Defining Toughness

Hands down...this is the BEST article of all time! This article should be read and shared by coaches, players, parents and fans at ALL levels of basketball! Thanks to Jay Bilas of ESPN for contributing this article.

Defining toughness in college hoops
By Jay Bilas ESPN.com
I have heard the word "toughness" thrown around a lot lately. Reporters on television, radio and in print have opined about a team or player's "toughness" or quoted a coach talking about his team having to be "tougher" to win.
Then, in almost coordinated fashion, I would watch games and see player upon player thumping his chest after a routine play, angrily taunting an opponent after a blocked shot, getting into a shouting match with an opposing player, or squaring up nose-to-nose as if a fight might ensue. I see players jawing at each other, trying to "intimidate" other players. What a waste of time. That is nothing more than fake toughness, and it has no real value.
I often wonder: Do people really understand what coaches and experienced players mean when they emphasize "toughness" in basketball? Or is it just some buzzword that is thrown around haphazardly without clear definition or understanding? I thought it was the latter, and I wrote a short blog item about it a couple of weeks ago.
The response I received was overwhelming. Dozens of college basketball coaches called to tell me that they had put the article up in the locker room, put it in each player's locker, or had gone over it in detail with their teams.
Memphis coach John Calipari called to say that he had his players post the definition of toughness over their beds because he believed that true "toughness" was the one thing that his team needed to develop to reach its potential. I received messages from high school coaches who wanted to relay the definition of toughness to their players and wanted to talk about it further.
Well, I got the message that I should expound upon what I consider toughness to be. It may not be what you think.
Toughness is something I had to learn the hard way, and something I had no real idea of until I played college basketball. When I played my first game in college, I thought that toughness was physical and based on how much punishment I could dish out and how much I could take. I thought I was tough.
I found out pretty quickly that I wasn't, but I toughened up over time, and I got a pretty good understanding of toughness through playing in the ACC, for USA Basketball, in NBA training camps, and as a professional basketball player in Europe. I left my playing career a heck of a lot tougher than I started it, and my only regret is that I didn't truly "get it" much earlier in my playing career.
When I faced a tough opponent, I wasn't worried that I would get hit -- I was concerned that I would get sealed on ball reversal by a tough post man, or that I would get boxed out on every play, or that my assignment would sprint the floor on every possession and get something easy on me. The toughest guys I had to guard were the ones who made it tough on me.
Toughness has nothing to do with size, physical strength or athleticism. Some players may be born tough, but I believe that toughness is a skill, and it is a skill that can be developed and improved. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo always says, "Players play, but tough players win." He is right. Here are some of the ways true toughness is exhibited in basketball:

Set a good screen: The toughest players to guard are the players who set good screens. When you set a good screen, you are improving the chances for a teammate to get open, and you are greatly improving your chances of getting open. A good screen can force the defense to make a mistake. A lazy or bad screen is a waste of everyone's time and energy. To be a tough player, you need to be a "screener/scorer," a player who screens hard and immediately looks for an opportunity on offense. On the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team, Bob Knight made Michael Jordan set a screen before he could get a shot. If it is good enough for Jordan, arguably the toughest player ever, it is good enough for you.

Set up your cut: The toughest players make hard cuts, and set up their cuts. Basketball is about deception. Take your defender one way, and then plant the foot opposite of the direction you want to go and cut hard. A hard cut may get you a basket, but it may also get a teammate a basket. If you do not make a hard cut, you will not get anyone open. Setting up your cut, making the proper read of the defense, and making a hard cut require alertness, good conditioning and good concentration. Davidson's Stephen Curry is hardly a physical muscle-man, but he is a tough player because he is in constant motion, he changes speeds, he sets up his cuts, and he cuts hard. Curry is hard to guard, and he is a tough player.

Talk on defense: The toughest players talk on defense, and communicate with their teammates. It is almost impossible to talk on defense and not be in a stance, down and ready, with a vision of man and ball. If you talk, you let your teammates know you are there, and make them and yourself better defenders. It also lets your opponent know that you are fully engaged.
Jump to the ball: When on defense, the tough defenders move as the ball moves. The toughest players move on the flight of the ball, not when it gets to its destination. And the toughest players jump to the ball and take away the ball side of the cut. Tough players don't let cutters cut across their face -- they make the cutter change his path.

Don't get screened: No coach can give a player the proper footwork to get through every screen. Tough players have a sense of urgency not to get screened and to get through screens so that the cutter cannot catch the ball where he wants to. A tough player makes the catch difficult.
Get your hands up: A pass discouraged is just as good as a pass denied. Tough players play with their hands up to take away vision, get deflections and to discourage a pass in order to allow a teammate to cover up. Cutters and post players will get open, if only for a count. If your hands are up, you can keep the passer from seeing a momentary opening.
Play the ball, see your man: Most defenders see the ball and hug their man, because they are afraid to get beat. A tough defender plays the ball and sees his man. There is a difference.
Get on the floor: In my first road game as a freshman, there was a loose ball that I thought I could pick up and take the other way for an easy one. While I was bending over at the waist, one of my opponents dived on the floor and got possession of the ball. My coach was livid. We lost possession of the ball because I wasn't tough enough to get on the floor for it. I tried like hell never to get out-toughed like that again.

Close out under control: It is too easy to fly at a shooter and think you are a tough defender. A tough defender closes out under control, takes away a straight line drive and takes away the shot. A tough player has a sense of urgency but has the discipline to do it the right way.
Post your man, not a spot: Most post players just blindly run to the low block and get into a shoving match for a spot on the floor. The toughest post players are posting their defensive man. A tough post player is always open, and working to get the ball to the proper angle to get a post feed. Tough post players seal on ball reversal and call for the ball, and they continue to post strong even if their teammates miss them.

Run the floor: Tough players sprint the floor, which drags the defense and opens up things for others. Tough players run hard and get "easy" baskets, even though there is nothing easy about them. Easy baskets are hard to get. Tough players don't take tough shots -- they work hard to make them easy.

Play so hard, your coach has to take you out: I was a really hard worker in high school and college. But I worked and trained exceptionally hard to make playing easier. I was wrong. I once read that Bob Knight had criticized a player of his by saying, "You just want to be comfortable out there!" Well, that was me, and when I read that, it clicked with me. I needed to work to increase my capacity for work, not to make it easier to play. I needed to work in order to be more productive in my time on the floor. Tough players play so hard that their coaches have to take them out to get rest so they can put them back in. The toughest players don't pace themselves.

Get to your teammate first: When your teammate lays his body on the line to dive on the floor or take a charge, the tough players get to him first to help him back up. If your teammate misses a free throw, tough players get to him right away. Tough players are also great teammates.

Take responsibility for your teammates: Tough players expect a lot from their teammates, but they also put them first. When the bus leaves at 9 a.m., tough players not only get themselves there, but they also make sure their teammates are up and get there, too. Tough players take responsibility for others in addition to themselves. They make sure their teammates eat first, and they give credit to their teammates before taking it themselves.
Take a charge: Tough players are in a stance, playing the ball, and alert in coming over from the weak side and taking a charge. Tough players understand the difference between being in the right spot and being in the right spot with the intention of stopping somebody. Some players will look puzzled and say, "But I was in the right spot." Tough players know that they have to get to the right spot with the sense of urgency to stop someone.

Get in a stance: Tough players don't play straight up and down and put themselves in the position of having to get ready to get ready. Tough players are down in a stance on both ends of the floor, with feet staggered and ready to move. Tough players are the aggressor, and the aggressor is in a stance.

Finish plays: Tough players don't just get fouled, they get fouled and complete the play. They don't give up on a play or assume that a teammate will do it. A tough player plays through to the end of the play and works to finish every play.
Work on your pass: A tough player doesn't have his passes deflected. A tough player gets down, pivots, pass-fakes, and works to get the proper angle to pass away from the defense and deliver the ball.

Throw yourself into your team's defense: A tough player fills his tank on the defensive end, not on offense. A tough player is not deterred by a missed shot. A tough player values his performance first by how well he defended.

Take and give criticism the right way: Tough players can take criticism without feeling the need to answer back or give excuses. They are open to getting better and expect to be challenged and hear tough things. You will never again in your life have the opportunity you have now at the college level: a coaching staff that is totally and completely dedicated to making you and your team better. Tough players listen and are not afraid to say what other teammates may not want to hear, but need to hear.

Show strength in your body language: Tough players project confidence and security with their body language. They do not hang their heads, do not react negatively to a mistake of a teammate, and do not whine and complain to officials. Tough players project strength, and do not cause their teammates to worry about them. Tough players do their jobs, and their body language communicates that to their teammates -- and to their opponents.

Catch and face: Teams that press and trap are banking on the receiver's falling apart and making a mistake. When pressed, tough players set up their cuts, cut hard to an open area and present themselves as a receiver to the passer. Tough players catch, face the defense, and make the right read and play, and they do it with poise. Tough players do not just catch and dribble; they catch and face.

Don't get split: If you trap, a tough player gets shoulder-to-shoulder with his teammate and does not allow the handler to split the trap and gain an advantage on the back side of the trap.

Be alert: Tough players are not "cool." Tough players are alert and active, and tough players communicate with teammates so that they are alert, too. Tough players echo commands until everyone is on the same page. They understand the best teams play five as one. Tough players are alert in transition and get back to protect the basket and the 3-point line. Tough players don't just run back to find their man, they run back to stop the ball and protect the basket.
Concentrate, and encourage your teammates to concentrate: Concentration is a skill, and tough players work hard to concentrate on every play. Tough players go as hard as they can for as long as they can. No team can be great defensively without communication and concentration.

It's not your shot; it's our shot: Tough players don't take bad shots, and they certainly don't worry about getting "my" shots. Tough players work for good shots and understand that it is not "my" shot, it is "our" shot. Tough players celebrate when "we" score.

Box out and go to the glass every time: Tough players are disciplined enough to lay a body on someone. They make first contact and go after the ball. And tough players do it on every possession, not just when they feel like it. They understand defense is not complete until they secure the ball.

Take responsibility for your actions: Tough players make no excuses. They take responsibility for their actions. Take James Johnson for example. With 17 seconds to go in Wake's game against Duke on Wednesday, Jon Scheyer missed a 3-pointer that bounced right to Johnson. But instead of aggressively pursuing the ball with a sense of urgency, Johnson stood there and waited for the ball to come to him. It never did. Scheyer grabbed it, called a timeout and the Blue Devils hit a game-tying shot on a possession they never should've had. Going after the loose ball is toughness -- and Johnson didn't show it on that play. But what happened next? He re-focused, slipped a screen for the winning basket, and after the game -- when he could've been basking only in the glow of victory -- manned up to the mistake that could've cost his team the win. "That was my responsibility -- I should have had that," Johnson said of the goof. No excuses. Shouldering the responsibility. That's toughness.

Look your coaches and teammates in the eye: Tough players never drop their heads. They always look coaches and teammates in the eye, because if they are talking, it is important to them and to you.

Move on to the next play: Tough players don't waste time celebrating a good play or lamenting a bad one. They understand that basketball is too fast a game to waste time and opportunities with celebratory gestures or angry reactions. Tough players move on to the next play. They know that the most important play in any game is the next one.
Be hard to play against, and easy to play with: Tough players make their teammates' jobs easier, and their opponents' jobs tougher.

Make every game important: Tough players don't categorize opponents and games. They know that if they are playing, it is important. Tough players understand that if they want to play in championship games, they must treat every game as a championship game.

Make getting better every day your goal: Tough players come to work every day to get better, and keep their horizons short. They meet victory and defeat the same way: They get up the next day and go to work to be better than they were the day before. Tough players hate losing but are not shaken or deterred by a loss. Tough players enjoy winning but are never satisfied. For tough players, a championship or a trophy is not a goal; it is a destination. The goal is to get better every day.
When I was playing, the players I respected most were not the best or most talented players. The players I respected most were the toughest players. I don't remember anything about the players who talked a good game or blocked a shot and acted like a fool. I remember the players who were tough to play against.
Anybody can talk. Not anybody can be tough.

"If You Build It...They Will Come!"

Make it fun, make it exciting, make it a learning opportunity for all involved!

"When people feel extraordinary, you get extraordinaryresults. When people
feel ordinary, you get ordinaryresults." - Rick Pitino, Louisville Head
Coach

1. Implement a student-athlete leadership program
   
2. Get involved in the community... do communtiy service activities


3. Get involved in the school... do a reading program at your schools elementary school


4. Get your families involved... hold open practice sessions for family, faculty and community members


5. Have a team newsletter and/or website for parents, fans and your feeder program


6. Have "Hoops Du Jor" nights where kids can come to the gym and play...no strings attached, just fun!


7. Honor teachers & staff from the school with "Honorary Coaches" night


8. Honor past championship teams at half-time


9. Hold an "Alumni Night" with a dinner before or after the game...this allows your current players and staff to network with past players and staff


10. Hold a youth coaches clinic for local youth leagues...youth coaches are typically parents, who are always interested in learning more about the fundamentals of the game, plus it's a good way for teams to start practicing your system!


11. Host free youth clinics before certain games


12. Invite local youth teams to play during your half-time at your games...to a young athlete, there's nothing better than playing on the "big stage"!


13. Combine a boys and girls game where the girls play first and the boys follow.


14. Offer free popcorn, pizza or hotdogs at all home games


15. Make Senior Night a big deal!

Cutting Down the Nets!

It's what every player dreams of doing at the completion of their season, its a staple in basketball at the college and high school levels, it's what every team strives for, it's the explamation point after a championship title run...it's cutting down the nets! Below is an article posted on Eric Musselman's website (found here...http://www.emuss.blogspot.com/), that talks about a motivational tactic that Digger Phelps used prior to his Notre Dame team doing the unimaginable and beating John Wooden's UCLA Bruin team, which ended their 88 game winning streak.

ND was down by 11 with three and a half minutes left, but went on a 12-0 run, holding the Bruins scoreless in that span.In his book "Tales from the Notre Dame Hardwood," Irish coach Digger Phelps describes his team's preparation the week leading up to the game.
~~~~~~~~~~~I always felt the mental part of preparation for a big game was more important than the physical. I even used to have one of my assistants in charge of pre-game motivation, some gimmick that would give the players that little extra from a psychological standpoint.Even though we were 9-0 and had outscored every opponent by 26.4 points per game coming into the UCLA game, I thought it was important to put this team in a positive mindset.We had lost four straight to UCLA by a total of 128 points, so I had to change the mindset. One of the things I did was show the team film of the first 10 minutes of the two games the previous year when we'd played well and we were in the game. This way they could see themselves playing against Walton and Wilkes and the others, holding their own for a long period of time.On Wednesday, it hit me. Why not practice cutting down the nets? So that's what we did at the end of practice that day. That's right, still three days prior to the game.We had a drill where the blue team (subs) was pressing the gold team, which had a 10-point lead with three minutes left. Ironically, the game situation the following Saturday would be the opposite situation.At the end of that drill, I brought the team together and said, "OK, you know what happens now? Shumate, you go to one basket and Goose (Gary Novak), you go to the other. The rest of you split up and lift them up so they can cut down the nets, because that is what we're going to do after we win on Saturday. Someday you will tell your grandchildren about this.Some of them looked at me like I was crazy, but they did it. We repeated it after Friday's practice. Every time Gary Brokaw talks about that game, he talks about cutting down the nets at practice leading into the game. He always said it gave the team confidence.

Blogging the Journey: Gotta Have a PhD!

It has been a while since my last "Blogging the Journey" post. We have hit the meat of our schedule and are wrapped in a tight race for first place during conference play. It's talked about all the time..."you don't want to be playing your best basketball early in the season." That statement could not be any more accurate. We experienced some adversity early on in the season, going through a culture change with more focus on getting stops at the defensive end, the aches and pains of coming together and gelling as a team. We have over come those to win the last five out of six games.

We had a nice trip to D.C. just after the New Year that helped us come together as a team. It could not have come at a better time! We lost a tough game to Marymount University, a game that we could have easily won. Unfortunatley, they out executed us on both ends to win 74-62. However, we bounced back nicely in the consolation game with a 65-63 win over Mt. Saint Mary's (NY). Congrats to Joey Stevenson for the well deserved honor of reaching the tournament's all-tourney team.
Since that win, we have won four in a row to climb to second place in the AMC Conference standings. This includes wins over Hilbert, Franciscan and most recently, over the weekend, LaRoche. LaRoche was a huge win for us, probably our biggest win thus far. They are tied for the lead in the conference and it was an important and well deserved road win for us. To win on the road you must prepare, execute and stay poised, which we did all 3. We are finally buying in to the concept of team play and getting stops and converts! If we want to accomplish our goal of reaching the playoffs, we must win all of our remaining home games and steal as many road victories as we can! Up next...Penn State Altoona, another leader in the conference, but more importantly a backyard rival.

My wife, or "Santa Claus" for all who still believe, got me the new Rick Pitino book, "Rebound Rules 2.0" for Christmas. It was the only thing I asked for and I highly recommend it to anybody who has ever been faced with adversity, which is everyone! I mean, come on...if you have not faced adversity in you life, you have not lived, you have not challenged yourself! Anyhow, the book is great and Pitino provides his personal philosophy for dealing with adverse situations and the importance of reflecting on those situations to help allow yourself to grow from them and move forward in a positive direction. In Chapter 3, Pitino talks about his players having a "PhD". No, he does not recruit kids who plan to go forward for their Ph D, following graduation, he is talking about having Passion, Hunger and Drive. He learned this from a friend who works on Wall-Street, who he asked one time how he recruits people to come work for his firm in NYC. Pitino imagined that they be recruited from Havard Business School, Princeton, etc. But, to much of his suprise, his friend told him that he recruits people that have a "Ph D" - people who are poor, hungry and driven. Pitino changed the P from poor to passionate, but it still has the same meaning. I started thinking about the idea of having a "Ph D" and how it relates to our team and the way we have been playing lately. I honestly believe that we have a group of kids who are passionate for the game of basketball, who have committed themselves to working hard, playing together and buying into the philosophy of Coach Loya. Then you have hunger...if you want to be successful at achieving your goals, you must be hungry for success. Often times, success or wins can be taken forgranted because you are so used to it...victory becomes the norm and when something becomes normal, it tends to loose its "taste". That's why you must always be humble in victory and appreciate the effort that is put forth to achieve that success, while understanding that it is never garaunteed and never the norm. Having humilty in victory or success, will keep you hungry and I think right now we are hungry for success. We have "tasted" the fruits of hardwork and committment through some of the recent success that we have had. Finally, in order to achieve success or reach maximum potential, you must be driven. This drive starts with head coach, Lance Loya, who does a great job of instilling drive into our players on a daily basis by way of energy and enthusiasm, preparation and reminding everyone of our vision and what we need to do to make our dreams a reality...having a Ph D for success!

Stay humble, stay hungry and stay driven and let's make it 6 out of 7!

Go Mounties!

When Your Team is Down...Cheer Harder!

We see it all the time...a team gets down by 20 late in the second half, their shots are not falling, the opponent is shooting the lights out, it's just one of those games. During those times coaches keep coaching, teams keep fighting, keep playing hard, keep trying to chip away at that defecit. Fans expect their teams to continue to play hard and fight until the very end.

However, why is it different when it's the other way around? When a team struggles to win some games, why is it that the players are expected to continue to be positive and play harder, but the fans give up? In these cases, the fans should be expected to cheer even harder, just like the players are expected to play even harder!

With a new coach, a new system, a new program philosophy and basically all new players, the Indiana Hoosiers basketball team is struggling through their Big Ten Conference schedule. They lost at home over the weekend for the first time ever against a very good Penn State team. However, the Hoosier fans are continuing to show their support and their belief for their team. They're doing it the right way from all aspects of their program and the administration is fully supporting their efforts. Tom Crean is the perfect man for the Indiana job. He is a great coach with great committment and a high level of enthusiasm. He understands the tradition of Indiana Hoosier basketball and the importance of using its strong tradition, former players, alumni and administration to buy into and support the efforts of the Indiana program. Their V.P. and Director of Athletics, Fred Glass is leading this effort and pushing for continued support from their fan base. "I love how hard our team plays and how hard Coach Crean coaches," added Glass. They never quit and I want to encourage Hoosier Nation not to quit on them. Fan support in Assembly Hall has been tremendous. We just want to encourage more people to be there." According to the article, among ideas that Glass hopes will catch on with the Hoosier faithful are honorary game captains; allowing youngsters to shoot layups on Assembly hall's court following weekend home games; encouraging the crowd to be more engaged in and around the game; and posting spirit signs in dorms, greek houses, and local businesses to hang up prior to home games.

During adverse times, teams need positive energy from administration, parents, fans, community members, alumni, and former players. So remember, when your team is down, do what you would expect them to do...cheer harder, show more pride, keep fighting and don't give up on them!

Committing to the Small Things

Greenberg Lays Down Law for Team
Tech's men's basketball coach has his players sign a contract committing to a list of "core beliefs."
By Mark Berman
Associated Press
Find the full artilce here: http://www.roanoke.com/sports/vtbasketball/wb/190491

Virginia's Tech coach Seth Greenberg (right) shown with Hokies reserve Terrance Vinson, did not see much that he liked in the Hokies' 25-point loss to Duke last Sunday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. For the second straight year, a lopsided Virginia Tech loss on Tobacco Road has been followed by contract talk.
No, Hokies coach Seth Greenberg hasn't been given another extension. It's his players who signed a contract this week.
Adopting a tactic he used last season, Greenberg has asked his players to commit to his "core beliefs." The move came in the wake of Sunday's 69-44 loss at Duke -- a defeat in which the Hokies mustered just 13 second-half points. Tech forward Jeff Allen has said that Duke played harder than the Hokies in the second half, and that his team "gave up."
Greenberg said Thursday he didn't like the team's "competitive spirit" in the second half at Duke.

He said the contract reminds the players "of the essence of the culture of the program" and makes sure they don't "compromise" that culture.

"I've done a contract almost every single year I've been here at different times," he said. "I'm taking measures to help us get better."
Greenberg also used the contract approach after last February's 92-53 loss at North Carolina. Point guard Malcolm Delaney said after that game that the Hokies "gave up." The Hokies won four straight after signing the contract.
Players said this year's version of the contract covers everything from playing hard and playing up to one's potential in games to not talking back to coaches in practice to not using cellphones during team dinners.
"It's just stuff on and off the court, the stuff that we [were] kind of letting go, and it was kind of affecting the team," Delaney said. "He won't tolerate some of the small stuff he was tolerating.
"A lot of the contract is ... [about] effort in practice."
The Hokies plan to display better effort in Saturday's home game with Virginia.
"We need to take our anger out on somebody," Delaney said. "We didn't play hard [at Duke]. I just feel as though everybody is looking forward to another game where we can come out and play hard."
Greenberg has run practice differently this week. The regulars have been squaring off against each other instead of the walk-ons, and there has been more full-court play.
"Coach is starting to see what people he can count on," Delaney said. "Instead of having to play everybody in the rotation, he wants to play whoever would play the hardest. Everybody's just competing more for spots."

Re-energizing a Program with Loyalty and Excellence

Loyalty Paying Off for Harris and His Tourney-starved Wolverines
By Dana O'NeilESPN.com

John Beilein had been on the job just a handful of days when he sat down for his most important meeting.
Across from the newly minted Michigan coach sat a teenager who had no idea who this earnest man was. Manny Harris was a fan of playing the game, not watching the game. He spent his time on the Detroit playgrounds or in the gym, not parked in front of the television. Never really paid much attention to Kevin Pittsnogle, not real savvy about Mike Gansey, didn't know the history lesson on resurgent West Virginia hoops under Beilein.
All Harris knew was that Tommy Amaker recruited him to Michigan, had him sign a letter of intent to play for the Wolverines, and now Amaker was gone and this guy he'd never met was supposed to be his coach.
Second-year coach John Beilein has Michigan on a fast track to its first NCAA tourney trip in 11 years. In those early whirlwind days, Beilein's to-do list was lengthy, but instead of wooing alums, meeting with the media or glad-handing fans, he made Harris his priority.
Saddled with a program that still fancied itself a Cadillac but more resembled a Pinto, Beilein had watched film of the talented shooting guard, saw the way the Michigan Mr. Basketball could score, and knew Harris was the kind of player who could be used as a cornerstone in an epic rebuilding project.
He also knew that Harris wasn't sure he was still coming to Michigan.
"You get so close with a recruit because of how early it starts now, so I tried to let him know I understood," Beilein said. "But I also told him no matter where you go, you're going to be in a similar situation -- that it won't be the coach you wanted to play for. So I told him, why not give it a try? If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. I knew he wanted to turn around Michigan basketball and I wanted to turn around Michigan basketball, so I said let's see if we can do that."
The ribbon-tied trite sentence begs to be written here. The Wolverines (10-2) have knocked out UCLA and Duke, beating two top-five teams in one season for the first time in 21 years, are ranked 24th in the latest ESPN/USA Today poll and head into Wednesday's Big Ten opener against Wisconsin (2 p.m., ESPN2) as one of the early surprises of the college basketball season.
Go ahead. Try to be trite. Try to say that the turnaround Harris and Beilein craved has happened, that the Wolverines have crested the mountain and order is restored in Ann Arbor.
Fans will agree wholeheartedly. Desperate for something in maize and blue worth celebrating after a football season for the record books of ignominy, they are no longer asking whether Michigan will make the NCAA tournament. They want to know how deep the Wolverines, who haven't been dancing in a decade, can go.
They clogged players' Facebook and MySpace pages after the UCLA win, stormed the court after the 81-73 win over the Blue Devils, and have bull-rushed drinking the Kool-Aid in favor of an all-out kegger on the stuff.
But just try to run that hackneyed nonsense by Beilein and his Merry Band of Realists.
Beilein is so underwhelmed that he likens sophomore coaching seasons to the bout of vertigo that sidelined him against Eastern Michigan earlier this month.
"It's that same dizziness," he said. "Second years are a roller coaster. Just when you think you're getting better and you've made it, watch out, and when you think you're never going to get better, you play great.
"We haven't turned the corner yet. We can see the corner up there, but we haven't turned it."
Beilein's temperance is the drink of choice for his players.
Says Harris: "To me, it feels like we're just getting started. We're only beginning to become what a good program is."
Says DeShawn Sims: "I think we're still climbing the hill. We've developed so much in terms of our team chemistry, so we're steadily moving up the hill, but we're not there yet."
They can poor-mouth it all they want, but the Wolverines are a lot closer to the summit a lot faster than anyone could have dreamed -- already matching last season's win total.
If football coach Rich Rodriguez is looking for hope, he needs only to check in with his former West Virginia co-worker. A year ago, Beilein was Rodriguez, his hoops team matching this year's pigskin crew in futility. The Wolverines finished 10-22, setting a record for losses in a single season -- and, most embarrassing, took an 11-point loss on the chin from Harvard, with Amaker leading the Crimson.
Beilein insisted he was encouraged, saying after the regular season-ending loss to Purdue, "I've seen great progress and I hope you have."

DeShawn Sims has blossomed from a role player to a star for the surprising Wolverines.
What he viewed through the prism of his rose-colored glasses was clear to him if no one else: Sims, a little-used rookie under Amaker, started every game and earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors as he nearly quadrupled his productivity, going from 3.4 points to 12.3 per game; and Harris, a rookie who also started every game, scored in double figures in 28 of 32 games and became only the fourth Michigan freshman to score more than 500 points.
The losses were hard to swallow, but to Beilein, the experience was worth the pain. The pair, along with guard Kelvin Grady and forward Zack Gibson, learned the rigors of college ball as well as the demands of Beilein ball.
Beilein dislikes the word system, saying he merely teaches players things high school coaches don't have the time to teach. Things like transition defense. Whatever he wants to call it, the way he coaches involves a learning curve. Players aren't used to reading defenses as he demands they do, nor frankly are they used to the steady green light he offers. The Wolverines take around 26 3-pointers per game, despite making only 8.8 of them on average.
"It's almost like a football playbook, there are so many plays," Harris said. "He has his own vocabulary and it's hard to get down. The other thing is, it's not that you step outside of the system, but you have to be able to create. The system puts you in the position to be open. It's up to you to create and finish."
While outsiders cringed at the hefty buyout to West Virginia required to bring Beilein to town and wondered if athletic director Bill Martin was getting his money's worth that first year, the Wolverines became instant converts.

They liked the way Beilein demanded excellence that had nothing to do with
winning but everything to do with how they played. They liked the confidence he
had in them, even when -- or especially when -- their shots didn't fall.

And they liked him.

"There is zero tolerance for negativity with him. Zero," Sims said. "There's a
standard for everything you do, and you gain so much confidence through him. You
feel like you can do anything."

With Beilein's help, Sims has blossomed from a role player under Amaker into the Wolverines' version of Pittsnogle. The 6-foot-8 forward is averaging 17.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per game and has become the sort of outside shooter required of a big man in Beilein's system, er, style. As a rookie, Sims took seven 3-pointers and missed them all. As a sophomore he took 142 and hit 43. This year, he's 10-for-29.
As for Harris, he is averaging a Big Ten-leading 19.8 points per game, but made his coach smile widest when he wasn't the leading scorer. Against Oakland, Harris had 15 points to Sims' 20 but dished out 13 assists to zero turnovers in 36 minutes.
It's the sort of game, the kind of stat line, that brings Harris back to his April 2007 meeting with Beilein. He admits at the time he was teetering on the fence, not sure if he should stay with Michigan or go elsewhere.
Two things, Harris said, convinced him to stay.
"Definitely, one was my love for Michigan," he said, "but the other was the way coach kept everything so real. He didn't come in and lie to me and say that this would be my team. He told me we were going to have a lot of work to do and have to work hard. But he also promised he would make me a better player and we could make Michigan better."
Meeting adjourned.