Change Gon' Come

By merely owning a tie, he's already an improvement.

While it is nearly sacrilegious to point this out, I need to say it anyway: the Fab Five never won shit. Didn't win the Big Ten; didn't win the national title. Even worse, they never won the Big Ten because they weren't well coached, and they squandered a talent advantage when they'd play a better-coached team. A team like Indiana.

Those UM-Indiana games used to be tense, enthralling affairs that a Michigan fan would feel really bad about if the Wolverines lost. No fan ever wants to see his team lose, of course, but there are degrees of losing, and those Indiana games really hurt. They hurt because while Indiana had talent and pros--don't forget that--Michigan had a five-man sensation that could shoot, score inside, rebound, run the floor, block shots, and move on defense. The guys loved playing with each other, and it was palpable. Sadly, in crucial moments, they just never seemed to play with the cohesive game plan or the tactical execution equal to their talent. It was more about the 100% dunk offense. Indiana, meanwhile, was far more disciplined, with its athletes not only physically gifted but better organized. Steve Fisher has never won any awards for basketball acumen, and the Fab Five games against Indiana were proof. I guess there's a reason that Bobby Knight is Bobby Knight.

But ignoring the larger cultural influence of the Fab Five--you know, the impact of freshman; the baggy shorts and black socks; the fearless, brash attitude--Fisher's teams were perhaps primarily emblematic of a perpetual Michigan basketball shortcoming: insufficient coaching. You'd watch those teams and you'd wonder why five smart, talented players couldn't get a good shot more easily. You'd be curious about what they were doing in practice since they didn't seem to correct recurring errors as the year went along.

These issues persisted when Brian Ellerbe and Tommy Amaker were each hired later on, only things got much worse. Whereas Fisher recruited elite players whose gifts and innate basketball smarts enabled them to succeed in spite of the bad coaching they received and still go on to professional careers, Ellerbe and Amaker were even worse tacticians who couldn't recruit. Presiding over the results of the Ed Martin/Steve Fisher/Chris Webber scandal obviously impaired the program and recruiting efforts, but even once those allegations were gone, the recruits didn't come, the basketball skills were deficient, and the wins were too few. Working on top of a foundation crumbling under the weight of an inherited scandal, Ellerbe and Amaker accelerated the decline of Michigan basketball by failing to teach basketball fundamentals, to implement systems at either end of the floor, to instill the necessary level of discipline, and to recruit players needed to compete. A student from 1999-2003, I saw the four worst years in the modern history of Michigan basketball, and little changed on the court once I left school. Michigan is indebted to Amaker for "cleaning up" off the court, but giving him six seasons without an NCAA Tournament berth was more than a fair price.

Really, for a school that's won a national title, been to five additional Final Fours, and produced a steady stream of NBA players (Cazzie Russell, Rudy Tomjanovich, Roy Tarpley, Glen Rice, Terry Mills, Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Maceo Baston, Maurice Taylor, Robert Traylor, Jamal Crawford, etc.), the recent state of Michigan basketball was deplorable. With a true basketball heritage, a leading academic environment, and a marketable brand name, Michigan should have been demanding more. Yes, Michigan is a "football school," but as we've seen at Florida, Texas, and Ohio State, among several other places, that idea is increasingly antiquated. Having failed to hire god-body coach Rick Pitino when it had the chance (instead picking Amaker--that was brilliant), Michigan was running the risk of falling into relative basketball obsolescence, as it was saddled with a nice guy who couldn't beat good teams, couldn't teach basketball fundamentals, and couldn't develop his players. But then it fired Amaker and hired a guy who not only will meet Michigan's ethical standards and complement the school's rich academic culture, but also will win games.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the savior of Michigan basketball: John Beilein.

So "savior" is a little too strong (and perhaps too optimistic), but in Beilein, Michigan is getting a coach who has won at every level where he's coached; is universally hailed by his peers as a wonderful tactician and teacher; came within a fluke three of taking a limited West Virginia club to the Final Four; and will likely do many of the basketball things needed to win. In my own unscientific estimation, I've always said that there are five hallmarks of well-coached college basketball teams:

1) they hit their free throws;
2) they rotate on defense;
3) they understand how to get a good shot within the structure of their offense;
4) they box out; and
5) they are well prepared for end-of-game and other special situations.

From what I've seen of Beilein's teams at West Virginia, he is a guy who knows how to meet these criteria. But meeting the criteria is not a goal in and of itself. Rather, I think that when a team demonstrates these characteristics, it's indicative of the program's culture. Free-throw shooting is a measure of discipline, practice, and concentration; rotating on defense is a measure of teamwork, communication, and organization, as players need to understad where they and their teammates are supposed to be; ditto for executing on offense; boxing out is a basketball fundamental that needs to be taught and practiced and is also aided by intensity; and preparation demonstrates that practices are structured and that the coaches and players are aware of what's happening. Under Amaker, Michigan was falling short in too many of these areas, and it doesn't sound like that will be a similar experience under Beilein. There are no assurance, of course, but the dude knows basketball.

The primary criticisms I've read of Beilein relate to recruiting. Some have said that he will not work at it hard enough; that his absence of Midwest ties will hurt him in the region; that his track record at West Virginia was inauspicious. Others, including some prominent members of the Detroit media, have infuriatingly said that he will not have a good relationship with "Detroit and Flint," a euphemism meant to say that: 1) Beilein is not black and will not be able to get black players; 2) Beilein will not work well with AAU coaches. I disagree. For a number of reasons. First, while it may be true that some people--black, white, Indian, whatever--prefer to be with and play for a coach of their own ethnicity, the ultimate currency in basketball is winning. If Beilein wins, he will get the players he needs. That's how it works all over the country, for black and white coaches. I'm also not sure if the race assertion is fair to black players and parents who, I think we can assume, want the best--education, coaching, winning, exposure, NBA prep--for themselves and their children just as badly as whites do. Look at O.J. Mayo. Of course, it's ridiculous that USC, allegedly a school, markets itself as an academy for aspiring media superstars, but that's not Mayo's fault, and to his credit, he decided upon what he wanted and then went out and found it. Kids are smart enough to assess their options. At North Carolina and Duke and UCLA, black kids sign up to play for white coaches because the coaches are decent humans who know basketball, can put kids in the NBA, and work for institutions that present real academic opportunities (which players may or may not want to pursue). I don't know why Beilein would be any different. Again, I get that race may factor into the decisions of some recruits, but it won't determine the outcome for all. And let's not forget that Tommy Amaker, a young and likable black man, had his ass handed to him in recruiting.

Second, the AAU system around the country is notoriously corrupt, and if the insinuation is that Beilein will wrongly refuse to break rules, that's pathetic. He shouldn't and shouldn't have to. Does illicit activity take place? Yes. Does it happen in Southeast Michigan? Yes. Does it mean that all people break the rules? No. Maybe that's naive, but I have a hard time believing that a coach who wins at Michigan, with players from the state, will fail to make connections. There are surely some nefarious types who are looking to exploit the system and get what they can however they can, but to cast an entire set of people in that role is demeaning, perhaps racist, and completely baseless.

Now, would it be better if Michigan had a coach with Beilein's basketball acuity but Billy Donovan's youth and energy? Yes. But as you look around the country, there are plenty of older men winning games and signing recruits. I am far less concerned about recruiting than I am about winning basketball games. The recruits will come as the wins do. And whereas a Tommy Amaker team reliably beat the bad teams, split with the mediocre ones, and always lost to the good ones, a Beilein squad will win when it should and be much more competitive, even when overmatched on paper. Last year, in the Big East, with a young team, Beilein had his guys hitting 71% of their free throws while they put up an average scoring difference of +10, defended the three better than anyone else (opponents shot 30%), had the second-best scoring defense and the thirteenth-most-efficient offense in the country. Those are the kind of numbers that argue for success.

And so as this first full week of the John Beilein era begins, I am proud and happy to say that Michigan has found a basketball coach who fits the profile for success. And, given that the football team still is carrying around an offensive line coach who doesn't produce the results we need; has too many questions among the defensive personnel; and is regrettably still led by the same old mediocre and anachronistic head coach, this might be the first April in a while when I can genuinely say that the prospects of basketball season are more exciting than football. With football it will be more of the same and someone else will be playing for the national title. In basketball, Beilein might be giving us a glimpse of a better future.

Go Blue!