If Michigan decides to fire Juwan Howard this week, an all-time bad defensive effort during Sunday’s college basketball game against Nebraska is the perfect encapsulation of his tenure in Ann Arbor. It was terrible.
Even Cornhuskers superstar Keisei Tominaga was baffled by how simple it was was able to score.
The Wolverines were down by 17 points late in the second half. Tominga received a pass from his teammate inside of their own three-point line. He took it the entire length of the court for an easy two.
Michigan did not even try to mark him until it was too late. A defender finally shuffled over in front of Tominga as he stepped into the paint. The finger roll had already commenced before the defender jumped.
Tominga couldn’t believe it. His very confused shrug said everything that needed to be said.
Howard is likely going to receive the opportunity to coach the Wolverines during the Big Ten Tournament. Barring a miraculous run, his job is in severe jeopardy after an 8-22 record during his fifth season at the helm. Michigan has missed the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back years and fans want him gone. They stopped showing up to college basketball games in January (if not earlier) as a sign of protest and there is no life around the program.
Should the administration choose to fire Juwan Howard, and he has questions as to why, all they have to do is show him the epic failure of a defensive effort on Sunday. That was all of the cause necessary. For a team to be that disheveled with that little care should be considered a fireable offense.
It was the icing on top of the proverbial cake that, by all accounts, will lead to Howard’s ouster.
If he does in fact keep his job, it is only because of his tie to the Fab Five and the success he saw in 2020/21. He is (probably) gone!