Three thoughts as Michigan Basketball's tourney hopes are on the brink
Michigan's NCAA Tournament hopes are in doubt as the Wolverines dropped a game it should've won against Indiana over the weekend.
Now, the schedule only gets tougher and the hill to climb in order to get into the tournament next month is only getting steeper with the competition only getting tougher. While getting into the tournament isn't impossible, the self-inflicted wounds the Wolverines have caused themselves this season could be the difference-maker in whether the program gets a tournament bid or decides whether the NIT is something the program would like to participate in.
Below are three thoughts as U-M's tournament hopes are on the brink.
1. The young player excuse can only take you so far
Yes, Michigan has lost a fair share of talent over the last two seasons and has replaced it with young and inexperienced players. That is a factual statement to make. However, when it comes to the performance of the team, you cannot write off every loss as this "being a young team" and then laud the growth of the same players in a loss in the same week.
You either grow or you stay stagnant and the team has grown in some areas to be sure but the stagnant areas are proving to be the team's downfall in close games.
Ice-cold offense when it matters the most, inexcusable defense and mistakes made that continue to happen no matter how often it's addressed in practice and in film sessions.
To use the young team excuse this late in the season is writing the season off as something like a stepping-stone year that doesn't matter. Every season matters and every team needs to show signs that its improving and hitting its stride at the right time.
Just when the Wolverines show it might turn a corner, the panic button is pressed and the team reverts back to old habits.
And old habits die hard.
All of that culminates into what the team is currently. A middling Big Ten program whose bubble is on the brink of bursting when wins are at a premium.
2. Close isn't good enough, you need to find the killer instinct
You don't score points with the NCAA by playing teams "close" when it comes to the seeding in the tournament. Wins and losses are all that matter. Quality wins.
You don't get through with quality losses.
This is why the road ahead is rocky for the Wolverines. Your schedule doesn't get easier and you need to play above .500 basketball in order to have some kind of hope and that doesn't factor in a Big Ten Tournament win or two to make sure you're over the finish line completely.
One-point losses don't look good on a resume, especially games that you should've won in the first place. Nobody is going to look back on the games against Purdue and Indiana and think, "Wow, what a great loss. This team showed great growth."
No, the way the Wolverines lost those games only shows two quality opportunities wasted, chances the team can't afford to throw away right now. Not to mention inexcusable losses to the likes of Central Michigan which immediately negates any of the arguments that close losses are good.
Frustrating is the theme of this year's basketball program. One that cannot seem to get out of its own way.
3. It's premature to suggest that Juwan Howard's job is in danger
You could say this is the second year of the Michigan basketball program struggling on the court, even with the Sweet Sixteen run last season. Unfortunately, banners aren't hung just because you made it to the Sweet Sixteen, wins are all that matters.
Juwan Howard certainly did a lot of that in the early stages of his coaching career in Ann Arbor and while the Wolverines do have a handful of "big" wins since then, it's still not the time to question the temperature of Howard's seat currently.
At least not yet.
If the Wolverines continue to struggle on the court next season with a vast majority of the team returning, I think the time will be appropriate to start asking the question publicly.
Five years is usually a pretty good barometer of where things stand with the program under a head coach.
A Big Ten regular-season championship, an Elite Eight birth, a Sweet Sixteen birth, and multiple NBA draft picks. The recipe is there for success in the future. Sometimes down years happen, you just can't turn a down year into consecutive years, and that's when things start to snowball.
It's not the time to call for Howard's job, not yet. If this thing starts to snowball into something worse, then I think the time is appropriate to ask the right questions.
---
Discuss this article with our community on our premium message boards
Not a subscriber to Maize & Blue Review? Sign up today to gain access to all the latest Michigan intel M&BR has to offer
Follow our staff on Twitter: @JoshHenschke, @Berry_Seth14, @TrevorMcCue, @DennisFithian, @BrockHeilig, @JimScarcelli, @DavisMoseley, @lucasreimink, @JaredHalus
Subscribe to our podcasts: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify
Check out Maize & Blue Review's video content on YouTube
Follow Maize & Blue Review on social media: Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram