The University of Michigan men’s basketball team is off to a 7-0 start in the 2019-20 college hoops season, and they unexpectedly won this week’s Battle 4 Atlantis tournament title by knocking off two powerhouses in No.6 North Carolina and No. 8 Gonzaga on neutral floors.
How did they do it? At least in part, a sideline graphic of gritty Houston Rockets veteran P.J. Tucker seems to have played a role.
The Wolverines have a new coach this season in former NBA forward Juwan Howard, who played three seasons himself with the Rockets from 2004 through 2007. To remind his team on the court of the importance of defensive communication, Howard held up a poster image from the sideline of a 34-year-old Tucker wearing a U.S. national team jersey.
When asked about it postgame after Friday’s win over Gonzaga, Howard explained to reporters:
P.J. Tucker called me yesterday to wish me a Happy Thanksgiving, and wanted to know why I was using his picture. And I told him it’s because of this video of him I showed my team while he was competing for a spot on the U.S. National team last summer. Now, here’s a guy who’s a veteran who’s made a lot of money, and still you were out there talking and communicating so much defensively. So I used you as an example to my team we need to be more like P.J. Tucker.
Tucker ultimately didn’t play for the 2019 U.S. team this summer in the World Cup, since an ankle injury forced him to withdraw early. But the 6-foot-5 forward clearly made a big impact on the squad in his time during training camp and exhibition play.
On his Instagram account, Tucker posted pictures late Friday of Howard holding up his image. “To see him use me to motivate his kids at [Michigan] is beyond amazing,” Tucker wrote as part of his message, which he finished with a “heart and hustle” hashtag.
Known best for his defense and leadership qualities, Tucker is also delivering offensively this season. His 9.7 points per game on 53.5% shooting and 45.3% from behind the three-point arc are all career highs.
Tucker will return to the court himself when the Rockets host the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night at Toyota Center.
