WITH VIDEO: Michigan basketball searches for solutions as Arkansas-Pine Bluff comes to town

Posted: Dec 4, 2009 at 8:06 PM [Dec 4, 2009]

The cures for Michigan’s woes - from defense to shooting to floor leadership - are close by. They're also unavailable.

Former guards C.J. Lee and David Merritt are both still in Ann Arbor. Lee is in graduate school and working on Rick Snyder’s gubernatorial campaign. Merritt launched his own clothing line and does Michigan basketball radio. But they can only watch from the stands and radio booth these days.

Eligibility exhausted, Michigan hasn't effectively replaced the intangibles the two former walk-ons brought to the Wolverines. After three straight losses to Marquette, Alabama and Boston College, that much became evident.

“Just knowing that we were losing C.J. and Dave, and how much it meant to us now that they gone, how much it really meant to us,” said junior guard Manny Harris, one of Michigan’s leaders this season. “Just Dave and C.J.’s leadership, C.J. was constantly talking, where sometimes last year, some people would probably get irritated, like he talk too much or something but that’s something we need around our team.”

This year's team is still finding its leadership.

That Lee and Merritt, along with current Michigan wide receiver and former point guard Kelvin Grady, are no longer with Michigan left Michigan with inexperience at the point, starting freshman Darius Morris.

In a Beilein-run system, that could lead to a larger learning process for the entire team.

“They are all learning,” Beilein said. “We’ve done this before and unfortunately, we had three guards last year. ... Their jerseys aren’t going to be in those rafters, but they really did understand what we were doing and now we’re going through it again just like we did with Manny and Kelvin in their freshman year.

“We’ll just get through it to get to a point where they are a better team.”

To do that, Michigan will have to fix its on-court problems. Michigan’s shooting from the three-point line has been 29.6 percent. Its free-throw percentage is at 69.8 percent.

It also hasn’t scored more than 66 points since its win over Creighton in overtime on Nov. 26, a streak it hopes to break Saturday when the Wolverines face Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-5).

Beilein had all of his players make 50 jump shots from different spots on the floor during Thursday’s practice. He recognizes, though, it is a tough line to walk when it comes to trying to cure shooting ailments.

In Harris' case, a slow start could be due to lingering hamstring issues. With other players, it’s confidence. Sophomore guard Stu Douglass felt his entire shot was off.

“I’ve been realizing a lot of my shots I’m fading or I’m not jumping enough or mechanics are just off and I’m shooting it pretty quick,” Douglass said. “Just a combination of those little things that I tweaked. Yesterday I tried to slow it down a little bit and work on it and actually felt a lot better.”

If it translates on the court, it could help Michigan solve several issues.

“There’s different ways of learning, as I’ve discovered,” Beilein said. “Some of them we have to sit down and just get my board out and move those little dominoes around. Others we need to watch tape. Others we need to do out on the floor.

“Everyone has a different learning perspective on things. That’s my job, to find out what works and how I can speed that curve up.”

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.