SI's Seth Davis: A Rebuilding Year for Howland and Company

by Achilles on Oct 19, 2009 3:35 PM PDT

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I can't quibble with Seth Davis' contention that this is a rebuilding year for Ben Howland. The team is minus three senior starters in Josh Shipp, Alfred Aboya and Darren Collison, plus NBA first rounder Jrue Holiday. Only Nikola Dragovic returns from the starting five.

What I liked though about his story was this quote from Ben Howland:

Howland's pleasant demeanor, however, belied the seriousness with which he approaches every season. That was apparent when I suggested that it must be refreshing for him to enter a season with such low expectations. "If you're at UCLA, there's always expectations. To think for a minute there's not would be very naive," Howland said. Then he pointed a finger at his chest, right above the Bruins logo on his shirt. "We have 'em. That's the main thing. I have them. We expect to be good every year."

Yes, this is a rebuilding year. But this is UCLA. And it's not just the fans who have high expectations. The coaches and players do, too and the head coach accepts that and owns it and makes no excuses.

In Davis' opinion, this could be a long year:

But after watching Howland conduct UCLA's first practice later that evening, I have a message for Bruin Nation: Expect very little from this team. That way, if it does have a great year, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

It would foolish to expect a lot of a team that lost four starters from a unit that fell in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Losing players before their eligibility expires is a fact of life for the top programs, but few schools have had to deal with as many unexpected defections as the Bruins. Jrue Holiday averaged just 8.5 points as a freshman last season, yet he still turned pro and was selected 17th in the NBA draft. Russell Westbrook played nine minutes a game as a freshman, but by the end of his sophomore year was the fourth pick in the draft. Even a guy like Luc Richard Mbah a Moute was not thought of as a great pro prospect, yet he left school following his junior season and is now a possible starter with the Milwaukee Bucks.

In all, Howland has lost seven underclassmen to the NBA in the last six years, including five in the last three. "It's a Catch-22," he said. "Every kid wants to be a pro. That's understandable. The fact is, when you get the best players, often times you lose them."

I have to admit, when he lays it out like that, Howland's task appears daunting. We have lost a lot of underclassmen to the pros, but as Howland states, when you get great players, sometimes you lose them early.

There will be a lot more words about the Bruins' hoop team on these pages. Davis' take is just one of many and, frankly, I haven't thought the roster through yet so I'm not going to sit here and refute or debate him. Davis is pretty good at what he does, I like him, so I'll give some credit to what he's saying.

More than anything else, his story serves as a reminder that basketball season is underway -- as he indicated, he interviewed Howland and the first formal practice of the season -- and the way the football season has been going for the past month, I for one am happy to have the diversion.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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I'm looking forward to the uncertainty.

I like going into games as the underdog. I think we relish that role.

A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment. John Wooden

by MexiBruin on Oct 19, 2009 1:34 PM PDT reply actions

Even as fans

Expectations can wear on you. I was having less fun as a fan when we were expected to go to the FF. Every game was analyzed through the lens of “what if this had been a tournament game” rather than just enjoying the moment. That’s probably why I had the most fun during our first FF run (and Gonzaga helped a lot with that too) because almost everything we did that year in the tournament was gravy. I’m kind of looking forward to enjoying the simpler things.

by Tydides on Oct 19, 2009 1:42 PM PDT up reply actions

Its why I like watching Clippers instead of Lakers games

With the Lakers, you get frustrated if they aren’t blowing someone out. With the Clippers, you are excited that it is a close game and they are playing hard. It is the same thing with college ball. I’m looking forward to not have to watch games worrying that a loss will keep us out of the top 10 or lose a number one seed.

by bruinponcho on Oct 19, 2009 1:58 PM PDT up reply actions

Yeah I can't go that far

When the triangle is being executed properly, with the talent the Lakers have, it can be an amazing thing to watch. I’ve seen far too many Clippers games where it seems like neither team wants to win, usually when some bad Eastern Conference team comes to town and it looks like both teams are trying to build a wall with all the bricks they’re putting up. Fire Dunleavy, then we’ll talk.

by Tydides on Oct 19, 2009 2:11 PM PDT up reply actions

hahaha, couldn't agree more

My main point was with regards to expectations framing the fan experience. Of course, if the Clippers are getting killed, we always have the Lakers to tune in to and see how basketball is supposed to be played. At the end of the day, I hope CBH has this team in the Lakers mode as opposed to the Clippers mode, but it will be a fun journey either way.

by bruinponcho on Oct 19, 2009 2:27 PM PDT up reply actions

I'll be the first to admit that Lakers fans are spoiled

Myself being one of them. The number of times we’ve missed the playoffs can be counted on one hand. I don’t feel the same kind of pressure when I watch the Lakers though. The biggest difference is in the regular season, where each game in the college game can affect your seeding for the tournament (or determine if you get in or not), then you have years like last year for the Lakers, winning the conference by 11 games. The individual regular season games don’t seem to have the same urgency. The college season also contains far fewer games, which adds to the novelty of it.

by Tydides on Oct 19, 2009 3:43 PM PDT up reply actions

I disagree with both Mexi and Ty

Back in the days before the printing press, UCLA came out with a full court zone press and went 30-0. The next season was my freshman year. There was an aberration in my sophomore year (18-8, no tournament) but after that things went pretty well. We went into every game as a heavy favorite for basically a decade, and we won just about every one of those games. Starting with my senior year in high school, and by then I was a hard core Bruin, we had a 12 year run when we went 335-22. That was a very fun time.

Those were my good old days. I feel very sad for those poor Bruins whose good old days involved CHP. The good news is that we have Coach Howland, and that means these days will be good old days for many Bruins as the years progress.

by Fox 71 on Oct 19, 2009 9:16 PM PDT up reply actions

No argument here

this is a very young team and we’ll experience plenty of turbulence along the road. However, I’m thoroughly excited to see who is going to step up and become the face of our program. I feel just the same as when I was eager to see the Afflalo/Farmar/Shipp/Mata class make their debuts.

by BlueReign on Oct 19, 2009 1:47 PM PDT reply actions

Step up or Blow up

This team could be really fun to watch. Russell Westbrook was an unexpected treasure his sophmore year. Luc his freshman year. ND last year. The fun could be seeing someone that did not appear to be a star last year really taking advantage of the opportunity to establish themselves nationally this year. My guess is that it would be Drew Gordon, but who knows.

Could be a really exciting year if a couple of guys really step up.

Personnally I would love to see Roll have that breakout year. He has really progressed each year. Love to see him, or really any senior, have that big year!

by Bruin Dad and Grad on Oct 19, 2009 5:29 PM PDT reply actions

I love watching young talent develop

and getting to know the players. Excited to have a squad with some young talent that will be back for a few years. I’m not real big on the one and dones.

"when you've seen how big the world is, how can you make due with this?"

by silverlakebruin on Oct 19, 2009 8:47 PM PDT reply actions

the best compliment a coach can receive...

…is seeing his players excel at the next level. Our guys (under CBH) have left early even though their stats haven’t been off the charts. That shows that scouts know our players can play ball. We will continue to attract big-time recruits if we graduate players to the NBA…the trick is to get a perfect combination of young blue chips and 3 and 4-star veterans that understand the gameplan and the way we play. I think our best shot (recently) was 2 years ago…but I think we’ll be back in the mix next year.

by hicalliber on Oct 19, 2009 9:16 PM PDT reply actions