Saddled with Big Ten's worst defense, Michigan basketball, Juwan Howard search for the fix
In the aftermath of Michigan basketball’s victory over Ohio State on Monday, Juwan Howard beamed a big smile. His team had survived a run of 16 straight points by the Buckeyes, gutting out a hard-fought victory that could be celebrated with the rest of his Fab Five teammates in attendance.
But by late Thursday night, Howard’s joy had turned to pain. No. 14 Illinois had just ransacked his Wolverines, blitzing them with a 17-2 surge during a transformative 6-minute stretch in the second half of its 88-73 victory. This time, Michigan couldn’t muster a counterstrike as it did against Ohio State, which led to a reporter wondering why the Wolverines keep getting ambushed in the first place.
Weary and maybe even a little numb, Howard said, “That’s a great question. When you find out, let me know.”
Since returning to the bench last month following his recovery from heart surgery, Howard seemingly has been wondering that often.
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The Wolverines are 7-11 and have lost five of their first seven Big ten games. The defeat Thursday may have been their most revealing — exposing the harsh truth about a team that lacks the defensive might to hang with the Big Ten’s best.
Never was that more apparent than during a game-defining sequence, when Illinois’ tenuous 48-47 lead metastasized into an insurmountable 65-49 advantage. The sudden surge began when Michigan guard Jaelin Llewellyn allowed Justin Harmon free access to the rim during an inbounding. Harmon received the pass, banked in a layup and was fouled by Llewelyn, resulting in a costly three-point play. Howard grimaced and looked up at the scoreboard.
But no solutions were found there. Instead, there was only more agony in store, as Michigan offered little resistance. Ty Rodgers, unguarded, attacked the rim and scored on a layup. Coleman Hawkins, alone on the blocks with no Michigan player there to box him out, retrieved the ball off a missed 3-pointer and dropped in an easy put-back. Quincy Guerrier outmuscled Howard’s son, Jace, bulling his way to make another close-range shot. On and on it went as Michigan fans watched in horror. The Illini made 60% of their field-goal attempts during that run, overcoming their rare misses with a series of second-chance conversions.
“We gotta look ourselves in the mirror, knowing defense is the big problem,” Michigan forward Tarris Reed Jr. said glumly. “We need to be more sound, more disciplined.”
In the coming days, Howard plans to pore over the tape and diagnose everything that went wrong. It figures to be an unpleasant exercise, knowing there may not be an easy fix.
“There definitely has to be a lot of soul-searching,” Howard said. “We will sit down and take a look at it, take ownership of it.”
Howard has no other choice.
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After Illinois dropped 88 on Michigan, the Wolverines vaulted past Iowa to claim the dubious distinction of having the worst defense in the Big Ten. U-M is conceding 77.6 points per game — more than any of its conference brethren.
It’s a rather shocking development considering Howard’s coaching roots originate with the Miami Heat, the NBA organization Pat Riley has ruled since 1995. When Riley was still calling shots from the bench, his teams often beat their opponents into submission, strangling them by cutting off easy access to the net. Howard’s Wolverines, on the other hand, seem much more pliable and permeable. That was evident Thursday, when Rodgers, Guerrier and Hawkins penetrated toward the basket and padded a box score that featured five Illini players scoring in double figures and a robust 48.4% team field-goal percentage.
“The effort is there,” Howard insisted. “There were times (problems) were based on mental mistakes, whether it was fatigue or lack of communication. I will say both.”
But Howard doesn’t know for sure. Everything seems muddied right now, as Howard looks for a cure-all. Even when he tried to staunch the flow by mixing in a little zone to foil Illinois’ offensive sets, it backfired. A missed assignment caused a breakdown, forcing him to revert to man. It was a frustrating development, Howard conceded. Yet he was bothered more by something else.
“Overall, defensively, we didn’t show any type of presence or physicality in the second half,” he asserted.
Howard made his case by rattling off the stats: 51 points scored by Illinois after the break, 42 produced in the paint alone, 16 of which came by way of offensive rebounds.
In that moment, Howard could easily explain the problems that caused his floundering team to lose to the superior Illini.
Fixing the source of those Michigan struggles, however, is a much more difficult task. Whether Howard is up for it is uncertain. But after Thursday, he seemed to be searching for answers, looking to his audience for some help.
Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress.com. Follow him @RainerSabin.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball's defense leaves Juwan Howard without an answer
