Howland Needs To Find His Team (The One That Plays "Ben Ball") Again

…Until next season. The talent on this year’s team lies with an inexperienced freshman class that will look better as the season progresses but doesn’t have what it takes right now to play up to the level we’ve come to expect. Anderson and Lee are part of last year’s busted recruiting class of which we’ve analyzed to death — they are what they are and won’t deliver what you’re looking for (although Lee is getting better on the talent front and will continue to do so.) Roll and Drago are role players at best and will never be more, and are only thrust into the roles they’re playing because they’re the best Howland has at the present time. You’re right in that we’re missing a killer instinct from the Howland glory years. But we’re also missing the talent. Both of these things I expect to be rectified next year thanks to this year’s freshmen, Zeke Jones (we need a good PG who is also a leader) and next year’s frosh. This year’s team will continue to play well at times (ASU) and play what appears to be inexplicably bad at times (UofA.) But it’s not inexplicable. And in my opinion Lee can try and fool himself into thinking the team didn’t prepare. But in my opinion that’s a mask for the fact that he got worked over on Saturday and would like to think it was for reasons other than he wasn’t good enough that day.

IT takes time for a team to mesh together and for a leader to emerge. This is a young team we all need to be patient with them. They will make mistakes and we will get better as the season progresses on.

Something CRN said when I saw him speak alongside CBH last spring at an alumni program is really coming back to haunt CBH now. As we all probably know, CBH is a big football fan, and when he discussed CRN’s team during the 08-09 season, he said “You don’t have the horses.” We all knew he was right, and the 4-8 season confirmed it.

Now, unfortunately, it looks like the (horse)shoe is on the other foot. CBH is the one lacking them. We’ll just have to wait until next season to see if the stable is getting replenished sufficiently to take us where we are accustomed to going…

is the ragging on this player or that player for his perceived lack of heart, skill, leadership qualities or what have you. None of that sort of “analysis” can possibly help in any way. We are all seeing the same things and suffering as Bruin fans, so I do understand the expressions of pain and frustration, but if any set of players ever needed patience and support, it is this one. Similarly, it is bordering on the absurd to suppose that CBH is not pondering all this and doing all that he can to solve these problems. The youngsters are getting more minutes, the zone experiment is being tried, a variety of player combinations is being utilized. So give it time. A coaching staff can only do so much to improve the various aspects of the game, individually and collectively, and believe me, it always takes longer to bring about these improvements than you think it will. U of A displayed so much more aggressiveness and quickness, especially in attacking the basket and in rebounding, that, given a poor shooting performance, we had only a slight chance of winning that game. But we will have another game, another chance. Of course, it is vital that we keep our heads up and compete every second of every game, and the fans have to be supportive, not dismissive and scornful. There is plenty of room for improvement for all the young players, especially TH, who seemed at home with the pace of U of A’s game. But they can all do more, even those Seniors, mere role players though they may be. Next weekend will be rough, no doubt; but inconsistency means that we can be both surprisingly bad and surprisingly good. So suck it up, Bruin fans; whatever may come, Go Bruins!

I can’t figure out why these players aren’t willing to put the effort to buy in to Howlands very Physical Defense. Watching them on the court discourages me! I can’t imagine how it’s helping other players get into that hungry mindset. Maybe it because they feel like they have nothing to prove. But given what ihavebeen seeing, these guys better show up on game days. This cool relaxed vibe is apparent in our losses and the few times they got Their bare knuckles into the style that Howland implemented on his other classes are the wins we have been able to pull off. These guys seem like quitters and to they really need tough love. I have not seen anythig spectacular from any player. What I did take pride in was seeing Nelson fighting tough enough to get that enormous black eye that showed me flashes of Aboyas and Mbahyamoute’s intensity. These players for the most part are resembling (and I hate even thinking this) Dorrelian! I am right here with u Nestor I want our warriors back. But more importantly I want UCLA to be a WARRIOR factory. Every second counts! Fight to the end! Am I just crazy? Or is watching this crop of hoplessness on the court driving me insane?!

Not going to touch ND in the leadership argument. To my mind, MR gets a pass. He is as close to anyone to maximizing his ability. He has upped his game from previous years and become a better passer and has shown some ability to drive to the basket. But he will never be a great defender and he can’t play faster than his talent allows.

But ML? Give the kid a chance. He is trying to lead but he is also trying to find his game. If you want to unfairly compare to Aaron Affallo then do so more than in passing. First, Aaron in class and maturity cannot be beat . . . by anyone. He was one of the classiest players in the history of the game. But let’s talk about stats.

Aaron averaged 31 minutes a game and started every game as a freshman. He shot 44% from the field. ML started 0 games, only averaged 10 minutes a game but shot 50% from the field. AA had the advantage of playing a lot his freshman year and not having to be relied on the offensive end.

In his sophomore year, AA again played next to a future pro point guard who was the unquestioned offensive leader in Jordan Farmar. That year, Farmar had another future pro in DC as a backup point guard and thus AA was never asked to play point. AA averaged 15.8 points, 4.2 Rebounds, 1.8 assists, .6 steals while shooting 46%. He had a career high of 27 points that year.

Compare this to ML so far. ML is the backup point and, like AA, the teams go to defender. Don’t dismiss the first part as for example against AZ he played 15 minutes at point because JA was so bad on defense. He did this while doing a great job defending the other team’s best player and limiting Wise to scoring 4 points while he was in the game. But to the stats. So far he is averaging 14.6 points, 4.7 Rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.4 Steals. His career high is 29 points on the road at Notre Dame.

The stats compare and ML is having to do more than AA with a lesser supporting cast and arguably no point guard.

Now the intangibles. I am NOT going to compare AA to ML here, AA is rightfully a legend and ANY comparison would be unfair as I am trying to say ML is just starting. ML doesn’t even know how to talk in an interview given the quotes I’ve seen versus AA who was born a 15 year veteran. But let’s again take the AZ game, checkout a game tracker which will show he had shut out Wise and with the score 66-51 and 6:16 left he took over the game and played as hard as he could. He started with a defensive rebound followed by a layup. He then got another defensive rebound and got fouled making one of two. He set TH up for a layup which TH blew then made a three pointer on our next possession. He then made back to back layups on our next two possessions taking us down to the 2:38 mark. When we were making our last desperate drive for the game ML’s line was 4-4 (1-1 from three), two rebounds, one should have been assist, and 1-2 FTs.
 
Why did he not do it the whole game and what about how bad he shot for the rest of the game? Well besides the obvious that he is not MJ, he was doing a great job as a defender and he is trying to learn to play under control and with maturity. The last is hard for ML. All his fouls were dumb frustration fouls. He can get out of control as shown by his TOs and his play. But the kid has passion and is trying. Unfortunately for him and unlike all the other CBH players of the past, he is having to learn while being the go to defender and play two positions, one a new and arguably the most difficult position of point guard.

Thus, ML may become a very good player and yes even a leader but give the kid a chance.