Michigan basketball: Now or never for Juwan Howard’s 2022 Wolverines

To say this is a big week for Michigan basketball is an understatement. The Wolverines are still a projected No. 8 seed in the way-too-early NCAA Tournament projections, but they could be on the outside looking in without at least one this week, maybe two. 

It won’t be easy. Juwan Howard’s third Michigan team is coming off a loss at UCF and now must face Rutgers on the road Tuesday. A Saturday home game with Michigan State is next, and the Spartans are on the brink of the top 10. 

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WolverineTV: Juwan Howard talks game with Rutgers

It’s “one game at a time” for Howard and his group, though, and the Scarlet Knights are more than capable of beating U-M. Rutgers beat then-No. 1 Purdue in Piscataway earlier this year and has a great home crowd. 

“They’re a tough team to play at home. It’s been that way since I became a coach two years ago and went to Rutgers,” Howard said. “The building is very loud. Fans are sitting right behind you. Some of student section there, they can be a little bit wild. We’ve had beer cans thrown at us … that could be a little bit intimidating.

“But what I saw from the Purdue game is a well-coached team that plays with a lot of toughness. They also did a really good job of protecting the basket. They also were active in passing lanes. Defensively, they’ve always been a team that really gets after you, tries to try to take away a lot of things you try to run offensively, some of your strengths.”

Ron Harper Jr. and Geo Baker provide a 1-2 scoring punch at 14.9 and 10.9 points per game, respectively. Each is shooting 39 percent from three-point range, an area in which Michigan struggled against UCF. 

Michigan defensive improvement starts on the perimeter

U-M, meanwhile, is struggling just to find anything positive after an 85-71 beating in which the Wolverines allowed 48 points in the last 15 minutes. 

Michigan was up 12 early in the second half before UCF quickly caught up, and then pulled away. They made eight triples in a row at one point.

“We’ve just got to learn how to finish games and eliminate defensive mistakes,” Howard said. “Every time we have a defensive breakdown or mistake, we always get hurt the wrong way and that’s either with a three or a three-point play from our opponent at the wrong time. But that’s a part of learning how to win, and I believe we are doing that.

“We gave up 51 percent shooting last game and 40 percent from three, and some of the shots Central Florida made were well-contested shots. Some were where a guy was in his face and got a hand-ball contest and the guy made a step-back three or pushed off and then got open and shot a three.”

And he’s right. Some of it has been bad luck, or guys getting hot. 

At the same time, in games like Arizona and North Carolina, the points came too easily. All were blowouts, and the Wolverines wilted when things went poorly. 

Part of it is the Michigan freshmen getting lost on defense. Moussa Diabate and Caleb Houstan haven’t figured it out on that end, but Howard is confident they will. 

“It takes freshmen time to be able to make an adjustment right out of high school and to hit the ground running and play at a high level,” the Michigan coach continued. 

“Now, how some of these freshmen are being rated, like five stars, four stars … you get the assumption that all five stars, because they’ve seen some who have dominated at other programs, are supposed to dominate when they first arrive. From the first touch in live game action. But it takes time to develop, and I have patience for it and our staff has the patience for it.”

A commitment to excellence

All of them are dialed in and committed to improving, he added. None of the struggles were a result of “reading the press clippings” before the year, when Michigan was ranked preseason top 10.

“I have not sensed anything like that with our group,” Howard said. “Our team understands the big picture. What they also understand is that no team wins in the preseason — that you win in March and April. So, we’re very humble.

“We also are a group that will continue to do whatever we can to get better and better and look at it by game by game. We’re not always looking ahead, because that’s not realistic.”

The goal is to compete at a high level, improve and be one of the last standing teams toward the end of Big Ten conference play, he added. It starts again this week after the Wolverines won at Nebraska and lost at home to Minnesota.

Now is the time to turn the season around. Dig a bigger hole and it’s going to be much tougher to climb out.

“We’re 1-1 … now we’re going into a lion’s den, which is tomorrow at Rutgers,” Howard said. “It’s going to be a tough one, but I’m looking forward to seeing our guys and [them] showing their level of competitiveness. I know that they will be ready to compete from start to finish.”