Early-season turnover woes aren’t out of the ordinary across college basketball.
It takes time for teams to learn how to play at their own pace. Part of forming an offensive identity involves pushing through the mistakes, which often lead to high turnover tallies in November box scores.
But even now, halfway through December, the Michigan men’s basketball team is still averaging 13.5 turnovers per game. The Wolverines have given the ball away north of 20 times on two separate occasions, while they’ve limited their turnover figure to single-digits only once all season. So far, they rank in the bottom five in the Big Ten in turnover margin and assist to turnover ratio.
Michigan’s 19.6% turnover rate ranks outside the top-200 in college basketball, per KenPom, while the Wolverines are forcing turnovers at a rate of just 14.7%. Right now, that’s a bottom-20 mark nationally.
After splitting its first two Big Ten games, Michigan will enjoy a three-game stretch of non-conference play against Southern Utah, Purdue Fort Wayne and Central Florida to close out this month. For coach Juwan Howard, the upcoming schedule offers an opportunity to improve upon the Wolverines’ poor turnover numbers.
“It’s a lot of areas, but one in particular is taking care of the basketball,” Howard said Friday. “We have averaged 13.5 turnovers per game. That’s an area we can truly improve that we must get better with because every possession matters.”
Howard’s ultimate goal is for Michigan to trim its turnover count to no more than 11 per game. The Wolverines are currently a long way away, and Howard knows that sort of improvement can’t be spoken into existence. Rather, correcting turnovers has become a major focus at practice.
“I see it in practice,” Howard said. “We make some plays (and) sometimes I just scratch my head and wonder, ‘What are we looking at? Are we trying to make that play?’ Sometimes that play is a home run play. Not singling a guy out, but (there was) one I asked. I stopped practice to see what he saw because maybe he can teach me something because I didn’t see exactly what he saw.
“Then, at that moment, it’s a learning process we go through. Knowing that’s something we must improve on, we have to do a better job of identifying when a guy is open, how to deliver the ball on time, on target. And if he doesn’t, then make the pass and trust your teammate will make the right play.”
At first, it appears the 11-turnover average could be a long way away. After all, the Wolverines have exceeded that number in seven of their 10 games so far this season. Giveaways have disrupted Michigan’s flow at times, leading to stagnant offense and difficult shot attempts.
But now that the team has settled into a rhythm, an offensive identity could quickly take shape. With that comes comfort, which could prove crucial to cutting down on turnovers.
After the Wolverines committed 17 turnovers in an exhibition win over Wayne State in November, Howard laughed at a question about the high giveaway count. He claimed he was surprised the number wasn’t in the 20s. In doing so, Howard recalled the first game of his freshman season, when he claimed Michigan committed 30 turnovers in a blowout win over Detroit Mercy at Calihan Hall in 1991.
That year, the Wolverines cured themselves of the turnover bug. Now, three decades later, Howard sees the same potential in his current team.
“I have a positive attitude knowing that we will improve,” Howard said. “I’m not giving up on it, and they know it. It’s going to continue to be stressed until we become one of those teams that has 11 or less turnovers per game.”
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