While Dorrell is moving the goal posts on expectaions, Howland is having fun, winning hearts and minds all across the South Land. From Palisadian-Post, a local rag from the coast:
By the end of the week it was hard to tell who was having more fun--UCLA men's basketball coach Ben Howland or the 124 kids invited to his first youth basketball camp at Palisades High.Here is the coach in action:
"It was great," Howland said. "The kids had a lot of fun and I think they learned a lot. That's the most important thing."
Fresh off of leading the Bruins to the national championship game, Howland and his staff instructed boys and girls ages 6-12 on the fundamentals of basketball, using a number of fun drills, demonstrations and scrimmages to teach basic skills like shooting, passing and dribbling. Howland even invited several of his players to demonstrate intricacies of the sport like screening and spacing, ball denial and defensive stance.
Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
I found this bit of scoop from the article pretty interesting:
One of the most exciting moments of the camp came on Thursday morning when Bruins' sophomore guard Darren Collison put on a shooting clinic in the PaliHi gym while Howland implored campers to make a lot of noise and "call out the numbers" after each made basket. "A good shooter should be able to make seven out of 10," Howland said. "And it shouldn't matter how loud it is or how many people are watching because you go through the same routine every time."If DC can get his outside js to fall in consistently - wow.
Collison captivated his young audience with an impressive shooting display, making nine 17-foot jumpers in a row before rimming out his last attempt, after which he received thunderous applause.
What a different vibe from the boring and lifeless football program.
Go Bruins!!!