The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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JANUARY 2023 THE WOLVERINE 39 MICHIGAN BASKETBALL JUWAN HOWARD STILL TINKERING WITH ROTATION Graduate Joey Baker has been the first Michigan wing in the game most of the season. On Dec. 17 against Lipscomb, though, sophomore Isaiah Barnes took that spot. Barnes, by the way, only played in garbage time the prior game. In the second half against Lipscomb, freshman Youssef Khayat played instead of Barnes, who didn't see the floor. These are just a few examples of a simple truth: Head coach Juwan How- ard is still tinkering with his rotation and lineup combinations, even with the nonconference slate set to finish up against Central Michigan Dec. 29. The Michigan staff continues to work diligently on finding the right formula. "If we're meeting two hours before practice, part of the conversation is who and why," associate head coach Phil Martelli said on the "Inside Michigan Basketball" radio show Dec. 12. "Where do guys fit? A little inside baseball, the last thing we do before we walk on the court [before games], Juwan will come out of the locker room and the last thing he does before he walks through the tunnel is he hands me the sheet. The sheet is the rotation. "I've saved every one of them for four years because we have never followed that sheet. I just think that we're now to the point where it's just a ritual — not a superstition — that he's going to hand me the sheet. I'll look at the sheet, when he calls a name, I'll go, 'Maybe it's on the other side of the sheet.' There's rhyme and reason." Michigan hasn't been a very deep team, with bench players making up 25.4 percent of the team's minutes, which ranked 307th in the nation as of Dec. 18. That has exacerbated the struggle to find the right combinations. Michigan hasn't gotten many minutes or much production from the bench, but the Wolverines' staff is trying out quite a few options. There are five different backups averaging more than five min- utes per game but none with more than 13.2. The Maize and Blue routinely go 10 or 11 deep, while most teams stay between eight and nine. P e r M a r te l l i , t h e re are also a lot of differ- ent opinions among the coaching staff. "In our meetings, you're asked to defend why you would go a certain way," Martelli said. "It could be opponent-specific, it could be practice, it could be a head-to- head in practice because every practice is viewed more than once. There's really not a rhythm yet." Freshman guard Dug McDaniel join- ing the starting lineup with graduate Jaelin Llewellyn out for the season has made things even tougher. "With the change at point guard, you've got to figure out, well, Kobe [Bufkin] is going to be the backup point guard, so when do you get him out to get his rest because he's not going to be a 40-minute guy," Martelli said. "That's still evolving, and I like the fact that the players are hungry for, 'You know what, when is my opportunity?'" — Clayton Sayfie Michigan hasn't gotten much production from the bench — with bench play- ers making up only 25.4 percent of the team's minutes through Dec. 18 — but Howard and his staff continue to experiment with combinations. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL 2022-23 U-M MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE & RESULTS Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time* Nov. 7 Purdue Fort Wayne W, 75-56 Nov. 11 vs. Eastern Michigan^ W, 88-83 Nov. 16 vs. Pittsburgh+ W, 91-60 Nov. 17 vs. Arizona State+ L, 87-62 Nov. 20 Ohio W, 70-66 (OT) Nov. 23 Jackson State W, 78-68 Nov. 29 Virginia% L, 70-68 Dec. 4 vs. Kentucky# L, 73-69 Dec. 8 at Minnesota W, 90-75 Dec. 17 Lipscomb W, 83-75 Dec. 21 vs. North Carolina$ L, 80-76 Dec. 29 Central Michigan (B1G+) 7 p.m. Jan. 1 Maryland (FS1) 4:30 p.m. Jan. 4 Penn State (BTN) 7 p.m. Jan. 7 at Michigan State (FOX) 2:30 p.m. Jan. 12 at Iowa (ESPN2) 7 p.m. Jan. 15 Northwestern (BTN) TBD Jan. 19 at Maryland (ESPN/ESPN2) 7 p.m. Jan. 22 Minnesota (BTN) TBD Jan. 26 Purdue (FS1) 9 p.m. Jan. 29 at Penn State (BTN) 12 p.m. Feb. 2 at Northwestern (ESPN2) 7 p.m. Feb. 5 Ohio State (CBS) 1 p.m. Feb. 8 Nebraska (BTN) 6:30 p.m. Feb. 11 Indiana (ESPN) 6 p.m. Feb. 14 at Wisconsin (ESPN/ESPN2) 9 p.m. Feb. 18 Michigan State (FOX) 8 p.m. Feb. 23 at Rutgers (FS1) 8:30 p.m. Feb. 26 Wisconsin (CBS) 2 p.m. Mar. 2 at Illinois (ESPN) 7 p.m. Mar. 5 at Indiana (CBS) 4:30 p.m. * All times Eastern ^ at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit + at Legends Classic, Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. % ACC/Big Ten Challenge # London Showcase at O2 Arena in London, England $ Jumpman Invitational at Spectrum Center in Char- lotte, N.C.