MICHIGAN BASKETBALL RECAP

Alright everyone's been waiting patiently for this post to explode, so here's out thoughts on John Beilein's second season at UM:

2009 Recap:

• If you would have told us at the beginning of the year we would have made the Round of 32, we would have said you'd had one too many quaaludes.

• Maybe we overstated it a bit with DeShawn Sims for Big Ten Player of the Year, but name a more improved player in the country than DeShizzle. To increase your shooting percentage 10 points in one year is completely ridiculous.

• Manny Fresh was Manny Fresh. To be among the Top 10 in Big Ten points, rebounds and assists is no small feat. If there's one adjustment that needs to be made in the offseason, it's Beilein pushing the ball when Manny gets it in the open court. He's a one-man fastbreak, people.

• The rebounding situation? Yikes. We know rebounding is the Achilles' heel of Beilein's offense, but there were times teams would get 4 or 5 offensive rebounds in one possession.

• The offense took huge strides forward this year (244th in offensive efficiency in 2008, 96th this year), but there were still some BRUTAL scoring droughts that reminded us of the Tommy Amaker Point a Minute teams. When we just start winging it around the perimeter for 30 seconds, DeShawn has to call for it on the block next year and take control.

2010 Preview:

• You know Michigan fans are going to start talking crazy shit like the Final Four in the offseason with basically everyone coming back. And we should be very, very good. But just a note of caution: The Big 10 is going to be an absolute bloodbath next year. Aside from Wisconsin, NO ONE loses any seniors. BJ Mullens going pro really hurts, but Evan Turner is a stud and David Lighty coming back off a broken foot will be a huge boost.

• Kelvin Grady: Please do some serious soul-searching in the offseason. We don't know what it is with these Grady brothers, but we seriously need someone to run the point next year with Merritt and C.J. Lee graduating. We don't even need Grady to score. If he can just push the break and take care of the ball, he might actually get on the court.

• It'll be really interesting to see how our recruiting class turns out, with Beilein pulling in some real studs (Matt Vogrich, Darius Morris, Jordan Morgan). Morgan will have to contribute minutes right away and it will be quite comical to see Stu, Novak and Vogrich on the court on the same time. Seriously, how many baby-faced white kids can we get?

Our 2010 prediction: Big Ten 4th place, Sweet Sixteen.

Not bad for Year 3, Johnny Cakes.