Michigan senior guard Eli Brooks is one of the most important pieces not only to his team, but to any squad in the Big Ten. The advanced metrics back up that claim on both ends of the floor, and losing him early in Sunday’s game at Michigan State played a significant role in the loss.
Unlike other Big Ten coaches, Howard didn’t use that as an excuse in his team’s 70-64 setback. He didn’t talk about fatigue, guys who are banged up (there are a few) or anything else, instead pointing to his team’s lack of intensity.
“I can’t tell you [why],” he said. “It’s a lot of emotion built up, but I really have to go back to the film and take a look. I thought we were ready. We had a really good practice [Saturday]. We had a great film session before practice, another really good film session [Saturday] night, another good walk-through film session [Sunday]. Our prep was really good.
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“We’ve just got to play for 40 minutes. We had some really good spurts out there on the floor where we did some really good things, but there were a lot of possessions where we really didn’t do a good job of being locked into the details.”
Brooks scored five early points before going down and was helping lock down the Spartans’ offense. Without him, MSU’s Rocket Watts went off for 21 points.
This was the second time this year U-M played without him, and it’s the second setback. The Wolverines were blown out at Minnesota when he didn’t play due to a minor injury.
“Yeah, it was a big loss, but we experienced it before vs. Minnesota,” Howard said. “No matter what, you can never prepare when you lose one of your main guys. Chaundee [Brown, 13 points] did a good job of stepping in, Zeb [Jackson] had some good minutes out there, as well. We just pray he gets back healthy. That’s the most important thing, about his health.”
He was still waiting for word Monday morning. Brooks was in a walking boot after the game with a left ankle injury, but Howard said he wouldn’t speak to trainer Alex Wong until later in the day.
“I will definitely this afternoon lock in and hear what’s the new update,” he said. “Hopefully it’s some great news, because I feel for Eli. I know how badly he really wants to be out there for his team, and being a senior and with the Big Ten tournament coming up, every player want to be ready to play and compete in this tournament.
“Preparation is big, and we’re going to need the prep to get ready for a tough tournament that we are looking forward to playing more than just one game. Our first opponent, we don’t know who we’re going to be playing, but these three days are really going to help us with our preparation. Part of it, too, is our guys who are banged up get a chance to rest their bodies to recover. We don’t want to be limping in the tournament.”
That starts with Brooks, whose contribution goes well beyond the 8.7 points and 2.9 assists per game averages. If the Big Ten media and coaches do their job, he’ll make the Big Ten All-Defensive Team tomorrow.
Howard knows he needs him for the postseason. The Wolverines have scored 263 more points than they've allowed in the 20 games he's played, an astounding margin.
“We have to first see what Eli’s situation is going to be like, because we’re really going to need him. He’s a large part of this team’s success," Howard said. “If you look at plus/minus, I think Eli is the leader in plus/minus in the Big Ten. That goes to show you what kind of impact he has on this team.”
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