IB Friday, November 1.201",d Of

The Beilein Paradox

Iwatched the 2013 NCAA
Basketball Championship
game from a Pizza Hut in
Grand Rapids,
Michigan,
and the only
other people
in the restau-
rant were an
impassioned,
older Michi-
gan fan and a
woman who MAX
sat quietly BULTMAN
with him.
Throughout
the second half, that fan yelled at
Trey Burke, berated John Beilein
and my God did he scream at
Luke Hancock.
I didn't get it. I couldn't trace
his anger. Michigan wasn't even
supposed to be in the national
championship, but the game was
close right to the very end. Now,
after another year and another
deep tournament run, I think
I've finally figured out what that
guy was thinking.
He set the bar for the Wol-
verines at their ceiling and then
-'n""expectedthem to cear it If

that sounds like a contradiction,
that's because it is.
That's the standard John
Beilein has built for the Michi-
gan men's basketball team. Not a
screaming, disappointed fan in a
Pizza Hut, but ateam that beats
the odds with such regularity
that fans have come to expect it.
Beilein's teams have been a
refuge for Michigan fans lately,
not simply because they've won,
but because they've done it with
dramatic flair, even when they
weren't supposed to. Fans know
what his most recent teams have
done, and now they want it by the
pound.
Expecting Michigan to repeat
the kind of success Beilein's
teams have had in the last few
years just isn't fair. Not when it
will rely heavily on unproven
freshmen in the frontcourt and
play in arguably the best confer-
ence in the nation.
And yet, as we temper expec-
tations for the Wolverines, we do
so with one caveat: They could
defy logic again. -
We predict one result, and
then we anticinnae hem outner-

forming that forecast. What kind
of logic is that?
Call it Beilein's Paradox,
because Michigan's veteran
coach is directly responsible for
this puzzling phenomenon.
It's easy to forget that the Wol-
verines lost to lowly Charlotte in
the championship of last season's
Puerto Rico Tip-Off. They were a
young team that didn't know who
to look to for a big shot - exactly
what they were expected to be.
And yet, by late January, Mich-
igan was right where it wanted
to be - undefeated in league play
and first in the Big Ten.
Beilein coaches with a big-
ger vision in mind. He doesn't
so much mind a stumble here or
there if he ends up in the right
spot at the end. The approach
is conducive to stability, and in
growth.PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
John Beilein has a flair for taking teams with low expectations and exceeding them.
Keeping with that approach,
the Wolverines never lost back- win 10 straight, including three Beilein's teams have also had a
to-back games last season. And consecutive wins over teams penchant for magic. Trey Burke's
when a loss was especially ranked in the top 10. shot against Kansas comes to
painful, they seemed to learn And after Wisconsin rocked mind, as does Glenn Robin-
a proportional amount. When them at home, the Wolverines son III's buzzer-beating layup
Michigan dropped a heartbreak- came right back to beat Michigan against Purdue. So does the Jor-
er to Arizona, it proceeded to State by nine. dan Morgan charge. So does the
other Jordan Morgan charge.
Those moments are special for
a reason - they're a factor you
can't count on. But Beilein makes
it easy to expect them anyway.
Here's what reality says: True
freshmen are going to look like
true freshmen at times, and
Michigan could rely on five of
them this year. It's too early to tell
whether Zak Irvin and Derrick
Wd Walton Jr. are ready to shoulder
larger loads. The Big Ten is going
to be as tough as ever.
Knowing all of that, the media
didn't pick Michigan to finish
in the top three of the Big Ten.
Some say they're not sure if the
msWolverines will be in the top five.
There might not be any enchant-
ment coming the Wolverines'
way this time.
' But it's getting to the point
where nothing a Beilein-coached
team does will surprise anyone.
They could win the whole thing,
and few would be stunned if they
do. And ina funny way, that's its
own brand of high expectations.
Max Bultman can be reached
at bultmanm@umich.edu or
on Twitter @mbultman

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