Michigan's John Beilein: 'We're a long way from being good'

After a stinging 82-58 loss to Southern Methodist University, Michigan Wolverines head basketball coach John Beilein didn't mince words in analyzing his team.

"I figure if you're going to get beat, (get) beat early," Beilein said. "It just shows you, like I said, 'You think you're good? You're not good. That team (SMU) is good.' We're a long way from being good."

The Wolverines, who are 6-3, begin Big 10 play Dec. 30 against Illinois. But before then, Michigan will have a number of "tune-up" games at home against smaller schools. However, with star player Derrick Walton Jr. out with an ankle injury, those games may prove to be tedious.

Even without the Walton Jr. injury, Beilein sees many flaws when it comes to the larger picture of the team.

"We encouraged them to drive the ball," Beilein said. "But some of us have a habit of, 'We'll go to step-back three when we could be driving the ball.' That's a flaw we have that we're working on."

Beilein did, however, cap his analysis on a somewhat positive note.

"Knowing these guys, they'll look at this and say, 'OK, all right, that's how far away we are? We better get to work,'" Beilein said. "That's the only thing we can take from this."