The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1444545
42 THE WOLVERINE FEBRUARY 2022 for a crew which became the preseason pick to win the conference for a second straight season and now appears in doubt as an NCAA Tournament participant. TOUGH TO REPLACE First off, replacing the stalwarts from last year's Big Ten title team hasn't been as easy as many figured, or hoped. Performers such as Isaiah Livers, Franz Wagner, Mike Smith and Chaundee Brown delivered in a big way for the Wolverines, and there's been no high- level plug-and-play in their absence. Livers became the No. 42 pick in the NBA Draft. He's averaging only 4.7 minutes a game with the Detroit Pis- tons, but his 13.1 points per game, 43.1 percent three-point shooting and 87.0 percent free throw shooting from last season have been sorely missed. Wagner, meanwhile, has been tearing it up for the Orlando Magic, averaging 15.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. The darkhorse for NBA Rookie of the Year honors averaged 12.5 and 6.5, re- spectively, for the Wolverines last sea- son, allowing now grad-student guard Eli Brooks to operate freely as Michi- gan's fourth offensive option. With the two NBA performers gone, sophomore center Hunter Dickinson (16.4) and Brooks (12.1) are Michigan's top two scoring options. Each has, at times, shown some frustration and in- consistency when under even greater scrutiny and pressure from opponents. In place of those forwards, Michigan expected a veteran who shone at times in last spring 's NCAA Tournament, along with a pair of rookies, to step in and step up. It hasn't been as seamless as hoped, especially by those living off recruiting rankings. Senior forward Brandon Johns Jr. has always shown flashes of what he can accomplish with his 6-8, 240-pound frame. He scored 14 in an NCAA Tour- nament win over Florida State last spring, and grabbed eight rebounds earlier against Ohio State. This season, he started seven of Mich- igan's first 15 games, and averaged 5.2 points and 2.3 rebounds per contest. Johns has started just one game since late November, U-M's road win at Nebraska. Freshman forwards Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate have also experi- enced struggles adjusting to college- level play. Houstan in particular hasn't provided the lights-out shooting many expected of him, despite starting all of Michigan's games thus far. Through the first 15 contests, Houstan averaged 9.7 points per game and shot 31.9 percent (23 of 72) from three-point range. The McDonald's All-American shot 53.1 percent on three-pointers as a sophomore in high school, 40.0 per- cent as a junior and 45.0 percent overall from three-point range. He averaged 17 points per game to lead the Canadian National Team to a bronze medal in the 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup. While Houstan is one of U-M's lead- ing free throw shooters (76.5 percent), his long-range inconsistency marked a natural falloff from losing a seasoned, NBA-bound performer. Howard isn't panicking about any of his players' ef- forts thus far, though. "Sometimes we fail to realize that in college, it's very, in a sense, fragile," Howard noted. "And fragile in the way of now, you've got to be careful of how and what you demand of your group, but at the same time understanding that they're going to make mistakes. "The ball is not going to bounce in every time, and to keep encouraging is the most important thing. And that's what I've always been, that type of guy, whether when I was playing or now coaching." Casual onlookers didn't expect as much immediately from Diabate, de- spite his physical gifts at 6-11, 210. He's made some jaw-dropping plays for the Wolverines, along with expected rookie mistakes on his way to averaging 9.1 points (just behind Houstan's 9.7) through 15 games. Diabate is also Michigan's second- leading rebounder (6.1) behind Dickinson Coastal Carolina transfer DeVante' Jones averaged 8.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists, while shooting a strong 45.2 percent on threes and 65.2 percent on free throws, through his first 15 contests at Michigan. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL