Michigan Basketball: 5 Things the Wolverines need for Christmas in 2018
By Adam Childs
2. Consistent three-point shooting
John Beilein’s teams have always been known for their three-point shooting. They could kill you with the outside shot, but they could also die by it. He has recruited shooters and it has paid off for him. This year it appeared they did not have a great outside shooter.
Everyone knew it could be a struggle, but then Jordan Poole has shot just over 48% from outside and Isaiah Livers has hit nearly 46% of his. Individually they are not the best three-point shooting team but they have their stretches when they get hot. While they would love more players to be hitting at a higher clip, Michigan could use more consistent shooting from game to game. If one guy is not shooting as well another will pick him up.
They have shown flashes of being able to bury a team from the outside as they have shot 50% from deep against George Washington, North Carolina, and Purdue. But then they have also shot under 30% four times this year. That is over a third of their games so far this year.
Michigan’s defense has been able to make up for it and they have also been taking the ball to the hoop more to balance it, but I think everyone could agree that being more consistent would really put this team over the top.
When the Wolverines are hitting threes as they did in their best three games, they are almost impossible to beat. If they can find some rhythm from game to game they could run away with the Big Ten.