Michigan head coach John Beilein and his players have preached the importance of learning from their losses all season, and the message was no different from the former following Sunday’s setback to MSU in the Big Ten Tournament title game.
Beilein, however, explained on his weekly Inside Michigan Basketball radio show that he saw plenty of encouraging signs from his club in the loss to the Spartans, and that he’s not necessarily discouraged because of the outcome.
“You want your team to be on a general incline all year long,” he explained. “MSU is the best team we’ve faced this season, and our other losses this year weren’t games like Sunday’s, because that was an incredible game.
“We probably had 15 or 20 empty possessions in our other losses, buy only five or 10 against MSU. They just has veterans and know a little bit more about what it takes to win, and they did it each time. All we can do is give them credit and move on.
“With that being said, we went into the weekend preparing for three teams, and I love the way our kids adapted during it, just as they’ve done all season.
“We now have time to get some rest and get better — we didn’t practice or watch film on Monday, but we watched the MSU film on Tuesday. The kids were really down on Monday after the loss, but we’ll learn how to win in the last minute.”
The Wolverines obviously showed an ability to win tight games last March, with the buzzer-beating win over Houston in the second round of the NCAA Tournament being the best example.
Michigan will likely need to do so once again if it hopes to make another deep run this time around, beginning tomorrow night against Montana.
The Grizzlies may be just a 15-seed, but at 26-8, Beilein warned that the Big Sky Tournament champions will pose a serious threat due to their ability to shoot threes and play small ball.
“They’re only missing two guys from last year’s team, and they have three Pac-12 transfers on their roster,” he noted. “They were not a great three-point shooting team last year, but they are this season.
“Montana had one of their big guys get hurt, and as a result they now they have all these 6-4 guys running around shooting threes. They’re playing with the [U-M sophomore forward] Isaiah Livers-type of 5-man now, and it’s a problem when they spread you out and shoot.
“We have a few guys of our own who faced them last year, but it really doesn’t help us a whole lot because so few guys played in that game.
“Montana does some similar things to last season, but they’re mostly different. They actually remind me of the way Nebraska goes small when they put [junior forward] Isaiah Roby at the 5, or when Ohio State puts [junior forward] Andre Wesson at the 4.
“It’ll be a tough fight, but I feel like we’re always prepared for these types of games.”
There aren’t too many complaints heading into Michigan’s matchup with Montana, seeing as how the Wolverines are 28-6 and a 2-seed in a very favorable West region.
However, there is still some negative energy being floated around by some fans regarding the fact that Michigan failed to claim a share of either the conference’s regular-season or tournament titles.
That just goes to show how far the program has come and how high the bar has been set, Beilein explained.
“On Sunday, I thought about all the teams who wish they could’ve made the NCAA Tournament this year, and then I showed the guys the NIT bracket as an example,” he revealed.
“A team like North Carolina State had a tremendous season and yet they’re in the NIT. Look at all those programs who would die to be in the NCAA Tournament.
“Our 2009 team tore the roof off of Crisler because we simply got in, but now it’s an expectation. According to the curve, we’re the eighth best team out of 68, so we need to embrace it.
“I usually look over the bracket one time beforehand just to see who made it and who didn’t, and what the seeds are — but that’s the only time.
“Florida and Nevada [who Michigan will face the winner of in the second round if it defeats Montana] are also really good teams with great wins on the year.
“There have been too many times where I’ve had too much time on my hands this time of year, but hopefully that never happens again.”
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