The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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through life in the Big Ten without a key performer or two, and that not having LeVert — who finally made an 11-minute appearance in the first half versus Purdue — makes an obvi- ous difference in the Wolverines. That's true, and Beilein's crew is fighting through its second straight season featuring major injuries to key performers. Last year, LeVert and Walton went out for a huge part of the Big Ten season, after U-M had lost Mitch McGary, Glenn Robin- son III and Nik Stauskas to the NBA. This year, LeVert's lingering lower- leg injury removed him from the lineup following the Big Ten opener. The Wolverines' other senior, Spike Albrecht, stepped aside after his rehabilitation from offseason twin hip surgeries wasn't progressing as needed. Junior Zak Irvin spent the non-con- ference portion of the schedule trying to rebound from offseason back sur- gery. But despite all of that, the Wol- verines held it together reasonably well in the first half of Big Ten play. 'They played really well at differ- ent times without Caris," Dakich said. "They beat a really good Mary- land team. The problem you have without Caris isn't one night. The problem you have is maintaining consistency because your margin for error is so slim. "That's where the Big Ten exposes you. I'll give you an example. Illi- nois can go ahead and beat Purdue at home, but they have a hard time ev- ery night because of all the injuries. You can go ahead and beat Mary- land, but man, if things aren't going for you, it's trouble on a night-in, night-out basis." If there's a biggest area of disap- pointment in the Wolverines to this point, Dakich noted, it involves the dearth of what he calls "real guys," genuine get-it-done players who can deliver in a pinch. Walton certainly looked like that at Minnesota, and Irvin followed up with a 22-point ef- fort in the win over Purdue. Redshirt sophomore sharpshooter Duncan Robinson possesses that ca- pability as well, Dakich noted, but he's not the type of player who is going to take over a game by himself. Opponents are hawking him harder than ever, and his near 60-percent three-point shooting for the first half of the season has settled back to a more human 47.8 percent for the year, 36.6 percent in Big Ten games. "When guys are hurt, you need others to step up in a big way," Da- kich said. "You need to really pick it up. I think at times, Derrick has played really well. "Zak has, and certainly Duncan has. But Duncan is the kind of guy that needs others to help him out. Ev- erybody in college basketball knew Duncan wasn't going to make 57 percent of his threes all year. That's automatic. That's just the way it is." SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS Last season's 16-16 finish seemed due to the perfect storm of bad cir- cumstance. A program rises to the national title game in 2013, follows it up with an Elite Eight appearance in 2014, then there's a stampede out the door with early NBA exits, a gradua-