Juwan Howard throws a punch. pic.twitter.com/HiC3y7yKvG— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) February 20, 2022
Honestly, not really sure I've seen something like this explode on the court since the Malice at the Palace. Just an ugly all around incident that apparently stemmed from the fact that the Wisconsin coach called a timeout with around 30 seconds left in a decisive win.
Anyway, the Big Ten issued a statement last night, singling Howard out for his actions
The Big Ten has released a statement. pic.twitter.com/f8H4NilcUQ— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) February 20, 2022
And its also of note that Howard has a history of this, having gotten into a scuffle with Maryland during their Big Ten Tournament game last year
"Juwan Howard wouldn't have done anything if Gard didn't grab his arm"I'm sure, because he has no history of this. pic.twitter.com/jeC4pCtChW— Buck Off (EJ Liddell B1G POTY) (@buckoffpod) February 21, 2022
Comments
Yeah, this is ugly and could cost Howard his job (well this and a mediocre season.)
Howard is mad about a time out but forgets he has his starters full court press with seconds left in a game down double digits? This is a fireable offense at any other job in America. I expect to see multiple game suspensions for players and staff after this.
On one hand I could definitely see an indefinite suspension for him through the rest of this season. I don't think he will be fired after their success last season but he has to be on a zero tolerance leash at this point.
On the other hand, if Michigan doesn't think this is their guy for the future, this is a perfect incident to fire for cause and not have to pay him.
Apparently B1G bylaws cap any kind of suspension for a coach like this at 2 games.
Well that's dumb.
any league-issued suspension is limited to 2 games
Michigan can, and should suspend him longer than that
Well said. The Athletic story mentioned Gard calling needless timeouts but nobody seems to go after Howard for a needless press (and fouling) with the game well out of hand.
Juwan Howard is 49 years old. He's a grown ass man. Be an adult and don't get butt hurt and start a fight. He deserves to take the rest of the season off at the absolute minimum. He already lost his mind last year against Turg.
Earlier this year against
WiskyIndiana, Michigan was up 16 points and Howard called a TO with a minute to go. What comes around goes around.I hadn't heard that before. He has no right to be upset with Wisconsin's timeout since he was pressing. But even more so if he had called that same timeout in a previous game. If he doesn't like to lose like that, then figure out a way not to lose.
image of it from reddit
Score was 78-62 with 0:55 left, Michigan leading over Indiana. Appears to have been from their January 23rd game
Thanks for the clarification - I thought it was Wisconsin. That is the game I was referencing (and where I saw it, too.)
What a bad look for Michigan, I can't imagine keeping a coach that starts a fight because he's a sore loser.
If you learn anything watching altercations like this it's...no one knows how to land an effective punch! 🤣
Rudy Tomjanovich would disagree.
Nolan Ryan knew what he was doing!
He got his guy in a headlock and went to pound town!
Nolan Ryan definitely knew his stuff. If that clip is the Robin Ventura fiasco, Ventura became the poster child for how *not* to charge the mound.
The only thing dumber than charging Nolan Ryan would be if anyone lost their mind enough to charge Bob Gibson - dude was a gold glove boxer.
He should be fired but I have a feeling they will suspend him as long as possible under conference rules.
Talk about being a bad leader. How can a player take anything this guy says seriously about responsibility and being a better man after learning from him? Dude has issues.
I will be following this very closely. The right thing to do is fire him, but I'm not holding my breath.
You throw punches in the hand shake line a season after you try to start a fistfight during the conference tournament during a tv timeout and you should be fired and have a Show Clause put on you for future employment purposes.
That's just unhinged behavior that will lead to an even worse situation if not stopped. In the aftermath of his ejection from the B1G tournament last year where he reportedly threatened to kill Turgeon, he had this to say:
Seth has the only point that matters here. He's held to a higher standard than anyone just like anyone in public light its part of the job if he can't contain himself he doesn't need to be in that position
He also supported Dickey Vs hot take that they should do away with the handshake line. These guys get all butt hurt about sportsmanship if a player is too cocky or celebratory, but when it's a coach, let's just do away with this.
I think it's even more than Seth's point. If this was his answer to a fight in the early 90s when he was a play then sure, but he left Chicago to go get an education at one of the best universities in the nation, where he then got a very profile high paying job playing in the NBA. Won two championships, which he then transitioned to a coaching position. He didn't move from the south side to Ann Arbor to become the coach, it was 30 years ago.
And now we get to Seth's point that he's now the coach, a mentor and teacher of kids that potentially were once like him, coming from a bad neighborhood or rough childhood that have a chance to do better than their peers. His response was worse than his actions to me and I think he should be fired for his actions.
Somewhat related, but funniest fight involving a coach:
Danny Coale caught the ball. Wisconsin knows it.
That's probably what the coach said that set off JH.
To be fair, athletes have recently come unhinged for less
coughBradMarchandcough
It's the only logical explanation.
Whisky coach should file an assault charge against him. It's on video.
I didn't see all of what happened from the angle shown, but 14 from Michigan is in the back just throwing hands like crazy.
On one hand, I find this extremely entertaining. It's so petty, I love it. Seeing Juwan Howard getting rowdy at an uppedity institution like Michgan is just great. I look forward to seeing 'Michigan Man' try to justify this.
However, I also know that this behavior is completely uncalled for, especially in a league of non-professionals where the coach is expected to be a mentor to young adults.
That said, I'm happy I can watch from the sidelines, and it's not our coach.
we're post-NIL, they're officially professionals now.
Eh, not really - I thought a lot about my phrasing here. They're definitely no longer ameratuers, but I don't think they're professionals either. Only the top 500ish players are getting significant NIL deals.
Anyways, this is getting further off topic, but I think the NIL market will stabilize over the next few seasons. Once businesses get 'burned' on a few big NIL deals that don't work out, they'll tighten up their wallets. I also think that in a few years we'll see some enforcement around NIL (whether it comes from legislative bodies or the NCAA).
I saw on twitter and related.
Part of me: "Ohhh, a fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Knock his head off"
Other part: "This is a disgrace to the game and must be dealt with."
Howard is completely at fault here for starting the altercation. That said I don't think he really meant to strike the Wisconsin coach, it was open handed looked like it meant to be a push and missed (obviously bad either way but not the same). Should be suspended the rest of the season.
The two Michigan players that started throwing punches should be suspended through the conference tourney at least imo.
I agree with everything you said except the push part.
After watching the original embed at the top of this post, Howard finishes his words with Gard and then focuses on the Wisconsin assistant (Grabbenhoft) who is mouthing off at him. Howard clearly seeks him out, exchanges some words, maintains eye contact with him, strikes down at his face with an open fist, and then clenches his fist like he expects to have to throw another one. I wouldn't label Howard's strike as a punch, but I would definitely label it a fighting type of strike as opposed to a slap or push.
Audio with bad language. You can hear the exchange between Gard and Howard prior to the muck up
Much better angle
Kudos to Crowl, even as a player he kept a level head and started separating people.
Anyone know if they are going to sing Varsity or not?
I still need help with the transcription.
Kick his ass, Sea Bass!
Everyone tweeting "Gard put his hands on Howard first" man it's the handshake line and Howard was about to walk past without shaking hands and cursing Gard out.
Idgaf how much Gard's hand on your arm offends you, it never warrants physical retaliation, especially if you're a D1 basketball coach.
Yeah Howard says "I'll remember that" and is clearly pissed I'm sure Gard is just trying to hash things out and justify his TO like any normal person would do. These guys have a relationship they play each other a lot.
I'm wondering if I'm missing something for someone to think Gard did anything wrong there. There's a lot happening at once but from the video it looks pretty clear that the Michigan coach threw the first punch. He actually had to go around his own player to make it land, so I'm not buying the idea that anyone other than him was the aggressor in the situation.
he grabs Howard's arm beyond the normal pat you'd give someone when shaking hands. Howard was trying to blow by him while while saying he'd remember Gard calling a timeout, so Gard grabbed him to try to explain.
Had Howard not thrown a punch/slap I doubt Gard would have gotten anything, but I guess since he played (a very small) part in escalating it, that's what he got. IMO he was totally justified in trying to explain himself, especially since I think he's in the right, but at the end of the day you can't grab someone who's trying to walk away from you.
Thanks for the explanation. I still have a hard time seeing it, but I believe it. I think we agree throwing hands over that is an extreme overreaction.
Yeah complete overreaction - especially when the guy he ended up hitting (30 seconds later) wasn't even Gard.
Just how i think the B1G came to the conclusion they did
Basically, it is clear that Howard is heated and in no mood to air out the grievances at the moment (something that could have easily been done over the phone once there was time to cool off). Gard, who clearly views Howard as his subordinate (or at least treated him like one in that handshake line) wasn't having it and pulled a "you'll listen to me when I'm speaking to you" type move
Agree to disagree.
Never. I disagree to agree.
29 years after the Michigan National Championship debacle and Juwan Howard is still salty about timeouts.
if you want the game to end, stop your players from pressing. You can't have it both ways- it just doesn't work that way. If I were him, I would plead insanity and say that " I went full Bobby Knight on the Wisconsin coach"
Yep. Going full court press on the Wisconsin bench with your starters. Gard called the timeout to avoid a 10 second violation. Howard has his guys playing like the game is still within reach so Gard coaches like it. Yet Howard thinks Gard did something wrong. Howard needs to find his ass unemployed.
I definitely recall Buzz calling at least a few inconsequential timeouts with less than a minute left to run a play or defensive set they were working on.
I remember once in garbage time, he called a timeout. In postgame, he said that when he called it, the ref(?) or someone asked why he was calling a timeout in a blowout. He said "...to coach my team..."
I don't get why people get so upset about little stuff like this. If Wisconsin is throwing down 360 dunks in a blowout with 5 seconds left and then taunting the opposing bench, you can be salty. But why are you physically confronting coaches for.... coaching.
Imagine if it was flipped. Wisconsin coach would have been fired immediately 🤷🏼♂️.
Barry Alvarez handpicked McIntosh as his guy. They'll protect their own.
I don't understand your reasoning here. Can you tell us why it would have been different?
I really can't figure out why it would be different. Please enlighten me.
He can't because the Mods would nuke him into oblivion with the almighty Banhammer. Let's just say that it touches a "third rail" of contemporary culture/politics. Please lock this sub-thread now before anyone says something stupid while likely under the influence.
Married to a Buckeye, so we grabbed the popcorn and watched the meltdown unfold.
Should he be fired? By itself, no, there's been plenty of fights on the court, so a suspension is warranted. That's precedence.
But this isn't an isolated incident. There's a pattern of behavior here. Michigan should absolutely fire with cause.
As incidents have shown, Juwan Howard is a hothead who knows he can physically intimidate people. I hope he gets fired but I think at a minimum he should be suspended a few games.
And having a culture where his players just start swinging at the first sign of a physical altercation (that he caused). If I'm the player/coach that got hit by one of those dudes I'd be so pissed
Seems fair not really sure Gard deserves much of anything but🤷♂️
In retrospect Gard could have just let him walk so I guess I can see where the 10k comes in
Touching a coach's arm in a handshake line happens all the time. It's basically the most innocuous way to touch someone. I'm slightly confused by all the "Gard shouldn't have touched him" takes. I guess it's true that Gard could have just let him walk by, but it's not like he actually did anything to Howard.
Mack Brown grabs people and holds them hostage at midfield when he wins, but that's never started a brawl.
I don't disagree just trying to figure out where the 10k came from
It came from the B1G can't be seen to just fine one side in that brawl.
Oh yeah, I totally get it. I think that's why Gard got fined, I just think it's pretty flimsy. It seems to me that the B1G fined Gard to avoid any "well actually Gard started it" arguments.
Mack Brown has a penchant for finding well built, able bodied, muscular, young men. Didn't shock me one bit he loves a good grab after the game. 😂
The best example is the UNC Miami game from this year. Diaz is so clearly trying to walk away and Mack has him in that death grip. In that situation, I would understand Diaz feeling like he had to punch Mack to get away.
Not really though, that would be crazy, but god damn Mack let the man walk away.
This kills the Mack
The Shutdown Fullcast joked that this is how Mack Brown stays alive, sucking the youth out of coaches at midfield.
Wisconsin's AD said this was a Wisconsin fine and that the school would pay it.
I was intrigued to see if any of the players would get anything as well considering I thought it looked like a few punches got thrown by a michigan player as well. But who can blame him he was just following his coaches sterling example
First reaction is when do they play again?
Second reaction Howard looks like an absolute ass to everyone. If you don't use this against him in recruiting your not using this golden egg he has laid.
Thirdly if I, an electrician, did this to a co worker I'm fired no if ands or butts and I'm a behind the scenes worker. If you're in the public eye you are held to higher standards and Howard trying to defend his actions by saying he's from Chicago is such a pitiful defense. If Michigan don't give him a big suspension if I'm Wisconsin I take him to court he wants to be petty go right back at him.
Deserves to be fired. No way to excuse his action.
He should either be fired or we normalize it... no compromise. I'd pay to see slap battles instead of possession arrows on jump balls.
Howard is gonna have the kid that sucker punched a guy in the hand shake line as his #1 recruiting target
The suspension came down fast from the conference, I wonder if Michigan will actually have the should we fire him discussion during the suspension?
Gard should have let him keep walking, and Howard should have known better. What happened on the floor at the end of the game should have just been fodder for the next matchup and instead the coaches felt like settling things before then. I dont have any issues with the suspension that Howard received, although it would have been better had Michigan handed out the suspension instead of the conference (IMHO). Gard probably needs to be suspended for a game or two as well for his involvement.
What should have happened - Gard should have let him keep walking in the line, and Howard should have been game planning immediately for how the Wolverines were going to get even in the season series. Instead we have an ugly incident and suspensions because two grown men couldn't keep their cool.
I'm sorry but I really hate it when something happens between two people where one person is acting within a normal or typical range of emotions while the other person is way out of bounds, and spectators equate the two as both being in the wrong.
If Coach Gard didn't get punched in the face, no one would even know or care because Gard's actions were not out of line. There is no justification for a D1 coach punching another one. None. Only one grown man couldn't keep his cool.
This is in no way a condoning anything that Howard did, and should not be viewed as both side are bad, because what Gard did doesn't not deserve the response that he got and grabbing people for a shake has been normalized. But I'd like to stop normalizing these coaches grabbing people to force a handshake. As mentioned above Mack Brown does this and he's not the only one. It just strikes me as trying to be the bigger asshole. "if the opposing coach doesn't want to shake hands and hear what ever i want to say to him then I will force him too" just bothers me. If a coach doesn't want to shake hands just leave his bad sportsmanship ass alone and go home the bigger man.
Pretty much no matter how you look at it, Howard comes out the bad guy.
How to tell the world you ain't nuthin' but a bitch in one quick move:
I enjoyed this way more than I should have.