I just went back and read the comments from during the game, and I didn’t notice anyone complaining about how on the Gibson charging call where they counted the basket for some strange reason, Oklahoma got free throws on the other end. I’m aware they were in the bonus or whatever, but never in my life have I seen the team who drew a charge get free throws. I was going nuts when that happened, along with us getting a technical when the call went OUR way. What ref in their right mind gives a T to the team who got the call. I’m guessing something was said on the bench, but I was furious. And I feel like Manny never got a blocking call all year.

Alright, just needed to vent a little. It was a great season and I’m really sad to see it end. GO BLUE

Thanks. I was there for both games, and while I realize that this sounds like sour grapes, I think that it was one of the worst officiated game I’ve ever seen. While this didn’t have the impact that the fouls called on Manny did, the call where Blake Griffin kicked the ball out of bounds in the first half symbolized the whole game to me.

On a positive note, I’m surprised, but impressed, by how close the rebounding was with Griffin in the game.

One question — I wonder why Stu Douglass got as many minutes as he did in the 2nd. His shot wasn’t falling, and he had two turnovers in the 2nd half. I know that he plays good defense, but (not to beat a dead horse) I would have loved to see Grady get a few minutes to see if his shot would fall (or if he could get the ball inside).

Classy move by Beilein to get Shepherd into the game at the end.

Dylan – thanks for all your work with this site. You couldn’t have picked a more exciting time to create a place for fans to analyze and discuss U-M hoops. This season made all those years I burned $89 on and countless Sat mornings/Wed nights on the Full Court package to watch the lean year.

So, needless to say, I just can’t wait for ’09-’10. Along those lines, do you still have that post/feature speculating about future non conference schedules? I’m already breaking down the Old Spice field in my head for next year (pathetic)!

Is the Duke series ‘on’ indefinitely? If so, then the marquee non-conference games I can think of off hand for next year are @ Duke, home in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, and the Old Spice Classic. Would be good to schedule a tough road game on top of that.

What a season…can’t wait for the next one.

Pete: I think it probably had to do with all the foul trouble we had. I guess the non-Stu lineup would have been what? Gibson-Wright-Novak-Perry-Merritt?

I have wondered why Stu and Novak get the minutes they do all season but that is another story. Great game and great season. JB had a great gameplan for Griffin he just couldn’t get the calls. With the exception of A Wright, I thought everyone seemed a bit timid. Nothing to hang their heads about and if everyone comes back, which its seems they will, we should be a preseason top 25 team I honestly think. We have the obvious coming back, and an upgrade at pg (no disrepest to CJ but Morris is simply more gifted), an upgrade at sg (hopefully Vogrich can come in and play great but if not Novak will most likely be a 2 or 3 and the frosh should improve vastly after a year), and much needed depth in the post. I haven’t been this excited for a season of Michigan basketball in, I honestly can’t remember the last season when we had great talent along with a great coach. Once again though, GREAT SEASON BLUE!!!

Drew, I wondered about that too…but since Gibson got the basket, I guess it instantly becomes a change of possession, and apparently the “charge” was after the score.

I hope WI wins today, for some reason.

I have a question for you guys about next year. With the added size we will have with Cronin, Morgan, Mclimans, and Peedi, and even Puls coming back, what kind of line ups do you all see JB going with. Does he play Peedi, and a guy like Cronin/Gibson at the same time? something like this:

Hypothetical:

PG-Morris
SG-Douglass
SF-Harris
PF-Sims
C- Cronin

If he goes with something like this it would seem like it would kind of push Peedi back into a more perimeter game…does it not? I mean its something that I think Sims could handle. He is quite versatile, and he seems to like the mid range game. I would like to see a mixture with Sims. He is only going to get better with his shooting, but I would still like to see him do damage down low as well. In other words I would like to see him take more of an advantage when he has a mismatch.

Great season by our boys—-about as much fun as I’ve ever had being a Michigan fan.

On the calls—-I don’t think they cost us the game but if 2 of them go our way its a different story down the stretch. Also, I counted 4 threes that were in and out—if 2 of those fall we’re right in the game. I remember our first posession in the second half. We had like 3 chances from 2 feet and they all barely rimmed out. It’s not sour grapes…the best team won…but man we really were right there and if even a couple of the calls go our way it could have been different.

Still, I can’t complain. This year was awesome. A big thanks to CJ Dave and Jevohn. CJ in particular—-what a game and what a career. I had tears in my eyes when he nailed that three to get us to within 5 last in the second. He just wouldn’t quit on the game regardless of how overmatched we were. I hope his fight, desire and never give up mentality stick with this program long after this year.

Thanks Dylan for a great site. I appreciate all your hard work. Go Blue! Can’t wait for next year.

Another thing that kind of caught up to us was our inability to finish on the fast break. We probably blew three or four of them. Stu really struggled all year, Novak got better through the year. I’m sure they’ll both improve by next year.

Either way, great season. It was a ton of fun.

Did JB recruit kenny frease?

Whatap, I was thinking about the rotation of next year as well… we will be deep. But i do have some questions that maybe some of you can give feed back on
will LLP move to back up Point?
Will Novak be a SG, Back up Sims, or manny?
Will Vogrich start or will stu? or LLP or Novak?
Where will Mclimans play? PF or C?
Is Cronin good enough to start at the 5, or will it be Sims and Mclimans?

Let’s not forget the SSU and Indiana miracle comebacks. If we lose either of those I think we’re playing in the NIT. Remember when Novak stole the inbounds pass and botched the two handed dunk at the buzzer? That would have been one of the greatest plays I have ever seen at Michigan. I will miss CJ Lee. His leadership is irreplacable, but I’m confident other guys will attempt to step up. Great to hear the Detroit duo is coming back. We should be in store for a hell of a season.

I almost think he has to play Peedi at the 4 next year. The only other option would be what happened this year with Novak at the 4 and we all saw how he just got manhandled in the majority of the games. He just isn’t big enough to play the 4 especially when he naturally is a 2. None of the recruits are big enough to play 4 (Morris, Vogrich) or quick enough to guard at the 4 (Cronin, Morgan, McLimans). The one exception may be McLimans but I just don’t see that happening. I see Peedi at the 4 basically by default. Unless JB is satisfied with what Novak offers at pf, which may be the case.

Wisconsin is holding true to my philosophies on them, in that bo ryan constructs his teams in a way where they are fairly good in conference, but are not set up to have success in the dance.

Yeah I could see that happening Raiderfan. It will give us more ability to defend the rim, as well as rebound. I just wonder offensively if Peedi will take on a slightly different approach, being Cronin, Gibby, and Morgan would provide a more low post presence…not so much Gibby, but you get my point.

We are going to be loaded with talent at the 1, 2, and 3 next year. Of course, we also had a lot of talent at the 1, 2 and 3 this year too. If you can say anything, we will certainly be a deep team next year.

I don’t think Vogrich gets the start at the 2 or 3. LLP, Manny, Stu or Novak most likely. Morris is more of a true 1, which we’ve lacked this year, so I’d expect some early minutes out of him. All I can say is next year with Cronin in, and a year of maturity, it should be very exciting.

when will cronin expected to start practicing?

or be able to do anything, not actual practice

Cronin will be 100% in 2 months if I remember correctly. Had the operation done in January, and they said 4-6 months till he’s fully recovered.

This team played through their nerves of being the the tournament…Great performances in both games. It’s hard for me to believe how much more physical and better at executing than we were say…a month ago? The only player that the nerves really seemed to get to was Peedi, he played a great game but not perfect dropping a couple easy passes right under the hoop. He looked a bit off in the first round too. If you look at the post game presser it actually looks like he’s crying. He can’t feel too bad though, he has another chance to come clutch next year. All around great year, and the way I see Manny talking, it seems like he’s thinking national championship…I wouldn’t be surprised to see him stay through.

Fun year. Nice to feel like the team has a chance every game. For next year, I think Peedi at the 4 has to happen. I know Coach B isn’t a huge rebound guy but you have to be able to defend the other team, and tall front lines destroyed U of M all year. I wouldn’t assume Morris is the point right away. I think Grady, Stu, and LLP will have the inside track on the starting job with their experience. For Stu it would be out of position but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it. Overall, we are adding 5 players (4 after one redshirts) and only losing one player who saw significant minutes. That is a great situation.

Good post Old fan. We lose one guy who played significant minutes(Lee) The challenge moving into next year, surprising enough, will be replacing the leadership that Lee brought to the table. I would assume Manny will be that leadership guy, but not at the point however. I think in the offseason KG will be JB’s main project. He has to get KG into a position where he can make good decisions. If KG can be C.J Lee from shoulders up while adding possibly a bit more offense, and shore up his on the ball defense we should be just fine. Even if his d is still a bit suspect, as long as he can make good decisions, and play under control and just distribute we should be in good hands. I to agree that right off the bat I see KG, and Douglass getting most of the minutes at PG, while JB slowly brings DMo along in getting him used to collegiate basketball. I do however envision around 10 games in that DMo will be off and running. With our added bigs, and skill improvement, this should be a fun team to watch!

Correction: Sorry I was referring to Old Style’s post, not Old fan.

Definitely disappointed w/ the officiating but proud of the way the team battled for 40 minutes. Great season. Thanks to CJ, David, Jevohn, Coach B and the rest of the players. And thanks to Dylan for providing amazing coverage throughout the season. Looking forward to the being here from now until we start the 2009-2010 season. Go Blue!!!

I have had M Bball season tickets for more than 25 seasons, and this was the most exciting and most enjoyable one of all. Thanks Dylan for maintaining a great website and thanks JB.

I met JB in a local restaurant the summer he came to Ann Arbor, and you could tell even then he was the real deal. He was with his family and had to send his dinner back to be reheated because he was spending so much time on his blackberry. I wished him luck and welcomed him to town.

Next year I think expectations will be very high, but there will be roller coaster parts again at the start, as JB experiments and tests to find the best combinations. So keep the faith, everyone! Go Blue!

Regarding leadership… one thing to keep in mind is that Dave Merritt has only been on the team for 3 years, and I believe he will still be in school next year (as a grad student in Urban Planning). I don’t know if there’s a “maximum” amount of walk-ons that JB would take, but don’t be surprised to see Merritt back on the team next year as a walk-on along with Corey Person and Eso Akunne.

Of course if Dave does come back next year, I would argue that he just wants a 3rd “Senior Day” frame with his jersey in it (maybe he’d even change his number again!).

Also, not sure what the Public Policy grad curriculum is like but I wouldn’t be surprised to see CJ back as a grad assistant of some sort…

Is it really possible that Merritt could be back again Giddings? That seems borderline ridiculous.

I know it does, and it caught me off guard when I heard someone bring it up but I believe it is possible… and I’m not just thinking out loud, I do have some “basis” for the comment, can’t really elaborate though.

Nice, Dave Merritt is like a cat with nine lives. I remember feeling for him when he went down against OSU last year only to have him come back for another year. Maybe we’ll try it again :-) It would definitely make me feel better about PG depth.

MGoBlue lists Merritt as having Senior eligibility, so I’m pretty sure his on-court career is over:
http://mgoblue.com/basketball-m/page.aspx?id=142632

NVE: regarding the non-conference schedule, I’m pretty sure Connecticut is coming to Crisler next year.

I think the “5-year-rule” applies to Dave.

And I think the UConn game at Crisler isn’t next year but the year after. I vote to schedule Oklahoma.

The Old Spice Classic is a huge RPI boost — ask Siena and Oklahoma State. But I would still like a big time home game and maybe a road game against a mediocre team.

Regarding next year’s rotation – I’d be pretty surprised to see any freshman, redshirt or otherwise, starting a game in November or early December – especially at the point. More likely that the starting five would be Grady/Douglass, Douglass/LLP/Novak, Manny, Peedi, Gibson/Wright. The freshmen bigs will allow Sims and Gibson to play at the same time, and whatever big plays with Peedi will not be camped in the lane; when they want to post up Peedi, the other guy will go spot up at the three point line. That’s what Cronin and McLimans were recruited for, right?

I hope Morris and Vogrich catch on to the offense and defense fast enough for them to be viable starting options by January, but there’s a lot of depth at the two – Vogrich may get most of his minutes backing up Manny…

I’ll be honest. I would almost prefer that David doesn’t come back. I love the guy and am grateful for all he has done for us, but I think it’s time to close that chapter. I felt he received too many minutes for what he brought to the table as it was. I want to be able to develop guys like Grady and DMo.

I think with Darius it is all about how quickly he catches on. He has tools that Kelvin doesn’t have (and Kelvin also has a few that D-Mo doesn’t have) but he will be a welcome addition.

I agree, Ken, that we need guys like Grady and Darius to take the reins. And Dylan makes a good point about the 5-year rule. Still, I would love to at least see Dave and/or CJ have some role in the program next year, as grad assistant(s) or whatever. I’m really hoping that Peedi and Manny step up as leaders next year just like the seniors this year, but Manny is just so quiet and Peedi can be kind of a jokester so it might be hard to take him seriously sometimes.

My major concern with a freshman point guard will be his ability to limit turnovers.

Kenny Frease committed to Xavier before Beilein got the U-M job.

AG2: Definitely but you know Beilein is going to drive that message home from the time he arrives on campus.

Gibson >>>>>>>>>>>> Cronin

From what I’ve heard, when Cronin was practicing Gibson would just dominate him.

I think a lot of people need to temper their expectations about Cronin. He’s tall. That doesn’t mean he’s a good/great bball player. He has a long way to go – hopefully he has a great off-season and can provide us some quality minutes off the bench.

I remember reading somewhere that we had signed a home/home with Utah, with them coming here next year and then us going out there the following season. I also thought the UConn series was a 4 year (2 home/2 away). Below is the link to the Utah agreement. The date of it was August of 2007, but the article has gone missing.

http://www.mgoblue.com/basketball-m/article.aspx?id=67098

i have been running over this scenario many times in my head…..morris is going to have to start because we arent going to be able to have 3 or 4 freshmen coming off the bench unless beileiin doesnt plan on using all of them…..however the only one i could picture red shirting is morgan…….i see a potential morris and stu or morris and llp as the ball handlers, manny, deshawn, and then possibly even another freshmen, its going to be blake if he can actually step in and be the big man shooter we need as the starting line up.

We have to remember beilein uses a big man shooter in his official lineup……he needs somebody like gibson to come in off the bench who has experience as well as novak and even grady to fill some voids…….i suspect grady and llp can be flip flopped as well……..either way…….cronin for deshawn, gibson for blake……maybe novak and stu replace morris and manny. Not to mention that vogrich is in the picture as well…….its just get ridiculous with the amount of players at hand now…..bottom line, beilein is going to find the proper balance……with freshmen and experience coming in off the bench along with freshmen starting……is having to many players at your disposal a problem?

i say cronin for deshawn just because he at least was around a year to see and learn some stuff, but it will be interesting

Hey guys, Is Eso Akunne still walking on the team? My co worker asked me yesterday if he was still coming to Mich..

That is a great point above regarding Cronin allowing Peedi and Gibson to play at the same time. I too believe everyone should temper their expectations about Cronin during his first year. I would say 4 mintues here and 3 minutes there. I also see the Frosh sitting while they get used to the JB system…

Cronin need a couple of years to be ready. Jordan Morgan might play more minutes next year.

It was a great season and I dont want to negative but some of these posts are crazy. First of all, Stu is not ever an option at the 1, he is slow and not nearly athletic enough to play that role. I like Stu but a little perspective is in order. Grady and D. Morris are your point guards for next year and believe me, it will be a huge improvement over this years team. Secondly, I am concerned about Beileins decision making when it comes to momentum. Against Iowa in the B10 tournament Sims was like 8-8 from the field and he pulled him out? Why not let Iowa stop him at least once before pulling him. Then A. Wright was on fire against OU, and really the only reason we were in the game and he pulled him??? I dont know if Beilein ever played sports but when a player is feeling it, you gotta ride em until they cool off.

I have seen these comments re: Beileins game decisions, pulling and not playing players etc. a couple different times. While I appreciate the points and they are valid, we do not know these kids on a personal level, lets remember that they are kids, we don’t know their mental status at any given time, we don’t see them every day in practice, etc., etc. JB has done a fantastic job in only two years and I think it is a bit soon to be questioning his game calls. Most coaches could not have gotten this team where they are now.

Beilein played college basketball at Wheeling Jesuit in WV and has been coaching streaky players for 35 years. I also think that you would need to be in every game and every practice for 35 years to know why he does some things. He sits Manny during OT at Iowa and afterwards he dominates for the remaining games. I questioned A Wright’s playing time in the 2nd half, but it is what it is and I back the coach up…

Re: Go Blue and coaching decisions…

I could just say Beilein knows far more than you and I would be completely justified in the statement. Instead I’ll give one of many possible reasons for each scenario:

Sims vs. Iowa:
Yes, he was dominating. However, so were we on the scoreboard. There was a TV timeout coming and Sims got his normal rest that he always got. Why break his normal rest patterns when we already have a comfortable lead? Use the safety of that lead to give Sims a rest because you may need him for 15+ minutes in the second half. I think that if Peedi was 8-8 and Michigan was only up 2 or trailing that JB would have left him in there. But since there was already a comfy lead, why not rest the big guy?

Ant vs. OU:
Since when do hot streaks extend through halftime? I really don’t understand why JB is under any kinda critique for this. Ant is a streaky shooter that can cool off as quickly as he can heat up. There’s no guarentee (in fact I would argue that he’s more likely to be cold) that he’ll stay hot after the half. Also: Manny was coming back into the game. That was fact. So you either keep the normal lineup that got the team to where they were with Manny back in, or you roll the dice play bigger (but much more one-dimensional) with Sims, Ant, and Manny with the hope that Ant continues his hot streak.

I think next year’s rotation goes something like this:
1. KG/DMo/LLP
2. Stu/LLP/Vogrich
3. Manny/Novak/Wright
4. Peedi/Gibson
5. Mclimans/Cronin
**Morgan redshirts

We will be stacked at the gaurd position next year. It’ll be interesting to see how quickly DMo learns and I still think he’ll see some minutes, but I see KG stepping up big next year and playing w/ a chip on his shoulder. Stu will start for sure since he is a decent ball handler. We can only hope for LLP and Vogrich to drain the 3s off the bench.

I think Novak should back up Manny primarily at the wing b/c of his size, but I would not be suprised to see those two on the court at the same time a lot.

Peedi should play at the 4 to alleviate match up problems. I think if Mclimans gets bigger this summer, he can be a good asset in the JB system. It seems like he gets up and down the floor quickly and has some range. Plus, I agree w/ Dave and think JB loves having a big man shooter who can spread defenses on the floor at all times. I also like Gibson coming off the bench. He provided quality mintues off the bench this year, but I don’t think he is comfortable in a starting role. Cronin’s injury and overall speed (lack their of) may keep him on the bench. But I expect him to be a great rebounder and shot blocker off the bench for the few minutes he plays.

I think JB redshirts Morgan to eventually develop him more as a shooter and offensive threat to replace Peedi after next year. Morgan is young for his age, and I think Mclimans will play over him next year b/c he fits the Belein big guy mold right away.

Based on Dylan’s Recruiting Roundup posts, I think Eso Akkune should have some sort of impact b/c he is a natural scorer.

Can’t wait for next year!

I think the game with OU was turning our way until the ref’s blew it. They fouled Manny out with the charge, but we were still within a bucket. The following play, the OU guard drives from the right wing into the middle, runs over our defender, almost identical to half the charges called on UM and he dishes out for the dagger 3 on the wing. That said, i wonder what the game would have been like had Manny got to play his usual minutes. Seemed no one had a stop for his quick first step, and maybe he puts Griffin in foul trouble and Griffin doesn’t try so hard on the offensive glass? That being said, should be fun next year, And if everyone stays, I would not be surprised to see these guys cutting down some nets next march after winning a regional bracket heading to the final four.

Also, good luck to the UM hockey team this weekend! They have been exciting all year and would love to see Red get another title, hopefully over the Irish!

Tom also
I feel ya on the Beilein knows more than me, thats not in question. Whats in question was the substitution of EXTREMELY hot players. A. Wright was actually pulled before the end of the first half, contrary to what you stated. He was replaced by Lee??? Dougals and Novak combined for 2-15 shooting, Wright was something like 7-8 and yet the freshmen played extended minutes while Wright was on the bench? Explain it away as you wish but these are legitimate questions. Beilein did a great job this year overall, but as an objective observer , he was not perfect.

Ant Wright had played about as much at one time as he had since November. Peedi also had played the first 10 minutes or so of that Iowa game and Michigan had been pounding the ball to him the whole game.

I definitely think it looks like he pulls guys a lot because he tries to get them rest right around the TV timeouts.