The Michigan Basketball program should be suspended for the rest of the season

I just saw the Michigan basketball team and especially their low class head coach commit possibly the most grievous act I can recall. Were I the Big Ten commissioner or the Michigan President, I would immediately suspend the entire Michigan basketball program immediately for the rest of the season. They should have to forfeit the rest of their games as losses. Furthermore I do not see how Juwan Howard retains his job or ever works in college basketball again. I would be inclined to punish any player who did something like this with multiple game suspensions. But for a coach it is far far worse. Those players are naturally amped up as fierce competitors and they are going to follow the lead of their coach. I do not discount the culpability of the players involved, they should be punished appropriately. But this brawl was all on Juwan Howard as the leader and the coach. He carries the mantle of leadership. The head that wears the crown is heavy. I appreciate that. But that heavy responsibility cuts both ways. Woody Hayes was a great coach for many years but ended what would have been a great legacy for a lesser offense than this. Howard should be done, period. The reputation of Michigan is on the line and in the hands of the AD and the school president. If I were that person I would have this resolved by about 5 PM today. There is no place in college basketball for coaches starting brawls. We had our Silvio de Sousa affair and I supported his suspension. It seemed reasonable at the time. But as I said, a coach starting something like this is a whole different ball of wax.

Howard should be bounced from coaching. I don’t excuse Woody Hayes, he clocked a player actively playing the game.

coach Gard

Coach Howard

Howard has no place in collegiate BB

After reading more pro and con articles ranging from UM fans saying Howard was fully justified to others calling for him to be fired, I have not ameliorated my position. In fact, after i saw Juwan Howard's post game presser I was even more disgusted. He is living in a world of self delusion. Among the several completely tone-deaf arguments was his disdain for Gard for calling timeout with a 16 point lead and 15 seconds to play. Well, Mr. Howard, that argument has two sides. I agree it is not cool under normal circumstances to call a timeout with 15 seconds but I would argue just as vociferously that pressing full court when the Badgers had all their subs and walk-ons in with 15 seconds to play and trailing by 16 is equally worthy of disdain. Gard's argument that Michigan was pressing his walk-ons and they were not going to get the ball over the timeline is understandable yet one could argue that even then just let the clock run. But Michigan and Howard upped the stakes by pressing and gave at least some level of justification for the timeout. And Juwan Howard already has a track record of unacceptable behavior. here is the link to the story about the dustup between he and Mark Turgeon last year. Howard v. Turgeon . I get that I come from a world that no longer exists where decorum and polity is a given. I can even understand that Juwan Howard did not like the timeout call. But that ends when the buzzer sounds. No one believes he should give Gard a hug and say "great game coach". But you shake his hand and put it behind you and move on. In both this incident and the Turgeon incident, Howard showed a clear inability to process the situation in a professional manner which is to disengage and separate. I fully understand the intense emotions from these super competitive types. That is part of the package. But by the time you are running a high level D1 program, you better have learned to process and react in an appropriate way. Clearly in my mind, Howard has now demonstrated he is completely unable to do that. Were I the president of UM here would be my statement.

"The University of Michigan is terminating the contract with Mr. Howard as the coach of the men's basketball team. Mr. Howard has been a valued member of the University of Michigan family for many years. We have great appreciation for the many valuable contributions he has made to the University of Michigan, not only to the men's basketball program but to the university writ large. Those contributions stand. However, actions have consequences. Mr. Howard's actions following the Wisconsin game must be appropriately addressed. It is our decision that the proper consequence is the termination of Mr. Howard's contract as head coach of the men's basketball team."

I have not read into it but I did follow the link to see the incident. I just want to say that I really do not understand even a die hard fan saying the action was justified. As a coach you are the adult professional and should be leading by example. I do not see how you can justify a coach trowing a punch let alone the first and only punch in that disagreement.

What would Bobby Knight do?







RC