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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan has now won two in a row, but now it starts off a veritable rivalry week with both Ohio State and Michigan State coming to town.
With both rivalries back-to-back, you can’t look ahead of one to the other, and it doesn’t seem like Juwan Howard’s group is doing that whatsoever.
Speaking of Howard, he spoke at length about the state of the team with the Buckeyes coming up, with a variety of topics including the game, certain players’ emergence, Isaiah Livers’ status and much more.
Watch the entirety of Howard’s press conference or read the entire transcript below.
Brandon Johns’ role
“Brandon’s been in the rotation all season long. And he’s getting better every game. Just because of Isaiah’s injury, he’s been inserted into the lineup. He’s been competing hard and playing good. We just want consistent play from all our guys.”
Double-ball screen set
“It’s just a play that we felt we could take a look at and see if we could put an opponent at a disadvantage. We were able to score some buckets off of it. But we have a lot of different play sets.”
Brandon Johns’ confidence
“It’s basically like this in basketball: when you have consistent minutes that’s being thrown your way, and because you’ve earned it, you get a better rhythm. For Brandon, he’s able to have a better rhythm out there in the game because he’s playing more. It’s very challenging when you don’t know when you’ll play three minutes or five minutes. You may play ten minutes or twelve minutes. With Brandon, he’s been able to be effective and capitalize with every minute he’s (gotten) throughout the season, with his energy and effort.”
Isaiah Livers’ status
“He’s improving. Hopefully he’ll get better soon.”
Super Bowl
“Anyone watch the football game? Yes! Awesome. I loved it. Yes, I was (rooting for the Chiefs). Andy Reid, I’m a big fan of his. Yeah, it’s like, one day when I grow up, I wanna be like Andy. People really love Andy. Yeah, yeah, he’s a great coach, big heart. Players enjoy playing for him. Smart guy, hard worker. Wherever he coaches, his team always does well. I want to be like Andy when I grow up.”
Where Michigan is right now
“Well, we have to have luck on our side. And what do I mean by that? Good health! We need good health from each and every one of our guys in order to make a big run for this season. And we’re gaining some traction. But you’ve gotta have a healthy group when you play in the Big Ten. Super competitive conference, very physical conference. A lot of teams are very good defensively. You see them more than once, so pretty much you can scout on some of your team’s strengths, what are some of their weaknesses? You have really good coaches in this league. You need everyone. All hands on deck.”
Franz Wagner more aggressive?
“I’m not sure. I’m not sure what Franz is referring to, but I’m sure Franz can explain it to you better than I can.
“Franz is a very talented ball player that can do many things out on the floor. We’ve asked him to be aggressive with his role and he’s taken advantage of it by shooting the ball from the outside. Driving the ball to the basket. Making free throws, making threes. Defending. I’m sure that that’s been a big role of his throughout the year, something, I’m not sure what was asked of him last year. But he’s been able to accept that challenge. So he’s been playing very good basketball for us.”
College schedule vs. NBA schedule
“In college, man, you have what? 36 to 38 games at most throughout the season? NBA you have 82 games, just in the regular season. NBA games happen in four-to-six nights. In college, you may have two-to-three games in 12 nights. Yeah, it is a little bit more drawn out. It helps you prepare a little bit better as a coach and player, because you have sometimes three maybe four days to prepare. Yeah, it helps a lot. NBA is just fast. It’s moving so quickly.”
Harder to develop players in college vs. NBA?
“I just wish the NCAA rules would change when it comes to player development. When you’re able to work with your guys in the offseason, you’re only allowed four hours per week. In the NBA, you can work with a guy four hours in one day and not be penalized for it. During the season, you’re only allowed to work with your guys including weightlifting, film, practice — you get four hours total throughout the day. You also guarantee to give them an off day and you get like 14 other days of off days where you have to sprinkle it in throughout the season. Yes, you get less time to develop your guys than you want as a coach, and I’m sure a lot of coaches can attest to this. If we’re trying to help the student-athlete and develop them — yes, balance it out so they can balance school and not affect their academics. Would I love to spend more time working on the court with out players? I would enjoy that. Not saying I would burn them out, but I enjoy the player development aspect of building their skill set and teaching. I even love just sitting down one-on-one, having film session with our players, just to help them be the best version of themselves by learning the game through different lenses. Allowing them to have input. What they see out there on the floor. Time is so precious that you only get a certain amount of hours. But that’s just like my two cents. If anyone ever asks me, that’s one of the things I would definitely petition for.”
Lack of subbing vs. Rutgers
“Yeah, it was a very hard-played, very intense, physical second-half. Like any part of the game, first or second half, every possession counts — every possession matters. I felt comfortable with the group that we had on the floor. I kept looking at those four guys, making sure they’re not fatigued during the process. Also, I was looking at Zavier, making sure he wasn’t gassed or anything like that. But it was fortunate enough that we had some timeouts. And this is where the college game really helps a lot with these timeouts, with TV timeouts as well as the timeouts that they give each team. It allows your players to rest when you feel that it’s needed.
“Subbed Austin (Davis) because Jon (Teske) got in foul trouble and I wanted to make sure I preserve him without getting a fourth foul in the game with 10 minutes to go in the second-half. But, the other four guys, I just felt comfortable with that group.”
What stands out about Ohio State
“Well, they have great inside play. Their guard play is really good at shooting the basketball. They pretty much have four-to-five stickers, I would say, that could shoot the three-ball very well. They’re quick. They do an excellent job of attacking the offensive glass. They’re an excellent defensive team, one of the top defensive teams in the league. They’re down there with us. I’m sure everyone will recall a time earlier in the year when we were both at the top. Like I said before, it’s the beginning of the season man, we have a lot of season to be played. It’s also an example of the Big Ten. They have a really good conference and there’s a lot of season to be played. I’m sure Ohio State, they scratching and clawing and talking about how important this game is gonna be tomorrow and so are we.”
Navigating the highs and lows of the season
“Well, you gotta manage what you can manage and that’s called control the controllables. With our group, we’ve gotta find areas of how we can get better. Maintain the consistency. I touched on it before. Yes, injury plays a role, but nobody feels sorry for you for that one. You can’t foresee any of the injuries happening. You’ve gotta keep going with what you have, keep plugging away, keep coaching. Keep grinding.”
Ohio State’s inside defense, not settling for threes
“My theory is take the open shot. If it’s open, take the next open shot. The key is read the game and time and situation. That’s important as well.”
Big Ten away woes, capitalizing at home
“You know, speaking of that road record, we played at MSG and that’s a long way from Ann Arbor. But it was a home game for us. But then, if I recall, I think I saw more Rutgers red shirts than I saw maize and blue. Not saying I was looking in the stands. But I just heard the energy from Rutgers. But does that count as a road game, because I wasn’t at Crisler? Our guys was not playing at Crisler seeing the rim, the beautiful Maize Rage group, our band, the locker rooms. But it was a great atmosphere.
“Now, getting back to your question, it’s been interesting to see throughout the year that the Big Ten has been so competitive. But their teams haven’t done well on the road. There’s only been one or two teams that’s done well on the road. But we’ve been fighting and clawing. We haven’t had much success on the road. We will continue to keep staying in the process, competing hard and looking forward to winning games on the road because that’s important if you wanna try to get the best seat possible at the end of the year before you get to the Big Ten Tournament. What’s in front of us right now is Ohio State and that’s tomorrow, so we’ve gotta take one game at a time.”
Is Zavier Simpson’s suspension a teaching moment?
“Well, first, when I took this job, I knew it was more than just Xs and Os. I would have to be prepared for situations where you’d have to teach a young man how to become a responsible man. And during that process, I welcomed it, knowing that there’s certain standards we’d have to abide by as a citizen here in the states and then in the perspective of being a student-athlete here at the University of Michigan, we expect our student-athletes to be responsible, to respect team policies, and when they do not follow it, there are things that come behind it that some of you may not agree with. Unfortunately for us, one of our players happened to — and I don’t care if you’re the best player or you’re the guy who hadn’t seen any minutes, some would say the 16th guy on our roster — everyone’s treated equal. Everyone has to do everything that’s asked of them and be responsible. So now, I love how our team has rallied behind their brother, I mean Zavier. And now Zavier has accepted his responsibility, and now it’s important for us to all move on.”