The best players on a basketball court are often easy to identify.

Their skill and athleticism set them apart. They jump off the screen every time they touch the floor.

The most impactful players are different and often harder to locate.

Impact is not measured just by bulk stats. Rather, the smaller details are sometimes the most important. Who is communicating with their teammates on where they should be? Who is always in the right position? Who is paying attention to the small things?

For Michigan, Isaiah Livers has proven to be that guy through five games.

When times get tough on the basketball court, the small details are often the most important. For Michigan basketball this season, those difficult stretches are most likely to come while executing half court offense.

The departures of Moritz Wagner, Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, and Duncan Robinson mean John Beilein has to replace 214 of Michigan’s 361 made three pointers from a year ago. Spacing will inevitably suffer. And, although he wouldn’t be the first name to come to mind, Isaiah Livers’s attention to detail may just be the key to offensive execution in the half court.

During Michigan’s season-opening win against Norfolk State, the spacing issues were on full display. Recognizing that deep shooting is an issue for the Wolverines, the Virginia iteration of the Spartans previewed what Beilein’s team is likely to see a lot of this season: zone defense.

Attacking a zone defense can be tricky.

The common reaction is to shoot your opponent out of their scheme. Find your best teammate from deep and let it fly. If the zone extends, look for someone with huge range.

That isn’t always an option, though. Often, the most effective way to bust a zone is to beat it from within.

[After THE JUMP: Inside out.]

Converting some three pointers may soften the defense, but it’s not a permanent fix with a team who struggles to consistently hit those shots, as Michigan may do this year.

A far more fool-proof way to bust a zone is by getting the ball inside and exposing the cracks within the scheme.

Against Norfolk State, Isaiah Livers proved adept at doing just that. And he did it in a variety of ways.

He spent quite a bit of time as the man in the middle – making himself available for passes to creep inside the defense and make plays from there.

In the second half, he executed that role to perfection as he received a short feed from Ignas Brazdeikis near the right elbow. He pivoted, recognized the defense was overplaying towards the ball, and immediately hit Eli Brooks with a perfect pass for a wide open corner three:

Just prior to the assist to Brooks, Livers displayed his mid-range game in the paint. Immediately after giving up the ball, he darted towards the middle of the defense, grabbed a pass from Zavier Simpson, and knocked down a jumper:

Note how Brazdeikis is also open along the wing on this play. When you can work the ball into the middle of the paint like this, a teammate is often going to become open. On this play, Norfolk State shifts down to prevent a pass to Teske. If they had chased Iggy, there likely would have been a passing lane to Teske. Defensive execution has to be perfect once the ball hits the paint in a zone and college players are rarely going to recover well enough to stop an intelligent player like Livers in that situation.

Livers also showed some both his smarts and skill when he stuck along the perimeter versus the zone.

Watch here how he directs a swap with Jordan Poole to get a better shooter and driver at the wing and he took his spot as a corner spacer:

The switch paid off as Poole’s pump fake led to penetration and Livers was left wide open to convert a corner three.

Livers displayed an ability to beat the zone off the dribble in the second half with a drop off to Brazdeikis for a dunk:

Note how he shifts to the left as Poole dribbles towards him to give both of them extra space. That additional gap allowed him to get to the middle and caused defenders to have to abandon the rim area, leaving a passing lane to Iggy.

Livers also made a great effort to push the ball off misses on several occasions which prevented the defense from setting up:

Pushing in transition isn’t often associated with beating zones but it’s critical for a team like Michigan. The fewer times they have to execute in the half court and create shots, the more efficient they are going to be. Transition and semi-transition opportunities cause defenses to scramble and will result in far more open threes than they would otherwise enjoy.

Isaiah Livers isn’t going to shoot Michigan into or out of games. But he certainly is a competent outside shooter. After converting on 36 percent of his deep balls last season, he’s made 53 percent of his attempts this year.

Watch as Livers shifts to his left as his defender leaves to help on Teske's roll to the rim to create a shorter pass for Simpson:

This move is subtle but it matters. The shorter pass prevents his defender from recovering completely and it also him to shoot in-rhythm.

A possession later, Livers runs the court and, upon recognizing that the left corner has been left unguarded, jets toward the open space and nails a corner three:

The variety of ways in which Livers impacts the game offensively has shown up in the numbers despite him being one of the team’s least-skilled offensive players:

The above is courtesy of Hoop Lens and shows that Michigan is scoring 1.15 points per possession with Livers on the floor, a far better number than starting forward Charles Matthews. There’s certainly a small sample size there, but it underlies how great Livers has played offensively this season, even if he doesn’t jump off your TV.

Even more impressive are the team-best defensive numbers (yes, better than Teske) with him on the court. Holding opponents to 0.57 points per possession is impressive but it’s more remarkable when you consider the fact that most of his minutes come as an undersized five man.  Those lineups with Livers replacing Teske have been especially good defensively, holding opponents to 0.46 points per possession according to Hoop Lens.

What Michigan misses with Teske on the bench they make up for with Livers’ versatility. His ability to switch onto any variation of the pick and roll has been invaluable to Michigan without a true center. Keeping opponents out of the paint is critical without a true rim protector and the Wolverines have been able to do it because they do not need to fear switching as they may with Teske or Davis on the floor.

Livers has shown some sneaky ability as a rim protector in these situations, as well. It doesn’t come in the traditional sense, sitting in the paint and waiting for opponents. Rather, he’s shown exceptional trail technique on multiple occasions to recover and block a shot as he did here against Providence:

Many players will panic when they get beaten off the dribble initially and foul their counterpart unnecessarily. Livers, like he did against George Washington, remains calm, trails on the hip of his opponent, and allows his athleticism to take over once the offensive player leaves his feet near the rim.

The sample size is small, but the impact is real with Isaiah Livers. His attention to detail has been and will continue to be a big deal for a Michigan team which looks poised for another great season under John Beilein.