Michigan
Michigan basketball keeps perspective as historically bad season nears end
Nobody in or around the Michigan basketball program has experienced anything like this.
The losing streaks. The disappointment. The frustration; it all continued Sunday, a day meant for celebration.
Michigan fell to Nebraska on senior day at Crisler Center, 85-70, to wrap up its regular season. At 8-23 overall, no team in 107 years of history has lost more games in a single season. Michigan hadn’t had a five-game losing streak in more than a decade, then had three separate such stretches in the past three months.
The Wolverines dropped 18 of the final 20 games; their KenPom defensive efficiency rating (107.1) wasn’t just the program’s worst since the stat started in 1999, but is the league’s worst mark since 2018 Iowa (108.2).
Or perhaps the most damning, U-M never had consecutive wins over high major teams all year long.
While head coach Juwan Howard insisted after the game that the season isn’t over and said his team will now turn its attention to the Big Ten Tournament — U-M will be the No. 14 seed for the first time in its history after finishing in last place in the league for the first time since 1966-67 — senior Terrance Williams II was willing to reflect on what’s transpired.
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Technically he has a year of eligibility left, but he didn’t sound like someone with plans to return.
“That 8-23, it won’t ever sit right with me,” Williams said, reflecting on what might be his last year in maize and blue. “I didn’t have that vision my senior season. But it happens. Adversity … we’re all going through adversity. It’s making us the young men that we are.
“l can’t be mad at it. I can be mad at that record, but what we’re going through, I feel like we’ll get through it. I made brothers this year, I’m happy about that. I’m playing basketball, can’t be mad about that. So you know, my 10-year-old self would be happy with where I’m at right now.”
‘That’s false information’
During the preseason it was captain Oliver Nkamhoua who downplayed a media poll which pegged the Wolverines to finish No. 11 in the conference.
“Those teams are going to have to prove on the court they’re better than us,” he said at the time.
The Wolverines had a shorthanded roster from the start, and went the entire summer without their head coach. The team practiced without Howard for months, before and after he underwent open heart surgery in September, and now with the benefit of hindsight, those in the program appeared to underestimate just how much that would throw a wrench in the season.
“It’s been a strange year in a very strange season,” Howard said Sunday. “I didn’t get an opportunity to be myself and on the floor, teaching (in the summer). Each and every day, thinking about when you have an aneurysm, what day is it going to burst? … Then you have surgery, go through that … learning how to walk again.
“I’m going to keep forging ahead because I know my team and my staff needs me. I’m not going to quit on them because that’s not how I operate. I’ve never quit anything in life. We have a season to play, so I’m going to give everything I can to this university, this team and this staff, because these are the people I love.”
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Things started well: Michigan was 3-0 at one point, then later 6-5, when the year went sideways just before league play began.
Howard got in a verbal altercation with former strength & conditioning coach Jon Sanderson, point guard Dug McDaniel got suspended, the flu ripped through the locker room, and Nkamhoua (broken wrist), Tray Jackson (concussion, broken nose) and Jaelin Llewellyn (ACL rehab) all battled through varying ailments.
As the roster got thinner, the losses mounted; but even though U-M has lost 18 of 20 games for the first time in more than 40 years, the players say they appreciate the way it’s been handled.
“Coach Howard, he’s trying to share the message that we have to get 1% better every day,” Williams said. “He’s not pounding the losses on us or any of that. We watch film, we try to learn from these mistakes that we keep doing and apply it. I appreciate coach Howard for that. A lot of coaches could be yelling at us, putting us down.
“Coach Howard just wants us to be better on and off the court. … I appreciate him for that.”
There’s a chance the comment could be misconstrued as apathy. Maybe it comes off as the coach not demanding more of players. Maybe it comes off as the new generation being satisfied with a participation trophy.
Williams shut down any conspiracy theories of that sort immediately.
“I mean, nah, we’re definitely being pushed every day in practice,” he said. “We’re trying to fix the mistakes. We’re not just going into practice like we will wipe away the game that happens. We’re gonna watch film, drill, Coach Howard’s going to drill us to help us in the next game.
“We’re not satisfied with the record, just to be transparent … that’s a fan perspective. I just feel like that’s false information, because we’re being pushed every day. We’re pushing each other every day.”
The bigger picture
Fans don’t want to hear about the moments they don’t get to see.
Barbecues at Howard’s house won’t end what looks like it will assuredly be the program’s first two-year NCAA tournament drought since it missed 10 straight (1999-2008). Neither will bowling nights, though those happened, too, as did a watch party for the Super Bowl.
But for the players — whose years of dedication and hours of work per week are rewarded with losses and scrutiny — that’s what this year will be about.
“Even though this season hasn’t gone how we all wanted it to be, how we all envisioned, we can never question the group of players, the group of teammates, the group of people we had,” Nimari Burnett said. “With that being said, it definitely sucks. It weighs on us in our own individual ways.
“But us as a group, these guys are people I’ll talk to the rest of my life. Ultimately, I’m grateful for that.”
There are many questions about what the future of the program looks like. The coach, the roster construction, the NIL investment, the recruiting, the transfer portal; all of which are valid for a program that’s gone from Elite Eight to Sweet 16 to bubble team to bottom of the Big Ten.
But from where Howard sits, there’s no question about what needs to happen. And no place he’d rather do it.
“We’re going to grind like no other this summer,” Howard said. “Getting back to what we’re used to … and that’s winning. But this year right here alone, we have learned a lot and I feel we have won in a lot of ways.
“I could have sat this season out but that’s not how I’m wired. I felt this team and this staff needs me and I need them, too.”
Contact Tony Garcia: apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him at @realtonygarcia.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Harmful algal blooms have been reported on two notable lakes in West Michigan: Gun Lake and Muskegon Lake.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy says cyanobacteria was reported on Muskegon Lake July 3, but no tests have confirmed it.
The Barry-Eaton District Health Department says a harmful algal bloom was confirmed Thursday on Gun Lake. The lake remains open, but the BEDHD is encouraging visitors to use caution and avoid water that has “visible algae.”
Visitors are encouraged to avoid any contact with water that appears bright green, blue-green, brown or red or has “floating mats of scum.”
Pets should also avoid the water. If they come into contact with the algae, pets should be rinsed off as soon as possible with clean, fresh water.
Exposure to algae can cause a rash or irritation to the skin, eyes, nose and throat. It can also cause stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, fever and trouble breathing.
“If you become sick, contact your healthcare provider. Seek medical care right away if you have trouble breathing, severe vomiting, or other serious symptoms,” the BEDHD said in a statement. “If your pet was exposed, rinse them well with clean water and do not let them lick their fur until they have been washed. Contact your veterinarian right away if your pet has vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, trouble walking, excessive drooling, shaking, or seizures.”
Harmful algal blooms are powered by the sudden growth of cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae. Cyanobacteria occur naturally in lakes, rivers and ponds but is often boosted by a sudden excess of nutrients, often caused by fertilizer runoff from farms or failed septic systems.
They can last for several days and sometimes even months. The water will look “scummy” or like “spilled paint or pea soup.” They are typically found in the summer and fall — usually peaking in August or September and dying off by the end of October.
You can report a suspected harmful algal bloom to EGLE at AlgaeBloom@Michigan.gov or 1.800.662.9278.
Sterling Stamping Plant is the largest in the world
Ed Daniels, vice president of North America injection and stamping operations, discusses the process of producing metal parts for Stellantis models.
Warren — Hulking metal presses line one wall of Stellantis NV’s cavernous stamping plant here, punching out the raw shapes of Jeep doors, Dodge hoods and Ram tailgates in rapid succession.
Nearby, swinging yellow robots continue the tightly choreographed work, gluing and pressing and welding smaller components to the sheet metal that eventually will start to resemble the shape of a truck or SUV.
Seven miles north, in Sterling Heights, Stellantis operates an even larger stamping plant — the biggest in the world, at 2.7 million square feet — that does much of the same work, churning out various shapes of steel and aluminum 24 hours a day.
Together, these lesser-known links in the manufacturing supply chain support all of Stellantis’ big North American assembly plants — from next-door Warren Truck Assembly Plant, where the Jeep Grand Wagoneer SUV is built, to facilities in Windsor and Mexico that make minivans and pickups.
Inside Stellantis’ Huge Detroit Stamping Plants
The Detroit News recently got a rare look inside the automaker’s Sterling and Warren stamping plants, which are key to the company’s turnaround plan.
The Metro Detroit stamping plants, the automaker’s only two such facilities in the United States, have at times struggled in recent years, facing major job cuts and worker morale issues amid slowing sales and shifting production plans. But under Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa, the facilities are expected to cram in more workload — and add staff — as Stellantis begins a new five-year strategic turnaround plan, which includes a heavy focus on its most profitable North American market.
The carmaker’s goal: grow sales by more than a third to 1.9 million annually by 2030 as it launches 23 vehicles, including 11 all-new models. The company also is directing billions of dollars of investment into its U.S. manufacturing footprint due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
“Stamping has never really been viewed as the sexy side of automotive manufacturing, we’re relatively invisible,” said Ed Daniels Jr., vice president of North America injection and stamping operations. “Because when you look at the commercials and advertisements, it’s always a beautiful Ram rolling off the assembly line or climbing the side of a mountain.
“But we’re the inception of that vehicle,” he said. “This is where raw materials are turned into commodities and parts.”
The Detroit News recently got a rare look inside the two plants that combined employ about 3,000 people. The automaker wanted to show off a newly-installed blanking press at Warren Stamping and other machinery like a high-speed transfer press and a robot that spots flaws in the metal.
Hiring expected
The blanking press unspools long coils of metal and chops them up into pieces that can then be shaped into roofs, fenders and floor pans. Stellantis shipped the massive machine to Warren from its idled Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois last year.
After upgrades to the machine, executives said it’s able to produce as many as 120,000 metal blanks per week. It will save Stellantis money since the plant will no longer need to pay a supplier to break down the coils before the metal arrives there.
The blanker addition is a big deal for the plant and signals that the company wants to bring more work in-house and invest in the facility over the coming years, said Romaine McKinney III, president of United Auto Workers Local 869, which represents workers at the factory.
The plant has already brought back all of its laid-off UAW workers, and McKinney said he anticipates more hiring to get underway if sales grow and new Stellantis vehicles come to market.
In another corner of the Warren facility, one of the fastest press lines in the world — known internally as the Hellcat — pushes as many as 15 pieces of metal through per minute. Dies that weigh up to 50 tons apiece squish the material into the shapes of doors and hoods before robotic arms snatch them out and place them on conveyor belts. Midway through a shift, workers can reconfigure the machine to make a different component, a process that takes just five minutes.
Robots check for quality
Curtis Booth, who manages Warren Stamping, said manual processes inside the plant have become increasingly automated, and safer, over the last couple decades, even as the automaker’s two stamping factories still utilize some presses that were installed in the 1960s.
The latest high-tech addition is the Automated Body Inspection System, or ABIS. It’s a camera system mounted on a robot that automatically checks the quality of components and flags anything in need of repair.
Auto plants of all kinds are increasingly turning to these types of camera systems, infused with artificial intelligence, to catch flaws in sheet metal and other components before they are shipped. Booth said worker visual inspections are still used. But in some cases the human eye has too much subjectivity, and the ABIS removes the guesswork.
Greg Bauer, who manages Sterling Stamping, said his plant has added staff over the past year, and expects to continue hiring as more work is assigned to the facility. There is no space at the plant to add more presses, but officials have figured out how to increase efficiency — quickly toggling back and forth between making doors for a Chrysler Pacifica and Dodge Charger on on a single machine, for example.
“We want to bring high-volume parts into the plant, and we want to maximize the capacity of the equipment,” Daniels said.
lramseth@detroitnews.com
MENOMINEE, Mich. (WLUK) — 24-year-old Ethan Raymond Masters of Menominee was arrested on sexual assault charges June 30th, according to the Menominee County Sheriff’s Office.
According to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office, deputies learned of an incident involving a 24-year-old man and a 12-year-old girl which happened in Menominee June 22nd. Following a sexual assault investigation, police charged Masters.
Masters was arraigned July 2nd on 2 counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct First Degree. He remains in the Menominee County Jail on a $250,000 cash bond.
Menominee City Police and the Michigan State Police Crime Laboratory of Marquette assisted with the investigation.
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