THE TRUTH ABOUT MICHIGAN BASKETBALL

We had a lot of fun last week enjoying the pathetic comments from chUMps who logged online to rag-out their "favorite team". We're talking Men's Basketball here, and Wolverine Nation was in a tizzy to learn that their team may not be the national favorite to win it all this season. That news is so hard for the chUMps to handle, they lit up the Internet with raucous complaints about John Beilein and his terrible team.

But WE never said they were terrible. We let their fan-base do the talking. UM lost three games by double-digits, but all to respectable teams. Since the onslaught of self-loathing, Michigan has won two games by one-hundred-gazillion points, putting on a couple of great shows for their home crowd.

So is UM lousy or great? That is the question.

The TRUTH is, Michigan may still reach 20 wins

and they have a shot to make the Big Dance.

It just depends on how many three-balls
they can hit each game.

• The Wolverines could beat just about anybody in the country if they can hit 15 three-pointers in a game.
• They can run with almost any team with 10-12 made threes, and they can be competitive with 8-10 triples per contest.
• If they hit seven or fewer, they will be hard-pressed to score enough points to stay with the top teams in the B1G, especially since they attempt 25 or more long-balls every time they play.

If you think those claims are true for just about any team in America, you are right. Anytime a team hits 10 three-pointers, they will be tough to beat. In this case, there is no "Michigan Difference".

If you think this description is about the same as any other season in the Beilein Era, you are right. He's been doing the same thing since he got to Ann Arbor. The three so-called "good years" were due to somewhat better (non-college students) playing in yellow-and-blue, and - - - believe it or not - - - injuries suffered by Spartan players in those seasons. That "six-of-the-last-eight" streak included very narrow wins over Michigan State, and in at least two of those seasons an injury-depleted lineup for MSU in those games. Remove the unusual wins against the Spartans, and the Wolverines record drops along with its seed-position and likely post-season success.

UM fans believe their losing record last year (15-16) was largely because of the player losses due to injuries. The same syndrome hurt MSU during the three-year NCAA-run by Michigan.

So there is nothing really very much different about the Michigan Men's Basketball team this year than any other season under Beilein. If his team can remain injury-free from this point out, they can finish above .500 and make a run at the NCAA Tournament. If they can light-it-up from long-range against the top teams in the conference, they have a shot at fourth-place in the league.

A 20-win season with a Big Dance invitation and a top-five finish in the conference is a good season, but if UM can hit those marks, will its fan-base be satisfied? Stay tuned and we'll find out.

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