Will Jon Teske Break Out Of His Slump Before It's Too Late?
If the last decade of Michigan basketball has taught the fans anything, it is to never give up on a player battling a midseason or even mid-career slump. Time and again, Wolverines, first under the tutelage of John Beilein and now Juwan Howard, have busted out of prolonged struggles.
In that vein, it is reasonable to expect it to happen again with senior center Jon Teske. However, this rut is different for one big reason - he's running out of time.
Michigan is guaranteed just three more games - Thursday night at home against Nebraska, Sunday at Maryland and one Big Ten tournament contest. The Maize and Blue are expected to qualify for the NCAA tournament so a fourth game is extremely likely but there are no promises.
The 7-1, 265-pounder center has never been a prominent scorer, his 11.7 points per game this year the first time he's averaged in double figures, but to suggest his 6.6 points per game over U-M's last eight contests is anything but a disappointment would be underselling just how badly Teske has struggled in all facets offensively.
Defensively, he's still altering shots - 11 official blocks in the past five games and numerous more that he's affected - though his rebounding numbers have fallen off recently, to one board every eight minutes in Michigan's last four games compared to one every four minutes during his 68 career games as a starter.
What has been most concerning, though, is the lack of offense. Teske has been so ineffective, and his sub, senior Austin Davis, so effective, that Teske has seen his minutes drop to 26.4 per game over U-M's last eight contests, down from 30.2 per game in Michigan's previous 10 Big Ten games.
Over the last eight games, Teske has shot 19 of 52 on two-point field goals (36.5%) and 2 for 12 on threes (16.7%). This from a player that ranked fourth overall in the Big Ten in 2018-19 on two-point tries (62.3%) and was second in the conference on effective field-goal percentage according to Kenpom at 59.6%.
A "stretch" 5 that has always been able to hit big shots from behind the arc, Teske doesn't appear to have any confidence shooting threes presently, to the tune that he has taken just 12 over the last eight games (1.5 per contest), down from 2.4 per game in Michigan's first 21 outings this year and from the 2.1 that he attempted in the Wolverines' 37 contests a year ago.
Mystifyingly, Howard transformed large chunks of Teske's offensive game this year, trying to create a back-to-the-basket player that can catch the ball on the low post, take a dribble or two for greater position and then turn around and shoot.
After slumping in early February, Teske seemed to abandon his back-to-the-basket game at Rutgers Feb. 19 and at Purdue Feb. 22, but then, suddenly, it returned against Wisconsin Feb. 27 and at Ohio State March 1. Both losses, Teske contributed 15 points total and was 0 for 3 from the arc.
Perhaps making it worse, Michigan feeds Teske for such an opportunity on either the first or second possession of the game, and thus, he sees his very first shot clank off the rim. Establishing early confidence is so critical to a player fighting for his offensive life and the game plan is robbing Teske of that.
Seemingly, Teske's only hope to break out of his slump is to give up on the back-to-the-basket game.
So will it happen? Will Teske get his confidence back, his shooting stroke back, and break out of his slump before it's too late? We asked you the fans, and you're not feeling it, with close to 64% of votes saying it won't happen.
