Searchbits V: Til Tuesday
STILL TRENDING HOWARD
We have a definite date for a Juwan Howard interview: Tuesday. The only other guy who had a definite interview date was Luke Yaklich, who was supposed to have one yesterday. We only found out about that because Yaklich interviewed at Texas and in the process of informing people about what's going on the Texas 24/7 mod said Yaklich's timeline was "interview for head job at Michigan, and then probably go to Texas."
It seems like LaVall Jordan is likely to interview as well, but both 24/7 and Rivals have mentioned Jordan's buyout as an issue. Those seem to be handy for coach retention. I prefer Howard to Jordan so I'm not too put out by that. The idea that Michigan would be put off by a buyout seems ludicrous. Maybe Jordan + buyout ranks below Howard + nothing, because that would give Michigan more ammo to retain assistants.
Providence's Ed Cooley and Texas's Shaka Smart remain the only other names being mentioned in any context. Both guys are on the fringes of the search, but Sam had an extensive update on Cooley this morning.
[After THE JUMP: more Howard]
HANDICAPPING THE TIMBERWOLVES JOB
The main remaining hurdle to Juwan Howard's availability is the Minnesota Timberwolves job, which he is one of four finalists for. It sounds like it'll be an upset it anyone other than current interim Ryan Saunders, though:
Even though Rosas is interviewing multiple people for the position, Saunders remains a strong candidate for the job.
Rosas will be in Chicago the next few days representing the Wolves at the draft lottery and combine, but a source said Rosas should make a decision on the head coaching position possibly by the end of the week or over the weekend.
Last week Rosas spent several hours over three days discussing the position with Saunders. Their discussions ranged from personnel to style of play, player development, building an assistant coaching staff and how to modernize the Wolves’ offense into an up-tempo efficient offense.
But their conversations haven’t just dealt with issues on the court. They have discussed the importance of communication, leadership and how best to succeed in the Minnesota market in collaboration with other aspects of the organization, the source said.
Saunders remains the favorite to get the job given the backing he has from the players in the locker room, owner Glen Taylor and much of the organization.
If the team and owner are in Saunders's corner and the new president of basketball operations, Rosas, is having extended conversations with him it's going to be near impossible for one interview to upset that apple cart. Aaand Woj:
Ryan Saunders and Minnesota are nearing agreement on a multi-year deal to make him the Timberwolves coach, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 20, 2019
STAN STANS FOR JUWAN
Stan Van Gundy is surveyed for his Howard opinion:
“Erik Spoelstra, all the people with the Heat, all the people who played there and are working there now, they speak really highly of him …his reputation was certainly one of being not only a really good player but a great professional who was a leader and led in the right direction."
Also, inevitably, other Fab Five members. Jimmy King:
"He's a great communicator,” King said. “He recruited me, Ray, Jalen and Chris and look what he's done. This would be 2.0, for a lack of a better term, for him to be able to recruit another prominent team and build a program." …
“High school, college and pro, he's the best guy. There are other guys out there but when it comes to relationships and the past here at the University of Michigan, Juwan Howard fits the bill.”
"And for those that don't know, he was always the adult in the room amongst us. You never saw Juwan Howard without a haircut, you've never seen him without a crease in his pants, you've never seen him undisciplined. And he was a technician out on the floor.”
That's a good point. Howard spent his first year in the NBA completing his degree, and after making nine digits in the league he immediately went to work for one of the most regimented regimes in the NBA. He seems to have the same sort of mentality that most coaches do. Most coaches were tryhards with brief playing careers, and while Howard was certainly not that for a big chunk of his NBA career when you're in the NBA for 19 years those last 6-10 are certainly tryhard time.
The only question I'd ask Howard is
How long you gonna stay. Nba will be calling each and every year, till they snag him.
But, Good luck to a true leader.
I think the NBA will be calling if he is killing it at Michigan, which is not too awful of a scenario.
Probably, but it’s still a flyer. Very different game and different players. He may be a very good college coach, but fall short as a HC in the pros. Or vice versa.
If Howard gets the job and puts together a staff of top-shelf assistants, I will consider this search to have been a success. It's a bold move, and I'll take a bold move over a ho-hum name.
Hopefully Howard works out because what is Plan B right now? LaVall Jordan? I don't even know what Plan C is.
Howard is a defensive coach. If he keeps Yak, he needs to find someone to run the offense. Keep Saddi and Yaklich, replace Hayes?
Howard is a roll of the dice. There are a lot of unknowns. Sure he's got good NBA experience; Pep Hamilton had good NFL experience, and we saw what that added to the football team. He seems good at developing NBA players, but will that extend to college? We think he'll be a good recruiter, but we don't KNOW he'll be a good recruiter. Another national championship-winning program in Georgetown just hired a longtime NBA assistant/alum to be its coach in Patrick Ewing, and the results have been forgettable at best. Howard is mainly a candidate because he played here.
So there's a lot of unknowns.
But unless Billy Donovan or a top-flight coach that literally just signed a rich new contract within the last month is a valid target, he seems to be as good an option as there is. Shaka Smart is a roll of the dice, too--I think he COULD improve his on-court coaching with a fresh start, and we know he can recruit. But hiring him is basically hoping that the guy he has shown himself to be as a HC can change.
I'm on the Howard train. It's not a home run, but right now we're facing a groundball pitcher in the original Comerica Park with the wind blowing in down two in the ninth with the slugger who strikes out a lot on deck. Hiring Howard would get us solidly on base, and then let's see what happens.
This response is spot on and what I was trying to articulate above, thanks for making the point more clearly. I obviously will support whoever the coach is and want nothing but success for them and the program. Just a lot of question marks but it is what it is. I'd prefer we just make a hire and rip the band-aid off.
" Pep Hamilton had good NFL experience, "
No - Pep Hamilton had NFL experience, but it was mostly awful. He got fired by Indianapolis, and rumor is that Cleveland was going to fire him if he hadn't "quit" to take the Michigan job.
He certainly didn't get interviewed for HC jobs.
This is the best take on Howard I've seen. It's just a huge roll of the dice. I'm sure he's great at NBA X's and O's, but college is a far cry from the NBA. Being a nice, down to earth guy might be great in a boardroom and AD's office. I'm not sure it's what you want in a top-flight recruiter.
The Howard issue is that IF he's a great college coach he probably goes back to the NBA (where he's spent the last 25 years of his life) much sooner than any fan would like. In other words, it's a gamble where you don't get the full odds if that gamble were to pay off.
I'd love it if people stopped freaking out about a buyout wrt Beilein; the only place he was going to go after Michigan was the NBA, and the NBA is owned by billionaires who give two-shits about a $6MM buyout for a coach. The average NBA salary is north of $6MM; that wasn't going to stop Cleveland from getting Beilein. I know it's fun to shit on Warde's purported incompetence (with little actual evidence of that, but whatever), but at least point out things that are relevant and not just hindsight contractual bullshit.
Jordan having a buyout feels like a problem for Butler more than anyone trying to poach a barely-.500 BE coach. That's the thing - buyouts go both ways, and if Butler wants to can him they'll be on the hook for that same amount.
Howard feels like a really good option at this point. Obviously not perfect, but he's a smart guy who stuck around in the NBA and, while not spectacular, wasn't a benchwarmer either. And as noted, he did go into coaching almost immediately and seems like the type of former player who understands what coaching requires.
I don't think that it was malpractice to not have a significant buyout in Beilein's contract, but your first paragraph misses the point. The buyout wouldn't keep Beilein around, but it would give us an extra few million to pay the new coach's buyout or salary.
Based on the Big Ten record earnings last year, and Michigan leading the nation in football attendance, and big crowds in basketball, I find it hard to imagine that having $4 million or so from a Beilein buyout would affect whom we hire to replace him. Money is not a legitimate issue for the Michigan athletic department.
"Money is not a legitimate issue for the Michigan athletic department."
I've never understood this as well. What's the damn point of beating the rest of the country in revenues if you can't / don't compete with them for athletic resources? I get the B1G funds more Olympic sports and Title IX, but why balk with money over the 2nd most important hire in the department?
I wish this was true, but is there any evidence to suggest Michigan is treating this coaching search like money is no issue? I don't see us making market-setting, godfather offers for Donovan, Beard or the other tier 1 options, and I see us balking at the buyouts for the Tier 2 options (at least to the extent that they are factoring into the thought process). Money seems to be no issue for the football program, but I'm not so sure about the basketball program.
I didn't miss the point, I just think being worried about a couple million either way is irrelevant to this search.
All I've heard for years is that the conference (and UM in particular) has money to burn. And since they aren't paying Beilein's salary (which was around $3.2MM), they have that to play with as well. Money is not an issue for anyone involved, and all it was going to do was annoy a guy who (1) made it clear he didn't like having one from his time at WVU, and (2) is probably the best coach in your school's history. So the downside is big and the upside is minimal, at best, keeping it. So to me, there was no reason to include one.
I'm fully on board with Howard now.
Secondary positives to hiring Howard:
Hiring Howard will, at the very least, help to repair what's broken with the Fab 5 as a group because they would probably all rally to support him. Get everybody back for a game. Rehang the damn banners.
One of the lowkey biggest issues with Beilein leaving is a general loss of momentum within and around the program, especially the fanbase, hiring Howard would earn some good will.
Edit: Forgot an entire frickin sentence which made it sound like this was all I cared about.
Yeah, there’s some feel-goody stuff that comes with a Howard hire, but it’s not a good reason by itself. Making coaching decisions based on sentiment is a huge mistake.
This is completely fair and it appears I only mentally typed, "Secondary positives to hiring Howard:" at the start of my post which I have now edited for clarity.
Look, Howard is a big risk. But look at it this way--this is our chance to get him. Otherwise he will most likely get an NBA job in the next few years and if he succeeds there, will not want to come back to college.
If we grab him now before he gets his NBA shot, we have the chance of getting someone who could be really good who might want to stay here a long time due to his relationship with the school. Yeah, it is not ideal, but we have limited options right now, and Howard is a far better fit than just some random mid-major coach with mixed success.
Howard WAS always the most disciplined, consistent player for the Fab 5. Webber and Rose were crazy athletic players. Howard was really talented, but was a very smart player as Rose mentioned in his quote. I think that's why he was the most consistent of the Fab 5ers. I had forgotten how good his last tourney run for us was, as he averaged 29 points a game on 65% shooting and had almost 13 boards a game. I know his mid-range post game is out of style now, but if a big man wanted to learn how to play, I can't imagine there are a ton of better people to learn it from.
"This is our chance to get him."
Getting Howard now is like getting Harbaugh in 2008.
Maybe.
Well stated, Jamie.
Very high ceiling for Juwan, but just a little more risky than some would like.
That said, I'm 100% on board if Juwan is hired. I truly believe he'll be a great head coach.
Warde is meeting with Ed Cooley today
Juwan and keeping Yaklich would be a great get at this point in the off season. Look what Penny Hardaway is doing at Memphis, Juwan should be able to recruit as well as he does.
The Fab Five brought us the darkest hours of UM basketball and 20 years of wandering in the wilderness. I get that Howard is the least culpable of the group for this and a great guy, but that program was nothing to be proud of and I can't believe we are now calling it the good old days. Yak's arrival absolutely coincided with Michigan moving to another level that can be tied directly to his defensive coaching; Howard cannot point to a similar effect. I think Yak is gonna be great somewhere for a long long time.
You mean like he was for his 13 years as a HS head coach? Nothing in those records really stands out other than he wasn't terrible.
Completely don't understand the push for Yaklich as the head coach. It's a completely different job than 2nd assistant. And even though the defense is clearly better under his watch, some of that has come at the expense of the offense. Same thing happened at Illinois State when he was there.
I don't blame the wandering in the wilderness on the Fab 5. Yes, they (it seems mainly Webber) were on the dirty side of college basketball recruiting. But the wilderness-wandering (which could barely have been said to last 10 years, let alone 20) is to be blamed on an administration that was so utterly risk-averse that they let a blatantly unqualified coach run the show for four years, simply because he wouldn't have known how to contact a shoe rep if he'd tried.
Maybe I don't know the Fab 5 story as well as I think I do. If you have different information feel free to correct me. But I don't believe there is anything that suggests Fab 5 members were paid to come to Michigan. I have never seen anything to suggest that any one of the Fab 5 members received money from Ed Martin other than Chris Webber mainly and Jalen Rose on a much smaller scale. Ed Martin is someone that had little to no ties to Michigan. He was a Detroit guy that made his money illegally. He helped some of the local Detroit kids out with money here and there. He used some Michigan players to launder money where he would loan the family money and then get paid back when they went to the NBA. The only Fab 5 guy that took any large sum of money from Ed Martin was Chris Webber. And that was after he had committed to Michigan. Jalen testified that he received small amounts of money from Ed Martin, but that it was no different than the money that Ed had always given local Detroit kids. And that the money was not tied to him attending Michigan. Now whether the Ed Martin money was used to lure future recruits like Bullock, Traylor, Mo Taylor I'm not sure. I also don't know how much the coaching staff knew though I have heard that Dutcher was very dirty. If you read Jalen Rose's testimony he lays it out pretty well. Webber got in trouble because he lied during his testimony for some reason. I don't believe what he did was illegal, only an NCAA violation. So there was no reason to lie as he had already moved on to the NBA.
This was a long winded way of saying I disagree that the Fab 5 was responsible for Michigan's issues. And certainly none of it has ever been laid at Juwan Howard's feet. I have never seen anything to suggest that he received anything. So to say he was the least culpable suggests that he was culpable at all and I haven't ever seen anything that suggests he was.
From the time of Bill Frieder thru the end of the Fisher era, there was a distinctly shady vibe on campus as to the basketball program. While there were no 10 alarm fires, the feeling was that no one would have been surprised if one erupted. Then 10 alarm fire occurred with the Fab Five. No amount of OSU/SEC type minimizing should be allowed to erase the shame to UM for turning a blind eye to a booster paying players for their on court efforts or to condemn the administration for acting with honor and integrity in the aftermath.
Fair point as to the lack of any evidence to show Howard's complicity in any of this, and to the extent any was implied directly, that is withdrawn. Yet whether he was merely present during that time or something more, he is associated with it. And in bringing him back, we are, at least in initial appearance, closing the distance from that era that Beilein's squeaky clean tenure had opened.
IMO it's time to relax our thinking about dogmatically following corrupt rules that are flouted by Michigan's competitors and not enforced by the NCAA. Arguably, the over-reaction to the Fab 5 era set Michigan back much more than the scandal itself. Imagine the alternate reality where Michigan had stood behind Steve Fisher and continued to go about its business over the next decade.
I was proud that UM held itself to a higher standard, vacated wins derived from rules violations that could in no way be characterized as minor, and dismissed those who failed in their duty to watch the gate. Beilein showed a program can win in the highest tier without flouting the rules. I don’t want us to be Ohio State.
I don’t want to be Ohio State either, but I wouldn’t mind being Duke.
I don't keep up with the details as much as many of the posters here do. But a couple meta facts stick out to me.
Michigan has certain standards that Clemson and Bama in football, as well as Duke and pretty much all the major players in MBB just don't feel the need to be constrained by.
JH1 (that football guy) is in it for the long haul, he has life goals that coincide with a long term approach and he will keep doing what needs to be done to - yuno, make us better today than yesterday, yada, while sticking to standards M folks everywhere can get behind.
JH2 (this prospective MBB guy) has a deep M pedigree, work ethic and attitude to keep making M folks proud. He has upside in recruiting. Hopefully him and Yak can coexist.
This is a difficult time in NCAA sports. I expect that within a few years there will be some sorta profit sharing deal worked out within NCAA sports based pretty much on the collective bargaining agreements in the major pro sports. When we hit this level playing field I expect M sports to zoom into the future and I like the idea of True Blue Meechigan men laying the foundation.
Let the X-attison's and the Beilein's of the world go for the big bux in Ohio. I blame Beilein much less than X-attison. He was tired of fighting uphill against the system IMO. But years from now I think we'll be happy that this era was controlled by real Meechigan men.
If we get Howard, going to have to call it JH U.
Hopefully both JH and JH pony up and get some championships.
Brian- beyond all the endorsements, Fab Fibe/NBA career, Michigan man etc ...
Tommy Amaker was all those things but his system set back offense 40 years.
I love the Xs and Os focus on this site, and Beilein was a ‘system guy’ that evolved with better personnel. Can you please write an informative post about Juwan’s system, Xs and Os and his offense? I’m curious as to his actual coaching style - is he a Spoelstra disciple? What does he do for the Heat? Did he develop any specific players for the Heat?
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