Michigan Needs A Jon Teske Course Correction

At 4-7 in league play with nine games remaining, Michigan needs a lot of things, but it's critically important the Wolverines get the old Jon Teske back.

Jonathan Knight Photography

In Michigan's 69-63 win over Rutgers Feb. 1, senior center Jon Teske threw down two thunderous dunks as demonstrative as anything the fan base had ever seen from the 7-1, 265-pounder. Unleashing the full might of his size and strength, it's almost like Teske unearthed a new, more physical version of himself. 

Contrast those moments with a Teske that contributed three points on 1 of 7 shooting in the Wolverines' 61-58 loss to Ohio State at home Tuesday night and one would think two different players suited up for the Maize and Blue. 

After three years of hard work and two seasons of breakthrough advances, Teske entered his senior season ready to capitalize on everything he had learned and fought to become offensively, defensively and as a leader. 

And for one weekend - no surprise Michigan's best stretch of basketball all year - Teske's full potential was on display as he averaged 13.3 points, shooting 65.0% on twos and 44.4% on threes while grabbing 29 rebounds and contributing nine blocks in three wins at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas. 

That Teske has appeared sporadically ever since, and his performances have largely nosedived in conference play - according to Kenpom, Teske's offensive rating in conference play is 22 percentage points lower than a year ago when he ranked as the sixth most effective offensive player in the Big Ten. 

This year he ranks 34th in league action, while his effective field-goal percentage rates him 17th (last year he was second). 

Not a fan of advanced metrics? Teske is shooting 58.1% on two-point field-goal attempts (down from 62.3% in 2019) and 24.2% on threes in league action (down from 36.4% a year ago). 

His minutes and the percentage of possessions in which he impacts Michigan are up, as are his shots (by about two per game), and yet across the board, Teske is having a worse season than as a junior or compared to realistic pre-season expectations. 

So what's changed? First-year head coach Juwan Howard has asked more of Teske on both ends of the floor. Howard has been resistant to double-team big men, putting Teske in one-on-one situations defensively. That hasn't always gone well. He's also morphed Teske offensively from a player that earned most of his opportunities on pick-and-roll facing the rim to a back-the-basket player.

There are no sites that keep track of offensive efficiency based off style for which a shot is getting off (other than threes vs. twos) but I first remarked about Teske's back-to-the-basket game earlier this month and it has been a source of conversation dating back to early January. 

I know they've worked hard on it but would really like to see Michigan give up on the Teske-back-to-the-basket game. He just hasn't looked comfortable all year and is rarely effective.

— Michael Spath (@MichaelSpathITH) February 1, 2020

Too often Teske catches the ball far from the basket and must burrow his backside into the defender for three or four dribbles hoping to get close enough to the rim for a turnaround shot, but that is not his strength, and he looks awkward and out of sorts going left or right out of his turn. 

It's not a high-percentage shot for Teske, and it's also extremely fatiguing, which may explain why his three-point shooting has fallen so dramatically (over U-M's most recent five games, he's 2 for 15 on threes)

In certain scenarios, it would be much too late in the season to change course, but because Teske played a certain way for the 2018 and 2019 campaigns, he could easily transition away from the back-to-the-basket emphasis. Doing so might sting Howard's pride - he had such a strong back-to-the-basket game as a college player and then as an NBA pro - but it's necessary. 

Defensively, it doesn't look like Howard will change strategy and offer Teske help so he's on his own there, but with less physicality on the offensive end of the floor and a slight reduction in minutes from the 30.6 he's averaging in Big Ten action - senior Austin Davis, averaging 10.2 minutes per game, could take another 3-5 - Teske could be better positioned for the grind defensively. 

Of course, there is one element we haven't talked about - confidence. It has been inconsistent for Teske this season, which helps to explain the swings in his production - the senior has not had back-to-back double-digit scoring performances since Jan. 5/9, a span of seven games - but with some strategic tweaks perhaps Teske could find his way back to a strong mental place for the final run of his senior year.