Darius Morris often worked alone this summer, sending a steady stream of basketballs toward the rims inside Crisler Arena. Just Morris and the Michigan basketball team's passing gun.

Catch. Jump. Shoot. Repeat.

All this for one purpose - to rediscover the shot he lost somewhere between his senior year at Windward High School in California and his freshman year as Michigan’s point guard.

Michigan sophomore guard Darius Morris works on his shot Aug. 4 at Crisler Arena.

Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com

“Been on myself, no one else in the gym,” Morris said. “Really get my shots up. If I get that consistently, it feels good right now. I’m shooting with the best of them right now in practice.

“Now I just need to convert it over to the game.”

During the 2009-10 season Morris was an offensive liability. Teams sagged off him when he had the ball on the perimeter because he rarely shot. And when he did, he often missed.

Morris shot 40.6 percent from the field - but just 17.9 percent from the 3-point line. Too often, he focused on passing instead of looking to drive.

So he spent the summer on his shot. He also worked out with former Kentucky guard John Wall, the No. 1 pick in the 2010 NBA Draft.

Then he returned to Ann Arbor and shot himself back into rhythm. He also received an assist from Michigan coach John Beilein, who pointed out a flaw in his shot late last season.

It gave Morris another focus point. One that he said helped.

“We saw some things where he was not balanced,” Beilein said. “He was on his toes the whole time. You want to finish off your toes, but it would be like running only on your toes.

“We saw that, filmed it in the spring, and he’s worked hard at it. He’s shot the ball really well so far.”

Morris adjusted through his many repetitions over the summer and now wondered one thing.

“I wish he would have told me at the beginning,” Morris said.

Shot fixed, it allowed Morris to focus on what may be his most important role of Michigan’s 2010-11 season - leading a young group that saw five players leave the program through graduation, the NBA Draft or dismissal from 2009-10.

It was a role Morris said he was groomed for since he first started playing basketball as a kid. He’s always been the point guard, the player others looked to for guidance on the court and advice off of it.

Now with the third-most experience on Michigan’s team, the sophomore is back in the role he covets.

“Last year, toward the end, even if coach didn’t acknowledge it, I kind of got in that role,” Morris said. “Sometimes we had tough times in practice, and I felt myself step up.

“But I told Coach this is what I’ve been doing my whole life, since I was a little kid, being a point guard, leading my team. So now it feels good to have the confidence of my coach on my side.”

The renewed confidence in his shot doesn't hurt, either.

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.