Howard's link to the golden age of M basketball
I realize that any (perceived) criticism of the Beilein era is likely to get neg-bombed past Bolivia, past Paraguay, and deep into Patagonia. Maybe even into the icy krill barrens of the southern ocean. But the thread about Coach Howard landing Michigan's first three (!) All-Americans since forever made me reflect on what I like so much about Juwan Howard and the connection he brings to an earlier era of Michigan basketball.
Nobody disputes that Beilein built a new foundation and culture at Michigan, and brought the program back to respectability after the Dark Ages. Howard is in many ways a beneficiary of the Beilein renaissance.
That said, I still believe a lot of fans fooled themselves into thinking that Beilein's recruiting was as good as Michigan could possibly do, given structural factors and the changing landscape of college basketball. People claimed that the current generation of players didn't know or care about the Fab Five and knew nothing of a time when Michigan was an exciting and dominant basketball brand.
Juwan Howard has quickly disproved that frustrating myth. In interviews, it seems every elite big man recruit expresses great respect for Howard's achievements at UM and in the NBA. They see his long career as a model for their own basketball careers. I am really happy that M's current coach is a legendary player in his own right, with a direct link to the bold style and attitude of M basketball in the 80s and 90s.
And I am grateful to see Howard embrace big men, post play, offensive rebounding, a decent tempo, shot-blocking, NBA sets, and a stingy defensive philosophy. When Beilein's offense was clicking, nobody anywhere could defeat it. I loved watching the utter beatdowns of many teams over the years. On the other hand, when some team (South Carolina and Va. Tech come to mind) figured out how to throw a wrench in the works, it could get very, very ugly. Yes, the Yaklich years transformed Michigan's defense, but it was frustrating how our great Xs and Os coach didn't seem to value defense for a decade before Yak arrived.
This new team can win games in many ways, and is not run in a strict dogmatic fashion. As a fan, this makes it more easy and fun to watch Michigan games. I have not shouted at a screen all season.
OK, off to Patagonia!
February 24th, 2021 at 5:47 PM ^
Is this a diary?
February 24th, 2021 at 6:05 PM ^
It's a fascinating topic. But instead of comparing him with Beilein, the question with Howard for me is whether he can elevate Michigan to a standard it has never consistently reached.
Beilein's Big Ten win % was .578. Fisher's was .600. Frieder, .614. Those are the best coaches in modern Michigan basketball history. Matt Painter's is .619. Bo Ryan's was .717.
Obviously, the tournament is a different story, but those conference figures tell you what kind of program this has been long-term. It's always seemed capable of greatness and occasionally achieved it, but it's never maintained it. If Howard can turn this into a program that truly competes for the conference title every year, he will have done something no Michigan coach ever has.
February 24th, 2021 at 7:11 PM ^
I’m a fan of both John B. And Josh H., but it’s not useful to compare them , especially now. Josh had a long, productive career in the NBA as a player and asst. coach. He has not finished a complete season as a college assistant or head coach. John had a long, productive career as a college head coach. He has not finished a complete season as an NBA player or coach. They are both accomplished individuals and decent human beings, and Michigan is very lucky to have retained them.
February 24th, 2021 at 9:18 PM ^
Josh Howard had a nice NBA career and is currently the HC at a fairly new school in Texas I hear. I’m sure he will do well there.
February 25th, 2021 at 12:17 AM ^
The Juwan Howard era is the Juwan Howard era. It's not a reprise of the Fab Five era, the Steve Fisher era, the Bill Frieder era, or anything else. Juwan is his own man, and he's building his own legacy. Yes, he had a very illustrious career here as a player, and yes, I'm sure he leverages that in recruiting to some extent. But it's not something he relies upon. He hasn't mounted any kind of campaign to restore the Fab Five banners. Listen to him in interviews. How often does he mention the Fab Five or Steve Fisher? Has he even publicly uttered the phrase "Fab Five" even a single time? In fact, I would venture to say that he relies more on his NBA experience than his Fab Five experience. He's more likely to quote Erik Spoelstra than Steve Fisher.
The John Beilein era was the John Beilein era. He left a good job at WVU, and had to pay his own buyout in doing so, in order to take over a program that was a dumpster fire when he arrived. He had to build a winning culture completely from scratch. And he had to do it in a squeaky clean way, given that the program was under a dissociation order from some of its most successful former players and was only a few years removed from crippling sanctions. He painstakingly and single-handedly brought the program back to elite status, and he did it without any shenanigans and without compromising any ethical standards. The fact that he took us to two National Championship games without ever having recruited a single McDonald's All-American is a testament to his greatness, not any kind of shortcoming.
Juwan is building a new legacy for Michigan Basketball on the strong foundation that John Beilein laid. Stop comparing them to each other, and stop comparing them to bygone eras.
February 25th, 2021 at 1:04 AM ^
Beilein was a great coach who had a few quirks that drove me nuts. Most coaches do. IMO he was too dogmatic and too convinced that his way was the only way. Which to be fair, was MOSTLY right, but led to a few cases of stubborn coach syndrome. He sometimes did things (auto-bench) "just because" that made no statistical sense. He was also very rigid with his fundamentals and discipline, which led to fantastic turnover rates, but probably also drove away some top tier recruits who didn't want to spend a ton of hours perfecting their chest passes. I also felt like his extreme influence on lack of turnovers led to tentative play from some younger players who played like they were scared of screwing up. Obviously that doesn't include guys like Trey Burke, who thrived under Beilein.
I thought Howard would be a drop off--I figured he would recruit pretty well but probably struggle with the coaching aspect. Wow was that wrong. Outside of the obvious uptick in turnovers, his teams play like they are INCREDIBLY well coached. Rarely does a player look like he doesn't know exactly what he's trying to accomplish. Sometimes the execution isn't there, but the plan usually is. And the plan is usually good. The ball movement is incredible. When things are working, Howard runs them into the ground until the other team adjusts. When things aren't working, he is willing to quickly scrap his plan and go to plan B.
Beilein left him some high quality guys he could work with (I'm counting Wagner as a Beilein guy) and Howard has added to that mix extremely well. There is no way in hell I wanted Beilein to leave, but we hit the jackpot with Howard. His combination of basketball smarts, coaching ability and genuine personality is extremely rare. I suspect he will be successful at whatever he decides to do for the rest of his life. I just hope he decides that trying to be the Dean Smith or Coach K of Michigan Basketball is as valuable as being an NBA coach.
Manuel will give him whatever he wants to stay long-term. It will all come down to how much being an NBA coach matters to him. I hope the joy of positively impacting these college kids lives fulfills Coach Howard, because he seems to be incredibly good at it.
February 25th, 2021 at 12:40 PM ^
And there’s the longer term question with Coach Howard. Does he seek/want that long term college coach immortality like Knight, Smith, Coach K, Izzo, Wooden, etc? Or does he see himself as the next Larry Brown or Pat Riley or Greg Popovich, etc? Too early to tell or know. Let’s be sure to enjoy and revel in his success here regardless.?.