While Michigan coach John Beilein hates losing, he has learned to sleep well after losses.
That's what Beilein said last week at the Michigan Elite 25 coaching clinic, explaining that winning is what wreaks havoc on his sleep pattern because then he has to figure out how to make the team better. In losing, the picture is clearer on what's needed to improve.
"Now when I was at LeMoyne and Nazareth and Erie Community College, I didn't sleep well because I didn't embrace the adversity like I do now," Beilein told Michigan Elite 25 co-founder Tim McCormick. "Now I embrace adversity and say, 'Alright, now I know what we've got to get better at.' We saw it this year."
Beilein used the example of last year's stunning Wisconsin loss when Ben Brust took 2.4 seconds to hit a halfcourt prayer that sent the game into overtime. Beilein said his team didn't play well in that brief period of time, with multiple players not executing what was discussed in the huddle.
"It was bad, so what did we do? Did we walk out and say the season's over?" Beilein said. "No we said, 'That's going to come up again this year, and we're going to be more prepared for something like that.'"
Beilein indicated that when similar out-of-bounds plays took place in NCAA tournament wins against Kansas and Syracuse to send the Wolverines to the national championship game, they were ready for them.
"Would you rather have beaten Wisconsin and maybe (Trey Burke) make the shot that went in-and-out, and we didn't realize our mistakes and lost to Kansas with the chance to go to the Elite Eight? I think I like the Kansas win. I think I like the Syracuse win.
"I hate losing, but you've got to embrace that part of it."
