ESPN analyst Jay Bilas says Michigan's biggest problem is its defense

The answer lies in a combination of both.

Michigan coach John Beilein has said multiple times in recent weeks that the Wolverines were a bit overrated before the season.

But there’s something else, too. While a lot of attention - both from Beilein and from those outside the program - has pinpointed Michigan’s shooting woes as the primary reason for its struggles, there is another problem.

Michigan’s defense.

“Lamenting the shooting woes has been overdone. I think their biggest problem, if you want to call it a problem, has been their defense,” Bilas said. “You look at their numbers against the good teams that they played. … You’re not going to beat anybody good giving up 50 percent from the field. It’s not an issue how they play or what defenses or how many three’s they take, people keep talking about that. This has more to do with their defense than anything.

“They certainly haven’t been turning many people over. But they are better than they are playing is the short answer.”

While Michigan has forced more than 15 turnovers a game, the Wolverines have allowed opponents to make 43.9 percent of its field goals and 31.1 percent of its 3-pointers.

Individual games - especially the six losses - have shown the struggles, too. Creighton is shooting 44.1 percent from the field. The Wolverines allowed them to shoot 50 percent. Marquette is shooting 48.1 percent, against Michigan the Golden Eagles hit 52.8 percent. Alabama shoots 46.2 percent and against the Wolverines, they were at 47.4 percent.

Boston College is shooting 45.3 percent. Better against Michigan, though, at 46.9. Utah shoots 44.1 percent, except against the Wolverines, when the Utes were at 50.9 percent. Indiana is at 44.8 percent and against Michigan shot better at 46.9.

If your brain hurts, that’s understandable. Suffice it to say, the Wolverines haven’t guarded well. Every non-guarantee game for Michigan has led to being out-shot - and six of seven have ended in losses.

Surprisingly, the only team Michigan held to its average was Kansas - but the Jayhawks average 52 percent from the field, a tenth of a percent worse than they shot against the Wolverines.

What’s even more startling is that Michigan’s opponents are shooting better than the Wolverines on the year.

“You can have four guys do it exactly right and get scored on,” Bilas said in Assembly Hall after Michigan lost to Indiana, 71-65, on Thursday. “It’s not always the same guy, but they are having some breakdowns. Just in (Thursday’s) game (against Indiana), I’m a huge fan of DeShawn Sims, he’s a great college player, he did not play well today especially defensively. He had some less-than-intelligent fouls, put himself in some bad spots and, frankly, he didn’t guard.

“This (was) a real opportunity for them to get off to a good start against a team, frankly, they should beat and they didn’t.”

Bilas, though, isn’t ready to call Michigan’s season over. When he called the Michigan-Kansas game on Dec. 19, he said he felt Michigan was a NCAA tournament team.

After Thursday’s loss to Indiana, he called the Wolverines “tournament-caliber,” but stressed that Michigan has nowhere near the wins to be able to be considered a tournament team.

“Last year, going into Big Ten play they had already beat UCLA and Duke and they don’t have anything like that,” Bilas said. “It means they’ll have to do even more in the conference to separate themselves.

“Other than I think they can be very good, what have they done to separate themselves? There is still plenty of time, there’s only half a season that’s been played and there’s only been one conference game and there have been a lot of obituaries written on teams at this time of year that have turned out to be totally inaccurate.

“They have every bit an opportunity as anybody else right now to finish the season strong and they’ve got the personnel to do it. They have good players and it’s just a question of playing that way.”

For Michigan now, that’s been its biggest problem - the Wolverines haven’t played well on offense. Or on defense.

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.