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

