The events that led to Michigan men's basketball coach Juwan Howard throwing a punch at a Wisconsin coach — resulting in a five-game suspension — created a maelstrom of opinions on social and other media Sunday and Monday, with respected coaches and analysts directing blame at both teams' head coaches, and some questioning the wisdom of the traditional postgame handshake line.
This is the rare occurrence when just about everybody is right, other than Howard and his counterpart, Greg Gard.
To recap the sequence of events, there were 15 seconds remaining in Wisconsin's 77-63 victory. Howard kept his starters in the game and employed a press, even though there was not enough time to complete a successful comeback.
Wisconsin had substituted bench players into the game. As the Badgers tried to break the press, the ball was knocked out of bounds, leaving them four seconds to get the ball past midcourt without receiving a backcourt violation.
Gard called a timeout with 15 seconds remaining. He would say later that calling the timeout reset the backcourt violation clock to 10 seconds, and that he didn't want players coming in cold off the bench to be forced to try to break the press within such limited time.
Howard would say later that he didn't like Gard calling the timeout.
As the game ended, Howard walked to the Michigan handshake line. He was walking past Gard when he said, in part, "I'll remember that …" and tapped Gard on the chest.
Gard put his hands on Howard's arm, moved in front of him and began arguing, at one point grabbing Howard's shirt front. Had Gard simply let Howard keep walking, it's hard to imagine a fight breaking out.
Wisconsin assistant coaches began trying to reach Gard. As a few people separated Gard and Howard, Howard hit Wisconsin assistant Joe Krabbenhoft on the side of the head with an open hand, and players began throwing punches.
In 2021, Howard argued with then-Maryland coach Mark Turgeon, reportedly yelling in part that he would kill Turgeon.
Let's break it down:
Howard has every right to press even if the game is out of reach.
Gard has every right to call a timeout to break that press.
Howard was wrong to be offended by Gard's timeout.
Howard complaining to Gard in the handshake line might have been petty, but it didn't start the brawl.
Gard was wrong to put his hands on Howard, then aggressively confront Howard. Gard's assertion that he was trying to explain his strategy and the existence of the rule is self-serving and condescending.
Howard taking a wild swing in a crowd is wrong and deserves punishment, especially in light of his conflict with Turgeon. It's his job to set an example for his players and represent Michigan with class. He failed miserably Sunday.
Gard deserves punishment for putting his hands on Howard and precipitating the fight.
The handshake line is silly. It's phony. It's for show, as the NCAA tries to send the message that these games are all about student-athletes learning life lessons.
These games are about making lots of television money.
College basketball should adopt the NBA's practice — players and coaches who want to shake hands and talk after the game are free, but not required, to do so.
Basketball is a chippy sport, especially in the Big Ten. The handshake line is a fight waiting to happen.
The two most troubling aspects of the fight were Howard's punch and Gard's body language.
Gard's body language suggested he felt entitled to school an opposing coach.
Can you imagine Gard confronting Michigan State's Tom Izzo? Or Iowa's Fran McCaffrey?
Howard starred in high school and at Michigan and played in the NBA for 19 years. In his second season as a college coach, he won the 2021 Big Ten title. The timeout reset rule is not one from the NBA, but Howard also has longtime St. Joseph's head coach Phil Martelli as his top assistant.
Gard's assumption that he could or should tutor Howard is astonishingly arrogant.
Or something much worse.
