I don't get the Howard bashing
Working so had to listen to listen on the radio while checking in on the game thread. I can't get over the level of Juwan hatred. I understand this is real-time message board reaction to a team that was heavily shitting the bed in the first half, and not necessarily representative of the general consensus feeling toward Howard as a coach. But the number of folks calling for him to be fired, or "evaluated" Harbaugh style at the end of the season, or implying that Martelli's (who coached 4 of his 5 games at home) performance was superior, etc. was maddening.
John Beilein is one of the greatest college basketball coaches of all time. Forget about the fact that its 'unfair' to expect his successor to come right in and smoothly pick up that torch, its completely unrealistic. Yet Howard, who'd never coached in college or been an HC at any level, has basically pulled that off. There's more than enough upside from an X and O's, game management, and roster construction standpoint for Howard left to reach that its a pretty small leap of faith to believe that he's going to keep this program damn close to the lofty standards established under JB. Juwan won the conference championship in a loaded Big 10 and was one active Livers or Franz going 2-11 away from the Final 4 in his first ever NCAA tourney. He brought Franz from an outside the top 100 recruit to a lottery pick, and Dickenson from #43 to freshman AA. Hand picked Mike Smith and Chaundee Brown. Brought in a top 3 recruiting class in his second class. To say nothing of the excellent work he did with the 2019-20 squad which was had to replace Matthews, Poole and Iggy.
And don't sleep on the intangibles. Aside from one short circuited pawing at the Troll Center, its been 3 years of uninterrupted praise from the media, administration, players, and parents. There are no guarantees when it comes to head coaches jumping to greener pastures (see Beilien, John), but Juwan has already foregone pro opportunities to be here. He bleeds Maize and Blue. And if he gives two shits about having to play second fiddle to the football team or at that mausoleum of a home court, he hides it extremely well.
Does the team's performance this season put a few chinks in that armor? Sure. Does the current composition of his next 2 recruiting classes give me pause? Yes. Is anyone who thinks we're going to fire Howard and somehow dig a superior coaching option out of the couch cushions totally fucking brain dead? They are.
Anyone who doesn't see that Frankie passed Kobe in the rotation a month ago isn't payind attention. There were only two reason I could see that Kobe got on the floor today:
- To give Frankie a breather, or
- to shoot free throws at the end of the game.
I'm not saying that Kobe won't develop into a good player, he's just not there yet. Frankie's grasp of the college game and reduction in mistakes in the last month has been remarkable.
March 18th, 2022 at 10:50 AM ^
I don't completely disagree with your sentiment. But I would say that 1) Collins played 31 minutes 2) Kobe's development as a player hinges a lot on confidence, and as a coach you need to factor that into the equation any time you're tempted to pull immediately pull him after he fumbles a pass and blows a rotation to sit him for the rest of the half.
Every fan base has assholes, so in that regard there is no 'Michigan Difference'. I never look at the comments by those jerks.
We are extremely lucky to have Juwan as our coach as the OP has pointed out.
Good Man, Good Coach, 100% Maize & Blue.
I love Juwan and remember him fondly from the Fab 5 days. Same with Harbaugh and his glory days in a winged helm.
Ill never bash those guys.
I fondly remember them from their playing days also - and their antics/behavior as grown men has been disappointing. But that’s my problem.
It's easy to get when you realize the level of pussy you're dealing with...
True. Some people never have gotten used to seeing Clint Howard's face.
Also Shemp Howard, Moe Howard, Curly Howard, and Larry Fine.
Franz wasn't an outside the top 100 recruit...
I'd say it's a combination of following an absolute master, style of play, and unrealistic expectations.
Coach Beilein is a tough act to follow. We watched a decade of really good, sound, innovative basketball, led by a coach who's especially good in tournaments. Tough to replace a legend.
I think many contributors on this blog in particular tend to favor a certain style, both in football and basketball. RR's spread got way more love than his disastrous results really warranted. Beilein's analytics-driven, value every possession, outside-focused, spread the floor style is probably more pleasing to many here than Juwan's greater focus on bigs, boards, and screens.
Last year's team exceeded expectations, then lost 5 major contributors.
This year's team was absurdly over-hyped, as are most teams full of highly-touted freshmen. They were wildly inconsistent - as are most freshmen.
After a brutal start, the team improved over the course of the season. Individual players are improving too - especially the freshmen.
When we lose, people claim Howard can't make adjustments or game plan. When we win, he's rarely given credit for the same things.
IMO he's a very good coach. Remains to be seen if he can become a great one, like his predecessor.
Just going to re-post something I saw below: "Beilien won 2 tourney games in his first 5 years. Howard won 3 in his first year. It's insane."
Beilein was a very fallible coach. Fools here called for his head every time we lost, for long stretches of his Michigan career. Coach Howard brings some extra baggage.
That's certainly worth noting, but context matters too. Coach Howard inherited a MUCH better situation/program than did Coach Beilein.
Those were some dark, cold winters prior to Coach B.
My point: Without considerable patience, patience of a kind that's sorely lacking--given Howard's clear early success--Beilein would never have had a chance to become the Hall of Fame coach that he--we agree--is at Michigan.
March 18th, 2022 at 10:53 AM ^
There was also some decent clay there for JB to mold with Manny and Peedi.
As the (ugly) saying goes, "There is more than one way to skin a cat". John and Juwan were/are both elite coaches who have different preferences in how to play the game. That's pretty much it...but we can argue about this very heatedly if we wish to.
Honestly I hopped in the game thread for about 60 seconds and that was enough for me to remember why I avoid game threads. If you want reasonable takes and rational thinking I would suggest you do the same.
I peeked there one time a long time ago. Ignorance and hubris is the clear winner. I am sure that yesterday the end left a very embarrassing beginning.
He had a down year. It happens. Just gotta hope he picks things back up next year and we get back to consistently competing at a high level.
Aren’t they in the round of 32?
Beating CSU for half a game doesn't erase the rest of the season. Down year compared to what ought to be the Beilein/Howard baseline is fair I think.
The reality is the post season is a new season. What happened in the regular season and B1G tournament no longer is important. If we’re speaking of seeding and better draws to get to the final four and pre-season expectations I can understand your view.
The original statement was "he had a down year". Judging the year (one way or the other) on the CSU game is silly. The season wasn't very good. It can be "rescued" by a tourney run, but getting some good bounces in a single elimination tournament doesn't mean the preceding 6 months didn't happen.
Perspective is a good thing...many things to consider here. Things happen for a reason.
So is Richmond.
So Juwan calls timeout with 35 seconds left ? Did he punch himself for doing it ?
No. But he wasn't running a little press action in the final minute with an insurmountable lead either.
The timeout Eli called trapped on the end line?
Oh boy!!!! Who called it?????????????????
You must be new here.
Since you brought it up, gotta say I was baffled by the gameplan at the start. Diabate isos on Roddy? And then in the second half we come out and run a play for a long 2 from Houstan?
I was baffled by the opening play in each half as well. I guess if Diabate is successful, it might have forced CSU to take some pressure off Hunter. But that seemed like a strange way to start the game when going iso is usually the backup to the offense not finding opportunities.
Then, in the 2nd half, I about flipped a wig using that play to start the half. Caleb's stroke is smooth, but I don't think he's the next coming of the microwave.
I guess I'll have to assume that these are shots that drop at a much higher percentage in practice, and these freshman haven't yet learned how to translate that to game time.
Don't get me wrong. I love Coach Howard and hope he retires from this place, but I'm still scratching my head.
I think your own answer to the first question is also the answer to the second. Coaches have to believe in their players, especially their stars. With those plays, Coach Howard was sending the signal that he believed in those guys. Had Moussa hit that first shot? Woulda helped. Same with Caleb. We won handily anyway, and you're thinking that you know better than the coach who called the plays? Perhaps not.
You're "baffled", "flipped a wig" and "assume" yet, here you are, believing you are qualified to make a very strong statement. Just keep "scratching your head"...I hope this is something you are actually good at.
March 18th, 2022 at 10:57 AM ^
I've since been able to watch the first half of the game, and I don't think you can definitively say that going to Diabate there was a game plan thing versus flow of the game thing.
And assuming it was, its not the worst idea to see if you can catch an early foul on a hyped-up Roddy.
In the eternal words of Bob Seger, "Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then."
I think we all know why ( at least to an extent) but I will say this, I love Michigan and all it’s coaches but I have to say I have never rooted for a coach as hard as I root for Coach Howard. Partly because of the hatred the fab five got from the media especially and even some terrible fans (watch the documentary if you haven’t), along with the fools on local radio and others questioning his coaching acumen. He was an all-American, top 5 pick, two time champion, all star and learned from one of the best organizations in the NBA. I believe he knows basketball and will continue to grow as a coach. He’s already more accomplished in 3 years than a guy like Fran McCaffery.
Fran has one accomplishment Howard doesn't -- crashing out in the first round.
Fire Backich, fire Harbaugh, fire Beilein, fire everybody! It's the eternal solution
This has never been insightful or funny-still isn't.
In light of this new era of college athletics, should we change our inspirational motto to "Those who transfer in will be Champions"?
1. The whiners are a loud minority. Your first mistake was reading the game thread: those threads are cesspools. There are regular commenters in there and a lot of non-mgoregulars that pop up, and the level of discourse is always putrid.
2. The few who are complainers are the types to complain about everything. In some cases they were Beilein bashers. Others it's just complaining. It is the nature of fanbases to overreact to things. Most of us do it from time to time, but some overreact to everything.
So my advice is to not worry about it so much. Juwan is doing fine. This season has been disappointing, but that happens. It's sports.
You mean, like life?
For those with serious doubts about Howard:
How do you explain last year?
If you answer "Livers" I'll listen a little bit. "Beilein guys" Eli and Johns are still here so it can't be them. Four key players last year (Franz, Hunter, Chaundee, and Mike) are "Howard guys," so it can't be them, either.
What is it?
Our offense hasn't missed a beat since Coach Howard took over the program. This year we've got a young team - as far as the depth goes. I think that hurts us defensively more than anything - matching up with 5th & 6th year COVID-extended older teams.
I love having Juwan Howard leading our team. Screw the naysayers, you can have Greg Gard & Richard Pitino.
It’s a lot of stupid people who didn’t watch college basketball before like 2012 and still don’t follow it nationally or have any sense of reality.
It’s also people comically looking past the numerous years deep into his tenure Beilein teams were on the bubble or didn’t perform well in the ncaa tournament, because that is what happens in college basketball.
i wouldn’t sweat too much about it and you can pretty safely ignore the opinions of anyone questioning him as a coach.
I same people that bash Coach Howard are the same that would see him in public, ask for a picture and then post it on twitter.
Reminds me of the 2017 football season. Guy on a seemingly never-ending honeymoon comes back to earth because of a talented but young team that makes a lot of mistakes. I'll wait for the backlash to the backlash.
Don't read game threads from any sport.
If you judged the Detroit Tigers from 2011-2014 based on the various game threads you would have thought they were the worst team in the league.
My prediction:
Fire Howard = Fire Backich