this is going to be Michigan’s worst loss of the season — an overtime conference loss on the road. Iowa is 3-3 at home this year with wins over Indiana, Wisconsin, and Northwestern, their three losses came to Minnesota (3pts), Michigan State (15 pts), and Purdue (4 pts). That is respectable to say the least.
This game clearly hurts Michigan’s tournament chances but it’s not the end of them. It was a road game so the RPI effect isn’t drastic, Michigan’s RPI only fell to 52. I still think that 9-9 and 1 win in the Big Ten Tournament will get this team in. There are three games left, Michigan needs to win two of them. If they don’t beat Purdue (BUY TICKETS) then I think you can pretty much write off the season barring any Big Ten Tournament run. If they can upset the Boilermakers then they just need one good game on the road to pull a shocker in the final two. Maybe I’m an eternal optimist but this season has seen its share of ups and downs and just maybe there is one more surge.
Player Bullets:
- Zack Novak: Zack seems like he has found a groove again, hopefully he can keep it up down the stretch. 11 points on 3-8 three point field goals, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover. This is pretty much the solid Zack Novak game, I’ll take it.
- Stu Douglass: Stu is also getting more and more confident with his shot: 4-9 shooting, 14 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists. This is the second straight game we have gotten some three point makes from both Novak and Stu so that is encouraging.
- DeShawn Sims: Peedi just couldn’t finish: 5-14 shooting for 13 points, 8 rebounds, and a block. It was almost like there was a lid over the basket, I remember several shots that went in and out. Michigan needed Peedi to be a factor and he just wasn’t. I’m sorry but the last foul of regulation was a joke.
- Manny Harris: Here are Manny’s numbers for the game: 9 points on 3-13 shooting, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 turnovers. I talked about his benching earlier, but the things that Manny has been doing well are rebounding and penetrating. I wish he would look for the drive and kick a bit more (even though he had 6 dimes) but he also couldn’t buy a call in the lane.
- CJ Lee: Not CJ’s best effort because Jake Kelly went wild and the shots weren’t falling. The positive is that he posted 5 assists and only 1 turnover but that is about it.
- Kelvin Grady: DNP-CD. I’m honestly not surprised. It appears pretty clear that Beilein likes CJ in there. Kelvin played the last game because of Manny’s foul trouble, not because Beilein had a change of heart.
- Dave Merritt: 14 minutes, 6 points (2-3 shooting), 2 assists, 0 turnovers, and a steal. Not bad but the corner threes from Balwinkel were killers. Honestly though, that shot has been a killer all year and no matter if Grady, Lee, or Merritt is running the bottom of the zone the 6-foot-6 Balwinkel is going to shoot over them.
- Zack Gibson: 3 fouls in 2 minutes. I’m not sure if I have seen this many illegal screens called in a Big Ten game.
- Laval Lucas-Perry: Laval hit a big three that started getting Michigan back in the game in the first half but he missed his next 5 shots from the field. Finished with 7points on 2-7 (1-5 3pt) shooting with 2 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steals.
This is why it’s frustrating to be a fan…we’ll never know the whole story behind things like benching Manny and shelfing Grady. Don’t lose hope, I too believe we can still do this!
That’s it? How are you not completely and totally outraged that Manny was benched. I don’t care if Manny cursed Beilein’s entire family, he has to be on the floor in OT.
CJ Lee is a great story, but he has no business being our starting point guard. He should get somewhere between 15-20 minutes a game, not 36. Grady would have been great this game. Iowa was only going 5 deep basically and Grady could have really set a pace that they would not have been able to keep up with. This one is squarely on Beilein’s shoulders…again.
If you told me before this game that we would make 12 threes and have 18 assists with just 8 turnovers, I would have thought that we blew out the Hawkeyes… that’s why I think this game really came down to defense. Every time it looked we were going to start building our lead, Iowa would come back with an open 3, an easy basket off a Kelly assist, or some ridiculous jumper.
By the way, those quotes from Manny and Beilein are not encouraging… let’s hope we can beat Purdue and Manny plays well just to get the taste of that situation out of our mouths.
I’m still trying to decide what was more outrageous, the biased officiating (all those moving screens on gibson and none on iowa?) or the fact that Iowa essentially played their starting lineup the whole game and did not get tired at all.
Michigan simply MUST become a better road team. If they just barely survive by the skin of their teeth against teams like Northwestern, Iowa, and Indiana on the road, imagine when they play a good team on the road.
There’s too many damn time-outs, teams can get by fine with 6 and 7 man rotations. The top 10 teams have done that for years, Duke for instance never has more than 6 guys that see regular action. Of course when you have 5 McDonald’s All-Americans it’s easy to come up with a 6-7 man rotation that works. Fatigue really isn’t a factor though in the second half of games, there’s a time-out every 2 minutes or so.
Yea, I didn’t say enough about the fact that they basically didn’t play anyone. They did have 8 days of rest before the game though…
a question: does this unhappiness between coach and
manny bode poorly for the thought of manny returning?
if so, ugh.
Not real sure what’s going on. If the only reason for benching Manny was because he wasn’t having his best game, that’s ridiculous. Would Beilein have sat Pittsnogle or his son? Would Ohio st sit Evan Turner? Would MSU sit Kalin Lucas? Would PSU sit Talor Battle?
I for one can’t wait for next year when Beilein looks down the bench to put in Lee or Merritt (especially Lee) and they aren’t there. I am tired of hearing about Lee’s good defense and Grady’s poor defense. Where is all the talk of Lee’s horrible offense and Grady’s offensive contributions?
Some say the Big ten will get 8 teams. They will not. 6 maybe 7, that’s it. Ohio St., Minn, PSU, and Wis can send Beilein their thank you notes for helping them out. Please tell Beilein that tanking games in college doesn’t give you a better draft pick.
Sorry about the negativity, I probably should have written this later in the day. After all, they are about where i figured they would be before the season started. Keep your heads up.
I’m very numb right now. This is a game that we clearly needed and it was there for the taking.
First and foremost, Big Ten officiating is a joke. As someone mentioned, all those moving screens called on us, but when Merritt is running the baseline in the 1-3-1 and the Iowa post player is in the middle of turning his back and knocks Merritt completely off his route to the shooter, there’s no call. The last foul that they called on Sims to put Gatens to the line was just flat terrible. And Manny still isn’t getting calls in the lane. The charge they called on him early was pretty bad; he was already in the air by the time the Iowa player slid over and got set.
Second of all, I was so disgusted with the way that last play was run that I wanted to throw up. I obviously don’t know what was drawn up, but the ball never touched inside the arc the entire possession. 22 seconds left, we get the ball in bounds, Iowa gives a foul. 16.5 seconds left, we get the ball in and start the set. How do you lose track of time if you’re Manny? You have to know that there’s not much time left. We have to get a better look at the basket with the game on the line. Execute there and it doesn’t matter how hot Iowa gets in OT, or how our lack of defense plays out, we probably win the game right there.
Finally, the decision to play Manny. I agree that he probably should have been on the floor in OT. However, if he did lose track of time like I think he did, then there are some things he needs to learn. JB’s been coaching a long time and I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt here. We’re ahead of schedule and he’s trying to make Manny into a better player.
Did I really read someone griping about Beilein’s coaching above? Are you serious? He’s not even through his second year with the program and we’re already on the bubble for an NCAA bid. We’re ahead of schedule. Let’s trust Beilein to get it done.
Here’s to picking up a couple wins down the stretch. Go Blue!
Thank You!!! This is JB’s SECOND year, and we are already bitchin’ because we might not make the Big Dance!!! Unreal. We were thinking 17 wins this season, and we are already there with 3 games left to go!!!! Come On! I admit, benching Manny for the OT was wrong from an outsider’s point of view, we have no idea what went on.
yes MaizeNblue2 – I agree with you and I over reacted with my comments. But how would you answer the questions in my first paragraph? I was and still am happy with the hiring of Beilein and will keep watching every game.
Three games left. Now more than any time during this season they must get their heads together stay focus and win 2 out of three. I don’t know the reason for Beilein sitting Manny but, Manny’s your best chance to win. Also, Some of them foul calls were extremely IMO screwed up! (Want to harsher words but,out of respect for the board I won’t say them.)
Okay, I’ve had my morning Mt. Dew. I’m all better now! Beat Purdue and we’re right there again.
A couple of points:
This is the first game that I think that JB coaching clearly cost UofM.
This team will be playing in the NIT. If you cannot beat a team with 5 players good luck finding a win on the road. Also beating Purdue wasn’t guaranteed.
This is complete speculation on my part but I think we are watching Manny last games at U of M. After the last 2 games I think the relationship is strained with JB. I think he goes pro whether he is a 1st rounder or not. KG is one of his best friends on the team I wonder if part of the strained relationship is Manny thinking KG is getting a raw deal and deserves to play.
Note: This is not an over reaction post. I think this team has gone as far as they can talent wise.
the illegal screens were out of control. not to mention when tate randomly played there were 2 obvious ones that they didn’t call.
Maybe JB is benching KG this year to pave the way for Morris at PG next year….getting his people in place.
And, I don’t think that losing a game due to coaching is a big deal, considering how many times coaching will win a game. It is part of the team, just like losing a game due to a player’s poor play.
I’m scratching my head at this one. On the post game radio show last night when asked about his line-up to start overtime Beilein said that “he wanted a defensive line-up in the game.” But I just read on the Detroitnews online that he says that “We needed to score some points in overtime and Manny wasn’t in a good rhythm.” Which is it?
Neither….
I thought the no-call on Manny’s drive with about 25 seconds left was killer. He got bumped as he started his drive, which would have been a big foul as it would have reset the shot clock and forced Iowa to put on us on the line. Then, there was clear contact on the drive. To not call those, but then to call Peedi for battling for a rebound was awful. Either call it close, or let them play.
I think this loss kills us. I thought with a win we’d have enough momentum to win at least 1 of the last 3 and get in the dance. I can’t seem them winning 2 of 3. If you can’t beat a shorthanded 3-10 team on the road, you can’t beat Minnesota or Wisconsin. Maybe they beat Purdue at home, but I can’t see either road win. Ugh.
As for Beilein, I am very happy with what he’s doing. We’ve improved this year and at least are on the Bubble. With some help next year I think we can finally make the tourney.
Did anyone else flip their shit like I did when Manny drove past his defender into the lane with under two minutes left and gave up an easy shot to throw himself into a defender, not a get a foul call and miss the shot? I’ve gotten a little (perhaps too) frustrated at times with him this year, but after that one I pretty much lost it.
I think the facts are facts. This finger pointing about Manny’s benching and the terrible officiating (which it certainly was) does not make up for the fact that our team–a scrappy team of scrubs, walk ons, freshmen and a stud or two under a second year head coach–is subject to weak play on the road. We’re trying to stretch our thin talent as far as it can go.
I’m sure by now you all have noticed that Manny, to say the least, is inconsistent on the road. With all Beilein’s head coaching experience, I do not question his decision to bench Manny in OT. He knows what he’s doing. As far as playing CJ, if a Beilein-run team is based on minimizing turnovers, playing defense, and shooting the three (in that order) it’s no surprise you see CJ instead of KG.
I agree with Dylan that the glaring weakness in our game was that we couldn’t defend the screen and roll. They threw the same play at us multiple times, and we couldn’t stop it. Our lack of size (and some might say our lack of talent), and our awful road performance caught up with us. It wasn’t for lack of effort, though, as I thought we hustled the whole game. I expect the Purdue game to be a doozy, because our team knows we must win this game.
Go Blue!
I think we need to win out the regular season to get back on the bubble in the tournament. If we can beat Purdue (questionable), Wisconsin (no), and Minnesota (questionable), then I think we will have a shot. If we can get our act together and win 2 games in the Big Ten Tournament (no), then I think we are in for sure.
Let’s win the NIT for the second time this decade! WOO HOO!
Thats like I felt when Grady tried a behind the back pass against Minny. Good thing it didn’t cause trouble still got the win.
I think what’s so frustrating for everybody is that, simply put, we’re right back where Tommy Amaker got this team: hovering just outside the RPI Top 50, on the bubble but not really close enough to the top of it to get in the tournament, more likely to suffer a crushing loss that keeps us out than winning the game that puts us over the top.
Now, if this was Amaker’s team, we’d probably see players quit and Michigan lose their last 3 games, scrape by the first round BTT game, and then get handled easily in the 2nd round by a team that beat us close in the regular season but pulls away in the tournament because they can take it up a notch while we can’t. I don’t believe Beilein’s players will quit, but then again we didn’t see Dani Wohl or Reed Baker quit, either.
Just frustrating is all I can say.
The team scrapped all year to control their own fate vis a vis a NCAA bid….to see it burn up in the final minute and then OT yesterday was a stomach punch.
Tough, tough loss…..it will be interesting to see how JB and Manny resond this game.
I thought he benched Manny on thursday after an inadvisable alley oop throw, so we’re basically on back to back games where he has been unceremoniusly benched. Interesting.
Why does peedi thinks he’s a jump shooter? There’s too much finesse to his game. Go inside, be a man, and take some contact instead of avoiding it. Stop fading away or doing whatever you can to not get hit. His move at then end of regulation where he hit a shot was described by the announcer as a pirouette. Not really what I want him to be doing even though he made it. He was an absolute joke today shooiitng jump shots and not doing anything when he ahd a man alone on the block. \He also killed us not helping Lee on that Kelly drive in ot.
Once again I want to note that I think JB will do great things at Michigan and what he has done with .500 talent this season is amazing. I know JB has at thing for walk-ons since he was one himself, but come on now. Grady is on scholarship for a reason. Manny is your best player for a reason. Merritt and Lee are walk-ons for a reason. Lee got no playing time at Manhattan for a reason. I hate to say it but JB has never made a championship run for a reason. He simply wants to see hustle more than he wants to win. Michigan will not win this year or any year in the future until JB puts his personal shit aside and plays his best five. Bottom line. Manny may have messed up that last play, which I doubt because everyone looked lost, but without him were not even close to a NIT team. I can’t make it any clearer, we will not win now or in the future if JB doesn’t play the people we recuited and gave a scholarship to for their natural basketball skills. Now, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Grady transfered, which wouldn’t kill us, and Manny expplored other options, which puts us back at the bottom of the Big Ten. I try to be optimistic but if the coach won’t play his best players for no reason other than to teach a lesson, we will never be anything more than a mid-major talent level team. Please JB prove me wrong. Please!!!
If Manny goes pro early because of a sour relationship with JB, and KG transfers, then JB might as well never step foot in a Detroit HS gym again….. Might want to get a condo in Indiana for those long recruiting trips….
That was a frustrating game. I really believe in JB, but this is the first game I actually thought he lost it for us. Just not good strategy. Advantage under the basket but DS keeps putting up 3’s? All Merritt’s time should be going to Grady. He will be our starting point guard next year (I hope he doesn’t transfer). Did nothing to counter their pick-n-roll. Wow, can not believe we lost that game. We are headed to the NIT which isn’t bad considering where we were last year, but if we are talking about Grady and Harris leaving, that would be bad news!
Well Indiana is full of his type of players. Mid-major talent but hustle and can shoot. On the other hand Detroit is the exact opposite, high-major talent, but hustle more on offense than defense and do better penetrating and creating for their teammates than standing behind the 3 point line all day not able to create any shot on their own.
What a joke! I love all these purely speculative theories to try to explain the inexplicable benching of the teams best player in overtime of the biggest game of the year. You have the quotes from the horses mouth and yet choose to project some laughable theory of something unknown without a shred of evidence. Actually quite contrary, we have quotes from both player and coach. Just stop with this non-sense. UM wins this game if Grady plays 15 minutes, Lee provided nothing defensively and nothing offensively. Maybe if grady plays, Kelly would have been forced to expend some energy on defense and would not have been able to play the whole game. Oh wait, forget I said that, Grady is the worst player in history and Lee/Merritt are great defenders..
Great point go blue. What Grady could have and would have done if he would have played changes everything. All they had to do was get Kelly in foul trouble and this game isn’t even close. Grady gets to the basket. He may not always finish but he creates things. He would have made Kelly exert alot of energy on defense, but instead he was guarding Lee all game and had to do nothing more than stand around the 3 point line watching the rest of the action with Lee. All I am saying is why not give Grady a chance. But I guess we will never know. 2009 NIT champs!!!
CJ Lee and D. Merritt! Other Big Ten teams must be cracking up. Lee ahould be playing about 15 minutes a game and Merritt should never be playing at a Big Ten school. I am amazed at some fans that are accepting of a point guard that plays 36 minutes and cant score a single point. You have to score to win, right? All under the untruth that he is some kind of dominant defender. NOT
On the 2nd to last Michigan possession, Manny had an easy layup, but instead he decided to try and draw contact and go for the “and 1″. I wonder if Beilein was pissed about this as well because I sure was.
I have loved Michigan b-ball for since my secondary school days and I must tell I’ve never felt more positive about the program since the days of the Fab Five. EVERYONE said at the beginning of the season that the NIT would be a good sign of progress this year, particularly with how thin we’ve become up front. Now you are up in arms that we lost a heartbreaker (which could and perhaps should have happened three times earlier in the year as Dylan pointed out) and are conceding defeat. To add insult to injury, you are questioning our coach who is easily the best one this program has ever seen. He got us here with a rag tag bunch of guys, and now you want to hang him if he comes much closer to finishing the job you all thought he never had a chance to get done in the first place.
Bottom line – step back for a second and realize we have three games left. The games are there to be won and we have every opportunity to still get into the tourney. If we don’t, then root for the team in the NIT and look forward to a more seasoned team and a great backcourt duo and some size in the incoming class. We will get there people….I don’t have any doubt in my mind. Coach B is a GREAT coach and he’ll have this team ready to play on Thursday. For once we have the kind of coach people respect and fear – let’s continue to get behind this team!!!
Justin…JB is a good coach, not a great one. Roy Williams is a great coach. Tom Izzo is a great coach. Jim Calhoun is a great coach. I can personally guaruntee you that the aforementioned coaches would NEVER EVER EVER EVER sit their best player, the player that has put us in this position, for overtime in the biggest game of the year. How many times has Manny kept us in games on his own? All we can hope is that JB doesn’t try to use Manny as an example like he has with Kelvin. I guess we need to pray that Lee and Merritt are both ill for Purdue. The only way we will make the tournament is if we play our best players. BOTTOM LINE
While I am glad to know that next season should see a dramatic upgrade in size and point guard play, do you see the Big Ten getting any easier next season? Wisconsin, Illinois, Purdue, MSU, and Indiana will be better next season then they are now. Next season we’ll probably be once again hoping and praying that Michigan isn’t the 6th best team in a conference that only gets 5 bids.
AG2: Then again we also went 10-22 last year. It is pretty clear that this team will continue to improve.
This team has obviously improved from last year. The disappointing thing is they haven’t really improved during this year. Arguably, the team played it’s best ball early in the season.
Raiderfan: If Lee and Merritt are sick for Purdue, walk on tryouts will be held before the game and they will play because they “have heart.”
Im sorry for being so negative but this one really hurt
How quickly everyone forgets Grady’s performance against OSU and PSU on the road.
It’s pretty clear what why Manny was benched. Read between the freaking lines. The guy did not run what was called and tried to do it by himself like he tends to do. Unlike others (Izzo), JB is not going to call his player out in public.
Moon were we watching the same game. 4 different people touched the ball on the last play. Manny just happened to be the one that had it with a second left. If you’re going to blame him then you must also blame Novak for not even looking at the goal. Isn’t Puls a walk-on and if so why isn’t he playing 35 mins a game?
OT – and this is probably coming in a recruiting post, but who of the players on the 2010 hotboard has an offer?
I hope that Manny said something really really stupid. Because if he didn’t and Beilein played Merritt over him because he wasn’t playing well then I gotta imagine Manny is much more pissed off than we are. If he said something stupid then at least he knows his punishment is warranted.
1. Anyone who thinks some other combination of minutes for Grady/Shepherd would have made us win the game can feel free to drop off their resume for the head coaching position. I think I’ll stick with Beilein but that’s just me.
2. Players get benched and lose minutes all over the country. The vast majority of these players do not immediatley transfer or go pro.
3. We are much better than last year.
4. We will be better next year.
1. Grady is our best pg. No one on here has mentioned anything about Shep after this game. Just Grady.
2. Not your best player in the biggest game of the year. Especially when that player is already leaning towards going pro.
3. The only one you got right
4. We will be better down low for sure but if Manny and Grady leave, another NIT season
tom Izzo is not a great coach, a great recruiter–possibly, but not a great coach.
The Iowa game is over…let’s move on! JB proved his point and Manny may be better because of it. I would still like to see KG get some minutes! Anyhow, after we win 2 out of the next 3, this will all be water under the bridge…we may not always agree, but we must always support! Go Blue!
I really don’t think Manny was going to leave to the NBA after this year and I don’t think last night changes that.
From what I hear, and I think I have a pretty good source on this, if Manny gets fedback that he would get guarunteed money, 1st round pick, he will most likely declare. Back to Tom Izzo, let me be the first to say I absolutely hate MSU but I must give credit where credit is due. In 13 seasons as MSU head coach, he has 1 nat’l champ, 4 regular season Big Ten champs, 2 Big Ten tourn champs, 4 final fours, 4 nat’l coach of the years, and 11 straight NCAA tourn. appearances. I think thats the resume of a GREAT coach.
Grady is not the best PG or he would not be riding pine. If JB thinks the other PGs are better and give us a better chance to win, I trust his opinion more than any poster on this or any other board.
Since when is Manny “leaning” towards going pro?
Why would anyone assume Manny and Grady would leave? This is a ridiculous overreaction based on a flawed opinion that Michigan kids can’t handle any form of discipline.
Agreed raiderfan Izzo is a great coach. Now Roy Williams is a great recruiter but cost his teams more games than anyone that is labeled a great coach. Xs and Os JB blows Roy out of the water. Unfortunately recruiting is 60% of winning in college.
Brick you are entitled to your opinion and I respect that. I think Grady is our best PG which is why he is was given a scholarship to a Big Ten school out of high school. He just doesn’t see eye to eye with JB.
Read the above post to answer you question on Manny. If the money is there, he will take it.
the difference between beilein and these other great coaches that were mentioned is that they all have more than one go to player and have multiple guys you are play makers and you can rely on them……without manny we have nothing really, deshawn on the occasion, but there is a lot of what ifs to this game……..and izzo wins big tens and national champs because he gets the best players in the country to come play for him, not kids who just shoot 3s, he gets nba caliber talent, no disrespect to some of the kids on michigan, but the athletic ability to compete at a nationally elite level every game will never be there with the types of people beilein recruits….i have been saying this for at least 2 months now, there is going to be a lot of these games every year in the beilein era can guarentee it…….nonetheless this game is just real interesting and many things could have been done differently
Wow were you all as furious as I was after blowing that game?! I wanted to break something!
Maybe the UCLA & Duke wins tricked us into exceedingly high expectations.
I don’t think this team is going to become a good road team in 6 days.
Raiderfan, Grady doesn’t see eye-to-eye with many people
But, seriously, stats don’t prove he is the “best”, in fact, they prove that he is not.
If your statement was “Grady is the most athletic PG we have”, we would all agree1 100%. But, he does not have the court vision or defensive skill set to be our best PG (at this point in time).
In my opinion, Merritt should not see the floor and Kelvin should get his minutes and work hard to get more.
man are you kidding. izzo is a phenomenal coach. i also don’t get the mindset where any critical thought towards the coaching is outlawed. i have faith in our system, in our future, and in beilein but that doesn’t mean he’s always right. he’s certainly capable of making mistakes, mistakes that piss of players and fans and mistakes that cost games. that doesn’t make me a bad fan. if we never evaluated our coaches critically we’d still have ellerbe.
Avery Queen–Well said.
Lets get those Boilers!
Go Blue!
Great post Avery Queen
I’m usually an optimist but let’s face it. If Michigan wants a chance to dance they will need 2 out of 3 in the regular season and 1 in the tournament. That’s 3 outta 4 games people! They will need wins from at least two of the three: Purdue,Minnesota, and Wisconsin, all teams with better records in the Big Ten. It’s just probably not happening.
couple things need to be pointed out. first half lee 14 minutes michigan scores 11 points, while on the bench for 6 minutes michigan scored 18. game, lee scored 0 points while his assigned man ,kelly, accounted for 45 points on 23 points and 9 assists.
manny harris’s benching has to go down as the worst coaching decision made by a michigan coach in any sport in the last 50 years.
anthony wright, the hero from last years win at Iowa, does not play 1 second.grady, the hero from Thursday’s Minnesota win, does not play 1 second.
how does this team recover from(JB) giving this game away and Manny’s benching and how can they overcome JB’s obsession with CJ Lee?
The latest round of tournament projections and bubble watches essentially allege that Michigan isn’t even on the bubble anymore. It almost reminds me of Amaker’s last season, where we tricked ourselves into believing that we could have made the tournament by either beating OSU at home in the last game of the season or beating them in the 2nd round of the Big Ten Tournament when in reality the committee stopped talking about Michigan immediately after the home loss to Iowa.
That being said, I can’t say I disagree. Michigan has decent wins, but we are essentially the only bubble team of them all who has had THIS much trouble winning on the road, even to awful teams like Iowa and Indiana. We are the only team in the top 8 of the Big Ten with no road wins vs. the other teams in the top 8, and the only team in the top 8 with 3 home losses.
There is, however, a chance. All three of our last 3 games are against RPI top 50 teams, including 2 on the road to teams also fighting for bids. 2 wins would improve Michigan’s road record and record vs. the RPI top 50. The team has plenty of time to rest before Thursday when they play Purdue at home on senior night. There’s no chance vs. Wisconsin. Wisconsin has a knack for playing the way the refs call (or don’t call) the game. Its one of the main reasons I believe they’re such a good home team. Not to mention that like Iowa, they’ll have 8 games off before that game.
So assuming we get past Purdue at home, the game at Minnesota should decide it. Michigan will have 8 days off (who the hell wrote this schedule that Michigan’s only bye comes at the very end of the season?). On the other hand, the Barn is such a strange place to play, combined with Michigan’s awful road play, that its uncertain.
Regardless of what happens, I don’t see Michigan moving out of 8th place in the Big Ten. If that’s the case, they’ll probably beat Northwestern in the 8/9 game, only to go up against the #1 seed in the Big Ten for the third straight year. If you have an idea on how to beat MSU, I’d like to hear it.
Some good stuff going on right now. I think JB is a great coach in terms of developing skills in players. Its tuff to define greatness, there are so many different ingredients that go into building an elite program. JB is going to have to realize this is d1 ball and its not middle school, he is not in a classroom teaching little kids nor is this Hoosiers. There will come a point when JB is going to have to replace Manny and Peedi, let’s all pray its later than sooner, and its with guys with as much or more skill than Manny and Peedi. These next couple years will tell us a lot about JB complete coaching ability, and a large portion of that is recruiting, and recruiting a handfull, not a team full of them, but a handful of top level recruits. By that I mean 4 and 5 star recruits with skill and athletic ability coming in, key words are coming in, not when they are a senior, or junior but when they are a fresh and soph. I also think you have to be somewhat of a players coach. You have to know what buttons to push with each of your players. Even as hardnose as izzo is his players respect him and he respects them. I don’t know what Manny said or did and let’s hope it was something justifiable, but there is alternatives to teaching and counseling a player, other than benching them. I do not argue JB’s ability to develop, or his x’s and o’s, what I do have to somewhat question is his ability to attract multiple top level recruits and how he handles them. The game against Iowa has me questioning that, along with his dealings with KG. I just hope JB isn’t burning any bridges that would reach far beyond just Manny. However, the season is far from over
I’ve been too heartbroken to even type over the last 24 hours, but as usual, this site has been my theraputic vehicle to recovery. Luckily, I was too hungover on Sunday morning to get to the sportsbook and place a bet, otherwise I would have bet the farm. Like somebody said earlier, I thought that 3 by Stu was the shot of the year, but we gave the game away without even making them score a fg.
Are we overreating to Beilein’s coaching decisions? Yes. Are we overreacting at the importance of this game? No. 60 seconds probably cost us the tourney. I must say though that it isn’t over until it’s over. Let me ask this question: Let’s say we beat Purdue at home and then lose our two away games. Then we go into the B10 tourney and win two games-one over MSU. Do we make the tourney?
We knew coming into the season we’d win some games we weren’t supposed to win and lose some games we weren’t supposed to lose. Even though this didn’t come the way most thought it would (poor shooting), I’d still take a win over Duke and a loss on the road against Iowa than a loss at home against Duke and a win on the road against Iowa.
Stu hits that huge three with 1 minute left and I couldn’t have felt better about the team. Six minutes later and it seems that things are in shambles….. How is that possible????????
John Beilein is a great coach. Get off his back. If Amaker were still here, coaching this massively undersized, young team, we’d be lucky to be .500 overall. He has a team with two players taller than 6′5″ (one of whom is a role player at best) still in the hunt for a tourney bid in late February. If someone had told you a year ago, when we were 10-22, that we’d lose Udoh and that Cronin would redshirt, what would you have guessed our record this year to be?
I don’t care that we were 10-22 last season and now we’re “ahead of schedule” or some shite like that. We weren’t 10-22 last night. We were 17-10 and in position to play ourselves into the tournament. I’m sure we’re going places, but until we’re there I’ll have to scratch my head about CJ Lee and Novack playing catch on the perimeter while Peedi has a mismatch down on the block or why Beilein draws up a last-second shot by telling the team to run the Amaker offense. Also, I get that CJ Lee is better suited to Beilein’s philosophies, but those philosophies play out during the full 40 minutes. Why is CJ Lee still in there when Iowa goes up by seven in OT? He has absolutely nothing to offer in that context.
Ken – That’s a pretty interesting scenario. I kinda feel like it wouldn’t be enough though. I think people would point out our road performances and our 8th place finish and that would be too much.
theres no question that beilein has done a great job with this team…….but to compete at a nationally elite level every single game and to compete against the best teams in the country you need more than 1 or 2 players that are nba caliber players and deshawn and manny are flukes for beilein that they happened to stay here…..beilein cant recruit at all really, look at his west virginia teams practically all no name recruits….darius morris is probably the biggest recruit of his entire career by far…….and like i have said many many times…..when 3s arent falliing you need kids with versatility and what beilein looks for just isnt that, except for maybe morris but who knows withh him……….hopefully all this speculation will be answered within a year or two and all of us can say wow we are jackasses for questioning beilein, but as of right now it has the feel of another amaker scenario….getting us close but unable to get us there…..but beilein is obviously a much better coach than amaker so time will tell
And that, folks, was the only game I will get to see in person this season.
Now, I don’t claim to be anything but a basketball novice, but I was under the impression that Manny Harris needed to be a lot more polished and consistent before he would be considered a first-rounder. Was my perception off?
I don’t think that Manny is projected to be a first rounder right now. The more scouts watch film, the more that they will see his inconsistencies and mental breakdowns. If Manny is smart, he will stay another year to develop and build his reputation by making a tourney run. He should know that he will be much richer if he has the patience to stay a year, so hopefully that is exactly what he will do. If he’s the type of guy that would make up his mind to leave based on 5 minutes of sitting on the bench, then he’s just another dumb kid. I think he’s better than that. We shall see.
By the way, I still think we can do this. Protect home court on Thursday, and we will have set up quite an opportunity for ourselves. I look at the Manny benching like this. If Manny had played the entire overtime at Iowa, we still lose. They were on fire, and we were just demoralized. Knowing that we would have lost anyway, maybe benching Manny was a blessing in disguise. To pull off some upsets, we need to him to play like a man possessed. Maybe this will fuel enough anger or inspire enough focus that he will be lights out. I guarantee he doesn’t want to see the bench again, so look for him to answer the bell against Purdue. I still have hope, gang.
Ken in Vegas, I think you should keep in mind that for the past few seasons, the Selection Committee has finished making the decisions on which teams were in and out earlier and earlier. If I recall correctly, last season the committee closed the bubble by like, Thursday of Championship Week. As a result, I don’t think its likely that winning a couple of games in the Big Ten Tournament will make up for an 8-10 record.
Put it this way – I’d feel better about our chances if we won 2 of the next 3 and only got 1 win in the BTT than I would if we won 1 of the next 3 and got 2 wins in the BTT.
There’s certainly a legitimate shot with both scenarios but I think the committee would frown on a sub-500 Big Ten record and no road wins against anybody better than RPI #75 (although neutral wins over UCLA and MSU would have to count for something, right?).
Anybody else wish that we didn’t have to wait until Thursday for the Purdue game? Win or lose, I just want to get the taste of the Iowa game out of my mouth.
I love the discussion … A couple things to keep in mind though. Belein has one recruiting class. That class didn’t go as everyone would have hoped, but Belein still managed to get a couple of system players – 4 year guys that will be staples of this program as upper classmen. Also keep in mind, that recruiting detroit is a double edged sword. It can be very hit or miss for years at a time. Detroit is not the end all be all of recruiting, and if you expected Belein to come in and start taking only kids from Detroit then I have a diamond ring I would like to sell you for just $100.
Belein’s two best recruits will come next year, and in 2010 he will probably trump both of those guys with hopefully regan and ziegler/morgan. This team is heading in the right direction.
Finally, the Harris going pro thing could go either way. I remember Marvin Williams being drafted super high after being a role player for UNC on that 2005 squad. So anything is possible, but by the same token Manny would be crazy to go pro. He is a sure fire second rounder at this point, no guaranteed money. Waiting one year guarantees him millions or go pro early end up on the bench somewhere and never get your paycheck. One thing I like about Manny is that he is smarter than the average player, and I think that he has to know that. Just my thoughts …
Also for those of you not on the belein will win bandwagon… who would you rather have?
I didnt really get my point across with the recruiting thing.
2008 class – 2 middle 3 star guys
2009 class – 2 low 4 star / high 3 star guys
2010 class – in on some high 4 star guys and a 5 star
That is what they call progress … Progress leads to success!
Belein has this team heading in the right direction. Have faith.
Go Blue!
we cant say anything about the 2010 class ……look at nate lubick….he was recruiting other guys to come to um for beilein, nobody could have been more of a lock to michigan him and he then went to gtown……..i have no faith in his abililites as a recruiter until his 2010 class reads those 4 stars or 5 star that you are talking about committ
Dave: Does landing Morris and Vogrich count for nothing?
For what its worth, Beilein did recruit DeSean Butler and Alex Ruoff for West Virginia. Huggins got Devin Ebanks only because IU couldn’t hold on to him.
Man, can you imagine all the players Indiana let get away? Sean May, Greg Oden, Mike Conley, Devin Ebanks, not to mention Eric Gordon who they only got back because Sampson recruited him after he verbally committed to Illinois.
Wow, raiderfan needs to stick to being a Raiders fan.
I want Kelvin to play as much as anyone, but until he stops with the stupid defensive lapses, he won’t play and rightfully so. Can you imagine how badly the best 3-pt shooting team in the Big Ten (yes Iowa) would have lit us up if Grady would have been out there?
We need Kelvin to step it up and play good defensively. It’s not Beilein’s fault that KG continues to miss assignments and make bone-headed plays. Defense is far more important than offense, believe it or not. Then again, for some people this is debatable. In such a debatable instance, I’ll go with the coach that has 500 NCAA wins.
As far as Manny; nobody knows. Simple as that. It’s very unlikely to be just the company line that is being said. So, we have to forget about it and move on.
Manny going pro? Ha, if he does it’ll be a terrible decision.
As for the act of benching Manny… what game, other than Northwestern, in the Big Ten has Manny simply dominated or taken over? Manny has scored in single figures in 6 of our last 9 B10 games. He consistently throws up awful shots and makes bad decisions. He’s still our best rebounder and a great option on offense, but lately I have no confidence in Harris on a consistent basis. If he did say something or refuse to run the last play properly, I have no problem benching him. Again, I’ll defer that decision to the guy with 500 NCAA wins.
As for Beilein not being a “great” coach… nobody really knows. He finished in the top 3 of the conference every year he was at Richmond. He only spent 5 years at West Virginia, so he really only had two recruiting classes finish while he was there. And while he was there he had two good runs in the tourney and an NIT title.
Michigan is his biggest program and thus far his recruits are at a pretty decent level considering where Michigan is and the facilities we have to compete with. For anyone to say he “can’t recruit” or “can’t win it all” is pretty laughable.
Comparing Beilein to other top coaches is also not very fair. Most top level coaches were groomed into their first major job. Take Izzo for instance. Izzo was on-again, off-again assistant for MSU starting in 1983. It wasn’t until 1995 that he became head coach there. Beilein has never been an assistant. He’s never been groomed into a position. He’s had to prove on progressing levels that he’s a great coach (who cares what the difference between “good” and “great” is. It’s meaningless). There’s no reason to expect he won’t do the same here and continue to progress.
Again to the notion that Beilein can’t recruit big. At WVU he had zero 4 star recruits. He already has one here in CA PG Darius Morris (not exactly a 6′4″ white kid from the corn fields that sits at the 3-pt line and drains jumpers) and as has been mentioned several times, he has a great shot at some 4/5 star kids in the class of ‘10.
So Tom, you honestly think we are better or without Manny. Do you realize that without him, Novak and Douglass would never score. Neither one came make an open layup. Neither one can create ashot on their own. They rely on penetration and kick out. Do you understand that Manny, with the exception of KG, is our only player with the ability to drive? And if winning the Not Invited Tournament is a sign of success, then Tommy Amaker is our best coach ever. Right? C J Lee is supposively out there for his defense right? Did you happen to see the Iowa game? I hate to say it but your boy kind of cost us the game. He couldn’t stop Jake Kelly. Jake Kelly. Jake Kelly. I guess I didn’t know Jake Kelly was an all-american. Lee brings us NO offense, actually one might call him a liability. So let me get this straight, we play him for his D, which he has none. I am not trying to say JB won’t be great in the future, I am just saying he cost us a shot at the tourney this year. Just curious, who is the 5star JB is recruiting? It wouldn’t matter anyway because there will be a walk-on who trys out and takes this make believe 5stars minutes anyway.
Why are you assuming that KG would have done better defensively?
Did I say I’d rather have Manny on the bench? He’s our best rebounder, and for that alone I want him on the floor. But he’s turning into a black hole on offense.
Neither Novak or Douglass can make an open layup? What are you talking about?
I completely understand that Manny is our only player that can drive. That’s why it’s especially frustrating when he holds onto the ball in the final seconds and chucks a 35 footer, possibly in protest to not having the final play drawn up for him. I think I’ll trust the guy with 500 NCAA wins over the immature sophomore. Instead of being mad at Beilein you should probably be mad at Manny.
Why are you calling CJ Lee ‘my boy’? I clearly stated I want Kelvin to play, but he has to earn it by not having defensive lapses on every other possession. CJ doesn’t do that, therefore he plays. Did CJ have a good game? No. Neither did LLP or Manny or DeShawn. When your top three scorers shoot like ours did, you’re not going to win games.
Getting to the NIT was expected this year. We have far surpassed that. I don’t know what your reasoning is for crying about it. TA got won us the NIT in 2004. Afterwards he finished 9th, 6th, 7th in the B10 respectively, never making the tournament. His last season he started 4(!) seniors and couldn’t get it done. Beilein takes over with a terrible amount of talent, gets the team to finish strong and win 5 of their last 7 games. And now, with just a little more talent we’re on the verge of making the tournament. Regardless of where the season ends, it has been a successful year.
Ray McCallum and Cameron Ayers are 4* prospects ranked 55th and 56th by rivals (I didn’t say explictly a 5* player, I said 4/5* guys. Both of these guys fall into that category). Also Trey Zeigler is a 4* right around the 75 range.
How can you be anything but impressed that Beilein is able to pull in these guys when Michigan has done nothing in 10 years and has some of the worst facilities in the B10?!
You should probably take a step back and look at what this team is coming from.
The highest ranked recruit we have a realistic shot at is Moses Morgan and he is an average 4 star ranked #68. What you have to understand is that JB best teams work well when they have a couple players that can penetrate and kick it out to the three point shooters. At this point in the season, with the exception of Manny, KG is our next best option. All I want is JB to give him a shot, you can’t honestly tell me that you think Dave Merritt has done well as of late defensively. I am not arguing that CJ shouldn’t play, but he should be playing Merritt’s minutes and Grady should be playing Lee’s. When you compare the Iowa roster to ours, we are by far the superior team. They don’t have one player that out of high school was ranked in the top 150 while we have 4 (LLP, Grady, Sims, Harris). Don’t say the talent isn’t there, JB just hasn’t done a good job putting that talent to use. I hate to say it, but his resume suggests that he never will. He has always put together middle of the pack teams, and this honestly is one of the more talented teams he has ever had. Am I pleased with the turn around from last year, yes. Am I happy with another NIT appearance this year, NO. You say we don’t have the talent, I say we do.
And back to the last play of regulation vs. Iowa, watch the tape again. The ball was in 4 different players hands, then Manny passed it to Novak with 6 seconds left. Novak didn’t even look at the goal and passed it back to Manny with 2 seconds left. That is hardly Manny trying to blow the game. If you want to blame anyone, blame Novak. Nice try though.
I actually only had the last play on radio, so I didn’t see it. I’m going by what I’ve heard on message boards and post-game wraps, etc. Plus, I always qualified that *if* Manny blew up that last play, blah blah blah.
I agree with you on David Merritt.
There’s no evidence to suggest that Beilein can’t bring in top talent. His “record” is that he’s always coached mid-major teams at best. He hasn’t had the opportunity to recruit at a premier institution like UM. So far, despite UM’s lack of success and facilities, he’s pulling in top100 recruits. Not bad if you ask me.
Don’t forget that Belein recruited Joe Alexander who was picked 8th overall this past year by the Bucks. I would consider that elite talent.
Tom also
You should probably watch the games and get a clue before posting. Raiderfan it is so obvious to anyone with a passing knowledge of the game that Grady and Manny are the only players on the roster who can get other guys shots for them. Look at overtime, are you kidding me. They were all standing around like deer in headlights, which explains why we didnt score until the game was well over. Grady is way better than Lee. Contrary to the myth perpetuated on this site that Lee is some kind of defensive stud, Lee is not good at anything on the court. CJ Lee=Gary Payton…ROFL