Michigan Basketball: Only One More Tune-Up Before Big Ten Slate
There’s only one more opportunity for Michigan basketball to get itself ready for the Big Ten slate. Here’s what the Wolverines need to show.
It’s been a season of dramatic highs and dramatic lows so far for Michigan basketball, but with only one game left between the Wolverines and the Big Ten, it’s time to get things straight.
Michigan will host Furman on Thursday evening at 7 (BTN) in the Crisler Center for the last nonconference game of the season. Though the Paladins should be more respectable than Central Arkansas and Maryland Eastern Shore, they’re not likely to give the Wolverines too big of a threat.
Still, to comfortably transition into the Big Ten portion of the schedule, Michigan’s going to have to show it can do a couple things.
One of those things is defending the 3-point line. Teams are shooting 38.9 percent from behind the arc this season. The Wolverines have defended well enough inside the perimeter to maintain a fairly positive effective shooting percentage (49.4 percent), but a major problem could arise against teams like Purdue and Indiana that shoot the lights out from deep.
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Fortunately for Michigan, it’s a good 3-point-shooting team in its own right, knocking down 39 percent of its attempts.
Another positive sign Michigan could show against Furman is the ability to play with a lead, especially late. Too often this season the Wolverines have been caught costing with a lead, and it’s cost them a potential win against Virginia Tech.
It was almost fatal against Texas, but the Longhorns also didn’t seem terribly interested in winning the game either.
The final thing that would be nice to see is an offense that doesn’t rely on hero shots. More specially, it should be an offense that doesn’t rely on hero shots from Zak Irvin.
It’s obvious that Irvin has been given the go-ahead to be Michigan’s go-to shooter, especially in critical situations. He’s taken just over 25 percent of the Wolverines’ shots this season and is shooting 40.7 percent from 3-point range.
The trap Michigan often falls into is relying too heavily on Irvin, who in turn takes some very questionable shots. It’s not likely that Michigan will be in a position late where it needs a big shot, but there are bound to be situations throughout the game where the Wolverines are in need of a little spark; that’s when to watch what he does.
Given what Michigan’s done so far this season, it’s reasonable to think the Wolverines are in decent position to be competitive in the Big Ten. There are still a few wrinkles, though, and there’s only one more nonconference game to work those out.