Over the past three weeks, Michigan basketball guard Zack Novak has had to go back to the past.

Last season, the junior guard played mostly inside. This year, he started the year at his more natural position. But when John Beilein decided to return to a four-guard lineup, Novak went back to guarding big men.

And now, he’s in a shooting slump.

Over the past three games, the Chesterton, Ind., native is 3-of-21 shooting, including a combined 0-of-14 in a 75-72 win over Iowa on Saturday and a 53-52 loss to Wisconsin on Wednesday.

“He’s shot very well at times, and he’s in a little three-game slump here that he would go through if he was a guard or a forward,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “At the beginning of the year, he did not shoot the ball well and at the very beginning of the year he was a two guard.”

Beilein didn’t discount Novak’s move as a potential reason for the slump. Playing a forward slot, Novak usually has to guard players 3 to 6 inches taller than his listed 6-foot-4 height, and he is often defending them in the post.

It also usually means he has taller players guarding him, which limits his shot.

“Could there be a correlation, maybe,” Beilein said. “He’s got to work with his legs, grind with post guys all the time.

“Who knows, that’s not a scientific fact.”

Novak is averaging 7.5 points a game this season

The journey with 'The Journey' Sophomore guard Darius Morris has dealt with some extra attention this week.

A crew from "The Journey," a weekly documentary-style show on the Big Ten Network, followed Morris for a day to tell the story of his relationship with Dan Tan, one of his close friends from high school. The show interviewed him before Monday’s practice, followed him during practice and then went with him to the dorm room he shares with redshirt freshman forward Jordan Morgan after practice.

The next day, the crew flew to Los Angeles to talk with Morris’ parents, DeWayne and Robin, along with Dan Tan’s mother, Reny.

“I heard it’s like an extended version because everything went well,” Morris said. “I’m excited to see it on Sunday.”

"The Journey" is scheduled to air at 8 p.m. on Sunday following the Northwestern-Wisconsin men’s basketball game.

“I’m excited that Dan Tan is getting recognized,” Morris said. “It’s not about me, it’s about him and his message and his life. I’m proud that other people get to hear his story.”

It is a story that was originally told two Sundays ago at AnnArbor.com.

Construction conundrum Michigan’s decision to build a Player Development Center and refurbish Crisler Arena is going to, in theory, help the future of the program.

It also might cause some issues in the present.

If Michigan’s men’s and women’s basketball teams play in the NIT and WNIT — both are surrounding the NCAA tournament bubble right now — they may run into home game issues due to construction schedules.

“We are currently spending a lot of time fine-tuning our construction schedules for Crisler and we will be prepared to consider our options if the opportunity to host games presents itself,” Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon wrote in an e-mail to AnnArbor.com on Friday afternoon. “We are also working on some interesting contingency plans since it might be necessary for us to come up with some creative alternatives if we do have a situation where we want to consider hosting games but our construction schedule creates conflicts.

“We will have more to say about this as we get closer to tournament time and there is more clarity around both our teams’ plans and schedules, as well as the final construction plans for Crisler.”

The Player Development Center is expected to be completed in time for the 2011-12 basketball season.

This and that Former Michigan legend Cazzie Russell will be inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame on Nov. 20 in Kansas City, Mo. The 2011 class is expected to be officially announced Monday … Michigan has beaten Minnesota in Minneapolis the past two seasons. … Eric Collins and Jim Jackson are scheduled to call the 4:30 p.m. game on the Big Ten Network.

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