After five Michigan basketball games, we know this much ...
Juwan Howard’s team would dominate the MAC.
The coach's Wolverines have hammered three of the conference’s best, were barely challenged in blowing out Bowling Green, Ball State and Toledo, and have showed great depth and energy.
Minus a game with Oakland in which they decided not to show up and were taken to overtime, there have been primarily positives to report about a team with great energy and chemistry in an undefeated non-conference season (though fifth-year senior center Austin Davis’ leg injury could change that. He left Wednesday night’s 91-71 win over Toledo with a non-contact leg injury that looked bad and will be further evaluated tomorrow).
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The offense has been outstanding, with great ball movement, unselfishness and pace that puts tremendous pressure on opposing defenses. The Wolverines notched 20 assists against only eight turnovers despite pushing the tempo Wednesday night, and only against Oakland’s zone have they looked out of sorts.
Toledo made only 9 of 24 triples Wednesday night despite getting some good looks, something sophomore wing Franz Wagner lamented. U-M held Toledo to 4-of-16 long-range shooting in the first half, led by senior guard Eli Brooks’ outstanding defensive effort.
“Eli’s a very smart basketball player. He’s like a coach on the floor,” Howard said. “I wish you guys could see our practices and see how in-tune, aware he is when it comes to the details of the teaching — whether in drills, whether in guarding any or … in any type of drill setting, to apply to what we’re going to do and how we’re going to guard situations on the floor, or if we’re going over the team sets as far as scouting report.
“He’s always locked in. He’s one of our leaders, and we really appreciate having a guy like Eli Brooks on our team.”
Howard could say the same for most of his guys, and he has. Davis scored Michigan’s first 10 points, taking advantage of mismatches inside. Frosh Hunter Dickinson was incredible again with 18 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots in going plus-20, senior Chaundee Brown was the spark plug off the bench in notching nine points in 20 minutes and going an unbelievable plus-24 in that time …
And now it’s over, with the real season about to begin.
The Big Ten has proven to be the nation’s toughest conference, with elite coaches all over the place and incredible talent top to bottom. Penn State, Sunday’s opponent, just beat No. 15 Virginia Tech by 20 points, and is more than talented enough to compete.
Dickinson has been a man among boys in most of his games so far, but the challenge is about to rise considerably.
“I’ve got to keep my big fella humble and hungry,” Howard said with a grin. “But his maturity, also his work ethic … he loves getting in the gym, and he also has that basketball mind, similar to Eli, where he’s a very smart player, high IQ.
“When you have that passion for the game and you love the game of basketball, it’s just going to breed success.”
It’s that way up and down the roster. Wagner was supposed to be this team’s star, but his contributions have come as much on the defensive end and the glass as anywhere, indicative of a guy not worried about scoring as much as winning (though he did notch 14 points in 27 minutes and went plus-19).
Senior point guard Mike Smith had a very Zavier Simpson-like seven points and seven assists, and the Wolverines averaged an impressive 1.422 points per possession.
But again, it gets tougher now, and with the latest COVID outbreak, it might be even more challenging.
How will they fare when adversity strikes, as it does for every team, every year in some form?
That’s when you find out what a team is really made of.
There will be some bumps along the way, but there’s plenty to like about Howard’s second team and a lot of optimism that he will continue to build upon predecessor John Beilein’s great success.
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