Michigan Wolverines Basketball: Weak In Review

Posted at 5:00am — 12/13/2014

Michigan Wolverines Basketball: Weak In Review

Is it fair to conclude in mid December that this is John Beilein’s most challenging season at Michigan?

At the end of a week which has already seen his Michigan basketball team lose twice in stunning fashion within a 72-hour period, the coach may not have enough clean blue pinpoint oxfords to survive the trip to Tucson for Saturday’s tussle with the #3 Arizona Wildcats.

So much has happened in such a short time to a team that only last week sat two spots ahead of Michigan State in the national rankings. What’s especially alarming is that this year’s squad has perhaps the most stable backcourt in recent memory. Coach Bee has had to deal with a literal changing of the guards each of the past four seasons. Just 30 short months ago seniors Zack Novak and Stu Douglass were leading the fourth-seeded Wolverines into the dance with a 24-9 record. The following year Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. took the maize and blue to the Final Four. And last year Michigan reached the Elite 8 behind the duo of Nik Stauskus and Caris LeVert.

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LeVert has returned, along with 2012 National Final phenom Spike Albrecht and icy-veined sophomore Derrick Walton, lending hope that the devastating loss of talent due to the draft (Stauskas and Glenn Robinson III), graduation (Jordan Morgan), transfer (Jon Horford) and cannabis (Mitch McGary) would be tempered, at least a little bit. Given that the incoming freshman trio of 6’ 9” forwards D.J. Wilson, Ricky Doyle and Mark Donnal are the only players taller than his starting two-guard, Beilein knew this team would be one that led from the perimeter and not the paint.

The wily coach tweaked his motion offense accordingly to this end, posting low even less that previous teams had done (which was hardly ever), and using screens and dribble penetration even more to free up potential scoring options. Initially the disguise proved effective as the Wolverines dispensed of feisty Oregon and petulant Syracuse teams on the way to a 6-1 record. Their only blemish was a loss to #12 Villanova in Brooklyn, an entertaining game played at an early March pace that was essentially even until the final minute. Ironically, the 60-55 score was a mere point off of the final the last time these two teams met, when top-seeded Michigan was upset by Rollie Massimino’s eventual national champs, 59-55.

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But enough about the days of Roy Tarpley and Antoine “Air” Jobert. Wolverine teams of the mid-1980s were stacked compared to the 2014-15 edition. More than that, they were sure of who they were and how each player contributed to the greater good. The lack of confidence in this year’s squad has shown its ugly head in what may be the most brutal week of basketball in school history—and considering the decade or so of brutal basketball before Beilein arrived, that says a lot.

It began last Saturday as Michigan welcomed the New Jersey Institute of Technology into town. Not for an issue with their IT department, but for a game of basketball. Or, as it turned out, the single biggest athletic moment in the history of the school. Were it not for Princeton’s historic upset of defending national champion UCLA in the 1996 NCAA basketball tournament, it may have been the biggest college basketball moment ever for the entire state of New Jersey.

No need to delve into the gory details, other than the final score of 72-70, and that Michigan had the 70 part. Chants of “NJIT! NJIT!” could be heard from the windows of Wolverine-hating homes from coast to coast, as the university had finally found a compatible match for the football program’s Appalachian State debacle.

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As if that weren’t enough, three days later the mighty Eagles of Eastern Michigan fired up the team bus, bounced down Washtenaw Avenue and pulled into Crisler— the arena with the waterfall inside, as ESPN likes to point out. A few hours later, EMU had dropped a 45-42 defeat on the still-stinging Wolverines.

Inexcusable? Indefensible? You’re getting warm. Which is more than the Wolverine offense got in 40 minutes. The Eagles’ 2-3 zone frustrated Michigan in ways Syracuse never could, allowing a measly 14 field goals all game. From beyond the arc the Wolverines bricked, clanked or outright aired 17 of 21 attempts.

Arizona, from what I hear, may present an even greater challenge.

Freed from the distraction of Michigan being ranked in the national college basketball polls, Beilein can roll up his sleeves (doesn’t he already?) and get to the business of finding his team’s soul. Too much talent exists to justify the Michigan’s last two outings. Too much good coaching exists to expect anything less than a return to the hard-fought, gutty performances that have become a Beilein trademark. He’ll need twelve Mike Tysons in McHale Center on Saturday.

At least he won’t have to worry about anyone mailing it in.

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Written by GBMWolverine Writer — Chris Hill

Go Blue — Wear Maize!

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