After getting absolutely annihilated by Illinois last night, this Michigan basketball season, which started with so much promise, is beginning to look pretty dire. At the start of the season I thought that they would be a mid level team in the Big Ten. I figured they'd win the games they were supposed to, lose the games they were supposed to and maybe have a few surprise victories as well. I thought they would definitely make the NCAA tournament and hover right around 20 wins. I figured they would look a lot like last years team, only a bit better.

That was how the season started. They looked really good early on. They were making shots. Zak Irvin looked fully healthy, and he was hitting his mid range shots and three pointers. Derrick Walton was running the offense efficiently. Duncan Robinson was a sniper off the bench. Muhammad Ali Abdur Rahkman was slashing and getting to the rim with ease. Even their big men, Mark Donnal, Moe Wagner and DJ Wilson, were getting big rebounds, playing solid defense and hitting the occasional jumper.

But, something happened right before Big Ten play. Their first loss came to South Carolina. South Carolina absolutely suffocated them on defense, and Michigan could do nothing. They were also giving up easy dribble drives, and leaving guys wide open from three. I thought, no big deal, they weren't going undefeated, they will fix this. In the next game, against a nobody team, they did just that, and throttled whoever they played by almost 20 points. Then, they traveled to UCLA, who was the number 2 team in the country at the time. UCLA was coming off a big win at Kentucky, and they looked legit. I was nervous about this game being a blowout. But, Michigan played a great first half, matching everything that UCLA did. I even had hopes that maybe they could pull the upset. The second half came, Michigan had their lapses that they showed against South Carolina, and UCLA ended up pulling away with relative ease. Michigan still scored 90 plus points, but they gave up over 100. That is unacceptable in college basketball.

The Wolverines lost that game, then they lose their Big Ten opener on the road to Iowa, in overtime. They had a lead, but they couldn't close the game out, and they were letting guys shoot wide open threes, like the South Carolina game again. Still looking for their first Big Ten win, they were 10-3. Not bad, but not great. Their first Big Ten win came against Penn State. PSU is not a good basketball team. Sure, they have beaten Michigan State this year, but MSU is one of the most inconsistent teams in all of college basketball. But, During the PSU game, I did not like what I saw from Michigan. Again, they were just letting guys get into the lane with little to no resistance. PSU must have had, at least, 5 wide open layups. Then, when they would clog the paint, they would leave shooters wide open for threes. It was very frustrating. PSU built a 13 point lead in the second half, but as I said, they are not a good basketball team, and Michigan made enough plays to eek out a win.

I did not feel good after this win. I hated the way they were playing basketball. The defense was non existent. They were playing way too much one on one. Irvin kept jacking threes, even though his shot was wildly off from deep that night. Derrick Walton inexplicably chose to not shoot unless it was crucial, or at the end of the shot clock. The big men did nothing. No rebounding, poor interior defense and dumb shots from all 3 of them. Duncan Robinson looked scared on the court that night. It was the first time he looked like a division 3 transfer. Something just didn't sit right with me.

They then played Maryland. Maryland was also struggling a bit coming into this game. But, Michigan just did not play well. They kept the game close all the way to the end, but they just did not have enough gas in the tank. Whenever Michigan would cut the lead to 2 or 3, Maryland would rattle off 4 or 5 straight points and build there lead back to 8 or 9. And normally I'd say that they were making lucky shots, but when no one is guarding you that close, those are easy shots to make. They also let Maryland have their way in the post. This seems to be a recurring theme this year. They can't figure out a way to stop you inside, or if they do, they leave shooters wide open at the three point line.

Last night's game, at Illinois, was a disaster. Michigan played hard for about 18 minutes, then Illinois blew the doors off of them. What was once a 2 point lead for Michigan ballooned to 13 for Illinois at halftime. It was the same story. They stopped Illinois inside, but let shooters shot with no defense. They also just stopped making shots as well. Michigan looked so bad last night, it made me a little sad. Illinois ended up winning by 17 points, but it was not even that close.

This is the same team that, 4 years ago, was playing for a national title. Sure, the players have changed, and they might not be as good as Nik Stauskas, Glenn Robinson III or Mitch McGary were, but they should not have a drop off this bad. Hell, the year after their run to the title game, they were in the Elite Eight. They were even in the tournament last year and won a game. Something is not right at Michigan right now. These are John Beilein guys, and I love John Beilein, but they are not doing wwhat they need to be doing on either end of the floor. Where we sit right now, they are 11-6 and 1-3 in conference play. Things are not going to get any easier for them as well.

As much as it pains me to say it, I think Michigan may be one of the worst teams in the Big Ten this year. They play no defense, they can't rebound, they aren't making their shots and they play too tight. The majority of this team is seniors, so hopefully they will wake up and realize that this is it for them, but watching them right now, I do not see that happening. Things seem to be getting worse before they get better. Hopefully they can prove me wrong, but with the way they are playing right now, I do not see that happening. Not only are they not going to make the NCAA tournament, I would not be surprised if they got left out of the NIT.

John Beilein needs to coach these kids up some more. These are his type of players, and I blame a lot of what is going on right now on him and his staff. Shore this mess up or else enjoy your vacation at the end of the regular season because if this play continues, I guarantee you will not be playing in any postseason tournaments.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. His love for Michigan does not make him blind to rec league levels of basketball playing. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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