Howard - AP COY

[9nationalchampionships]

Many times good players turn out to be not so good coaches as it is a much different skill set. In Howard's case he can do both at a high level. Most deserving coach of the year!


Michigan's Howard named AP coach of the year

 

[HailToPitt725]

I’m not surprised to see Howard having the success that he is. IMO, he squeezed out as long of an NBA career as he did because his knowledge of the game and ability to be a “player-coach” to a certain standpoint. Couple in many years learning under one of the NBA’s best head coaches and you have yourself a pretty solid coach.

It’s also neat to see an alum win at their alma mater. Hopefully he can sustain it moving forward.

 

[TheLogicalTake]

The trick for the former NBA guys isn’t coaching, as many are talented in that respect, but rather recruiting and development. You’ve got to have serious drive to recruit and close the deal as there are a lot of hungry, hungry dudes out there who live for that stuff. Beyond that, development can be a challenge because you’re talking about guys who played at the highest level trying to teach kids who, for 90% of them, aren’t on that level. A lot of guys struggle with patience with kids who may not come in as a ready-made product.

 

[joeydavid]

Is it really a big deal to win the tremendously overrated B1G?

 

[Franb]

Many times good players turn out to be not so good coaches as it is a much different skill set. In Howard's case he can do both at a high level. Most deserving coach of the year!


Michigan's Howard named AP coach of the year

He is fortunate they voted for this award before his team scored 49 points against 11-seed UCLA.

 

[PittGlory]

Well he has 6 kids to 4 different women so assuming some can play, maybe recruiting won't be so difficult for him.

How does he win Coach of the Year over Mark Few?? UNREAL

 

[FrogmoreZeke]

How does he win Coach of the Year over Mark Few?? UNREAL

Cause he coaches at Michigan in a conference that was overrated. In a conference that is always overrated in everything except PR.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

How does he win Coach of the Year over Mark Few?? UNREAL

Because everyone expected Gonzaga to be really good, so when they are really good Few gets no "extra" credit. It's the same reason that a guy like Chuck Noll never won the NFL coach of the year. His teams got good, and so when they were good everyone expected it so he didn't get any credit.

That's an award that writers like to vote for a guy whose team ended up better than the writers thought they were going to be when the season started. Michigan was better than the writers thought they would be, so that must mean that Howard did a great job (and I'm not suggesting that he didn't do a good job) because there was no way that the writers could have been wrong in the first place.

 

[Franb]

Because everyone expected Gonzaga to be really good, so when they are really good Few gets no "extra" credit. It's the same reason that a guy like Chuck Noll never won the NFL coach of the year. His teams got good, and so when they were good everyone expected it so he didn't get any credit.

That's an award that writers like to vote for a guy whose team ended up better than the writers thought they were going to be when the season started. Michigan was better than the writers thought they would be, so that must mean that Howard did a great job (and I'm not suggesting that he didn't do a good job) because there was no way that the writers could have been wrong in the first place.

To be fair, no one thought that Michigan would be as good as they were. The coaches’ preseason poll had them even lower than the writers’ poll. But I agree with your main point, that this award often goes to the coach who has greatly overachieved, compared to what the team was expected to do.

I would also add that the award is determined before the tournament, which is silly. Many say that the regular season isn't as important as the post season, so this award does not take into account a very significant part of the season. If UCLA were to win, wouldn't Cronin at least be in consideration for COY?

 

[thebadby2]

He is fortunate they voted for this award before his team scored 49 points against 11-seed UCLA.

And Michigan is fortunate to have a good enough coach to take them from unranked to #1 seed and 2 points from the final four after losing their best offensive player and shooter in the last week of the regular season.

I think just maybe Livers amd his 45% 3 point percentage and defense against Juzang on the wing just might have helped Michigan a little bit in that UCLA game.