Juwan Howard talks COVID delay, showdown with UCF
Michigan basketball will play its first game since Dec. 18 on Thursday night in Orlando against Central Florida. The Wolverines had its previous game against Purdue Fort Wayne wiped out due to COVID issues with the Mastodons.
Michigan would have liked to play over the 12 days it had between games. However, it was not meant to be. Head coach Juwan Howard still likes what he has seen in practices.
RELATED: Wolverine TV: Juwan Howard, Eli Brooks preview game at UCF
“Unfortunately, what we all are dealing with COVID and with this [omicron] variant, it has put a pause and delayed us from playing,” Howard told the media on Wednesday. “We had to cancel our last game. The most important thing is just everyone being healthy and safe during these tough times. But overall, with the two weeks [pause], we dealt with it last year. Knowing that this is a different team from last year’s team, I like what I’ve seen thus far in practice and we’re doing our best to navigate during these tough times.”
There will be rust to shake off on Thursday night, but Michigan will not use it as a crutch. Howard is expecting to be ready for its last non-conference game before Big Ten play is in full swing.
“I’ve always had this mindset about embracing the suck, so whatever is thrown our way, we’re not going to make any excuses for it,” he said. “When we get the opportunity to play we always are very appreciative and blessed that we’re doing something that we all enjoy doing. No matter if it’s two days in between, two weeks in between, we’re always geared up and excited to have the opportunity to play against [other] competition.”
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Michigan basketball’s bonding experience
Howard and Michigan used the downtime and lead-up to the UCF game as a bonding experience. The Wolverines arrived in Florida on Monday and practiced at the Orlando Magic’s facility. They would then attend the Magic vs. Bucks game where former teammate Franz Wagner dropped a career-high 38 points.
“It was great after the holiday for our team to get together and spend some more time developing that brotherhood, that chemistry, that family bonding that we’ve always been about,” Howard said. “And with how the traveling situation has been with COVID we wanted to try to get ahead of it, with how flight situations have been with a lot of the airlines with cancellations. We were trying to get ahead of it so we didn’t have any problems with arriving here to play the game. We’re happy that we arrived safely and it’s good that we’ve been here working hard in practice preparing for our opponent.”
There could be rust, but Howard wants to see his team cap off the week with a hard-fought effort. Given how recent events have played out, he just wants Michigan to get to tipoff.
“Just a hard-playing game for 40 minutes,” he said. “But first, let’s just get to the game. Hopefully, we have a game. Just never know. Just take it one day at a time.”
Michigan tips off against UCF at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday night on ESPN2.
