Titans Hope Offseason Changes Pay Dividends this Year

By Mike Lopresti

The bad news from the Detroit Titans camp concerning Juwan Howard, Jr.? Grandma’s macaroni and cheese is now off the menu.

Sorry, but a guy’s got to make some sacrifices if he wants to set the Horizon League on fire.
     
Howard averaged 18.3 points a game for Detroit last year, but the operative number for him was the losing record. “Anytime you go 13-19, things have got to change,” he said. “Everybody looking at themselves in the mirror . . . so 13-19 won’t happen again. That’s what I did, to see what I could do better.”
     
He concluded he needed more energy at both ends of the court, and better endurance. Nutrition would be key, and some things in his daily diet clearly had to go.  “I had to give up everything I liked,” he said. Now he keeps company with fruit. And nothing hurt more than to turn away from his grandmother’s scrumptious plate of carbohydrates.
   
But then, Detroit is planning on a different kind of season. Especially the coach. It was a restless off-season for Ray McCallum, who had reached the 20-win mark three of the previous four years with the Titans. Coaches seldom have amnesia after going 13-19, especially when leading in the second half in 12 of the 19 defeats.
  
“Players move on, but we remember every coulda, shoulda and woulda plays that would have made a difference,” he said. “It was a fine line for us. We had opportunities to turn that around, and we didn’t do it.”
   
Six players who started at least one game last season are back to help make things different. Guard Jarod Williams (7.7) was on the Horizon all-rookie team as a freshman. Often alongside him was Matthew Grant (7.9), giving Detroit its first all-freshman starting backcourt in 33 years. Guard Carlton Brundidge added 7.5 points after transferring from Michigan. Forward Patrick Onwenu started one game last season, but averaged 15.5 in Detroit’s summer tour to Canada.
   
The most intriguing new face is a senior. Guard Brandan Kearney’s college journey took him first to Michigan State, then Arizona State. A Detroit product, he has returned to his roots for a final fling. If it works out, he could be an important reason why this season will have fewer wouldas and couldas for the Titans.
  
“He’s invested in the game, and this is his last chance,” McCallum said. “Opportunity is what we have for him. Opportunity to come back to play, to impact in his hometown.”
  
But everything revolves around the guy with an apple in his hand.
   
Howard took 515 shots last season. The next highest for Detroit was 286. He is the leading returner in rebounds, and assists, so a lot of the offense goes through him. But he is used to attention, given his name. Some sons might think it a burden, following a father who became famous as one of Michigan’s Fab Five, then an NBA All-Star, then a supporting cast member of the James-Wade-Bosh blockbuster for the champion Miami Heat.
  
No burden, the young Juwan said. “It’s always a blessing. To get a chance to play in the same sport as your father, who has made it to the highest level. I’m my dad’s biggest fan. He might not know it. I’ve been watching him; the way he’s played, the way he’s walked, the way he’s talked.”
  
Juwan Sr. is now a Heat assistant coach. After one Miami practice, father and son were working on a drill together. It wasn’t gentle. “We were both going at it, and they had to stop it because we were fouling each other too hard,” Juwan Jr. said.
   
So who wins the one-on-one games? And should minors be allowed to watch? Well, son is still trying to get father on the court to settle the issue, going so far as requesting this family void be mentioned in media stories, so dad will be forced to agree. “I feel like I can beat him,” Juwan Jr. said.
   
But beating more teams in the Horizon League is a first priority and Howard looks around and sees a lot of helpful faces. “This year we have more depth,” Howard said. “That’s going to separate us from other teams.”
   
One thing McCallum will be looking for from everyone is better shooting. The Titans hit 41.8 percent last season, worst in the Horizon League. That is clanging your way to 13-19.
  
One interesting non-conference date for the Howard family is Nov. 20. Detroit makes the short drive west to Ann Arbor to play Michigan, son playing against father’s alma mater.
    
College is college, but family is family. “He’s on our side,” Juwan Jr. said.  “The only thing I want to do is reach the same dream he reached; that’s getting to the highest level of basketball.”
   
This means more hard work. And apparently, less macaroni and cheese.