Digging A Ditch For Michigan Basketball Game-by-Game, Should Coach Juwan Howard Get Sacked?

The Michigan Wolverines have an abysmal 6-7 tally. The men’s basketball team is positioned at the fifth spot in the Big Ten. They have till now lost more than half of their games. They were defeated by the Long Beach State, the Memphis, the Texas Tech, the Oregon, the Indiana, the Florida and recently the McNeese. The Wolverines downfall can be blamed on their head coach Juwan Howard not being in the thick of things due to a heart surgery.

This has put up a lot of questions on Howard and critics feel that he should be sacked. An analysis of the same will give a better outlook on their weaknesses. Surprisingly, the Wolverines have lost 7 out of their last 10 games.

How have the Michigan Wolverines performed?

The Michigan Wolverines could only score 84 against the Long Beach in response to their 94. Their two chief players the guard Dug McDaniel and forward Olivier Nkamhoua stood out with impressive performances of 20 and 22 points respectively. Furthermore, Nkamhoua also grabbed 11 rebounds. Their performances were the only saving grace in an otherwise dull Michigan attack. 

Their next defeat came against the Memphis in which the Wolverines were upended by a 71-67 margin. Apart from McDaniel and Nkamhoua, their guard Nimari Burnett formed a trio, besotting 16 points. However, to their disappointment, the Wolverines once again failed to form a positive impression. Though they showed improvement from the previous match when only two players had contributed, they somewhat lacked the strength in terms of the fourth and fifth players to change tides for themselves.

Then during their outing against the Texas Tech Raiders, the Wolverines slammed 57 points whereas the Texas Tech throttled 73. It was a substantial loss in terms of margin. Their athletes failed to put up a show and fell together as a team. With this match, it was clear that the Wolverines were heading towards a horrendous record. Nkamhoua scored the highest points for his team with 16 points. Other than him, their forward Terrance Williams II and McDaniel soused 10 and 12 points respectively. This game proved that they were failing as a team to have an altogether good performance. In previous matches, some of their stars had stood up who at this point of time had also lost their luster.

The game against Oregon was a close one. McDaniel was successful in finding open spaces for himself and thrashing a remarkable number. He sloshed a game-high 33 points that helped the Wolverines thrash 83 points whereas the Oregon smashed 86. Had the Wolverines shown more character that day, who knew they would have eventually won it?

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The stats clearly indicate that it was their players who have been at fault. So can Howard be let off the hook? The further analysis of losses will paint a clearer picture.

More Losses on the way

Their next loss against the Indiana was again by a narrow margin. In this game, they found their fourth player. While Williams II, Nkamhoua and McDaniel assisted their part, it was the coming game for their forward Will Tschetter. Tschetter tallied the games second highest 17 points in the game. Unfortunately, the Wolverines lost the game by a 75-78 margin. But it did show some good signs for the Juwan Howard team and proved that if they performed consistently then they could improve upon their awful record.

The Wolverines then battled it out against the Florida Gators. The Gators subdued them by a 106-101 margin. Though the Wolverines performed significantly better than their previous games, it showed a lack of balance in their defense and offense. McDaniel was the stand-out player as he once again smoked 33 points, while Nkamhoua bashed 24. Their forward Tarris Reed Jr scored 14 points in the game and established himself as one of the major players for this team. Nonetheless, the Gators ultimately proved to be heavy on them. 

Their most recent loss surprisingly came against the McNeese State Cowboys when the Michigan Wolverines were crushed by a 87-76 margin. Shockingly, Tarris Reed Jr and Burnett could also score 0 and 6 points. This was a setback for the Michigan. And taking a look at the previous matches, they had lost 7 out of 10 games. Their head coach Juwan Howard has been under the scanner ever since. A lot of critics also called the efforts by the Wolverines “lethargic.”

But is Howard fighting an external battle on the hardwood or is it his internal demons?

Should Howard be sacked?

The losses have raised a lot of questions for Howard. But does that mean he needs to be let off his responsibilities as a coach? Going by the analysis, Howard shouldn’t be let off right now because he joined the program late. He had missed the first part of the season due to heart surgery in September and made his return against the East Michigan. Therefore, Howard needs to be given more time before actually coming to such an important decision. 

Howard has partly received the negative attention due to his temper issues. He was allegedly involved in an altercation with the strength and conditioning coach Jon Sanderson. Previously also there have been court battles that have annoyed him. So, if Howard needs positive support from the fans, he would want to keep his temper at bay. 

If the Wolverines start recruiting and get a better team then it might also change Howard’s fortune in the future. Thus he cannot be blamed for all the issues right now, and must be given more chances before pulling him in the harsh of things.

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If Howard is given more time as mentioned before and coaches a better team, then he will surely be able to get better performances from the roster. Hence, it would be too early to bring him under the knife at this point in time.