ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan routed Presbyterian, 86-44, on Saturday afternoon at Crisler Center, in the penultimate non-conference game of the 2019-20 season.
Afterwards, per usual, Michigan basketball head coach Juwan Howard met with the media to discuss the game, but there was very little to say — as well as asked — after the dominant affair.
On playing against a mediocre team after a month-plus of big matchups
“This game wasn’t easy. I had goosebumps and all types of nervous energy happening before the game, because you never know exactly how your team is gonna approach each and every opponent. Our guys were locked in from start to finish. I love the way we just came out defensively being aggressive. Doing it without fouling. And not looking at the scoreboard when we got up and continued to keep playing the game and finish strong.”
If any of the bench players stood out to him
“They all do. I wish I could play all 15 players, and it just so happened. It’s tough to do it. I usually go with a 9-10 man rotation. Every time I leave the arena, I always think about, ‘Wow, I wish I could have played Cole Bajema more. I wish I would have played Adrian Nunez more. Jaron (Faulds) — that’s my mindset always.”
On Isaiah Livers’ injury status
“No, I do not. I do not have an update.”
Which specific muscle Livers strained
“Man, I wish I was a doctor so I could tell you exactly which muscle it was, but I have no idea. I’m just praying it’s not a serious injury and tomorrow he will hopefully feel better. But I trust we have a great medical team that will take good care of him but also give us the proper advice that’s needed to help us find the answers.”
Level of concern with Livers
“I’m always concerned about each and every player. I’m concerned about Cole, I’m concerned about Franz being under the weather. I’m concerned about Brandon.”
On Cole Bajema
“What I’ve seen is the fact that he’s been positive throughout the process. Being a freshman, having to learn a lot of things that he’s probably never had, concepts that he’s never had a chance to be a part of from starting playing basketball. I know we all coach the game in different ways. I have different terminology. A lot different from what he experienced in high school and also the AAU circuit. But I love the fact that he has a great attitude each and every day coming into practice, being ready to work and then learn. And then he also has great teammates helping him out. I’m not surprised that he was ready to come out and play today. He’s always ready to play. Like I stated earlier, you can’t play 15 players.”
On having Colin Castleton at the 4
“I’ve tried Colin at the 4 earlier on in the summer, we were just doing summer workouts. Also, when we started practice on the 24th, Colin — he’s a guy that can play some 4 and 5. Smart player, has a high IQ. I just wanted him to know this: keep it simple. He don’t have to overdribble or overhandle. Just make the right play. The plays that we called that were set up for him to either shoot it, drive it or pass it.”
“It definitely gives us an advantage on the offensive glass. It should also give us an advantage on the defensive glass, too, because we have length in there. It gives us another guy that can protect the basket. And on pick and roll situations, he’s always active with his hands, making sure that he’s ball and near basket when he comes off a ball screen.”
What didn’t go right vs. Presbyterian
“I’m always nit picky. I always feel like we can do something better and learn from areas. Too many paint touches. I didn’t like the fact that they touched the paint too many times. Turnovers. We had 10 turnovers. The turnovers we did have were sometimes ones where we tried to force it. I always use terminology in baseball: keep it simple, look for some singles instead of home runs.”