Wolverine TV: Michigan assistant Howard Eisley talks struggles vs. MSU, previews Nebraska
Michigan Wolverines basketball assistant coach Howard Eisley met with the media Monday morning, and discussed his team’s struggles in a 83-67 loss at Michigan State over the weekend, previewed Tuesday night’s matchup with a struggling Nebraska team and more.
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The Wolverines are 10-8 on the season and 4-4 in Big Ten play, appearing to be on the outside looking in when it comes to the conference title race, after winning the league just last season. With seven newcomers — six freshmen and one graduate transfer — Michigan has a new-look team and hasn’t lived up to its preseason expectations after being ranked No. 4 to begin the year.
“It’s a completely different team,” Eisley said when asked about comparing to last year. “That’s the beauty of it — what happened last year is over with, it’s gone. And we have so many new guys and so many new faces. You really can’t begin to compare last year to this year, and I try not to even look back at least year. We’re really focused on this group and helping this group improve and get better. We still feel like we have a good part of our season left, and what we want is still ahead of us.”
Michigan beat Nebraka, 102-67, in Lincoln back in December, and the Huskers haven’t won a game since Dec. 22. They haven’t beaten a high-major opponent all season and have just two victories since Thanksgiving weekend.
Despite Nebraska’s struggles, it will pose a challenge to Michigan, Eisley said, especially after the Wolverines struggled against Michigan State’s transition offense Saturday. That’s an area in which the Huskers emphasize and excel. Eisley, who has the scout for Tuesday’s game, shared his thoughts on what Michigan’s approach must be.
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“They’re doing a great job of continuing to come out and play hard every night,” Eisley said. “Actually, I thought last game against Rutgers was a game they were going to pull off. So Fred is going a good job of making sure they’re still prepared and ready to play every night. You can’t look at their record right now and say, this is a bad team, because that’s not really the case. They’ve been in a lot of games, had an opportunity to win against Rutgers. We have to come out and be ready to compete, and not look at them as a team that hasn’t won a game in the league.”
For more Michigan basketball talk, watch Eisley’s press conference below.
Michigan Basketball Assistant Coach Howard Eisley
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