John Beilein

John Beilein is a great coach.

Not good, great.

He is such a great coach that he turned around a horrible Michigan basketball program in 1 year. Beyond the results from half of this season, John Beilein is a great coach because (1) he knows how to coach in all game time situations, (2) he is a great teacher, and (3) he wins young basketball player's respect.

In game time situations, I have been so impressed by John Beilein's ability to control the game. He seems to know exactly when to put players in, when to switch up his defenses, and when to call the right offenses. Any student of the game of basketball loves to watch when coaches throw different looks at opposing teams through different defensive schemes. The most recent game against Illinois is a great example. Beilein mainly stuck with the man to man defense, but whenever things got tight in that second half, he would switch quickly to the 1-3-1 zone. Illinois was caught off guard after getting a steady dose of man-to-man and took bad shots. In additon, his coaching control extends to the offensive side as well. The UCLA game is a great example. Beilein knew that UCLA was afraid of the 3 point shot because Michigan had lived by it through the entire game. So as a result he spreads out all his shooters along the perimeter and calls for a backdoor cut by DeShawn Sims for an easy dunk. Michigan may lack talent, but you can never say that Beilein got out coached.

Beilein can accomplish these strategic and often complex offensive and defensive sets because he is a great teacher. He has clearly taught each and every player on that team what to expect in just about every situation and what each of their roles is. Player know their roles, they fit those roles, and they carry out their given tasks on the floor. The Michigan players have bought into the Beilein system and they are carrying it out.

As stated above, the play and success of the basketball team so far is attributable to players buying in and understanding the system, which is a direct reflection on the respect that Beilein has earned. To garner the respect and faith of all of these players is absolutely impressive. Keep in mind the varying personalities on this team. There is the superstar mentality of Manny Harris that he has over come. As a result Manny is a total team player: happy to score 25 or get 12 assists based on what the team needs him to do. Or you have the personality of entitlement that DeShawn Sims displayed early in the year. Beilein combated that by benching Sims early in the season; a bold move, and one that has paid off. Lastly, you have the group of young kids who were not highly touted. Beilein has instilled a sense of confidence in all of them by giving everyone on the team the go ahead to shoot all the time. Nobody hesitates, and everybody can shoot from all over. Players like Gibson, Novak and Douglass all seem to have ice running through their veins even though they are young or lack the talent. That is a true reflection of a good coach. Beilein is sucking these players for everything they got by putting them in the right situations and teaching them his vision.

However, the aspect of Beilein's coaching I respect the most is his ability to make a player better. Tommy Amaker was a pretty good recruiter, especially given Michigan's turmoil involving Chris Webber and the booster Ed Martin. But, Amaker was a terrible coach. Player's like Daniel Horton and Lester Abrams were exactly the same players they were as freshmen when they were seniors. They displayed no improvement whatsoever. The same cannot be said about John Beilein. Everyone on that team who played last year is better than the year before. The best example may be Kelvin Grady. He was a turnover waiting to happen last year and was down right afraid to shoot. This year he is dynamic handling the basketball and has become a legitimate downtown threat. It may just be players gaining experience, but I think the tenure of Tommy Amaker proves otherwise.

So, while Beilein may not be the best recruiter in the world, he gets wins with fantastic coaching. And that great coaching has turned around the Michigan program and made it relevant again.