This was not pretty. This was DeShawn Sims planting, starting to pivot and then tripping over either his own feet or the free throw line.
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This was not fodder for an instructional video. This was Michigan’s promising sophomore forward and redshirt-freshman teammate Anthony Wright going for a missed free throw, banging into each other and knocking the ball out of bounds.
This was anything but crisp execution. This was Wolverines freshman guard Manny Harris finding sophomore forward Ekpe Udoh with a perfect back-door pass that Udoh promptly fumbled away.
Way back in October, long before his first season in Ann Arbor began, coach John Beilein conceded, “This will be a year we’re playing against ourselves. We’re trying to get better as a team. … Right now we are not saying, ‘This is how Wisconsin guards you, this is how Minnesota will play you.’ We’re saying, ‘This is how you pass and catch the ball.'”
He himself is a proven product, an accomplished winner who has suffered just three losing seasons in his 29 as a collegiate head coach. But already this is clear after watching Wisconsin (11-2, 1-0) put up a 70-54 victory over his Wolverines (4-9, 0-1) Wednesday night in the Big Ten opener for both. When his 30th season ends, it will be his fourth losing one.
It is not only that his Wolverines still are struggling consistently to pass, catch and hit an opener jumper. It is also that they are young, inexperienced and down to just eight scholarship players; are starting two freshmen at guard who have walk-ons as backups; and are still far from mastering his intricate offense and his 1-3-1 defense.
“It’s tough. This is a different offense,” Udoh said. “If you could see us in practice, you’d say they’re starting to get it. But when the lights go on, it’s different.”
It will take time.
“We had great practices, we worked real hard and I really thought we were making strides,” Beilein said. “But I still think, when we get into a game, we’re still working through some things of just staying solid, staying mentally tough in some key areas. … We just don’t have that edge mentally to stay solid. Don’t try and do it all at once. Stay solid.”
His Wolverines did manage to force the Badgers into an uncharacteristic 18 turnovers, but there was little else about their performance that was any more solid than a meringue pie.
They missed their first nine shots, did not score until nearly seven minutes were gone and ended the first half with only 18 points after going 6-for-22 from the field.
They then trailed by 16 and fell behind by 20 three minutes into the second half, which is when they flurried briefly to save themselves from even greater embarrassment. Harris and Sims were their catalysts, bringing them back to within eight before the Badgers swiftly reasserted themselves.
Forward Marcus Landry, exploiting the Wolverines’ porous inside defense, put the Badgers up 10 with a layup and then freshman forward Jon Leuer, off the bench, dropped four free throws. He was his team’s surprise star this night, finishing with 25 points while going 8 of 9 overall, including all five of his three-pointers. With the last of his free throws he put his team up 13 with just more than five minutes remaining.
That effectively finished Michigan, which at the end had more turnovers (15) than assists (10) and had shot just 39.2 percent overall and 27.8 percent on its threes. That is why, later, Beilein was reminded of his October comment and asked if it were still true.
“Absolutely. We’ll learn so much from this,” he said. “It’s just, when you go into a season, all the coaches are trying to give their wisdom to [their players]. But they have to put their hands on it. … That’s what we’re doing. We’re sort of learning how to play college basketball, which is really playing against yourself. …
“We’re still trying to get 10 guys and figure out who can do what.”
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