How Serious Are Michigan's Issues?
Juwan Howard has been phenomenal at Michigan. He's recruiting as well as any coach in the country and he already has an outright Big Ten title under his belt. This season, however, is off to a bit of a rocky start.
"Every game, you win or you lose, you always find teachable moments," Howard said earlier today. "That game right there, we played against Arizona, it was a teachable moment for us."
A college basketball team hasn't gone undefeated in nearly 40 years so there's no need to hit the panic button yet, but during Michigan's game against Arizona on Sunday, a few issues surfaced that we haven't seen during Howard's tenure. Howard himself said that a few players didn't want to be coached and that there was a noticeable disconnect throughout the contest.
"When we got frustrated, there were times where we felt like we didn't want to be coached. Not all guys, only a few," Howard stated. "We also allowed their defense to speed us up so offensively, when we ran some of our offensive sets, there were two or three guys that didn't know what spots they were in because they didn't know the play. That's where the disconnect started and from there we could never gain it back."
We simply haven't heard anything like this about a Juwan Howard-coached team. Everything has been about the culture, the positive approach and the willingness of each and every player on the roster to do exactly what needs to be done. Again, it's not a time for the panic button, but Howard does have some things to fix, and he's confident they'll get fixed.
"I don't have a concern about it," he said. "It's just a part of learning. When mistakes happen, you have to be ready to accept some of the coaching, especially when frustration settles in. That's a part of growing. Every kid on our team has high character. I don't feel it will be a problem, nor will it ever be a problem."
Michigan has a chance to right some wrongs against a 1-4 Tarleton State team that will be a massive underdog in Ann Arbor tomorrow night. Howard didn't specifically outline what he'll be looking for, but you can imagine that the list is pretty long after Sunday's loss to Arizona.
"Not just one biggest thing, there are several things I'd like to see," Howard said. "Let's get back to the Michigan way — stay connected, play hard from start to finish. I thought the last game, Arizona, give them credit, they had more energy and effort in areas of the ball game that they showed. I would like to see that tomorrow, which I know I will."
