Men’s hoops - Rutgers at Michigan - Game Thread - Avoid the cellar - 4 pm BTN

The cellar is where this team belongs.

1 single win in coming up on almost 2 full months.

At this point, it’s almost hard not to root for 10 more losses (9 regular season + 1 and done in the conference tournament) just so it forces that inept Jabba The Hutt looking AD to actually make a decision for once.

You just cannot let this continue if you’re a reasonably competent AD. 

That was just sad. The end of this season can't get here soon enough.

The football team had more wins in January than the basketball team. That in itself is grounds for termination...

Well, if you're a part of the "I don't care if we go 1-11 as long as the 1 is ohio state" crowd, here's your basketball equivalent. 

I just watched a game where the team quit on the coach and each other, and the coach quit on the team. You can’t fire the players so you have to fire the coach. 
I understand the argument about the coach’s heart condition. However, the coach did not have a long term plan in place, and that was true before the heart issue. The coach made a “win now” decision and spent scholarships on Nkamhoua, Nimari, and Tray. He brought in one freshman. One. So since we’re writing off this season, attention turns to next season. We have maybe Dug, Tarris and 3 gaping holes in the starting lineup. An NCAA team gets 13 scholarships and we can’t find 8 good players to fill out a rotation. Who is in charge of talent evaluation and recruiting? I was hoping Khayat was taking a year to adjust and would contribute significantly this season. He hasn’t. Tschetter is just a shooter. His lack of athleticism makes him unplayable. 
It looks like we have 11 scholarships on the roster. What the actual fuck? And that’s counting Jace, who runs around like a baby deer. Did Steven Izzo use one of MSU’s scholarships? So instead of bringing in 3 more scholarship athletes, we let the spots be vacant. Is the answer to bring in 7-8 freshmen next season? Wouldn’t a better option be to bring in some good players this year and have them be ready to support Dug and Tarris when they are juniors and seniors?

It all just makes no sense at all. Coach Howard, who I have defended over and over again, has taken this top 10 program he inherited and driven it into the ditch in 5 years. Today - losing to Rutgers, at home, by 10 points, being on the wrong side of a 25 point swing - is an abomination. It is a fireable offense.

Can we fire him now ?

This experiment needs to be over. 

Hate to say it, but a few years ago I warned that maybe the hype should be toned down a bit after one really good season and that I'd hate for Juwan to be the next Ewing or Hardaway. Unfortunately that's where we are.

Remember that next time someone wants really good former players to be coaches, rarely does it ever work out that way. 

Im sure Howard will get a couple more seasons to turn things around! But he is on the hot seat!

Maybe it gets bad enough that we can have a midseason firing.

After today's game, Juwan should have been fired before he got to the locker room!

Sorry, I have a few more things to get off my chest. The worst Michigan team in my lifetime was the 7-20* team from the’81-‘82 season. There may be some worse Ellerbe teams, but I was checked out of UofM hoops then, probably because that was pre-BTN and I could get maybe 2-3 games per season to watch.

I always refer to that ‘81-‘82 team as the Thad Garner team. The reason for that is Thad was the only legitimate Big 10 level starter on that team. He busted his ass every single game. That team started out 0-13. They lost all of the non-conference body bag games you’re supposed to pad your record with. But Thad wouldn’t let them quit. He had pride.

Eventually, freshman Eric Turner started figuring things out and he and Thad led the team to a 6-7 record down the stretch.

There is no Thad Garner on this team providing energy, hustle and leadership. There is no Eric Turner providing hope for the future.

There is no growth or improvement. It is just the worst Michigan basketball team I’ve ever seen. 
 

*Wisconsin had to forfeit a victory, so really that team was 6-21.

Uh, Howard was on the hot seat 5 losses ago in combo with the Sanderson situation. He has turned a perennial top 10 and elite 8 contender with Beilein into the bottom half of the B1G.

I just don’t see a path to retaining him. None.

So who gets the job?

Watching the press conference it sure sounds to me like he's throwing the players under the bus as well and claims his system works because they made an elite 8 and sweet 16. While that is true it was also with a better built roster and mostly JB players. 

It just feels like something changed with the program. Maybe it was after the scuffle at Wisconsin. Maybe it was something else, but things have changed in the last 2 years and it's not likely to be fixed anytime soon.

Glad we played 2 today.  Thanks WBB!  Go BLUE.