Suddenly, Michigan basketball coach Juwan Howard had all kinds of free time.
The Big Ten tournament was canceled last March because of COVID-19. The season came to an abrupt end. And the Ann Arbor campus shut down. Stuck in quarantine, unable to travel, Howard studied his team with fresh eyes.
And the problem became clear.
“I didn't like our defensive numbers,” Howard said. “Our offensive numbers were good. But defensively, as I recall, we were ranked 12 or 13 in the Big Ten. Overall, in college basketball, we were middle of the pack.