Michigan Basketball Big Ten Season Analysis: 5 Issues To Be Addressed

So here we are at the middle of the rough and tumble Big Ten season and the Michigan Men's basketball team are all even at 4-4 with an overall record of 14-6. This young team has shown some Big Ten toughness with notable wins against a surprising Illini squad followed by a win in Bloomington for the first time in what seemed like a century.

It appeared as if Beilein's squad had finally turned a corner that many of us had been waiting for since the days when Michigan basketball used to matter. The excitement, however, was short lived as the team went on a three game losing streak only to bounce back with a nice win at home against Northwestern.

After an early non-conference schedule where the Wolverines played well beyond expectations (two wins against top 5 teams and a 10-2 record) and displayed a stingy defense with Beilein's signature 1-3-1 perplexing teams like Duke and UCLA the grind of the Big 10 schedule has exposed some weaknesses needing to be addressed if this team plans to dance well into March.

Here are the five biggest issues to address:

1. The rise and fall of the 1-3-1 defense

After holding the now #1 Duke Blue Devils to 71 and 73 points in their two games (Duke's two lowest scoring efforts of the year) the 1-3-1 has been exploited by bigger teams that have found living easy under the basket. At times the mostly freshman and sophomore squad looks tired and a step slow in trapping players, clogging lanes and plain harrying teams as they had been doing in the early season. If Michigan's defense can find its early season form and continue to get buckets off turnovers this team should fair well for the remainder of the season and make some noise come Big 10 tourney time.

2. The offensive inconsistency of Manny Harris

Manny had a five game stretch where he scored 16, 17, 18, 20 and 21 but in his last two games he scored four in the loss to Penn State and 8 in the win at home against Northwestern. While he finds many ways to contribute on both ends of the floor and while he's the best rebounding guard in the Big 10 and possibly the country, for the Wolverines to continue their early season success Manny has to lead this team in scoring more often than not.

3. Lack of low-post presence on offense and defense

The Big 10 is a big tough league especially in the paint. Bigger teams like Penn State and Ohio State have exposed Michigan's lack of bulk under the basket. The biggest concern here is that there isn't an answer. While DeShawn has done his best to be Michigan's low-post presence at 6'8" he's not Big 10 center material. He's undersized and frequently out-muscled.

After starting most of last season Michigan F/C Zack Gibson has played sparingly this year and has failed to make an impact during much of his time on the floor.

In order to stay at or above the .500 mark in conference play this team will need to at least slow down opposing big men for the remainder of the season.

4. Reliance on the "3"

In Michigan's four conference losses the best they've shot from 3 point range was 33%. The worst outing was a 5 for 30 shooting night behind the arc against Penn State (16.7%). Michigan has only shot 40% or better once in Big Ten play. With the reliance on the long ball Michigan has to find it's groove soon.

With outside shooters like Douglass, Novak, Harris, Sims and Lucas-Perry and a Beilein philosophy that there's no such things as a bad 3-point shot Michigan can go far if the shots start falling. If not "Let's Go Blue" may be singing from the rafters...at MSG in the NIT Finals.

5. Fatigue

This team relies heavily on three freshman for significant minutes. With a grinding schedule, constant travel, academic pressures and the occasional frat party young legs get weary fast. During the three game losing streak the team only scored in the 50's. The players looked slow in the 1-3-1 and were lethargic out of the gate. After an amazing start one must wonder if this team can muster up the energy to continue to compete at such a high level with big games coming up against UCONN, MSU, Purdue and at Wisconsin. Michigan's young players will need to find their second wind to keep the hopes of March madness alive.