Michigan Basketball is Capable Without Caris LeVert
Michigan basketball had to do without Caris LeVert against Purdue, but the Wolverines didn’t crumble under the pressure.
One of the biggest concerns I had for this Michigan team heading into the season was how the Wolverines would fare without one of its main contributors.
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We’ve had a few opportunities to make that evaluation between Derrick Walton Jr. and Caris LeVert each missing at least two games now. Most notably, LeVert was absent against Purdue on Thursday night. After that performance, I’m confident in saying Michigan is capable without him.
And by capable, I don’t mean anything great or anything bad. It’s a middle-of-the-pack team. Average, maybe just a little better than average.
Give all the credit in the world to the Wolverines for hanging in there with Purdue for the better part of the game. Michigan was able to keep it close for the most part, but it couldn’t ever make the big strike, and the Boilermakers took advantage of desperation mode in the end to pull away for an 87-70 victory.
A big reason Michigan was able to keep it close for so long was the play of Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, who racked up 25 points on the night, leading all scorers.
While that’s certainly impressive, it’s also reason to be a little weary of these situations. It’s why I say Michigan is only capable. Ideally, there’s a go-to guy; ideally, it’s Walton. (And when Walton is out it’s LeVert.) That just hasn’t been the case though this season.
Check out these numbers.
In the two games LeVert has missed (Penn State, Purdue), Walton has averaged 9 points, 2 assists and 5.5 rebounds. Those numbers are nearly identical to what you’re getting when LeVert is also in there.
On the flip side, Walton has missed three games (Houston Baptist, SMU, Delaware State). In those games LeVert averaged 15 points, 3 assists and 4.3 rebounds. Once again, you don’t see the increase you’d expect. In fact, LeVert’s numbers in those three categories are all down when you could argue Michigan needs him most.
This time it was Abdur-Rahkman who stepped up, but what about next time? In that case we could unfortunately be in for another viewing of Michigan’s 82-58 loss to SMU.
I understand that players and coaches will of course fall on the “it’s a team game” cliché, but for those of us on the outside, it’s unsettling when you don’t know at all what to expect when LeVert or Walton—or, heaven forbid, both—aren’t able to lace ’em up.
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Hopefully this isn’t going to be a long-term injury for LeVert; it doesn’t sound like it will be. Until he gets back, Michigan is going to need to find a consistent go-to guy.