Michigan Basketball: Why It's Not Time to Write Off the Wolverines Yet

John Beilein is a patient man.

The Michigan coach is used to seeing results, especially recently, but he’s not opposed to letting things take their course.

While talented, this year’s Wolverines may not have have enough to make a run at a national title or reach the Elite Eight. Their disappointing 8-5 record has all but proven that this isn’t 2012-13 or 2013-14.

But that's OK, because Beilein, an eight-year Ann Arbor veteran, isn’t worried. He subscribes to a simple theory: “You really can’t do much until they get into it,” or, in other words: Let’s just wait and see what his players do in the Big Ten.

That's what he did in years past, and the approach worked. 

“I think that as coaching staff you get spoiled when you have more experience in the past,” Beilein said Friday. “You get spoiled a little bit, then your expectations for what they’re going to do [increase]. Then it brings it back to light—say ‘Wait a minute. This is rare to have them perform at a veteran level [like past teams].’

I think if there were any expectations, we’ve reeled them all back and just said, ‘No, this is what we have, let’s really just work and improve daily. Win every day, win every day, win every day.’”

Beilein’s done everything to simulate tough environments, complete with loud music and situational drills. He knows his team needs work. He’s also aware that some furiously wrote off his Wolverines after their shocking losses to the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Eastern Michigan, not to mention their 80-53 drubbing at the hands of Arizona.

After a four-game losing streak, three of which came at home, Michigan was declared DOA by the general public.

But that didn’t rattle the coach. He’s patient and will continue being so throughout the developmental phases.

Starting with Saturday at Purdue, three of Michigan’s next four games are away from the friendly confines of the Crisler Center, the site of the team’s past two victories. The road tests will give a further glimpse into the makeup of the team, providing much more than a young group’s early-season woes ever could.

Beilein’s not pleading for fans to believe. He just wants them to pay attention to the process.

Michigan Wasn't/Isn't Dead

Duane Burleson/Getty Images

It’s been a broken record—“wait, don’t judge just yet,” and “give them one more chance…”

Now, that’s not to say that an 8-5 record and the aforementioned losses weren’t causes to worry, because they were. But they were in no shape or form enough to erase the Wolverines from the memory banks.

Sure, they’ve had some rather forgettable performances, but there is a lot of ball remaining on the schedule.

Some players come into their own once they square off against league opponents. At this time in 2013-14, Caris LeVert was just warming up his engine.

Unbeknownst to most, LeVert, then a sophomore, went on a tear during three of his first four Big Ten road games.

The following is a look back on the spree that helped facilitate a breakout year:

• He scored 10 points, dished five assists and grabbed three boards during a 71-70 win at Nebraska.
• Finishing with 20 points, seven boards and four assists, he was invaluable during a 77-70 win at then-No. 3-ranked Wisconsin.
• Bursting for 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists, he proved that he was a legitimate star during an 80-75 victory at then-No. 3-ranked Michigan State.

After those outings, it didn’t matter where he played. He found his comfort level and dominated. 

That can happen for others, too.

“Definitely, we know the Big Ten Conference is really what matters for us going into the season,” LeVert said. “We know road games are big as well, so we’ve got to get off to a good start.”

That said, a “good start” would ideally help silence some of the lingering criticism.

“Yeah, I definitely think so,” said LeVert, a 6’7”, 200-pound junior who averages a team-high 15.2 points per game. “We’re a team that’s definitely gotten a lot better—just within the past couple of weeks, and I think it’ll really show in our play.”

According to Beilein and LeVert, Ricky Doyle continues to impress during practices. He's fresh off two of his best games of his young career—16- and 13-point efforts—and consistently brings a hard-work attitude to the gym. 

The 6'9", 245-pound power forward has the tools, and players such as Spike Albrecht can't wait to see what the future holds for the freshman big man, as explained in the below video. 

DeCourcy Weighs in on UM

Like Beilein and other levelheaded folk, Mike DeCourcy is also patient.

The Sporting News analyst/writer has paid close to attention to what Beilein’s built in Ann Arbor and was among a select few who wanted to see more from Michigan before banishing it to the NIT back in December.

“I don’t ever write off a team that has talent and that is coached by a legend,” DeCourcy said during an interview with the Sports in the Mitten podcast. “It’s silly to do that…”

However, he went on to say that the Wolverines’ 73-65 overtime win over Illinois wasn’t reason to celebrate, either. The good thing, though, is that Michigan has more time to figure out and solve its problems.

Prematurely writing off teams such as Michigan—regardless of subpar nonconference play—can get tricky. We’re in the midst of an era of “being first”—the first to report or the first to state an opinion—and that often gets in the way of examining facts and meaningful information, which doesn’t do much good in the long haul.

“If you’re just trying to be right, you can flip a coin on whether or not things are going to turn out right for Michigan at that point,” DeCourcy said. “I mean, they’re already ‘dead,’ or ‘buried’ or ‘dying’ or whatever word you want to use. They’re already in that shape. So now you say they’re dead, so you’ve got about a 50/50 shot that you’re right.

So if you want to be the one that said, ‘Oh, I was the one who said they had no shot,’ well, then fine. But it’s not real analysis…”

Follow Bleacher Report’s Michigan Wolverines basketball writer Adam Biggers on Twitter @AdamBiggers81

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand by the writer.