Michigan basketball coach John Beilein has tried just about everything to motivate his team through a topsy-turvy first half of the season.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

The Michigan basketball team never would have thought it would be in this situation entering Big Ten play: one game over .500 and no quality wins. Considering the way Michigan’s schedule was drawn up with games against Boston College, Utah and Kansas, the opportunities were there.

Now Michigan, 6-5, is in a prickly situation when it comes making the NCAA tournament field.

“We just got to go and attack the Big (Ten). Luckily, we’re in a conference where if you can win enough games (you) have a good enough resume,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “Right now, if you’re in a mid-major conference with what we’ve done in the preseason, you are, you’ve got to win your tournament unless you go undefeated in your conference.

“… We’re in a conference where we still have the abilities to win on the road and win at home to improve a resume.”

With that in mind, here are the early-season grades for the Michigan basketball team, as it prepares for its Big Ten opener against Indiana on Dec. 31 (Noon, ESPN2).

Manny Harris
Harris entered the season as a trendy pick as an All-American and a possible player of the year. While the latter is likely not going to happen due to the emergence of Kentucky freshman John Wall, Harris has been everything Michigan expected him to be and more. 

Michigan men's basketball player Manny Harris attended the game Monday in which his sister, Janelle Harris, played for Marquette.

Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com

He’s a triple-double threat every night and is arguably the Wolverines’ top defender in man-to-man coverage. Without Harris, Michigan is under .500 entering Big Ten play. He leads Michigan in scoring (20.1 ppg.), rebounding (7.5 rpg.), assists (56) and steals (21), despite playing on a nagging hamstring injury that at times has altered his shot and hurt his explosiveness.
Grade: A

DeShawn Sims
Sims is easily the most enigmatic player on Michigan’s roster. There have been times where the senior forward has looked completely dominant - against Coppin State and in his five 3-pointer performance in a win over Houston Baptist. But Sims has disappeared for long stretches, leaving Harris to carry the scoring load. When he plays well, he’s one of the better post players in the Big Ten. When he doesn’t, he almost becomes a liability on the floor, like his four-point, three-rebound performance against Boston College. On Tuesday, he showed more leadership by speaking to the team before Michigan throttled Coppin State. He needs to show more of that as Big Ten season approaches.
Grade: C

Laval Lucas-Perry
The sophomore from Flint is quietly putting together a decent season. He’s not going to wow you, but he’s scoring a hair more this year than he did last year and he’s shooting the 3-pointer at 36.6 percent. He’s been fairly steady, too, with four of 10 games in double-figures as the usual fourth or fifth option among the starters.
Grade: B

Stu Douglass
Probably the best shooter on the team, and he’s been missing from everywhere before Tuesday’s 20-point, six 3-pointer explosion against Coppin State. 

Until Tuesday, Michigan guard Stu Douglass had struggled with his shot this season.

Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com

Why the struggles? Part of it could be due to role definition or not starting for most of the year. A ton of it is due to a lack of confidence. I’d argue he was Michigan’s biggest disappointment in the first half offensively, although he does have a 30-to-8 assist-to-turnover ratio. Defensively, though, he played fairly well. He’s become a good enough defender that Michigan can play him in man and he seems to understand the 1-3-1. But the shooting was a real killer for him considering his role.
Grade: C-

Zack Novak
The sophomore from Chesterton, Ind., is Michigan’s do-everything guy, except he also has been unable to shoot. At one point, he missed 11 three-pointers in a row over three games. Yet he’s still averaging about as many points as he did a year ago and has upped his rebounding numbers. He’s displaying the same intensity he did a year ago and often plays bigger than his 6-foot-5 size out of necessity for a small Michigan team. Like Douglass, shooting is supposed to be his strongest asset, and it has been lacking. That he’s done everything else well helps his grade.
Grade: C

Darius Morris
The freshman lost a ton of confidence from the beginning of the season until this point, even losing his spot in the starting lineup. But the shakeup actually benefited the point guard, as he played his best game of the season against No. 1 Kansas. A lot was expected of him as a freshman, but there were games where he completely disappeared. He didn’t record a point, rebound or assist in 11 minutes against Detroit. He scored in double figures once - the season-opening win over Northern Michigan. He’s been distributing the ball better, but his assist-to-turnover ratio of plus-1.29 is low for a point guard. He’s got a lot to prove, but is probably right where he should be as far as a freshman learning curve.
Grade: C

Zack Gibson
The fifth-year senior started the season well. He was playing efficient and made the case to play more minutes because he was so effective in small doses. Then he earned the start against Utah and was entirely ineffective in 20 minutes, not scoring and grabbing just three rebounds. Since then, Gibson has barely played more than a few minutes here and there and hasn’t done too much with them, although he did grab four rebounds against No. 1 Kansas. Even then, he was 1-of-6 shooting.
Grade: C

Anthony Wright
Before the season, Beilein said he thought Michigan would get a lot out of Wright. So far, it hasn’t been much. He hasn’t moved that well and his minutes have suffered. He’s barely hitting shots - before Tuesday he hadn’t made a bucket since Boston College on Dec. 2 - and his rebounding average has slipped from last year. Part of that has to do with minutes, but Wright can’t seem to find a lot of minutes in Beilein’s rotation.
Grade: D

Eso Akunne
The Ann Arbor native came to Michigan as a walk-on and earned a scholarship. Still, not many predicted Akunne would play much, if at all. Yet he seems to have been a surprise for Beilein and even earned 17 minutes against Utah, where he played well enough to not look out of place in a college game as a freshman. He hasn’t given much to Michigan on game days other than minutes, but that he’s been able to crack the rotation even briefly in his first year is a sign he is improving. That’s pretty impressive.

Grade: B

Matt Vogrich
Somewhere along the way, the shooter Michigan recruited in this year’s freshman class lost his stroke and with it, his minutes. 

Michigan freshman Matt Vogrich is interviewed by reporters during Tuesday afternoon, October 13th's Michigan Basketball Media Day at UM's Crisler Arena.

Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com

Vogrich has looked lost at times this season, both on offense and defense. He didn’t make a shot from Nov. 29 against Alabama until Tuesday against Coppin State. That’s a stretch of six games. He’s played in every game but against Detroit and Kansas, he played a minute. Right now, he doesn’t look ready to play college basketball. Being a freshman and on a learning curve saves him from a much harsher grade.
Grade: C-

Ben Cronin
A lot was expected of the 7-footer in the preseason coming off hip surgery. Then the injury flared up and the Syracuse, N.Y., native has been limited at best and unable to play at worst. He continues to rehab and Beilein continues to hope Cronin will improve, but he’s far too injured right now to attach any sort of grade to. In all likelihood, he probably shouldn’t be playing.
Grade: INC

Josh Bartelstein
The freshman walk-on has played too sparingly to grade. He may end up playing some at Michigan, but it won’t be for a while.
Grade: INC

Jordan Morgan and Blake McLimans
Both forwards are on the path to red shirting.
Grade: INC

Corey Person
The walk-on hasn’t played yet this season.
Grade: INC

John Beilein
It feels like Beilein has tried everything possible to get his team going offensively and defensively. He’s shuffled the lineup. He’s tried different approaches in practice. He’s been the good guy and the bad guy. Not much of it seems to have worked. The schedule was a bit much in hindsight, but Beilein couldn’t have predicted his entire team would go into a shooting funk. And scheduling, for the most part, is on the head coach. Beilein’s teams usually come on stronger later in the season but the way his group has played leaves a lot of work if Michigan wants to even think about a second straight NCAA tournament berth. Right now, making sure the Wolverines finish the year eligible to go to any postseason tournament is a reasonable goal.
Grade: C-