Flawed Michigan basketball team looking nothing like a tournament contender

ANN ARBOR - John Beilein’s resume is full of masterful coaching jobs.

He won 22 games at Canisius in his second season as a Division I coach, led West Virginia to the Elite Eight as a seven seed, and last year he took Michigan from Big Ten afterthought to its first NCAA tournament appearance in 11 years.

If the Wolverines want to dance again this March, it might take Beilein’s best work yet.

Michigan lost its third straight game Wednesday to Boston College, 62-58, in not-as-close-as-it-appeared fashion.

Manny Harris has been perhaps the only bright spot for the Wolverines this season.

Melanie R. Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

The Eagles got 24 easy points from Corey Raji and led by double digits most of the night, taking advantage of a listless Michigan defense and another evening of wretched 3-point shooting (9-of-34) to hand the Wolverines a home loss that could come back to haunt them.

Last year, Michigan built its NCAA tournament resume on non-conference wins over Duke and UCLA. This year, with losses to Marquette, Alabama and BC - 3 teams that will be fighting for their own tournament lives - the Wolverines are making a pretty convincing case for the NIT.

“We’re just not a well-functioning unit right now, and that’s what I’m supposed to do, figure that out,” Beilein said.

Some of Michigan’s problems are correctable.

The shooting should get better as looks come easier against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Detroit, though 34 3-pointers is a recipe for disaster against any team. And the magical disappearing DeShawn Sims, he of 4 points, 3 rebounds and 23 minutes Wednesday, remains one of the best players in the Big Ten.

But Michigan, by and large, is a flawed basketball team. The Wolverines don’t have the athletes to match up on the perimeter or the size to control play down low, and aside from Manny Harris, there’s no one who can create his own shot in tight games.

Sims said there are other problems, too, including a lack of confidence that’s infiltrated the locker room and led to chemistry issues.

“We got a lot of young guys and the chemistry hasn’t clicked yet,” Sims said. “It didn’t take this long for our chemistry to click (last year). We were losing together the previous year so we kind of came in with the mindset of we’re hungry. We just have to get more hungry and get our chemistry together.”

Beilein didn't mention chemistry, but he did wonder aloud whether his team was "distracted in certain areas" and he did mention graduated point guard C.J. Lee.

Lee's freshman replacement, Darius Morris, didn't attempt a shot, grab a rebound or have an assist Wednesday.

“For whatever reason it’s not meshing the way it did last year,” Beilein said. “But there was a span last January where we were very much like this. Exactly like this. Couldn’t make a shot and one mistake led to another mistake, so as a result we got to find a way to help them get through that.”

Michigan lost 7 of 9 games during 1 month-long stretch last winter, but proved resilient enough late in the season, beating Purdue and winning at Minnesota, to make the NCAA tournament.

If the Wolverines don't score some statement non-conference wins soon - they have three chances left, at Utah next week, at top-ranked Kansas Dec. 19 and home against UConn in mid-January - they'll need an even better showing in the stronger Big Ten.

“We’re frustrated, but the thing about college basketball, you got to bounce back, you can’t think about it too long,” Sims said. “It’s definitely still early so we can’t hang our heads.”

Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.