密歇根新闻广播 克利夫兰骑士队迎来新教练

 

When U of M men's basketball coach John Beilein announced he was leaving Ann Arbor¹ for the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, I was as shocked as anyone. But once the dust settled, Michigan athletic² director Warde Manuel had to make the most important decision of his four-year tenure³.

In 2014, after interim⁴ athletic director Jim Hackett fired football coach Brady Hoke, Michigan fan's first, second, and third choice to replace him was Jim Harbaugh, a unicorn⁵ who checked every box: a former Michigan quarterback, Big Ten MVP, and NFL star who went on to great success coaching college and the pros⁷. The question was whether Hackett could pull him in. When he did so, against considerable odds⁸, the fan base went crazy.

Warde Manuel faced completely different circumstances. Unlike the football program, which had bottomed out, the basketball program has never been healthier. That's thanks to Beilein, whose peers named him the cleanest coach in the country, and Bill Martin, the athletic director who hired him and upgraded his facilities. Further, basketball had no unicorn candidate out there, just a bunch of guys who checked some boxes, but not all.

Manuel looked at candidates at the top of the college and pro⁶ ranks. But getting them would require a fortune in salary, plus expensive buy-outs, and they still might not fit Michigan's culture, if they decided⁹ to come at all.

On the other hand, Manuel considered candidates who got the culture, but didn't have the experience. Lavall Jordan, Beilein's former assistant, had just completed his second season at Butler, but finished last in his league. You also had Beilein's great assistant coaches, Saddi Washington and Luke Yaklich, but they have never been head coaches.

Then there was Juwan Howard, a member of the Fab Five, which captured the nation's imagination when all five started as freshmen¹⁰ on their way to the NCAA finals. A great defensive¹¹ player, Howard played 20 years in the NBA, before putting in six years as an assistant coach with the NBA's Miami Heat.

This impressed me, because Howard already had piles of money. He didn't need the time-consuming, pressure-packed, and largely thankless job of carrying a clipboard on the bench for 82 games a year. But he paid his dues, and is now considered a top defensive coach.

Some fans fear Howard won't maintain Beilein's high ethical¹² standards. After all, Michigan's program lost years to an NCAA investigation¹³ and probation¹⁴ because some Michigan players were breaking the rules, including Howard's teammate Chris Webber, who admitted under oath to accepting illegal payments. Would Howard make the same mistakes?

We can't know until he starts coaching, of course, but it helps that he has retained strength coach Jon Sanderson, who knows how Beilein's program succeeded without cheating.

Former FBI special agent Greg Stejskal, who led the investigation into Ed Martin, the basketball booster who gave Webber the money, told me the FBI turned up no evidence that Howard took any money.

Stejskal also spoke¹⁵ to the Michigan basketball team before every season. Although his warnings were not very well received by Howard's teammates, Howard was the only starter who always thanked Stejskal when he was finished. Howard has always been considered a class act.

Any way you sliced it, Manuel was going to have to take a chance. Given his options, it looks like Howard could well be the safest bet on the table.

Only time will tell if Howard can compete while keeping it clean. But that was true of John Beilein 12 years ago and that worked out pretty well.

John U. Bacon is the author of six national bestsellers. His next book, Overtime¹⁶: Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines at the Crossroads of College Football, comes out September 3.

1 arbor   

n.凉亭；树木

参考例句：

• They sat in the arbor and chatted over tea.他们坐在凉亭里，边喝茶边聊天。
• You may have heard of Arbor Day at school.你可能在学校里听过植树节。

2 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

3 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

4 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

5 unicorn   

n.(传说中的)独角兽

参考例句：

• The unicorn is an imaginary beast.独角兽是幻想出来的动物。
• I believe unicorn was once living in the world.我相信独角兽曾经生活在这个世界。

6 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

7 pros   

abbr.prosecuting 起诉；prosecutor 起诉人；professionals 自由职业者；proscenium （舞台）前部n.赞成的意见( pro的名词复数 )；赞成的理由；抵偿物；交换物

参考例句：

• The pros and cons cancel out. 正反两种意见抵消。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We should hear all the pros and cons of the matter before we make a decision. 我们在对这事做出决定之前，应该先听取正反两方面的意见。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 freshmen   

n.（中学或大学的）一年级学生( freshman的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We are freshmen and they are sophomores. 我们是一年级学生，他们是二年级学生。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• University freshmen get lots of razzing, but they like the initiation. 大一新生受各种嘲弄，但是他们对这种入门经验甘之如饴。 来自辞典例句

11 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

12 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

13 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

14 probation   

n.缓刑(期)，(以观后效的)察看；试用(期)

参考例句：

• The judge did not jail the young man,but put him on probation for a year.法官没有把那个年轻人关进监狱，而且将他缓刑察看一年。
• His salary was raised by 800 yuan after his probation.试用期满以后，他的工资增加了800元。

15 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

16 overtime   

adj.超时的，加班的；adv.加班地

参考例句：

• They are working overtime to finish the work.为了完成任务他们正在加班加点地工作。
• He was paid for the overtime he worked.他领到了加班费。