Monday, March 7, 2016

Michigan Monday: Bubble Is About To Burst

With our dynamic football coach and team on the rise, it's hard to find time to put a few words together about Michigan Basketball.   Well, they suffered another set back on Saturday night as they lost to Iowa by 10 points at home.   They are now probably headed for the NIT unless they make a strong run in the BIG 10 Tournament. 

What makes me laugh is that some are considering John Beilein to be on the hot seat.   This is crazy talk to me.  John Beilein is a fine basketball coach and a even better man.   He doesn't pay recruits to come to Michigan and that will always put him at a disadvantage when it comes to recruiting.   He is not playing with the same deck of cards that the other coaches are working with.

He has done a fantastic job at Michigan and continues to do so.   Yes, this year has been a major disappointment, so has the injuries to his two seniors Spike and Caris.   If those guys make it through the year, they are easily an NCAA Team.    What concerns me even more is,  I'm not seeing the development from some other players on the team.    Yes, there is still time but do see a Burke or McGrady on the roster?    These next few years could be very challenging but my vote is to weather the storm with John Beilein. 


  • It seems the practice at IMG on Friday night was a huge success.   There were reports of traffic backups 10 miles long and people getting there late due to lack of parking and bad traffic.  I hope the team enjoyed their time in Florida and finishes off  Spring Practice with a solid offensive line,  3 starting LB's and a starting QB.

  • Illinois hasn't really been known to have made too many great decisions when it comes to hiring a football coach.   We all remember Ron Zook and the others that followed.   Illinois turned the page on bad hires today as Lovie Smith will be their next head coach.   Good man and great hire.  I'm sure he will need to get used to college ball but this will help recruiting a ton. 

  • ESPN ranked the top 20 jobs in college football and ranked Michigan #12.  Of course, that is too low but we haven't done anything in so long we probably deserve that spot.  We will be in the top 5 in the next couple of years!

3 comments:

Scott K said...

There was a comment made at the end of the game saturday, that in history, there's only been ONE big ten team left out of the tourny, with Michigan's record.

They've played uninspired, which is what's most troublesome. Shooters get cold, defense adjusts and takes away open looks, those things happen. Good teams learn to adjust, we have not. How many times have we left someone wide open for an uncontested 3 in the last four games? A hell of a lot more times than we've managed to GET open for one on our end. How many lay ups have we missed? I'm not sure as to the why, who, how, but these kids aren't fighting! Maybe coach B needs some new blood on staff, a motivator.

Lets win one on Thursday and take a 16 seed. Go Blue!

Voice of Reason said...

FWIW, I believe the Lovie Smith hire was a good one for Illinois. He is an outstanding coach and I believe he received a raw deal at Tampa bay. His teams normally develop a solid defense that major in turn overs and I have no doubt that he will lay a solid foundation at the Illini. Illinois sees him as Harbaugh lite, "the same great coaching with half the notoriety." I mean twenty six million dollars is nothing to sneeze at. Plus they know him from his years with the Chicago Bears. My gut tells me that he really wants to be an NFL coach and I wouldn't be surprised if he eventually leaves for the NFL if they come calling again.

I also agree with you Bob regarding Coach John Beilein, he's a great coach and good for Michigan. It is foolish to start talking about looking for another coach now.

I believe Coach Harbaugh accomplished everything he wanted from his week at the IMG academy. Michigan was in the headlines nationally for the entire four weeks leading up to it, and even the IMG kids and the prospects from sounding states who were interested or curious heard and likely came to see the practice. Michigan placed a giant flag right there in Florida, right there in the heart of SEC country and there was nothing that anyone could do about it. Do you think that it makes rival coaches nervous? You bet it does! Nervous enough to cry about it over lunch. IMHO!!!

Big35Hurt said...

Lovie Smith is a terrible coach as evidenced by what his defense became in Chicago after the departure of Ron Rivera. His defensive philosophy is way too passive and the "Tampa 2" is a relic scheme.....

Yes, he will help recruiting (but it couldn't get any worse at Illinois). The play on the field will continue to be very poor.