Michigan Basketball: Soft Interior Defense Will Be Wolverines' Achilles' Heel

While a narrow loss at the Legends Classic can be overlooked in most circumstances, looking deeper into the problems could be cause for panic at Michigan.

The Wolverines had a solid showing on paper, defeating Oregon 70-63 in the semifinals before losing to Villanova in a highly entertaining 60-55 game.

The Wildcats have the potential to be one of the top teams in the nation after earning a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament last season, meaning there is little reason to cry about a loss to them in November.

The problem is that Villanova beat Michigan down low, something that will be a bigger problem throughout the season. 

Jay Wright's squad is known for its guard play, which it hopes to use to overcome issues in the frontcourt. This is the same strategy that the Wolverines have coming into the year.

Even head coach John Beilein noted the similarities in the game plan after the loss per USA Today:

"

Watching them play VCU (on Monday), they were playing, like, Michigan basketball. They're hitting the open man, they've got the extra pass that leads to the basket. Really good experienced players, with great balance. They play the way we want to play. ... Very unselfish, have a post game, have a great point guard and good wings.

"

This was a perfect matchup for Michigan with strength against strength, but it still could not pull out a win playing its own game. Things are going to get a lot worse when opponents can match up their strength against the Wolverines' weakness.

It was no secret coming into the year that the Wolverines had lost a lot of talent in the frontcourt. Sure, the team would miss Nik Stauskas' scoring, but losing Glenn Robinson III, Mitch McGary, Jon Horford and Jordan Morgan left the program barren in the low post.

Mark Donnal, Ricky Doyle and possibly D.J. Wilson are really the best options down low this season. They're all freshmen, and none of them is taller than 6'9". Junior Max Bielfeldt is only 6'7". This should make it no surprise KenPom.com (subscription required) lists the squad at 204th in the nation in effective height, accounting for position and usage.

Although none of the first few opponents exposed this problem, Oregon was able to keep things interesting Monday night by outrebounding Michigan 41-29. This included an impressive 18 offensive rebounds for the Ducks out of a possible 40 chances. 

The rebounding numbers as a whole have not been as good as they should be against opponents that do not have much frontcourt skill:

	Michigan	Opponent
Hillsdale	35	28
Bucknell	37	29
Detroit	37	25
Oregon	29	41
Villanova	31	35

While Oregon didn't really have quality scorers in the low post (or much of anything outside of Joseph Young), the poor interior defense still helped the game remain closer than it should've been.

During the game, Jeff Borzello of CBS Sports noted this as a major storyline going forward:

The problem was not solved against Villanova, with Jim Jackson of the Big Ten Network calling it one of the top issues:

Once again, it was not exposed as much since the Wildcats love to shoot from the outside (and they struggled, going 6-of-20 thanks to solid perimeter defense).

However, little-used forward Daniel Ochefu was still able to get off some easy shots, as he went 5-of-7 from the field. Only twice in his career has the 6'11" junior tallied more field goals in a game.

Meanwhile, the real problems came from JayVaughn Pinkston, who was quiet for most of the game before making his presence felt late. He and Caris LeVert traded baskets twice in the final two minutes, although Pinkston's were way too easy since there was no rim protector trying to stop him.

The star forward then came through defensively with one of the biggest blocks you will ever see:

Sorry everybody—that was a clean block. No foul.

Pinkston doesn't usually play in the low post, but he showed what can happen when Michigan matches up against someone with size and strength.

The Wolverines have talented wings with height like LeVert, Kameron Chatman and Zak Irvin. These skilled performers will be great on the offensive end all year, and they'll be able to guard the perimeter against similar players.

However, none of them has the strength to stop anyone in the post, which puts more pressure on the thin frontcourt.

Alex Goodlett/Getty Images

While the young players might improve over the course of the year, they will not grow, and they will still struggle in non-conference games against Syracuse and Arizona, both of which know how to get points in the post.

The Big Ten will be even tougher, as the players try to defend against players like Frank Kaminsky and Branden Dawson.

Offensively, the Wolverines should be just fine with LeVert and Irvin making big plays while the backcourt consistently makes shots from deep. Beilein has never really relied on low-post scoring, and this year will not be much different.

Still, the lack of an interior defense will haunt them throughout the season. When Michigan wants to make a big stop late in games, an opponent can easily go inside and either score or come through with an offensive rebound and points on the second opportunity.

Michigan is still a very good team with a young roster that will only get better. However, this glaring weakness will prevent greatness as well as contention in the Big Ten this season.

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