Thanks to everyone who sent in questions, as always don’t hesitate to send a question to umhoops@gmail.com with any questions, suggestions, or comments. I’ll try to start doing this every week or at least as often as I get enough questions.
What year do you think will be the key year for the Beilein turnaround at Michigan? I know he has said in the past it has between the second and third year, but do you think it could be longer that that considering the practice facility might need to be up and running (or at least under construction) before they turn the corner and make the NCAAs? Or do you think these won’t go hand-in-hand because of the type of player Beilein recruits (”We want players that will knock down the door to attend UM.” - Beilein during 1st month on the job).
Tom Herhusky
I don’t think the practice facility is necessary for Beilein to turn this thing around, and even if it was once concrete plans are laid out that becomes a recruiting pitch in itself. It’s become pretty clear that Beilein recruits his way, not the fans way and not Rivals way. It makes it very hard as fans to predict who he is going to recruit that’s for sure. I don’t think any of us would have guessed the way the Novak recruitment played out. But back to the question I think the magic year is year 3. This is because that is DeShawn and Ekpe’s senior year and I think DeShawn is the key to this thing right now. Year three will hopefully be a good combination of experience (DeShawn, Manny, Grady, Gibson) and young talent (Benzing, Morgan, Morris (hopefully), and others) as well as shooters (Stu, Novak). If Beilein can’t break through with this squad into the tournament that year I don’t know what it will take. The next year we will lose one of our key pieces and who knows if Manny jumps ship at any time either.
Was wondering if you have any inside info. on when Martin might announce a plan to renovate Crisler and build a new practice facility. The last that I had heard was that they were hoping to get a plan approved by the regent’s yet this year. Is it your opinion that they will spend the monies necessary to make this project first class all the way, in other words will the practice facility to nice and will Crisler be improved dramatically.
James Hoyt
I don’t have any inside info about the practice facility but Eric Lacy posted this scoop a couple days ago saying there should be a practice facility by 2010. Looking at other projects around the athletic campus I am confident that the athletic department will make the practice facility first class all the way. Maybe in some sick and twisted way by being one of the last to build a practice facility will lead to us having the best (until the second round starts going up).
When do the freshmen get on campus?
It’s normally in late June. Summer classes begin June 25th at U-M so I would assume right around there.
Are more details available on why Benzing might have to sit out a year?
Here is some reading material on why I don’t think Benzing will be able to play next year. The NCAA seems to have set a pretty strong precedent.
How will each of the freshmen contribute next year (including LLP)?
I see Mike Barwis was the strength and conditioning coach for WVU basketball while it was coached by Beilein. Is Barwis the S&C coach for football and basketball at UM or is there a separate S&C coach for UM Basketball? Will reuniting Barwis and Beilien make a difference for UM basketball in the years ahead?
Why doesn’t Beilien grab a UM football player or two to fill out his roster next year? We could use some big, strong guys to round out our front line.
Mike Koppenol
Barwis is not the main S&C coach for the basketball team. That main is Jim Plocki (husband of Michigan gymnastics coach Bev Plocki). Jim was on staff under Gittleson as well but as I understand it Barwis oversees the S&C for the entire athletic department so if Plocki did not buy into Barwis’ methods he would most likely be canned.
Beilein tried to grab a football player during the last season. The two on the list were Martell Webb and Carson Butler however everything could not be worked out with respect to academics and it never came to be. Playing two sports would be awfully hard and I would assume you would need top notch grades as well to juggle both.
Do I understand correctly that the University is only going to upgrade Crisler and build a practice facility and there is no University interest or dollars to build a new facility to replace Crisler Arena . Doesn’t this lack foresight? Have they even thought about raising the money for a new facility? Call it Adidas Hall if they have to.
Gene Cheng
Right now the plan is to build a practice facility connected to Crisler on the large hill/steps side. In terms of replacing Crisler, Bill Martin has said repeatedly that Crisler has a good foundation and an entirely new facility is not necessary. There are planned renovations to Crisler including things like heat and water in the short term and more luxurious additions later on I would assume. The lights went in last year and a sound system is going in this year. I don’t think the University will be tearing down Crisler any time soon.
I see that Russell Byrd is coming to visit A2 next Tuesday (link)….Do you know if there is any relationship between him and either Novak and Douglass to help recruit him to A2?
Byrd is a big time 2010 prospect from Indiana who is visiting next week as Sam Webb reported. I don’t know if there’s any prior relationship between Byrd and either of our Indiana recruits. The first thing is that Novak and Stu are two years older than Byrd and that’s a pretty decent sized age gap. Second if I am not mistaken Byrd plays for Blessed IJN and Novak and Stu both played for different Indy Elite teams. Rivals reported that Byrd, a lights out shooter to say the least, had 14 made three pointers in last weekend’s TOC tournament. Byrd is a definite high major and one to watch for 2010, it’s good that Michigan is in on him early and already getting him up on campus. Seems a lot more like Beilein is trying to establish an Indiana pipeline instead of a Detroit pipeline.
Using a .500 record as a barometer for a successful season next year, what things have to go right in order to achieve such an accomplishment? (health and avoiding suspension are obvious, I’m thinking more along the lines of player development)
If you were John Beilein, what would you do differently in your approach to next season based on what you learned this year?
Finally, I know you have some complaints about the Basketball Band’s role in the Crisler atmosphere. Being a former member of the Basketball Band, I thought I’d ask you about it. I haven’t been to a home game in years and I no longer know the current director or any members - thus I can’t defend or criticize what you may have experienced recently. But I’d like to hear what you would want them to do differently to improve the atmosphere. The Hockey Band is revered at their home games playing almost the exact same music. Likewise I hear a lot of complaints from people going to NBA games regarding the piped in loud music - whether it be ancient stuff or recent hip-hop. So how would you handle the game-day experience? (I also happen to know the band is very welcoming to input and only wants to help the team succeed, so fire away with the feedback.)
1. Here’s a quick list of three things that would go a long way toward a .500 record next year:
- DeShawn Sims. DeShawn’s development is crucial for next year he has to keep developing his game and become a consistent threat inside and outside. I think this is by far the most important player to watch in terms of player development and there is a reason Beilein has made DeShawn his “personal project”. I also think the mental aspect of DeShawn’s game is one that needs a lot of work.
- The Freshman. These freshmen are unheralded but are going to be called upon to either get it done or not. I think at least Cronin and one of the two guards are going to play substantial minutes. Whether they can be successful or not will go a long way towards how well the team performs.
- A Third Scorer. Manny Harris is a proven scorer already and while he is clearly key to our success I didn’t include him because we know what he should give us. Someone needs to step up and become the third viable option second to Manny and DeShawn. I think this guy has to be Laval Lucas-Perry.
If I was Beilein I would be trying to forget last year honestly. One issue is how badly we played the 1-3-1 last year, Beilein basically scrapped it in the middle of the season but I think looking at this year’s roster we are going to need it. With our lack of size and toughness inside I find it hard to believe that we won’t see a lot of the 1-3-1 this year.
The band certainly has room for improvement and it is a step in the right direction that they are aware of it and are open to suggestions (I have also heard this). However some things are out of their control as well, for example from what I understand the plan to move the band above the tunnel got nixed by the athletic department. I think the biggest problem with the band is lack of excitement; Crisler needs a far more exciting atmosphere. I may be in the minority but I would be all for piping in music with the new sound equipment.
Thanks for sending in questions, if I didn’t answer yours I’m sorry and I’ll try to get to it next week.
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