Lost Identity: Michigan Basketball Needs To Recommit To Defense
Michigan basketball has lost its defensive identity and needs to recommit to being one of the best defensive teams in the country.
Through the first chunk of the Big Ten season, Michigan basketball has lost its identity.
It seems like a different season but for most of the nonconference schedule Michigan was one of the best defensive teams in the country. It rode that grit to impressive wins against Marquette and Southern Methodist at the Garden.
Michigan was a second half-collapse away from adding ranked Virginia Tech to that list of quality nonconference wins.
Then UCLA happened. The Wolverines shot a blistering 65 percent from the field in the first half, including an eye-popping 75 percent from behind the arc. It got them a tie before UCLA pulled away late.
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The Bruins score against everyone. They put up 97 at Rupp Arena against Kentucky and 86 in Columbus against Ohio State. But Michigan was playing a brand of basketball that could best threaten the Michigan with a nonconference loss, and then the defense disappeared.
Michigan, excluding the Bruins game, gave up a stingy 57 points per game in its nonconference schedule. In Big Ten play the Wolverines have been the team that got dominated at will on their half of the court.
At just 3-4 in conference, including being winless on the road, Michigan has to recommit to defense now. The Big Ten is always one of the best conferences in the country and it can be won by winning at home and splitting on the road. That’s easier said than done, but the recipe boils down to defense in its simplest form.
Defense should travel. It is as much an effort issue as it is talent. For a John Beilein team, which is generally weak in the post and relies on the outside shot for offensive production, defense is doubly important. The offense will be inherently streaky and there will be games it can’t win by itself.
The Wolverines hung around against Maryland all game on Jan. 7 but couldn’t make a run at home with the Maize Rage roaring because they couldn’t lock down on their end of the court. The lopsided loss against Illinois, which is a bad team, speaks for itself. Michigan did come back to beat Illinois at home in the second meeting.
Even when facing a battered Nebraska squad missing a key piece, Michigan surrendered open looks and a lot of points.
Just look at Wisconsin’s late-game performance on Jan. 17 to see a team that finds ways to win when they aren’t at their best. Michigan led 38-3, with 12 minutes to play. Wisconsin put together a 25-11 run over a nine-minute stretch in crunch time.
Michigan doesn’t have a ton of elite talent, but it has a nice mix of pieces that, when playing a complete game, can gel into a formidable team. This is Wisconsin, or it could be. That’s the model.
The Wolverines need to find that grit they showed earlier in the year, and soon.
The upcoming schedule is favorable: two against an inconsistent Michigan State team dealing with injuries, two against a bad Ohio State team, and two against a Hoosiers squad held together by spit and bubble gum at this point.
