I Need Juwan Dance
By: Wayne
Michigan basketball is back baby!!! After being manhandled by Texas Tech in the Sweet 16 of this year's March Madness tournament and watching John Beilein walk out the door for the NBA, there was an overwhelming sense of despair surrounding the Michigan basketball program. Jordan Poole, Ignas Brazdeikis, and Charles Matthews left for the NBA as well, leaving behind a clear scoring hole. 4-star top-50 recruit Jalen Wilson, the guy who's 18.1 points per game in high school were supposed to help fill that void, de-committed from Michigan with the team's future uncertain, and signed with Kansas who he had previously been considering. The fact that a kid chose us over Kansas just shows how far our basketball program had come in the past 12 years under John Beilein. 9 of 12 years we went to the NCAA tournament, and twice we made it all the way to the final before falling to Louisville and Villanova, respectively. Beilein led the team to a 278-150 record as the head coach, including two outright Big Ten championships and two Big Ten tournament championships. With Beilein out the door, several of our best players following him, and our recruiting future uncertain, Michigan entered this season with its lowest expectations in quite some time. We needed a new figure to lead us out of our self-proclaimed era of darkness.
Enter Juwan Howard. The former Michigan basketball player and member of the "Fab Five" was immediately linked to the coaching opening as soon as Beilein walked out the door. Howard became the first basketball player to leave college early for the NBA and still graduate on time with his academic class. He took courses during the summer offseason and while on road trips with his NBA teammates. He would mail in assignments at the nearest local post office from NBA cities he was traveling to. All to fulfill a promise he made to his grandmother the last day he saw her before she passed away. Howard played three tremendous seasons of basketball at Michigan, alongside stars like Jalen Rose and Chris Webber. In 1993-94, his junior year, Howard averaged 20.8 points and 8.9 rebounds on his way to earning All-American honors. He also was recognized as the regional MVP in the NCAA tournament with a series of exceptionally well-played games. His commitment to athletics and academics made him a perfect choice to lead the next era of Michigan basketball.
Before the season began, Michigan was unranked everywhere. The Associated Press preseason poll listed Michigan in the "others receiving votes" category, only garnering two nods from the panel of writers. On an extended list, they would have ranked 42nd. The last time Michigan was unranked preseason was two years ago. The team made it all the way to the national championship game. Of course, that team was led by some recent greats in Duncan Robinson, Moritz Wagner, Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rakhman, Charles Matthews, and Jordan Poole, all of whom have since departed. This is a brand new Michigan basketball team.
This week, Michigan had its first opportunity to prove it can still hang with the powerhouse programs this season. The team had gone 5-0 this season heading into massive Battle 4 Atlantis matchups with number 6 UNC and number 8 Gonzaga. Two teams that made it to the Sweet 16 last season, and seemingly make it at least that far every year. Michigan handed each team their first loss of the year. Beating either school alone would be worthy of celebration. It certainly was last year when Michigan defeated UNC in Ann Arbor. But with these two games on a neutral floor in the Bahamas, and matched up against two undefeated blue bloods, it was understandable for Michigan to be multiple point underdogs in both games.
Not only did Michigan knock off UNC and Gonzaga, but they also won by a combined margin of victory of 27 points. It wasn't a fluke. Holding Gonzaga to 64 points was particularly impressive, as the Zags entered the game as the 4th highest-scoring team in the country with 87.1 points per game. Michigan's defense was stifling in the first game as well, holding UNC to 42.6% from the field and 15.4% from 3. Jon Teske was the catalyst for the defensive effort, with 4 blocks in each game, and he looks like one of the best defensive big men in college basketball. Zavier Simpson's on-ball defense has been outstanding, and long stretches of lockdown defense pave the way for easy transition offense.
Offensively, this team is lethal from deep, going 23/49 from 3 point range (47%) in the past two games. Simpson's drive-and-kick game is incredibly developed, and Teske is such a natural roll partner for him. Eli Brooks (24 points vs UNC) and Isaiah Livers (21 points vs Gonzaga) have picked up a lot of the scoring burden, and when the offense is flowing like it should they find easy shots on the perimeter. The balanced scoring approach and teamwork on display are very encouraging for our postseason chances.
The last two teams to win the Battle 4 Atlantis are Villanova and Virginia. Those teams went on to win the national championship that same season. In the perspective of sports media and public opinion, Michigan did not come into this year with title aspirations. But these two wins show that they can still hang with the big boys, even with a new coach and players. I already love Juwan Howard, and I can't wait to see how he recruits in the future. You can just tell the players already love him, and seeing him dancing on the court after the win with his guys was something special.
