Cleveland Cavaliers: 2019-20 NBA season preview
By Phil Watson
Storyline 3: Can the NBA’s oldest rookie make the transition?
John Beilein won everywhere he went as a collegiate coach, going 75-43 in four years at Erie Community College, 20-6 in one season at Division III Nazareth College, 163-94 in nine years at Le Moyne, 89-62 in five seasons at Canisius, 100-53 in five years at Richmond, 104-60 in five seasons at West Virginia and 278-150 over 12 campaigns at Michigan, including two Final Four appearances.
That’s a 754-425 record in 37 seasons at the NCAA level. But entering his first season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the first time he’s on the bench for an NBA regular-season game will be opening night.
The NBA hasn’t always been kind to college coaches making the leap and it’s been the hardest on the most experienced ones to make the attempt.
Jerry Tarkanian went to the San Antonio Spurs in 1992 after 31 years as a college coach and lasted 20 games before being fired.
On the other hand, there’s Billy Donovan, who spent 21 years as a collegiate coach before going to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2015, where he has gone 199-129 in four seasons, making the playoffs each year (albeit without a series win since 2016).
But Mike Montgomery is another veteran college coach who tried to make the jump and crash-landed, going 68-96 in two seasons with the Golden State Warriors from 2004-06 following 26 years in the college ranks.
What Beilein does have working for him is a player-friendly system that always seemed to get results that exceeded the sum of the parts. His Michigan teams, in particular, seemed to generate a fair amount of NBA talent, but just two lottery picks in 12 seasons — Trey Burke in 2013 and Nik Stauskas in 2014.
Among the current Wolverines in the NBA, Tim Hardaway Jr. is the most accomplished, but Caris LeVert is rising rapidly.
Beilein will need a ton of patience this season as he deals with a disjointed roster that is a mish-mash of raw youngsters and established veterans.
But the jury will be out on Beilein as he makes the transition from college to pro in a game that hasn’t always been the kindest to old dogs attempting to learn new tricks.