A critical week for Michigan basketball starts tonight vs. Virginia
Juwan Howard’s fourth Michigan basketball team got off to a great start, but it hasn’t been playing well lately. A blowout loss to a mediocre Arizona State team was a stunner, and the Wolverines haven’t really recovered. They needed overtime to beat Ohio and weren’t sharp against Jackson State.
This week, though, is the opportunity to gain some momentum. Michigan hosts a very good Virginia team tonight in Ann Arbor before heading to London, England Saturday to play Kentucky.
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Tony Bennett’s team will be a huge test for Howard and Co. in the ACC – Big Ten Challenge tonight.
“I don’t have a solution [for them],” Howard said. “I will say this — they play hard. They all bought into the system, developed a system that coach Bennett has taught. This year, I’ve really been impressed with how connected they are on [the defensive] side of the ball, as well as the offensive side of the ball.
“This is a team that plays hard, plays together and are aligned on doing their jobs and doing it the right way. They definitely do a good job of making you work hard for every bucket you try to get.”
Virginia’s pack line defense requires patience and good guard play. The latter has been tough for the Wolverines at times this year, with point guard Jaelin Llewellyn and shooting guard Kobe Bufkin having combined to shoot 15.2 percent from long range.
As a team, Michigan is shooting only 31.8 percent from beyond the arc, 250th nationally. That’s never going to be good enough to compete for a title, and it won’t be good enough to beat a Virginia team that’s beaten No. 6 Baylor and No. 16 Illinois.
“Our team is working extremely hard in practice, getting a lot of time,” Howard insisted. “When we’re here and we don’t have practice — I’m not there personally, but I can see it from afar, just hear the ball bouncing and the music playing because my office is connected to the gym.
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“I trust our guys will do the work they need to do to go out there and, as they’ve been doing, competing, giving it all out there on the floor and doing whatever they can to help their team win. As far as if I’m worried or concerned [about the shooting] — no, I’m not at all.”
Nor is he concerned about his Michigan team having to travel overseas for another huge game against Kentucky. He called it another “life experience” for a team that had a great one over the summer, including trips to France and Greece.
“Taking college basketball to a different country …. hopefully, those fans that are in London will embrace the Michigan basketball team as well as the Michigan basketball spirit,” Howard said. “I think it’s going to be great. Now you’ve got two powerhouses in Kentucky and Michigan playing abroad.
“It’s probably going to be a bit of a different travel situation. But once the ball gets to bouncing, the lights on, and the popcorn gets to popping, both teams are going to be excited to compete on the floor in front of the London fans.”
But it starts tonight with a Michigan game against Virginia that can provide a huge boost for a struggling team.
