It’s no secret that Big Ten starting centers have eviscerated Michigan’s defense.
As this author highlighted last week, Big Ten starting centers had averaged 29.8 points per game against Michigan in the Wolverines’ first five conference games. Last Friday, that average bounced up to 30.3 points per game after Iowa’s Luka Garza hammered the Wolverines for 33 points.
It is a massive problem for Michigan, whose defense has the worst efficiency in Big Ten play by nearly three points (113.8) one year after it had the second-best efficiency in the country. As a result, there rightfully has been much discussion about how culpable senior Jon Teske’s defensive technique and head coach Juwan Howard’s philosophy regarding defending the post have been.
However, those are not the only causes of this problem. What has really exacerbated this problem for Michigan has been the absence of junior forward Isaiah Livers, and as Michigan has tried to find different ways to replace his presence in the lineup, it has only spawned more defensive issues.
It’s becoming clearer that Michigan needs Livers to return to the floor to save its defense.
