MINNEAPOLIS — The Michigan basketball team played 34 games last season.

Seventeen of them, exactly half, were decided by six points or fewer. In those contests, the Wolverines went 4-13, as they finished 18-16 overall and missed the NCAA tournament for just the second time in 15 years.

While some outside of the program cited that inability to win tight games last year as evidence of a U-M's hoops program trending in the wrong direction, assistant coach Saddi Washington instead looked at it through another lens: "That's sports."

He pointed out the slim margin for error across the Big Ten — U-M was still in position to earn a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament on the final day of the season — and said some years U-M will be on the right side of that fine line, other years they'll be on the wrong side.

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This year is about making it to the other end because from where Washington sits, the sky is not falling.

"Just imagine if we get back half of those games," Washington said of the team mentality Tuesday at Big Ten media days. "Coach Phil (Martelli) is famous for saying, 'You've got to look the man in the mirror.' At the end of every year you do self-reflection; individually, collectively, so there are areas that we will have to get better.

"But then, the things we were doing were working. We were top four efficiency in the league offensively, top two defensively. ... Most years we're on the right side of it, last year, unfortunately, we weren't."

This upcoming season is already off to an less-than-ordinary start. Head coach Juwan Howard, set to enter his fifth season at the helm, has not seen his team in weeks as he continues to recover from a rather serious heart surgery on Sept. 15.

On Tuesday, Washington said Howard "does not have a timetable" for his return and that there has been a collective effort during the preseason from both players and staff to ensure there's no fall off while the face of the program returns to full health.

Though Howard has been given "strict orders" by doctors to rest and be away from the program, his values remain top of mind.

"We're all here to carry out his vision, it's his program," Washington said. "But we've got a veteran staff. Again, I think the fact that there hasn't been turnover amongst the staff, that our message is consistent and that's helping all of our players, especially the new guys, assimilate themselves into the program."

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Those new guys include a trio of transfers — Olivier Nkamhoua (Tennessee), Nimari Burnett (Alabama) and Tray Jackson (Seton Hall) — and the lone freshman to enter the fold, George Washington III.

Nkamhoua and Burnett, both on hand at Target Center, are expected to have big roles. Nkamhoua, who Saddi Washington called "a burst of energy" averaged 10.8 points and five rebounds for a Tennessee team that made the Sweet 16 last season.

"Because he doesn't stop talking," joked Jace Howard of how he's energetic. "From the first practice, he came in and his energy was contagious and that was great, we've been missing that. ... An energy guy lifting people up and other people have benefitted from that."

Burnett began last season as a starter (a fractured wrist derailed his season) for an Alabama team that earned a No. 1 seed in last season's NCAA tournament. He began his career at Texas Tech, then transferred to Alabama even though the Wolverines wanted him each step of the way, starting in his high school All-American days.

Sitting two seats to his right, Howard joked about how he played AAU ball with Burnett in third grade almost 15 years ago, yet it took this long to convince him to come to Ann Arbor.

"We were just in the locker room here today talking about my previous visits," Burnett smiled. "The right place at the right time."

Jackson, a 6-foot-9 power forward, shot 38.9% on 3-pointers the past two seasons. The transfer trio was brought in, more of less, to replace Hunter Dickinson (Kansas), Jett Howard (Orlando Magic) and Kobe Bufkin (Atlanta Hawks), who all left the program.

This year, the Wolverines offense will be "different," Jace Howard said, before he said he wouldn't detail too much of their new philosophies. He also was eager to talk about something else that will be different.

"Defense is going to be our strong suit," Howard said. "Last year, we were the most skilled team I've ever been on offensively, but we struggled defensively and that's why we didn't make the tournament."

But for as much as the focus has been about who left, this season in Ann Arbor is about those who did return, which starts with a pair of sophomores, Dug McDaniel and Tarris Reed Jr.

McDaniel was thrust into a starting role last season when Jaelin Llewellyn was lost with a torn ACL. Llewellyn has not been cleared for full contact but is on the mend and expected to return.

In the meantime, McDaniel got invaluable experience as he started the final 25 games of the season, averaged 10 points per game in that time and had a 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

His roommate, Reed, meanwhile paid his dues behind Dickinson but made his impact late as well and has teammates talking about him as an All-Big Ten defensive player.

"There's a lot of noise behind Dug and T Reed and there's a reason for that," Nkamhoua said. "Both of them have elevated their games."

Plus there's Terrance Williams, who has been said to be shooting at his 2021-22 clip this offseason, Will Tschetter, who has put on weight and had his first year of real playing time, and Yousesef Khayat, who Howard said made the biggest jump of anybody since last season.

For years, Michigan had been picked near the top of the league, but in this year's unofficial media poll, the Wolverines were picked No. 11 out of 14 teams. Burnett proclaimed "loud and clear" that he's excited for his team to not only exceed expectations but write something for themselves.

It's the latter part that has Washington believing a rebound season is in order.

"What we have is a bunch of internally, self-motivated guys," Saddi Washington said. "That's a really good thing I think ... because great players and great teams, they don't have to prove other people wrong.

"They just have to prove themselves right and I think that's the mindset in the locker room."

Contact Tony Garcia at apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him @realtonygarcia.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball has strong self-belief, ready for rebound season