Juwan Howard shares thoughts on Emoni Bates, other observations from win over EMU

Michigan men’s hoops moved to 2-0 on the season with a hard-fought 88-83 victory over Eastern Michigan at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Friday night. The game had plenty of ups and downs, but was headlined by a 31-point effort from junior center Hunter Dickinson.

The biggest storyline in the game was the EMU debut of local phenom Emoni Bates, who transferred to Ypsilanti this offseason after some brief buzz linking him to Michigan. Bates, who was compared to Kevin Durant coming out of high school before a disappointing season at Memphis, was outstanding. He finished the game with 30 points on 12-of-19 shooting. The electricity in the home of the Detroit Pistons was palpable.

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• Wolverine TV: Juwan Howard, Michigan players react to Eastern Michigan win

Head coach Juwan Howard guided his team to a victory over a tough Eastern Michigan squad on Friday night. Here are some of the key quotes from his postgame press conference and quick takeaways from our end.

What Howard learned from Michigan’s win

Howard: “You can learn a lot just from a win, instead of just a loss. And so we knew coming in with atmosphere like that, that it was gonna be a game of runs, and with a special talent that they have — not just one player, but two players. I mean, Noah Farrakhan, he’s another special guy who can make tough shots. He lives for the big moments. And so you have two guys that are gifted offensively, but also two competitors, you’re gonna get a very competitive game, which was expected.

“So our guys did an amazing job of just having mental stability when the runs were in Eastern Michigan’s favor. We could have easily just folded to them. We didn’t.”

Our take: Things mostly came easy for Michigan in the season-opening win over Purdue Fort Wayne on Tuesday night. But it found itself in a prize fight on Friday evening. We will not know if this was a concern or a blip on the radar until more data comes in, but we did learn this group can take a punch and counter.

There was plenty of extra juice for this one given the schools’ proximity to each other and a chip on the shoulder from the Bates camp. EMU made a lot of tough shots and looks like it has the potential to win the MAC and crack the NCAA Tournament. It is a long season, but Michigan was down 8 at one point and rallied all the way back. There is a fight and an edge to this group that was good to see.

Guarding Emoni Bates

Howard: “I knew going in after watching film, and then also, I’ve seen this young man grow since the time when he was put up there in the public news as one of the — what I recall, the best fourth grader in the country? And with that, I was OK, well, who’s rating the best fourth grader in the coutry. And then, you know, you just see his growth each year, and it’s like, oh, OK.

“Then he started getting compared to Kevin Durant. And, that’s hard for any young person, but give him credit as far as how he has worked on his game, and his skill set. And so with that, some of the shots that he made, I wasn’t surprised, because I’ve seen him make a lot of tough shots, watching him in high school, watching them in the AAU level. And now, he has a group that breeds confidence in him, that trusts him. And, it’s nothing like that. I know it from my own experience. When you have a coaching staff and teammates that believe in you and trust you, your confidence level goes up even higher.

“He’s going to touch the ball every time down the floor, let’s not forget that. He deserves to.”

Our take: There is a multiversal scenario where Bates was wearing Maize and Blue, but that was a thread Howard and the Wolverines chose to not tug on. Time will tell whether that was the right decision or not. In the vacuum of one game, Bates was the absolute best version of himself. He was engaged on both sides of the floor and flashed the shot-making ability that made his high school games the toughest ticket in Washtenaw County.

Nobody can argue there is not some baggage there, but for one night on the biggest stage he has seen yet, Bates looked like a superstar and was a rising tide for his EMU teammates. Coming home and playing for an under-the-radar MAC school might be the best thing that ever happened to his basketball career. Whether or not you root for him is a personal preference, but this has a shot to be one of the most intriguing comeback stories of the college hoops season.

Michigan’s defensive adjustments

Howard: “Well, first half, I felt like we didn’t do a good job of that. Second half, we talked about at halftime. So when someone asks some of the adjustments that we’ve made, some adjustments where let’s make sure that we’re not up on the ball screen, let’s pick them up at the 3-point line. When we were picking them up sort of high above the 3-point, that was giving like Noah and some of their guards the opportunity to get downhill, to get into the paint. And that was too many paint touches in the first half. So you look at how they shot the ball in the first half, they were 53% from the field. So then, in the second half, they shot 38% from the field. So that’s the credit to the adjustments and credit in our defense, our defensive disposition and also out mindset.”

Our take: Michigan’s defensive energy in the season opener was outstanding, but not without its share of flaws. But it felt like they contested everything and were getting their hands in passing lanes. The team also communicated well. During a large chunk of Friday’s game in Detroit, it was a step backward for the Wolverines.

There were some wide-eyes and blank stares at times, especially after the Eagles and Bates made some well-defended buckets. Water was able to find its level in the second half, and credit Michigan’s staff for making adjustments when it needed to. Sophomore guard Kobe Bufkin defended Bates early in the game, but junior forward Terrance Williams drew the assignment later and it resulted in a few more stops.

Again, anything that happens in the vacuum of one game can be taken with a grain of salt. All that matters is what comes next. Friday was a troubling performance more akin to what the team looked like last year. Defense has to improve.

Hunter Dickinson dominance

Howard: “I might be the toughest and hardest person on Hunter because I just expect more. But yeah, give the young man credit, he knows that, he doesn’t mind that I challenged him. He doesn’t mind being coached. He enjoys going out there and competing and it’s tough sometimes when you have smaller guys that’s walking underneath you, beating on your arm.

You know, sometimes your whistles — and I’m not saying the referees didn’t do a good job there, because they did — but sometimes you have that Shaq whistle. I remember times in the NBA when Shaq was — he had a different whistle than everyone else. He was so big and stronger than all the other guys that I think the times people expect for him to dominate and expect him to take a lot of abuse. But Hunter is — he’s just is working and he’s done an amazing job of leading as well.”

Our take: EMU did not have a player capable of guarding Dickinson down low and Michigan took advantage of that. In fact, he probably did not get the ball enough. Dickinson was the answer at the other end of the floor to plenty of shots made from Bates and company, and he was active in getting the pro-Michigan crowd involved in the game.

On nights like Friday, Dickinson has to be the guy that leads the way. There are a ton of new pieces on this team and young players are going to go through it. He and Williams were outstanding and combined for 49 of the team’s 88 points on the evening. Not a bad night at the office.

NBA arena atmospheres

Howard: “When you have an atmosphere like that, it can be different. It can sometimes get you more caught into playing for the crowd, or you can not trust yourself and play a little timid. But I think it’s great for us to have an opportunity to play in a crowd like this in a big NBA atmosphere because it’s preparing you for, not only just the Big Ten, but hopefully, if you get an opportunity to play in a tournament, you want to have an environment like that.

“And that’s why to have one play a game like this here, in Little Caesars Arena now and just so we can get a lot of our Michigan fans around the Detroit area to come out and support. But it also inspires young guys, for those who are dreaming, working hard, and playing at the NBA level. This can be very inspiring to get a chance and opportunity to play in an arena like this. So with that, we’d love to do cool things and more importantly, give our guys the experience of an atmosphere like that.

Our take: Friday night’s showcase is something that needs to happen more with college basketball in the area. Metro Detroit is not known for its hoops, but there are plenty of quality high-major and mid-major programs in the state. Howard and Michigan were willing to give up a home game to come play in an NBA arena just down the road. This is something that should be embraced by the programs locally.

Oakland, Detroit Mercy, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, Michigan State and Michigan should all explore making these games more of a local showcase instead of a typical buy game at Crisler or Breslin Center. Little Caesars Arena hosted a doubleheader in 2017 with Detroit Mercy and Michigan facing off with MSU and Oakland playing shortly after. It would be great for the fans in the area to see more of this.

Next up

Michigan heads to Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York for the Legends Classic on Nov. 16-17. First up is Pittsburgh in a 6 p.m. ET tip on ESPNU on Wednesday night. Depending on how the first game goes, The Wolverines will see either Arizona State or VCU on Thursday on ESPN2.