The problem that Johnson will have is the same problem that any hire would have. And it’s the first rule in the world of coaching. You never follow the legend. You follow the guy who followed the legend.
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That’s what make Juwan so amazing is he followed a legend and succeeded at it. Then he got the #1 recruiting class coming in next year.
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This made me laugh out loud. And you know what? If he was Pitino’s assistant then he really might have all of those kinds of problems without any of the attendant benefits.
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It helps that Juwan was himself a legend here.
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Or a lobstrycz
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Plenty of legends fail in their coaching job at their alma mater. Juwan simply have a coaching acumen, personality to have players listen and follow his lead, and he trust his staff to help carry his load. It was a perfect storm for Juwan to be successful at Michigan.
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Everything you just said @Guest …and I don’t think it hurts that he has sons who are legitimate hoopers in the required age groups as well! Truly the perfect circumstances for Juwan to hit the ground running
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Sure. But when people say that you can’t replace a legend, they’re usually talking fan scrutiny. Juwan didn’t have to worry too much about that as it was a happy homecoming. (Also Beilein, for all his success, wasn’t a larger-than-life kind of figure who cast a long shadow.)
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It’s not John Beilein’s nature to be a larger than life personality but the pressure to continue the Michigan Basketball success is still present on Juwan Howard because the expectations were still to compete for the National Championship.
Despite all of it, Juwan still managed to find success like winning Atlantis tournament and winning B1G Regular Season title.
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This feels like satire parodying irony parodying a parody.
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Is this real life?
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Yes, from the school that has a coach who rows a boat on field turf.
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All three fans of the Gophers basketball program have to feel so trolled.
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What is it about Minnesota fans? It seems like Iowa and Wisconsin fans are faithful through thick and thin, but Gopher fans seem very fairweather in both football and basketball. Are they just more into hockey?
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Ok, count me among those not super-impressed with the Ben Johnson hire. I live in Minnesota, so I’ve accrued some talk radio exposure to the talk around it, and… meh.
Johnson was not a hot commodity assistant, which makes the decision to rush the hire seem odd. Why not take two weeks to kick some other tires and see what’s out there? The ability to in-state recruit is touted as the single biggest reason to get him, with commentators citing his role in securing Amir Coffey and Daniel Oturu for the Gophers when he worked for Richard Pitino (whose tweet is, probably just meant to be humorous, but comes off as just a bit troll-ish to me).
Of course the flaw there is that Pitino could not win enough with Coffey and Oturu to secure the grace needed to continue his job. You need to be able to coach the players you get, or it doesn’t matter how highly ranked they are.
Yeah, keeping talented guys from home at home would be good. But it’s not the whole job, and it’s not like Johnson (who seems, in fairness, to be legitimately connected to the local basketball scene) is the only guy who can land these commitments.
He could work out, but what I want to know, and what was never brought up or asked in interviews, is how he is going to coach the team on the court. Will the players develop, and will they be schematically well-deployed? Minnesota could certainly use a guy like that, talent staying home or not.
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I couldn’t imagine Michigan firing a coach (for performance reasons) and then hiring his assistant to replace him. (I know Johnson had gone to Xavier, but still.)
This suggests to me that the Minnesota AD didn’t really want to fire Pitino, but bowed to public pressure. He gives the fans what they want (a new coach) but keeps Pitino’s system in place.
I think in Minnesota it’s more of a pro sports mentality. They have the big 4 huge following for hockey and basketball, baseball is quite popular as well. If you aren’t winning in any sport most fans are going to become annoyed, disenchanted etc…
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Might still be relevant to the Big Ten…
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