A Few Thoughts On The Michigan-Wisconsin Incident

So everyone has seen the video by now. If not you can click here and take a look, although I’ve also added it below. Here’s what happened – in the handshake line Wolverine coach Juwan Howard mouthed off to Badger Coach Greg Gard, Gard reached out to apparently try and say something and everything went to hell after that with Howard sort of punch slapping assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft upside the head. After that everything went to hell as the players from both teams got involved. How did this happen, you ask? Here’s how I see it . . .

Wisconsin was putting the hammer on Michigan and was up 14-points with about 15-seconds to go in the game. Howard was frustrated to begin with because his team has underachieved this season, and it didn’t help that Wisconsin has the dirtiest player in college basketball on it’s roster. Michigan was pressing with its starters still in the game, and this is significant because Wisconsin had put in its reserves earlier, which I assume included at least a couple walk-ons. I can tell you from persoanl experience how frustrating it is to sub in a blowout game only to have the opposing coach keep his starters in and pressing. There used to be an unwritten rule that the team that was behind subbed first, surrendering if you will, and the coach of the team leading would then reciprocate. That said, most coaches today either don’t understand that concept or simply don’t give a damn.

So, Wisconsin was understandably having trouble getting the ball across midcourt and I’m assuming Coach Gard didn’t want them embarrassed. Because of this he called a timeout, which would reset the 10-second clock. Howard thought the timeout wasn’t necessary, that Gard may have been rubbing it in, so when they met in the handshake line you can hear him say, “I won’t forget this” or something along those lines. Gard then tried to explain himself as things quickly escalated. But on to my thoughts:

1. You don’t keep your starters in and pressing when the game is over. At worst the other coach will have to put his starters back in and your reserves will be humiliated.
2. Gard shouldn’t have called the time out. Up 14 with :45 left maybe, because a lead can vanish pretty damn quickly when starters are playing against your last five guys. 14-seconds though? Let them get a steal and hold the ball. The game is over.
3. Howard said Gard “put his hands on me” and he had to defend himself. This is laughable. First off, he wasn’t being attacked. Secondly, I don’t get the whole “hands on me” disrespect thing. Gard didn’t have a finger in Howard’s face (although Howard did that exact thing to Gard), he was simply trying to stop him and explain why he called the timeout. I saw nothing aggressive on Gard’s part until things escalalated, and even then he didn’t take a swing like Howard did.
4. I’ve heard several so-called basketball experts today call for an end to handshake lines. What? So this is how we should handle it? How about simply asking people to keep their composure? Trust me, I’ve coached games in which the last thing I wanted to do was march through a handshake like and say “good game” to some guy I didn’t like. Still, I managed to do it without taking a shot at a guy. Good Lord.

Like I mentioned earlier, Juwan Howard has been a loose cannon for awhile now. Michigan was ranked #6 in the preseason and are now 14-11, so they’re looking like an NIT team if they’re lucky. This is no excuse to have a meltdown though. In fact you should be doing the exact opposite and be trying to figure out how to turn your team around rather than blowing a gasket. Have some poise, man.

I’ve no idea how this will all turn out but I’m guessing Howard will get at least a multiple game suspension, Gard will get at least one game off and any player who through a punch will be suspended for a game or two as well. We shall see.