Michigan basketball team reeling and at a loss for what to do next
Michigan basketball coach John Beilein is a big believer in watching film.
Like almost every other coach in the country, he often says immediately after games he’ll get a better idea of what happened after he watches the film. After Michigan’s 62-44 loss to No. 16 Wisconsin on Saturday, he didn’t need to watch it again.
Michigan junior guard Manny Harris, right, works around Wisconsin's Tim Jarmusz on Saturday. Michigan lost to Wisconsin, 62-44, and next is at Minnesota on Thursday. (Photo: Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com)
Then there was Michigan itself, which seemed to do little right for the second straight game.
“Except for the Iowa game, we haven’t been able to reach our goals in games and if it’s happening every game, and it has been lately, it’s hard,” Beilein said. “I don’t know if it’s mental. I think we have to get better, improve as a team, improve individually, just have to do that.”
This has been a common refrain for Beilein. Loss after loss - and there are 12 of them now - Beilein has often mentioned this need to get better. He did it at the beginning of the season with Michigan’s defense, in the middle of the season with the Wolverines’ shooting and now, again, with seven regular season games left with just about every facet of Michigan’s team.
Beilein went down the list after Saturday’s game, from making better passes to shooting better and playing stronger defense. He also cited needing more length and strength.
Freshman guard Darius Morris said Beilein told his team at halftime they need more from their bench - yet another common thread for Michigan’s season. Against Wisconsin, Michigan’s bench combined for four points, two rebounds and a turnover.
“A lot of people still trying to find themselves or trying to fit as a team,” junior guard Manny Harris said. “For some reason we ain’t clicking how we supposed to be and we just have to find that.”
For Beilein, right now it is about what to do next.
“I don’t know what to do right now,” Beilein said. “I have to watch the tape and I’m usually better after that at putting things in perspective and try not to get too high or too low but study it.
“We have some days to work on our own game and see what we can do before we go to Minnesota.”
• Big Ten Conference standings • Big Ten Conference statistics • Big Ten Network highlights from the Wisconsin-Michigan game
Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball at AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.
Comments
81wolverine
Mon, Feb 8, 2010 : 3:32 p.m.
This team has become completely de-railed and is done for the year. Maybe Sims and Harris are not meant for the Beilein system? Maybe this team has no upper classmen leaders? Maybe Novak and Douglass really aren't very good shooters? Definitely they are missing a strong inside game and consistently good ball-handling. Even with Harris next year, this team isn't going to be very good. Beilein still hasn't filled the recruiting gaps that are hurting this team. And if he doesn't figure out what's wrong by then, it will be even worse.
a2roots
Mon, Feb 8, 2010 : 2:05 p.m.
Unfortunate it has taken this long for the coach to recognize how poor his team has played. The average fan saw this long ago and the coach is now mentioning it. The players play and the coaches coach and in the end they have all have been a huge disappointment. Play has been abysmal and the coaching has been equally as bad. The coaches need to stand up and admit they are as much a part of the problem as the players. This team is toast for the rest of the season and sorry to say probably for years to come.
John Agno
Mon, Feb 8, 2010 : 9:22 a.m.
Perhaps the b-ball coaching staff needs to learn that "confidence precedes competence"....not the other way around. As the NCAA basketball season peaks, by proving a teams worthiness in the March Madness national tournament, coaching leadership shows upordoesnt. Coaching is an important part of leadership in sports, business, government and life. Those who lead well, coach well. Those who fail to lead well bump up against the glass ceiling. Every player has a coach but not all coaches have a coach. Why is that? The short answer is coachless coaches have bumped up against the glass ceiling. Who are these coachless coaches? In the game of major college basketball, they are the ones whose teams were not invited to participate in the NCAA basketball tournament.
Macabre Sunset
Sun, Feb 7, 2010 : 4:10 p.m.
It's fairly simple. Manny is not last year's Manny, and DeShawn has no supporting cast. The players aren't buying into the system. Whether it's lack of effort or lack of talent is hard to tell. This team has looked good enough to compete with top 20 teams on more than one occasion, so I suspect the former.