Dan Guerrero's Unambiguous Vote Of Confidence For Ben Howland

Despite having a 35 percent approval rating in Bruins Nation (and I think this community is lot more pro-Howland than other online UCLA websites; I mean we don't have crazies posting "coaching candidates" lists popping up on other sites), I don't believe Coach Howland's job is in jeopardy.

When I wrote he is on the hot seat, I meant that he is expected to produce some immediate results showing marked improvement with tangible signs of UCLA program is back on track next season. What those signs are and what those expectations need to be ... we can go over those details in the off-season. That said I never thought Howland's job is in jeopardy. I think we will know about his long term future at UCLA based on the results from next two seasons.

Yet I guess Bill Plaschke felt compelled to get an unambiguous vote of confidence from Dan Guerrero. From today's Splashme column:

"Ben Howland is a terrific coach," said Guerrero. "There are few coaches in country in the last five years who have performed at level that Ben has. He didn't just forget how to coach."

The support was just getting started.

"Ben is a fantastic coach, he's great to work with, we ran into a bad stretch this year," Guerrero said. "But the charge is to fix it, and the cavalry is on its way. We have some good kids coming in to help next year. We'll get this thing back on the right track."

Don't really disagree with that. However, we will see about the kind of cavalry coming in next season because right now it's not a sure bet that UCLA will be getting Ziegler, McCallum and Jones. If those guys don't come here it might tell us something about the recruiting pull of current staff around Howland.I also found this comment from DG very interesting:

What Guerrero will angrily contest, though, is the notion that Howland's deliberate style of play and demanding focus on defense and rebounding are scaring recruits away.

"That's garbage, I hear that all the time, I hear it from people who don't know the difference between a lamppost and a high post," Guerrero said. "The proof is in the pudding. Three Final Fours. Guys making great livings in the NBA."

While I can't agree more with that I wonder what exactly Dan thinks about the emphasis this year of featuring a team headline by Dragovic that until last night didn't show much of an effort to win this season with "defense and rebounding." Splashme than predictabablly got spun by DG:

"If you evaluate the culture of today's basketball landscape, it makes it difficult to sustain the level of performance that any school would want," said Guerrero, who was named athletic director in 2002. "It boils down to the early departures of our undergraduates."

Howland has turned six underclassman into NBA first-round picks in the last four years. Great for the kids, bad for the program.

"Losing that many players catches up to you, and this year it caught up to us," said Guerrero. "There are going to be cycles where marquee teams don't have the year everyone expects. It's inevitable. It happens to everyone."

Look at defending champion North Carolina, 12-7 and headed out of the top 25 for the first time in several years after losing the heart of its team to the NBA.

We have heard those early departures excuse many times before. We have also pointed out how it was up to Howland's staff to have a contingency plan in place for Holiday's departure at an early stage and also he is responsible for what appears to be some serious misevaluation of talent. The pointing to UNC is classic Splashme stupidity because it glosses over the obvious points that Williams has won 2 banners in last 6 years and that team still has a freaking winning record this season.

Anyway, if people are looking for this blog to turn into some kind of fire coach blog in the short term future or even through next season, they will be disappointed. As written before, Howland has a proven track record and has accomplished some wonderful things while he has been in Westwood. I am grateful to him for that. However, that doesn’t mean we have to stay quiet if sense something is wrong and his explanations doesn’t sound convincing. It’s different than calling for his head or asking him to be removed.

If people have problem with frank observations on what we are hearing and reading from him, they can do something simple, just not read our posts. We are not going to care much about whining about what we write. If people want to offer a constructive pov of what they see in Howland’s remarks, they can write it up. However, they will have to get ready for tough words on this site if this season ends with a losing record and we don't see tangible signs of improvement next year not resulting in signs that a second rebuilding project of a cratering program (which shouldn't have happened) is on track.

We are not going to treat Howland as if he is some kind of father figure of UCLA basketball who is beyond reapproach. If he is not making sense, if he is dolling out same lines of taking responsibility, we are going to call it like it is: that the shtick is getting old.

I think the record on the court and in the recruiting circles will speak for themselves in terms of his long term viability in Westwood. Howland is a smart coach. It doesn't mean that we can stay quiet if we see issues and trends that indicate something is not working in Howlandwood. Hope he will find a way to adjust and adapt in next two seasons. I am going to root for him because I still believe he gives us the best shot in getting back to where we belong.

GO BRUINS.