{mosimage}John Beilein makes all the difference for the Wolverines.

1. Better Fundamentals-

Under Tommy Amaker, the Wolverines were horrible at the little things like boxing out and especially handling the ball.

Now players like Ron Coleman who could barely dribble a ball are playing with more confidence and have shown better all-around skills due to new coach John Beilein's strenuous drills.

2. X's and O's-

Tommy Amaker was probably the worst X's and O's coach I've seen in any sport, and that's no exaggeration. He basically didn't run any set plays on offense.

Beilein is the complete opposite, running a unique air-it-out, three-pointer heavy offense (West Virginia took a whopping 400+ more threes than Michigan last year) and a confounding 1-3-1 defense that always forces tons of turnovers.

3. Better Support-

The Michigan fan base is excited to get behind a winning program for a change and fan morale is at a high not seen since the Fab Five days.

4. The Freshmen Effect-

Corperryale "Manny" Harris is the best freshman you've never heard of and his backcourt mate Kelvin Grady is a big upgrade at point guard with his amazing quickness.

5. A More Challenging Schedule-

Amaker always scheduled a select few hard games and then made the rest cupcakes at home. UM was never prepared for the Big Ten season.

This year, UM plays UCLA, Boston College, Duke, and in the Great Alaska Shootout which will prepare them for conference play and lead to a better Big Ten record.

6. Conditioning-

Beilein put the UM players through twice-weekly track workouts and made them all run the mile in 5:30 or less, a big step up from last year.

7. Better Shooting-

The team focused on revamping their outside shots under Beilein by getting better rotation on the ball and doing non-stop shooting drills. Plus, newcomer Zach Gibson can stretch the defense from his center position and other young players like K'len Morris and Anthony Wright can shoot it off the bench.

8. Road Woes Over?-

Michigan went 34-6 at home the last two years and still couldn't make the NCAA tournament. Under Amaker they were abysmal on the road.

If they can beat someone besides Penn State or Northwestern away from home it will help them get to over .500 in conference play which will be huge.

9. DeShawn Sims' Emergence-

The big-time recruit from last year struggled with his brother's unexpected death early in the year and never quite recovered.

He is an athletic 6'8, strong forward who can score inside and out and should get plenty of open looks in Beilein's system and became an All-Big Ten type of player soon.

10. Motivation-

Amaker was like a spectator at games, often sitting on the bench or standing with his arms folded.

Beilein on the other hand is constantly active, encouraging players and shouting out instructions. He will keep the Wolverines focused and ready to compete all year long.

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JEH45 said:

	Where do you see Mchigan in the league this year?
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November 21, 2007
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JEH45 said:

	PS Where is Amaker this year?
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November 21, 2007
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ItOffishul77 said:

	Amaker's at Harvard for some reason, and i like Michigan to be 5th or maybe 6th in the big ten. i like the way the schedule sets up with no Wisky on the road and some other breaks. how bout OSU how do they look
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November 21, 2007
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JEH45 said:

I've seen OSU one full game and two partial games. We start two senoirs, a sophomore and two freshman. We handled a very talented, but inexperienced syracuse team wed. night. Our center Koufos looks to me to be a one and done player. Very talented on offense-not so much on D or on the boards. Our senoir power forward hunter is a nice player. Our sophomore wing Lighty is a good player. If his outside shot continues to develop he will be great. Butler moved back to point and he is good. No real backup to him. Diebler and Turner are two freshman who play alot. Diebler is starting. Both appear to have high Bball IQ's. I think Buckeye fans can expect alot from each of them. Right now we seem to have 7 players who know their roles. We have a fun team to watch, but can be hurt on the boards.

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November 23, 2007
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