Why Jett Howard could be perfect complementary piece to Hunter Dickinson
Michigan basketball’s potential was on display in a season-opening 75-56 win over Purdue Fort Wayne on Monday night. Most of the new pieces on the roster flashed in a big way, but none moreso than freshman wing Jett Howard.
Howard got the start the the 3 for the Wolverines and was arguably the best player on the floor, finishing with 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting (5-of-10 from 3-point range). Perhaps more notable was the 5 assists he dished out from the wing.
His three-level scoring ability and unselfish play might be what makes him Michigan’s best complement to junior center Hunter Dickinson (22 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks on Monday)yet. Howard is among the players that should improves the spacing around the All-Big Ten center.
“[Hunter Dickinson] is a high IQ player and is very unselfish,” head coach Juwan Howard said after the game. “Great passer, now he gets double-teamed. He’s going to do his best to try to make the right play by finding open guys. And for the spacing that we have on the floor, Jett is going to be a recipient of it. [Terrance Williams], Kobe [Bufkin], Joey [Baker], I mean, the list goes on. And so, Jett was one of the guys also that got some good open looks because of Hunt being doubled, but also Jett made some plays himself.”
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Michigan will lean on Jett Howard’s all-around game
Jett Howard has a savvieness about his game that is emblematic of a coach’s son. The unselfish play is a trademark of the program his father has built heading into his fourth season on the job. Early on, he looks like the perfect avatar for what a Michigan basketball player should look like in this system.
“He’s been around the game for a long time,” Juwan Howard said. “He also has a high IQ. He’s a willing passer, he has great size, and he sees the floor. I’ve seen that from day one when he first started playing basketball. The ball is gonna be in his hands. At times, you’re gonna make some good plays, there’s gonna be some times, just like new freshmen, you’re gonna make some mistakes. Might be a turnover because he’s trying to make some plays that probably — he may see the guy open and then the defense sort of collapses quickly because it’s college level. You get some older guys that are bigger and faster and more active. They also scout you on film like how we scout them. So he’ll learn and grow and I know he will because he loves the game.
“I want this kid to enjoy his college life. I don’t want [him to think] that ‘my dad is gonna be so hard on me,’ because I’m not. But I’m also gonna coach him. In the first half when there were two or three different defensive mistakes and we had to sit him down and figure out where the areas that he probably thought he didn’t mess up on. But we gave him clarity that he did and it was great to see that he responded and came back in and played really well. Could have been sulking, but that’s not how he’s wired.”
