RIVALRY EDITION

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN x OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

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BEGINNING 11.26.19

8— Thursday, November 21, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

How Juwan Howard’s push for faster pace of play has affected Jon Teske

Jon Teske is a busy man these
days.
As the starting center for the
Michigan men’s basketball team,
Teske has done it all so far this
season. Through three games, the
7-foot-1, 265-pounder has played
93 minutes and averaged 16.7
points, nine rebounds, 2.7 blocks
and shot 55.9 percent from the
field.
Teske has developed from only
playing 61 minutes as a sophomore
into one of the Wolverines’ most
reliable players and one of the
best bigs in the conference.
Even during his time as an
assistant coach for the Miami
Heat,
now-Michigan
coach
Juwan Howard admired Teske’s
game from afar. Now, under
Howard’s tutelage, the hope is
Teske takes another leap as a
senior.
“With Jon, his game has
improved year by year,” Howard

said after the Wolverines’ 70-50
win over Elon on Friday night.
“He played a lot away from the
basket so when I got the job here,
I was like, ‘I want to utilize his
post presence.’ He embraced it.
We worked on it this summer.
We’re gonna use him in that post,
as well as from the outside.”
So far, it’s gone according to
plan. It’s still early and Michigan
has yet to enter the meat of its
schedule, but Teske has asserted
himself both offensively and
defensively. No one has been able
to challenge Teske in the paint
and while his perimeter shooting
isn’t on par with last year’s
percentages, opposing teams are
still forced to respect his range.
In addition to focusing more
on Teske’s post game, Howard’s
emphasis on up-tempo, transition
offense has also benefited Teske’s
statline. He was already a capable
rim-runner for his size, but the
Wolverines’ quick pace highlights
that aspect of Teske’s game and
has made for an entertaining
brand of basketball.

“Everyone can run the floor,”
said sophomore guard David
DeJulius. “Even (Teske), he’s
7-foot-1, is running and beating
guys up the floor. It feels real
good, once I get the rebound, I
push it out to (Zavier Simpson).
Zavier takes two dribbles and
then throws the lob to Jon. Just
the atmosphere, it’s very fun
basketball. Not just for us, but
also for the spectators.”
With
that
said,
Howard’s
offensive philosophy does have a
downside: It wears on his team.
Teske specifically has looked
visibly winded after spurts of
transition offense.
With little frontcourt depth
though, Michigan can’t really
afford to have him not on the
floor. Sophomore forwards Colin
Castleton and Brandon Johns Jr.
provide some length off the bench
but are too inconsistent to rely on
for long periods of time. Redshirt
junior center Austin Davis has
some experience, having played
in some important games under
John Beilein, but doesn’t appear

to be a go-to option for Howard.
Against Creighton, the best
team the Wolverines have faced
and another fast-paced offense,
Howard had to replace Teske
seven minutes into the game due
to fatigue.
“Big fella was working hard,”
Howard said after the Bluejays
game on Nov. 12. “Big Jon at times
got a little tired. You’re playing
against a team who plays with
pace. They loved to get up and
down in transition. They also
shoot threes in transition and
want to put our ‘5s’ in a lot of ball-
screens, to make them guard. It’s
a lot of movement.”
Going forward, Michigan will
have to grapple with the fact
that a play style that accentuates
some of Teske’s best qualities
may also pose problems for him
later in games. As of now, the lack
of reliable length behind Teske
— and his stellar performances
— means the more he plays, the
better.
In up-tempo games though,
that’ll surely be a balancing act.

Why has the Wolverines’ offense
clicked? It’s all in the little things

Over the last month, as
Michigan’s offense has rounded
into shape — finally starting
to look like the high-powered
machine that was promised
during the offseason and what
it so plainly wasn’t during the
season’s first five weeks — the
explanations from the program
have been simple.
Better execution. A lack of
turnovers. The natural learning
curve that comes with a new
offense over the course of the
season.
It’s not rocket science, or
even a wholesale change on
coordinator Josh Gattis’ part,
to hear the Wolverines tell it.
Merely, it’s just the little things.
“Just playing good. Playing
better,” said running backs coach
Jay Harbaugh. “I think steadily
over the course of the year,
we’ve gotten better and better
and cleaned things up that were
— things that weren’t going our
way early, whether it be taking
care of the ball or just being
assignment-sound.
“Gradually as we’ve gone on,
individuals have gotten better.
The units, the running backs, the
line, receivers, the quarterbacks.
Everyone’s kinda elevating their
play, and you’re just seeing that

happen here at the end of the
season, what it looks like when a
bunch of different individuals do
it together.”
During the early part of the
year, when the offense couldn’t
get started against the likes of
Army, Wisconsin and Iowa,
Michigan couldn’t seem to stop
fumbling. After an Oct. 12 win at
Illinois in which the Wolverines
nearly let the Illini claw back
after jumping out to a seemingly
decisive lead, Michigan led the
nation with 17 fumbles. Senior
quarterback
Shea
Patterson,
dealing with an oblique injury,
seemed reluctant to run the ball.
The offense itself didn’t run
smoothly.
Since the following week,
when
the
Wolverines
came
tantalizingly close to a comeback
at Penn State, all of that has
shifted. In the last 14 quarters,
they’ve
scored
141
points,
including blowing the doors off
rivals Notre Dame and Michigan
State. Patterson has made use
of his legs like he did in 2018,
keeping zone-read looks when
defensive ends have overplayed
the run and forcing them to
acknowledge the threat. And
Michigan has lost just one
fumble, which came toward the
end of a blowout win.
It’s undeniable that certain
tweaks have been made in the

offense — that much is plain
for any onlooker to see. But the
little things, those that don’t
come through Gattis’ headset
on Saturday, are what seem to
matter most.
“A lot of people say the Penn
State game (was when things
changed), second half, and I
think it definitely started there
for sure,” said senior tight end
Sean
McKeon
on
Monday.
“Kinda just eliminating all the
turnovers was a big thing. Really
being able to finish drives with a
kick, like coach Harbaugh says,
either a punt, field goal or extra
point.”
Senior left tackle Jon Runyan
Jr. was asked Monday if the
preseason characterization of
the offense — that it would walk
into the opener against Middle
Tennessee State ready to light
the world on fire — was unfair in
retrospect. He didn’t give a yes or
no, but noted that an adjustment
period was needed. He didn’t
need to add that those outside
the building weren’t particularly
willing to acknowledge that at
the time.
Now, though, it’s obvious not
only that an adjustment period
was needed, but that it has
passed. The Wolverines moved
the ball on Michigan State with
ease last Saturday, scoring 44
points and finishing with 470
yards. They ended every drive
but two with a kick, and things
have looked that way for nearly a
full month of games.
It’s not what people envisioned
in August. But it bodes well
nonetheless.
“It’s a little bit expected to
get better as the course of the
year goes,” Jay Harbaugh said.
“Obviously you’d like to do that
from the get-go and play your
best, but unfortunately that’s not
how it goes all the time.
“You’re always gonna start
somewhere and graduate, gotta
build from there.”

Danna making the most of his chance

Michael Danna had never
experienced anything close to
this, running out on the field for
one of the best-known rivalry
games in college football, helping
his team blow that rival to bits
and hoisting the Paul Bunyan
Trophy up in the Michigan
Stadium end zone.
These were the moments
Danna — who spent the first four
years of his career at Central
Michigan before joining the
Michigan football team as a
grad transfer — came here for.
The moments Danna will never
forget.
And as they’ve come, Danna
has taken the time to absorb
them. Even the biggest NFL-
bound stars usually get three
years at a school. Danna got one.
He’s known since he got to Ann
Arbor that he has to embrace
every last second before they slip
through his fingers.
“I feel like I just got here and
it’s coming to the end,” Danna
said Tuesday. “But it’s been the
blink of an eye and it’s already
the end of November and I’m just
trying to make the most of every
opportunity I get being here.”
Danna still talks to his friends
with the Chippewas and has
been following their quest for a
MAC West title. But he has no
regrets of leaving the place that
was home for four years — after
all, with the Wolverines, he’s
gotten to play on the biggest
stage.
Beyond that, he’s upped his
game and proved he belongs in
the Big Ten. When asked in what
area he’d improved the most,
Danna listed off the two aspects
of being a good defensive end:
pass rush and run stopping. At
Central Michigan, he played
almost exclusively as an edge
rusher. With the Wolverines,
he’s done that in addition to
2-technique, 3-technique and
5-technique as part of a four-
defensive end package defensive

coordinator Don Brown designed
because of the wealth of pass-
rushing talent.
Though Danna comes off
the bench, he’s become even
more useful simply because
he’s developed that versatility.
Coaches know he can play
anywhere. So they find a spot for
him.
“Everyone thought he was a
pass-rusher only, so (impressed
with)
how
he’s
handled the run
game and the role
that he’s played,”
said defensive line
coach Shaun Nua
on
Wednesday.
“It’s hard to not
start and just go in
there cold.”
He later added:
“Anytime
you
have a great player
like Mike Danna, you can’t leave
him on the sidelines.”
Danna’s bright-eyed attitude
has been key in his ability to
step in seamlessly. This is his
only shot, so he can’t miss out
on anything. Because of it, he’s
worked that much harder. When
he first arrived in the offseason,
Danna got to work in the weight
room, and others noticed. They
knew someone with that kind of
effort would fit right in as one of
them.
“It’s not easy because you’re
coming in, first you’re leaving a

family you have in terms of the
last team he was with,” Nua said.
“And then a different culture
there, adjust to a new culture,
whatever it is, it’s not easy to
go in and just be accepted, be
welcomed with open arms but
that kid’s attitude is — that young
man’s attitude is special.”
Since he got to Michigan,
Danna hasn’t worried about
tomorrow. He hasn’t worried
about
next
week. He hasn’t
worried about
anything
but
the
seconds
unfolding
in
front of him.
It’s a mentality
that’s
allowed
him to carve
out a role even
among a glut of
pass-rushers —
the 30 total tackles, three tackles
for loss, three sacks, a forced
fumble and two quarterback
hurries speak to that.
And as the moments come
and go, one thing is for certain:
Danna will cherish every one.
“Gratitude is a very special
thing, and that’s exactly what
Mike Danna has,” Nua said. “He
appreciates every single second
that he gets, every little moment
that we go through, good or bad.
And he learns fast from it.
“I just wish I had him for four
more years.”

CONNOR BRENNAN
Daily Sports Writer

NATALIE STEPHENS/Daily
Senior center Jon Teske is adjusting to the pace of Juwan Howard’s offense.

ETHAN SEARS
Managing Sports Editor

ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Editor

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Michael Danna’s lone year with the Wolverines is almost at its end.

I feel like I just
got here and it’s
coming to an
end.

NATALIE STEPHENS/Daily
The Michigan football team’s offense has found its rhythm of late.