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Will Michigan basketball players-only meeting be the moment that helped change the season?

Chris Balasby:Chris Balas•01/04/23•

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Michigan coach Juwan Howard
Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images

Michigan Wolverines shooting guard Jett Howard has had a great year statistically, but he’s been sporadic on the defensive end. The sophomore and junior center Hunter Dickinson, in fact, both looked like they had more to give in a stunning upset loss to Central Michigan at home last week.

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They seemed to realize it when they met for a players only meeting following that loss. They were embarrassed — not just with the loss, but also the effort — and talked about what they could do to change the direction with the Big Ten season on tap.

“It was a very good meeting,” Howard said. “We just wanted everybody to be open and tell each other how they felt about everything that transpired in weeks past. To be honest, I think we needed that to move forward.

“Hunter was obviously vocal in it. Myself … everybody kind of played a big part, which was great. It wasn’t one person just speaking, speaking at the same time. We let everybody share their piece. It was very beneficial to us, I think, and now we had a good win because of it, in my opinion.”

A blowout win over Maryland followed in which Michigan came out with incredible fire and got after it defensively. Howard has always been capable, but he brought the intensity up another level.

We’ve been waiting to see it — but will it continue?

That should be the requirement. Freshman point guard Dug McDaniel was running through screens and hounding the ball, and guys were contesting every shot and most passes. They were also putting bodies on people and rebounding the way they should.

The meeting helped bring out the best in all of them, Howard said.

“My biggest takeaway is we all started to hold each other accountable more, and we didn’t really care if someone felt … you know how sometimes people get down when you give them criticism?” the Michigan frosh said. “But everyone is open to criticism and not having a bad attitude with it

“Everyone was on top of each other and the sense of urgency was very high. I just felt like that loss to Central Michigan was very unacceptable. We felt like our standard was high, and we let our fanbase down by that loss. We just want to come back and change that.”

They did — for a day — and are now back on top of the Big Ten standings in the very early going. But there’s a tough one with Penn State tonight, followed by a game at Michigan State that has the potential to help change the season.

We’ll find out soon enough of the short-term effects of the CMU lead to long-term success, starting tonight against Penn State.

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