Michigan Basketball: 5 Burning Questions for Wolverines in 2014-15

Coming off back-to-back deep runs in the NCAA tournament and a combined 59 wins, Michigan is moving into a transitional season as it looks to replace another batch of departed stars with new standouts. Coach John Beilein has managed to weather roster turnover before, and this year his Wolverines open up ranked 24th in The Associated Press Top 25 poll.

The 2014-15 season begins Nov. 15 when Michigan opens at home against Division II Hillsdale College. With just over a week until the Wolverines' debut, we look at some of the most pressing questions surrounding this team.

Michigan lost Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. after reaching the Final Four in 2013, yet the Wolverines hardly looked the worse for wear last season, as young role players from the previous team became stars and not only won the Big Ten regular-season title but reached the Elite Eight.

Now the Wolverines have to replace Nik Stauskas and Glenn Robinson III, among others, yet again there are players who earned key experience in 2013-14 who appear ready to be the next ones to step up and lead.

Front and center on that list is Caris LeVert, the 6'7" junior guard who was third on the team in scoring last season at 12.9 points per game. He already had a huge jump in production from his freshman to sophomore year, only scoring 2.3 points in 10.8 minutes per game in 2012-13. He's by far the most experienced player on this senior-less team and is the most likely person for the rest of the roster to rally behind.

"I'm being asked to do more," LeVert told Rod Beard of The Detroit News. "Last year, I had the same mindset, but this year, it's more of an opportunity to go out there and do it."

Michigan hasn't relied too much on post play the last few years, an approach that was exacerbated by the loss of Mitch McGary to a season-ending back injury in December. McGary left early for the NBA, while Jordan Morgan graduated and Jon Horford transferred to Florida, leaving the Wolverines almost completely devoid of frontcourt experience.

There are no players taller than 6'9" on the roster, and everyone taller than 6'7" is a freshman. Of that group, redshirt freshman Mark Donnal and true freshman Ricky Doyle appear to have the most upside. Each had a double-double during Michigan's four-game exhibition trip to Italy in August, and Doyle finished the slate averaging 11.5 points and 8.0 rebounds.

With a guard-heavy approach, Michigan doesn't need much from its front line. But it does need consistency, and how these young forwards develop will be a key to the team's success this season.

As mentioned previously, a key to Michigan's sustained success despite heavy roster turnover has been the ability to get big jumps in production and leadership from young players from one season to the next. LeVert did it last season, but with him now moving into the team leader role, he'll need LeVert-like support from others to keep the Wolverines from being one-dimensional.

Who will that be? All signs point to the next breakout players coming from the group of guard Derrick Walton Jr. and wing Zak Irvin, both juniors, and incoming freshman Kameron Chatman.

Walton and Irvin averaged 7.9 and 6.7 points per game, respectively, last season, with each shooting better than 41 percent from three-point range. If just one of those players can double his output, Michigan will be in good shape; if both can do so, the Wolverines will contend for another Big Ten title.

In Chatman, Michigan has a promising 6'7" swingman whom 247Sports rated as the No. 27 player in the 2014 recruiting class. He comes in with high expectations and is being looked at to contribute right away.

Michigan cut its teeth on a challenging nonconference schedule last season, going 8-4 before running away from the pack in Big Ten play. With an even less experienced roster this year but yet another rigorous preseason slate, will the Wolverines grow or get humbled early on?

The Wolverines will face at least four teams that begin the season in the Top 25, starting with either No. 12 Villanova or No. 15 VCU on Nov. 25 in the final round of the Legends Classic in Brooklyn, New York. They face Oregon the night before, and while the Ducks will be very thin after losing most of their roster to transfer, graduation or dismissal this offseason, they still feature a dynamic scorer in senior Joseph Young.

Michigan's Big Ten/ACC Challenge game is at the Crisler Center this year, but it's no cupcake as No. 23 Syracuse shows up on Dec. 2. Eleven days later comes the only true road game of the nonconference schedule, at No. 2 Arizona, followed a week later by a visit from No. 20 SMU.

In Big Ten play, the unbalanced schedule means only one game against No. 3 Wisconsin and No. 21 Nebraska (both at home in late January), but home-and-home meetings with No. 18 Michigan State and No. 20 Ohio State are also in the cards.

Michigan has been on a mostly upward trajectory over the past four seasons, all of which ended with at least 21 wins and one victory in the NCAA tournament. Can that trend continue, or is this the year the Wolverines take a step back and start building toward bigger things in 2015-16?

"I think the foundation is there and now we have to start putting the bricks back in," coach John Beilein told Athlon Sports, adding that despite the major roster losses his team "isn't starting over." 

If past history is any indication, Michigan may face some struggles and growing pains as the season goes on. The Final Four team in 2012-13 started 20-1 yet limped to a fourth-place tie in the Big Ten and went 6-6 before getting hot in the NCAA tournament, but the Wolverines will be in the mix when the big games happen in March.