My Howland Take

[BeastMan]

Im still in full support of Ben Howland and let me explain why. Im not a basketball mind where Im going to go draw stuff up on the board but it’s been my favorite viewing sport since I was 5. I watched a ton of pro and college ball.

-Without going too deep in to this year, we are on the bubble and need to finish strong to make the tournament. It?s very possible and I think it happens. 8-2 our last 10. Finishing strong and that should not surprise considering Nick missed the first 10 games.

-Last year we made it back to the dance. This year we?re in the discussion. I think Ben Howland has returned us to this type of season as the baseline. Winning 20ish games and being in the hunt was the Stansbury standard and Howland returned is there after inheriting a dumpster fire.

-I do not think folks give Howland as much rebuild credit as he deserves b/c it took him a few extra years to get it rolling. When we signed Howland, objective 1 & 2 was get Malik and the other JPS big whose name escapes me. He does and we think we are fast tracked. Those 2 kids cost the program another 2 years of rebuild for being both overhyped and more importantly impossible to manage from who they had around them. Those 2 kids absolutely killed our program when we were trying to literally claw out of the dumpster.

-That situation from his first class will never happen again. He?s got 4 years of relationships built in to every class we sign from here on out. He?s going to avoid the bombs and sign good players consistently b/c he is a big name (and w/Addidas).

-Howland has run a really good program. The only hiccup was the Weatherspoon suspension and it was handled accordingly. Seems to be an isolated deal. The team has 10x the discipline it has under Stands off the court. He isn?t afraid to sit someone if need be (see Peters).

-Now that we?re back at that NCAA bubble baseline and the culture of the program is the best it’s been since Richard Williams all we need to do is hit on better guard play. Howland?s bigs evals have been exceptional. Keep doing what he is doing there and we are set. We need a little more offense in the back court. I think Molinar and DJ have really bright futures. But that is where the next step is.

-If you want to run Howland now, why? What are our expectations? Traditionally we?re a top 8 SEC program and fringe NCAA squad. That?s where we are. Howland recruits better kids than Stands because of how he does it. If we run Howland, who do we get who is going to take us up a level? With us just getting back to what should be our ground zero, that is a huge gamble.