Michigan Wolverines Basketball: Michigan's First Practice Back Was A Celebration For Howard's Wolverines

After the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services recommended a temporary shutdown of all in-person athletic activities at the University of Michigan Jan. 23, with university leadership heeding the advice, the No. 3 ranked Wolverines were finally able to return to the facilities last Thursday for small group exercises. Sunday was even more special, being the first day back at practice and Howard's birthday.

"It was a great day," Howard said on the 'Inside Michigan Basketball' radio show with hosts Brian Boesch and Terry Mills. "It was great to get a chance to celebrate my birthday with the players and staff, having our first official practice back in the building that we love, that we call home — and that’s Crisler Center. We had a really nice hour and a half practice."

The Maize and Blue played at Purdue Jan. 22 and were forced to pause the next day. Their next game is scheduled for next Sunday, Feb. 14, at Wisconsin, meaning it will be 23 days between contests for the team that stands alone atop the Big Ten standings at 8-1 in league play.

"No, it wasn’t easy," Howard said of going through the break. "It was a very challenging process that we had to deal with and go through. But we went through it together, keeping all our mindset, keeping the main thing as the main thing — safety and health has been the No. 1 goal.

"And so while we were quarantined, all we kept talking about was, hey, let’s win the day. Each and every day when we went in to test, fortunately enough, we all kept testing negative."

The team had Zoom meetings as a collective group and with their respective positions. They went over film and talked strategy. They also had a motivational speaker in award-winning author Jon Gordon stop by for some words of wisdom. The main focus behind health and safety was keeping the players engaged, Howard said, later noting how difficult it would have been for his teams at Michigan to have gone through the same thing when he was an All-American player back in the 1990s.

In addition to the virtual team activities, Howard was focused personally on watching film on his own, using the time away from the court to continue learn and hopefully give his team an edge when they do return.

"I watched a lot of games of opponents who we’ve never faced before," Howard revealed. "For example, I watched a lot of Ohio State, Rutgers and also watched a lot of Illinois games, Iowa games. I took a ton of notes. I watched some NBA basketball as well. And what I mean by taking notes, I look at things as far as some of the actions that they’re running, and I also look at defensively how would be the best way to guard it.

"I also looked at some old games that we’ve played versus some opponents, like Wisconsin. I knew that would possibly be one of our opponents once this quarantine ends for us. So I wanted to see what we can improve and do better for next time we play Wisconsin.

"I did not want to sit on my hands, I’m not that type of individual. I’m always that growth-mindset type of person, working to see how I can improve and how this team can prepare, working for when this time ends that we can be ready to go and compete out there at a high level."

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Last week, sophomore wing Franz Wagner expressed a bit of concern about returning to form after so much time away from the game, knowing from the experience of having gone through injuries on just how tough it is.

Howard pointed out that the Wolverines, and teams across the country that have gone through similar situations this season, are in uncharted waters.

"No one has ever experienced anything like this before," Howard said bluntly, noting there's no prior experience to go off of. "You just try to manage it the best way that you can, but make sure you don’t put our players in a situation where they get injured or set your team back.

"We’ve done a really good job so far of gradually getting ourselves back to getting back to the Michigan way. And the Michigan way is our habits, our habits of how we play offensively and defensively. Yes, there was a great start to it. Each and every day, we’re going to try to improve.

"Everything that we do is on the floor, it’s basketball. It’s not going to happen over night. It’s a process, it’s going to take time. There’s nothing like five-on-five. And that’s going to be a part of our conditioning, as well, so we can get the rhythm back. That’s very important."

After Wisconsin Sunday, the Wolverines aren't quite sure what will come next, with Howard saying he has no information on the schedule, how many games may be rescheduled or when they may occur.

"We’re in a really good place," Howard said. "Our kids are excited that there’s light at the end of the tunnel. We know that we gotta look at this thing, like we always have, game by game, not looking at the end of the schedule. We gotta win this day. Keep testing negative."

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