Big Ten Basketball Weekly Blog: Wolverines on the rise?

It would have been a familiar feel in the Michigan Wolverines locker room at halftime in their game against the Indiana Hoosiers last Thursday. The Wolverines were up 27-21, but it had been a sloppy half of basketball and they had been particularly unimpressive playing against an inferior team that was deprived of its best offensive weapon. Star Guard Manny Harris had yet to make a field goal and Michigan looked like a young team bereft of any offensive cohesion or structure. Not such an unexpected performance for an 8-7 basketball club that had completely failed to meet their high pre-season expectations.

However, only 60 minutes of basketball later and the Wolverines have propelled themselves back into the headlines for the right reasons after a 68-63 win over #15 Connecticut. Harris has been at the core of the team’s recent momentum, and crucially other members of the line-up have been showing signs of contribution as Michigan search for that elusive ‘third’ offensive weapon after Harris and DeShawn Sims. Zack Novak and Stu Douglass both made vital contributions in the upset win over UConn, and the team will be reliant upon the development of the two sophomores who average just 7.6 and 7.1 points respectively so far this season.

I wrote in my weekly review on Thursday that if Michigan were to launch an NCAA tournament bid; they were going to need to start improving and fast. Perhaps their win over the Huskies was a success that even their most loyal fans would have struggled to envision, the euphoria and momentum earned from that victory will undoubtedly give this team a crucial boost as they need to be dominant in the season’s second half. College Basketball is as tight as it has ever been with a huge cluster of teams playing at similar levels; there is still a definite opportunity for the Wolverines if they can make the most of their final 13 games. Unfortunately, this current momentum will not last forever, Harris and Michigan still have a huge amount of work to do if they are to fire themselves into March Madness contention.

The key to Michigan’s success will be the ability of Coach John Beilein to harness the talent of some of his more inexperienced players in support of Harris and Sims. The Wolverines defensive play has been just as inconsistent as their offense, but it is clear that when the players execute Beilein’s system, they have the speed and agility to make the defense difficult to penetrate. Combine this with a potentially potent offense and there is still the possibility that Michigan could not only make the NCAA tournament, but be a team with the ability to advance a couple of rounds and cause an upset.

The Big Ten is tight and a difficult Conference to reel off a long winning streak in; Purdue and Wisconsin have both already found that out this season. The Wolverines need to win a huge majority of their final 13 games, starting with their next two difficult road matchups against Wisconsin and Purdue. Their next home game is against their rivals and Conference leaders Michigan State, a game that will be played one week from today. We will know a lot more about the prospects for Michigan’s year in seven days time, but until then their next three games will be well worth watching.

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