Michigan Basketball: 5 things to expect in Juwan Howard’s 2nd season

Adversity Along The Way

Howard already went through a bit of adversity in year one. Injuries to Livers and Brooks cost the Wolverines wins in the Big Ten schedule, plus a handful of close home losses that hardly ever happened in the Beilein era.

Missing Livers was more devastating without question though. The Wolverines went from a fringe tournament team to arguably a top-15 one with him in the lineup.

The home losses to Illinois and Ohio State would have likely gone in Michigan’s favor had Livers remained in the Illinois outing or suited up for the OSU affair. Another one that stands out as ending differently is the Wisconsin home loss, minus Brooks. Those three defeats were deemed to be winnable, despite the circumstances that occurred.

Then a few weeks into the offseason, two of the most heralded recruits in Michigan basketball history may have cost them a real shot at a national championship in 2021. Todd’s decision was a bad kept secret that went on too long, while Christopher milked his decision for all he could just to jolt from Ann Arbor at the last minute.