All the reasons Juwan Howard hired Phil Martelli were on display in win

Michigan coach Juwan Howard knew what he didn’t know when he first arrived at U-M. Make no mistake — he was confident he could coach his alma mater at a high level. But he also knew he could use someone who had been there before (also at high level) as his right hand man — probably not planning to fill in for him while he was on suspension, but to help navigate the daily grind of running a program.

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What we saw in Wednesday night’s win over Rutgers was everything Howard probably envisioned. Martelli, of course, still knows how to manage a game, and he did it well. But the way he kept family business in the family while respecting his boss ·(and let’s be clear — that was Howard’s team that beat Rutgers, 71-62, Wednesday), what he said and everything he did was what Howard would have expected when he hired him.

It started before he even got off the floor in giving assistants Howard Eisley and Saddi Washington the credit they deserved. It was something he’d repeat in the postgame.

“This was about representing their families. This was about representing Michigan, and this was about representing their teammates. And I give them five stars, each and every one of them, for the way they performed,” Martelli said.

“I’m not one of these ‘Aw, shucks,’ that kind of thing. But I am here to tell you Saddi Washington and Howard Eisley just coached their backsides off,” Martelli said. “I knew when I spoke to many of you yesterday, I was confident that I could manage a game. Those two guys (though) … just absolutely extraordinary. I said to the Big Ten Network and I’ll say the same to you — what you’re seeing there are two future head coaches. America needs to know that. America needs to know that.”

He then praised his boss for recruiting the type of kid needed to respond in a tough situation.

“That win was because of the character that Juwan Howard has insisted we recruit to,” the Michigan associate head coach continued. “I’m humbled to serve, and to serve with Saddi and Howard and Jay Smith and Chris Hunter. Everybody did their thing, and not just for these 40 minutes, but since whatever it is now — 72 hours, 80 hours.

“Those guys deserve game balls and letter jackets or whatever the heck you give them.”

But Martelli deserves praise, too. Sure, he led the win, but Howard would likely have done the same. Despite what happened at Wisconsin in the aftermath, he actually called a good game. His team just couldn’t hit shots despite several open looks.

On Wednesday, they made some — not a ton (31.8 percent from three), but enough. Freshman Caleb Houstan scored 21 on 5-of-9 triples and played confidently and with a purpose on both ends of the floor.

He looked like the player many expected he’d be, and he’s coming around.

But they all played with a sense of purpose in their Fab Five throwbacks (wherever he was watching, we’d bet Howard was a bit choked up in the support) and with great symmetry. That hasn’t always been the case this year, but it was certainly on display Wednesday in what was essentially a must-win game.

Still, Martelli took no credit.

“I would put it to you this way — I’m here to serve, and to be acknowledged for serving is very much appreciated,” Martelli said. “But I will share this with you, and I shared this with the players, the last statement I made to them before they went on the court: Warde Manuel did not ask me to try to coach the team. Right? Try? He said, ‘Do it.’ So I did it. 

“I don’t mean that singularly. We did it and the players did it, because no one said ‘try.’ They asked us to do it.”

They did it … for themselves, for Michigan and their tournament chances, sure, but mostly for their coach. Yes, he made a mistake, and he acknowledged it. As the best of the best have said, ‘let he who is without sin cast the first stone.’

But you find out who’s in your corner when things seem to be at their lowest. On Wednesday night, that message was sent.

“That he’s loved, and that his love for the players allowed them to perform like that,” Martelli said.

We’ll see what happens in the next four games. We’d bet you’ll see a similar effort, at the very least.