Appreciating The Caretaker Of Westwood
by Nestor on Oct 20, 2009 3:42 PM PDT
in Basketball
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PrintLet's go with another basketball post right now. I'd like to wash away the bad taste in everyone's mouth from reading the last post on the lizard of Westwood by sharing a quick note on the Caretaker of Westwood. Plus this will drive home the point on how much we need to appreciate Coach Ben Howland, here is little something excerpted on UCLA's official blog.
Daven Harmeling, the former sharp shooter for Washington State Cougars, who played a nice role in those Tony Bennet coached squad that would always play our guys tough, wrote the following about about Ben Howland (emphasis added):
"We all know UCLA has been the breeding grounds for NBA draft picks: Farmar, Hollins, Afflalo, Collison, Mbah-a-Moute, Westbrook, Love, Holiday, etc. But I would argue that their talent is item 1B in terms of what has led them to three Final Fours in four years. Item 1A? Head coach Ben Howland. With all due respect to other great coaches in the country, Howland is the best there is. What makes him the best? His teams always come prepared and they always play with passion. But the most important thing is detail. Howland preaches minute detail that most coaches overlook. And when Howland preaches detail, his players listen and respond. Talent obviously helps, but I believe no other coach in the country could have taken those UCLA teams to three-straight Final Fours. And for that reason, I purposely am not even mentioning any current players' names in this article. Because for me, UCLA is all about Howland. And while they don't have the talent in my mind to compete for the Pac-10 title this season, they do have Howland. If I were a betting man -- which I am -- I would never bet against Howland to exceed expectations."
Harmeling wrote that as a part of Cougfan.com's look at the Pac-10 race for 2009-10 basketball season.
Just gives us more perspective on how fortunate we are to have Ben Howland after spending 7 years under the Blagojevich Of College Hoops.
GO BRUINS.
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N/m Found my own answer: Rochestie
I really have a lot of respect for the WSU program, if for no other reason than going up there to play them was like watching our team play itself, which kind of gave us a taste of our own medicine when it came to hardnosed intense play.
Ya it sucked to play them
I’m so happy Bennett is gone. Playing WSU was like pulling teeth and so frustrating. Of course if you’re a Wazzu fan, it was great, but it was no fun to play them and I guess that’s the ultimate compliment.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Oct 20, 2009 4:37 PM PDT up reply actions
Couldn't agree more
I hated to see Bennett leave for the Pac 10’s sake, but for our sake it will make the trip up to Pullman a lot less daunting.
Howland IS the best coach in the country.
It’s a shame we didn’t bring any championships from those Final Fours home, because many a blow hard will use that as ammo against him. Particularly those from South Central, Espin, Dookie Vitale, etc.
A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment. John Wooden
I'd love for a trOJan to open his mouth about basketball
Especially considering the smoking crater their program has become all thanks to TIMMEH. You wouldn’t even need to retort, just smirk and they’d know exactly what you’re thinking and it’d piss them off.
Woah. That was almost too nice. Thanks, kiddo.
I think Coach is good but not great…yet. I can’t get all homer and say he’s the best in the country. I really think he could open up the offense with all the talent he has. Hopefully we’ll see him use a more open attack this season. We have kids who can run and shoot with anybody. Go Bruins!
October 28th couldn't come soon enough.
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