OT: Juwan Howard throws "punch"; Suspended for remainder of season

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

BettaBulleavit is exactly right

Howard gonna fool around and find out he Herman Munster strong and somebody else be cracked like an egg OR he's gonna get embarrassed by a for real-no-how-to-fight "little" guy.

Mark Turgeon might had something for Juwan

How do I know? My fraternity brothers to this day could tell you stories

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

It's going to be okay.

Howard is cool and will learn and laugh from this...I think and I hope and that is from a die hard PG County Terps fan

[mccluskey]

That’s really in Howard’s favor. He says something like I’ll remember that **** (not exact but sounds like it) and the other coach grabs him and yanks him and gets in his path. Howard was trying to walk by and say his piece but keep moving. Howard then says repeatedly don’t touch me and the other coach stays blocking his path.

Howard should not have reached. But this isn’t nearly as one sided as it’s being made.

Yeah I'm trying to see where the other coach "grabs him and yanks him" and I don't see that at all. I do agree he stepped in front of him.
Howard did address the coach first, and then the other coach stepped in front of him to reply. He did get close to him. I don't see him "yanking him." I do see Howard waving his finger at the other coach as well. Both seem kind of belligerent, but it's also a loud and heated atmosphere.
Honestly I think if it was left at that confrontation, you would just chalk it up as both guys were heated, it was an intense conference rivalry game, and sports get emotional sometimes. We've all been there and I think most would be inclined to let it go on both sides.
But what escalated the situation to a dangerous and truly unsportsmanlike situation was Howard putting hands on the other guy in an unmistakeably hostile manner. That was a leap over the line of what's acceptable, so in that sense, it was pretty one sided.
Howard is the reason this situation got out of control, and he put his entire team in a bad situation.
That's just poor leadership. He might be a great Xs and Os guy for all I know, but head coach is at its core a leadership position.

How do you miss it? Dude clearly stops Howard by grabbing his right elbow and then grabs his wrist/hand when Howard tries to step around him.

what I see (and saw watching live yesterday):
- Howard walks past Gard without stopping and says "I'll remember that" to him
- Gard puts his hand on Howard's arm/shoulder to stop him and starts talking to him to explain why he called the TO
- Howard grabs Gard by the shirt, then lets go and points his finger in Gard's face
- both coaches appear to be agitated at this point and assistants and players get between them
- both coaches initially do the right thing and allow themselves to be separated, although they're both obviously still angry and you can see Howard saying F you to Gard and something like "yeah I said it"; Gard's probably saying similar nice things but you can't see his face
- there's some pushing and shoving to get everybody apart, but both sides appear to be moving towards resolving the confrontation
- Howard pushes back into the middle of things and throws an overhead punch/slap at a Wisconsin assistant coach
- all hell breaks loose

Gard may have touched Howard first, but Howard is the one who initiated violence and took a swing - at a completely different coach than Gard, one who never touched him - and needlessly escalated the situation way out of control.

a head coach of a major university has to show far better emotional control, leadership and maturity than what Howard did. Nobody on this board (or very, very few of us at least) would be able to throw a punch at a coworker or other professional on the job under similar circumstances and stay employed, and Juwan shouldn't be treated any differently. He might keep his job due to politics, but he should at least be suspended for a significant amount of time and be counseled that any other incident of him losing his temper publicly will be the end of him.

and any other coach should be treated the exact same way for similar actions. There's a standard of behavior for someone in a position like that, and this ain't it.

[gipper08]

Did Juwan ever get in a fight or close his whole time in the NBA?

Watch on YouTube

;ab_channel=NBACobwebs

So Bimbo beasted Juwan.

[BrianFitz]

Thanks for more context. Still, take the backcourt violation. It’s the responsibility of the team up big to show class in winning. At the same time, I can see the argument Howard shouldn’t have had starters pushing up. But so what…let them have a little at the end. Who cares. You won. Just let it go. There no reason for a timeout. And none of this is an excuse for Howard.

All you've done is make excuses for a TO

Thanks for your contributions to the thread. Very valuable.

I mean ... you keep going on and on about something you are wrong about and pretty much everyone in this thread disagrees with you. Let it go.

[Duke4life831]

His starters were not on the floor.

It's pure bush league. In blowouts, you don't run up the score in the last minute and you don't drag it out with unnecessary time outs if you have any class. Who cares if they turned it over in a blowout.

Michigan starters were most definitely on the floor. DeVante Jones just stole the ball (while playing press) and got a layup. Jones is a starter. Houstan was also still out on the floor, Houstan is a starter.

Uh, Wisconsin.... the team that called the timeout????!!!

Who is claiming that Wisconsin had their starters out there?

[mccluskey]

I don’t see how Howard could expect to keep his job at Michigan and discipline the team going forward on sportsmanship and reckless behavior. If he losses this job and gets another coaching gig he can at least say, keep your cool and don’t be like me at Michigan because it cost me my job...use it as a teaching moment. If he keeps his job he will be reinforcing something else that we DONT want on the court...don’t make me spell it out to you guys

I hate to respond to this thread again but damn - after listening to espn and reading some the post here...I’m actually disappointed in humanity -it’s racial..like the whole human race appears to suck -

The fact that Howard is being defended anywhere on espn or even REALGM is ludicrous. It’s actually insane that a guy that told the Maryland coach “ILL KILL YOU” after a a game last year was still employed by Michigan to slap a man and incite a brawl this year. Especially when Howard in the immediate press conference last year was “I’m from the south side”.

Ok let’s think about what Howard is saying by saying I’m from the south side and the ramifications of that statement-

Is he saying “I’m from the south side and we know how to properly manage interpersonal conflict”...or is he saying “I’m from the south side and conflict with him can lead to death?”. Howard said I’ll kill you and said I’m from the south side...here are some details on what time means when someone invokes their hood during conflict
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-chicago-homicides-data-tracker-htmlstory.html

Get mad at me if you want...it’s true _. If someone said I’m from O block or I’m a GD or BD and we were arguing in Chicago - I would know exactly what I was being threatened with. ESPN and every person on TV pretending to not know what Howard meant last year when he said that to the Maryland coach- shame on you - cause you condoned this guys THUG behavior and now what did you expect a dude from the south side to do when someone impedes his progress? He from the south side...he told you he from the south side...now what?

The reason I’m pissed off at all these people on tv and on REALGM defending or asking for a light punishment for Howard is because Howard rich...Howard gonna be fine... no matter what. But when you condone his behavior or advocate giving him a 2 game suspension and the WHITE school or team looking for their NEXT coach, guess who they don’t hire? Yep...the kid from the south side. Cause he might threaten to Kill someone or slap someone cause he from the “south side”.

With great power comes great responsibility and Howard messed up and everyone trying to give him a pass are just as bad as people that want cops to have qualified immunity- cops want it cause they cops and it’s a hard job and it seems people want Howard to have it because he black and getting a coaching job is hard if you black...both true but the reality is, when you get that privilege you have hold yourself to the highest standard possible because other people are depending you- Howard is indeed impeding progress- fire his ass ASAP

I know I’ll get banned for this rant but what ever-

So this is complicated. Because I tend to agree with a fair degree of what you’re saying but I also think you are going down a bit of a rabbit hole here. When some references where they are from, it’s basically a way of saying “I don’t play that ***” and is something that happens during moments of conflict all the time. I don’t like it, but it’s hardly an anomaly.

In addition, I don’t think that people are defending Howard’s actions as much as they are calling for the recognition that it took 2 here and most of the narrative yesterday was that it was all Howard. So what’s he being called? Less than an man, a thug, a lunatic, a maniac. You name it. Yet nobody wants to acknowledge that it was Gard (technically) that initiated first contact and thus, cause the first point of escalation. So then it puts some people in the mindset that maybe one guy is getting too much blame while the other is getting too little, which causes the defense. Not so much that those people condone Howard’s actions.

I hear you and I understand that point of view totally. And I think it's still shameful and ridiculous. Howard is objectively wrong here and every person looking at this without bringing their bias into it can see the conflict was relatively minor and looked like it was about to be resolved peaceably, and he came back and needlessly and stupidly escalated the situation into a brawl and put his players at risk with his actions.

a lot of people defending Juwan Howard are acting from the same stupid tribal impulses that have caused people to excuse bad actions by other people who look like them all throughout history. It just reinforces the undeniable truth that all human beings act alike regardless of our physical characteristics.

I hope one day we can get better about this stuff, but nobody really seems inclined to try real hard to get there.

[jswede]

Gard does try to stop him to talk to him - which is done all the time - but clearly it’s Howard grabbing and being aggressive.

Different camera with audio:

Watch on YouTube

[SNPA]

All you've done is make excuses for a TO

Thanks for your contributions to the thread. Very valuable.

I mean ... you keep going on and on about something you are wrong about and pretty much everyone in this thread disagrees with you. Let it go.

You and1’d that post. Lol.

Funny, when I read this thread it seems like there are people with various takes. Guess I’m reading it wrong.

For the record, if I was in charge at Michigan -and the assistant coach didn’t say anything way out of bounds- I fire Howard. But if I was in charge at Wisconsin I’d be suspending the head coach and assistant for a few games too.

[jswede]

Thanks for your contributions to the thread. Very valuable.

I mean ... you keep going on and on about something you are wrong about and pretty much everyone in this thread disagrees with you. Let it go.

You and1’d that post. Lol.

Funny, when I read this thread it seems like there are people with various takes. Guess I’m reading it wrong.

For the record, if I was in charge at Michigan -and the assistant coach didn’t say anything way out of bounds- I fire Howard. But if I was in charge at Wisconsin I’d be suspending the head coach and assistant for a few games too.

For what? For trying to slow down the maniac that could not control his temper (again)?

[Ayt]

The time out is pure bush league. So is the, I dunno what it was, head massage, but at the end of the day both are nothing that are going to matter in a day.

What is so Bush League about a coach using his timeouts?
It's not like he used it to draw up a play to run up the score.
I myself have called timeouts late in games that weren't close, to make substitutions or just to remind my team that we dont need to shoot in that situation.
I honestly think Howard should just focus on coaching his own team and worry less about how Gard is coaching his. Running up the score is unsportsmanlike for sure but I've honestly never heard of this strict prohibition against using timeouts.
I think Howard was just frustrated about losing tbh. Even if you disagree with the timeout there, it hardly justifies acting unprofessional, much less acting like a maniac by balling up a guy's shirt in your fist and then later taking a shot at another guy.
It's a freaking timeout people. Even running up the score wouldn't have justified Howard's actions, and people keep talking about a timeout?!!?
Holy false equivalency Batman!!!

His starters were not on the floor.

It's pure bush league. In blowouts, you don't run up the score in the last minute and you don't drag it out with unnecessary time outs if you have any class. Who cares if they turned it over in a blowout.

The only team being bush league was Michigan. The shot clock was off and Wisconsin just wanted to get past halfcourt and end the game with their end of the bench players on the court. But no. Michigan needed to be a in a full court press with starters on the court for some reason. They even fouled after the timeout. Any bawling about "extending the game" or "class" of all things goes out the window.

**** clowns.

Thanks for your contributions to the thread. Very valuable.

I mean ... you keep going on and on about something you are wrong about and pretty much everyone in this thread disagrees with you. Let it go.

You and1’d that post. Lol.

Funny, when I read this thread it seems like there are people with various takes. Guess I’m reading it wrong.

For the record, if I was in charge at Michigan -and the assistant coach didn’t say anything way out of bounds- I fire Howard. But if I was in charge at Wisconsin I’d be suspending the head coach and assistant for a few games too.

Suspending Gard would be idiotic.

[Pharmcat]

Bush league . He should be fired

[SNPA]

I mean ... you keep going on and on about something you are wrong about and pretty much everyone in this thread disagrees with you. Let it go.

You and1’d that post. Lol.

Funny, when I read this thread it seems like there are people with various takes. Guess I’m reading it wrong.

For the record, if I was in charge at Michigan -and the assistant coach didn’t say anything way out of bounds- I fire Howard. But if I was in charge at Wisconsin I’d be suspending the head coach and assistant for a few games too.

For what? For trying to slow down the maniac that could not control his temper (again)?

What video are you watching? Slow him down? What? Howard is walking past him. He was going to stay I’ll remember that and keep walking. There’s nothing wrong with that. Howard responded poorly but the physical stuff isn’t him first. Words are different than hands.

I’d be looking at suspending the assistant for as long as Gard. He comes in clearing space and smacking jaws and takes a situation that was settling and reignites it.

[jswede]

You and1’d that post. Lol.

Funny, when I read this thread it seems like there are people with various takes. Guess I’m reading it wrong.

For the record, if I was in charge at Michigan -and the assistant coach didn’t say anything way out of bounds- I fire Howard. But if I was in charge at Wisconsin I’d be suspending the head coach and assistant for a few games too.

For what? For trying to slow down the maniac that could not control his temper (again)?

What video are you watching? Slow him down? What? Howard is walking past him. He was going to stay I’ll remember that and keep walking. There’s nothing wrong with that. Howard responded poorly but the physical stuff isn’t him first. Words are different than hands.

I’d be looking at suspending the assistant for as long as Gard. He comes in clearing space and smacking jaws and takes a situation that was settling and reignites it.

One head coach taking the other head coach by the arm or shoulder to talk to them is anything but uncommon. Happens probably 50% of the time.

The idea of throwing blame at Gard is absurd.

[KembaWalker]

nothing significant will happen to Howard. he's politically untouchable right now. different standards. already happened once and nothing happened. have to treat these delicate babies with the kid gloves or get canceled

[Betta Bulleavit]

It’s very simple to me. Both guys were pissed and demonstrated poor sportsmanship. It should have ended there. Instead, Gard felt the need to get his point across and did so by grabbing Howard’s arm in a way that a disciplinarian parent would do while reprimanding a child. Howard overreacted and committed the most egregious act of taking a full on swing later in the altercation. Howard is going to get the hammer dropped on him as a result and Gard wasn’t innocent either. This isn’t the Big Bad Wolf vs Little Red Riding Hood here. It’s two “leaders” that failed at their jobs yesterday. One more so than the other. Can we agree there??

[Betta Bulleavit]

nothing significant will happen to Howard. he's politically untouchable right now. different standards. already happened once and nothing happened. have to treat these delicate babies with the kid gloves or get canceled

Personally, I resent that. You’re race baiting and I think you should knock it off as it’s completely unnecessary and not particularly relevant to this topic.

[madmaxmedia]

I didn’t see it but it seems that Howard had starters pushing full court on D and the other coach, up big, called a timeout with a minute to go. If that’s the case I’m surprised at posters on here saying that’s a whatever. No. That BS. Game is over, if you haven’t coached up your bench on how to run out the clock that’s on you. You don’t call a timeout in that circumstance to teach them. Again, not an excuse for Howard’s later behavior. But that’s junk.

gimme a break dude. Howard had several starters in the game pressing with 15 seconds left, not a minute. Wisconsin had their end of bench guys in there and the ball went out in backcourt off UM with 4 seconds left to get it over halfcourt, so the coach called a TO to reset the 10-second clock and give his guys more time to get it over.

it was a really stupid thing for Howard to get that upset about. A head coach in his position has to control his emotions way better than that.

Thanks for more context. Still, take the backcourt violation. It’s the responsibility of the team up big to show class in winning. At the same time, I can see the argument Howard shouldn’t have had starters pushing up. But so what…let them have a little at the end. Who cares. You won. Just let it go. There no reason for a timeout. And none of this is an excuse for Howard.

Right- I don't disagree with your point, but because Michigan was pressing it's somewhere in the realm of a judgment call IMO.
But Howard's swing was not.

[KembaWalker]

nothing significant will happen to Howard. he's politically untouchable right now. different standards. already happened once and nothing happened. have to treat these delicate babies with the kid gloves or get canceled

Personally, I resent that. You’re race baiting and I think you should knock it off as it’s completely unnecessary and not particularly relevant to this topic.

its a fact that this is the second time Howard has instigated a brawl, the first time he faced no punishment. why would this time be any different

[jswede]

nothing significant will happen to Howard. he's politically untouchable right now. different standards. already happened once and nothing happened. have to treat these delicate babies with the kid gloves or get canceled

Personally, I resent that. You’re race baiting and I think you should knock it off as it’s completely unnecessary and not particularly relevant to this topic.

No one thought “race” but you.