The storylines for the Michigan basketball team this season are fairly obvious, - at least before the first game is played Saturday against South Carolina Upstate.

Who will score? Who will rebound? Can this Michigan team, full of inexperience and question marks, turn into one capable of playing in the postseason?

Five questions linger - and before answers start forming this weekend, here they are.

How will Michigan fare in non-conference games? The Big Ten is going to be a brutal league this season and Michigan isn’t playing a cupcake non-conference schedule with games against Kansas, Syracuse, Clemson, Oakland and Georgia Tech/UTEP. The Wolverines - if they want any shot at any postseason - can’t afford to drop any games to the lower-ranked teams they’ll face. Beating one or two of the tough non-conference foes wouldn’t hurt, either.

Who will provide the scoring? Some of John Beilein’s best work as a coach happens when he doesn’t have a go-to scorer at the end of games but a plethora of guys who can make shots. Right now, though, there are major questions as to who, exactly, can score for Michigan. Freshman Tim Hardaway Jr. seems to be the early answer along with a complement of junior guards Zack Novak and Stu Douglass.

Does it matter that there are no seniors? Michigan doesn’t have a senior on its roster. It has four players with any sort of game experience and one of them - sophomore guard Matt Vogrich - played sparingly as a freshman. So the Wolverines need their inexperienced players to grasp the Beilein two-guard offense and principles of man-to-man and the 1-3-1 zone defense.

Who are the leaders for the Wolverines? Michigan, frankly, lacked leadership last season. DeShawn Sims and Manny Harris, while good players, were guys who were weren’t the most vocal. Those who were weren’t playing well enough to step into that role and be effective. Michigan needs rebound seasons from Novak and Douglass (and to an extent Darius Morris) so their leadership in the locker room can be backed up with good on-court play. That’s how good teams jell.

Who will provide rebounds? Michigan has more length this year - the shortest player in Michigan’s frontcourt this year is 6-foot-6 Colton Christian as opposed to the generously-listed 6-foot-5 Novak - but no experience. If the Wolverines’ three-headed center of redshirt freshmen Jordan Morgan and Blake McLimans along with freshman Jon Horford can produce 20 points and 10 rebounds combined a night, Michigan might have success. If the middle becomes a void in the offense, the Wolverines could be in trouble.

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