was the perfect opportunity for the young
coach — an ability to get his feet wet with the
position without being completely thrown to
the wolves.
While he wasn’t reinventing the wheel
or tasked with redesigning Heat concepts,
Howard was able to learn some of the
minutiae of the position — how to talk in
timeouts, who to call on when games are
getting close, how to scream on the sidelines.
“He defined guys’ roles early, and I think
that was good for a coach to be able to do
that,” said Richardson, one of the key players
on that Summer League
team. “He would give good
speeches, get his message
across, and he’s a good
speaker in front of guys,
and I know that’s probably
tough in your first coaching
job having to give an
opening speech at training
camp, or having to be the
guy talking to the team
every timeout and stuff
like that, but I think he did
a great job navigating that
for the first time.”
The Heat would place fourth that year,
going 3-2 through the tournament.
But Howard left with something far more
valuable than the trophy — confidence in
his ability to become the head coach of a
basketball team someday.
“It taught me a lot in that I enjoyed the
experience, I learned from it,” Howard said.
“I left there that summer thinking, ‘You
know, I can be a head coach in this league.’ It
gave me a vote of confidence.”
Before that, Howard had had no problem
being vocal. No experience talking to a team
with the title of “head coach,” sure, but he’s
always been a leader in the locker room.
And no one recognized that more than
Howard’s old coach on the Portland Trail
Blazers, Nate McMillan.
Howard often credits McMillan with
being the first person he spoke to about his
desire to coach, but McMillan saw it coming
long before those words ever left Howard’s
lips. Once Howard joined the Trail Blazers,
McMillan immediately saw an opportunity
to use Howard not only as a liaison between
the players and the coaches but as an
excellent resource with a high basketball IQ.
“When I had the opportunity to work
with him in Portland, I really wanted to pick
his brain,” McMillan said. “I wanted him
to be a part of that organization because I
knew he could assist me with the players in
getting my message, whatever my message
was, across to them both as a player and as
a coach.”
Any first glance at Howard’s credentials
may not tell the whole story. Some may
be inclined to write off his first year at the
helm as an adjustment period — some time
off from Michigan’s recent success due to
17’s lack of experience. Perhaps a faulty
assumption. Howard’s been doing this for a
long time.
***
Minutes
after
the
Michigan
men’s
basketball team dismantled Saginaw Valley
State in an exhibition win, the ex-big man sat
down at the podium, nearly ready to address
the field after his first game coaching in
Crisler Center.
He asked for a few minutes to prepare
before glancing down at a freshly printed
stat sheet. He poured over the numbers,
evaluating
his
team’s
first
official
performance then addressed the media.
A small gesture, but a testament to the
man’s process. Making the transition from
the NBA back to college is no small task, and
Howard is going to need to pick up every
detail along the way.
Many will speculate about how Howard
is adapting to the more frequent use of the
zone on defense or the pace of play in the
weeks and possibly even years to come.
But Howard will have to make leadership
adjustments, too.
College students are at different points in
their lives than professional athletes. While
the days of Juwan swatting balls in practice
may be over as he takes on a different role
with his players, Howard promises to
continue his signature brand of honesty, fun
and professionalism to the job at hand.
“I’m
an
even-keeled
guy,”
Howard
said. “I’m also a guy that’s gonna hold you
accountable when you’re not doing your job.
I’m not a big yeller or screamer, but I know
how to make sure my voice resonates and
carries so when I speak, the group listens.
“I want my players to know this: we’re
gonna compete hard. There will be some
moments when we hit some rough patches in
the season, but at the end of the day, I want
us to be able to say, once we look back at the
end of the season, ‘We did have fun.’”
More than that, his approach for on-the-
court development may differ as well.
Working with big men in the NBA, the
focus was not so much about technique at
the big man position but rather about the
mental game — how to be patient and goade
the defense into making mistakes. How to be
a professional.
“Being patient. I feel like that was the No.
1 thing he helped me with,” Adebayo said.
“Just taking my time in the post. It wasn’t
really on moves, but if you’re patient and let
the defense make mistakes, and I started
seeing that as the years went on and last year
the last 30 games I started catching onto it
and started realizing it.
READ MORE PAGE 8B
5B
Tuesday, November 5, 2019 // TIPOFF 2019
Alec Cohen / Daily Design by Jack Silberman