Howland’s Game Mismanagement Burns UCLA On Senior Day (In Front Of Coach)
by Nestor on Feb 27, 2010 4:37 PM PST
in Basketball
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PrintCoach John Wooden attended Pauley Pavilion today in honor of Senior Day and celebrating the 40th anniversary of his 1970 national championship team. I don't know how many more of these games Coach will be able to attend in Westwood and I was hoping that Ben Howland and his basketball team (13-15, 8-8 Pac-10) would be aware of that fact when they took John and Nell Wooden Court. Well looks like they didn't as they went on to put together another ugly and disgraceful first half and ended up losing the game because of yet another brutally mismanaged game by Ben Howland.
Oregon Ducks (14-14, 6-10 Pac-10) eked out a win on Senior Day by a score of 70-68. Here is the box score. It was a game the Bruins should have won but basically choked it away down the stretch due to several questionable (and I am being charitable) coaching moves by Howland. Let's see going into this game we talked about how we couldn't afford to make the same mistakes we made last game, when we hurried things up and took 33 3 point shots. Well what did we do to come out of the gate? We came out taking 7 3 point shots in our first 8 attempts. Either Howland did a horrific job of preparing this team or the team basically tuned him out. Either option is not pleasant. We ended up taking 26 3 point shots, making only 8. Ducks went up by 12 in the first half against a totally lifeless Bruin team (embarrassing the four letters right in front of Coach), and ended with a 41-31 lead.
Bruins made a run with the effort of Tyler Honeycutt, Michael Roll, Brendan Lane, and Malcolm Lee in the second half but it wasn't enough as Howland's unreal decisions to stick with Nikola Dragovic and Jerime Anderson in crunch time cost us the game. (more on that after the flip). While Nikola Dragovic and Jerime Anderson were the obvious culprits on the floor, it was Howland mismanagement that cost us a win on Senior Day, in front of Coach Wooden. This is not the first time Howland's coaching has cost us a game this season. Lane's performance and Bobo/Moser's absence from the game (2 mins for Bobo, 0 for Moser) while 34 minutes for the worst "power" forward in post Wooden era history of UCLA basketball should raise more damaging questions about how Howland has mismanaged the entire season.
Ben Howland is not going anywhere in the near future and we don't want him to. However, the duration of time he gets to fix the mess he has created is finite. His mea culpa and meaningless post game apologies are not going to mean much rest of this season. He needs to take definitive steps to solve the deep problems that have brought down this program. It starts with putting together a staff, which will be able to point out to him the obvious needed adjustments apparent to rest of the world, and also put together a strategic approach to recruiting by bringing in the right kind of talent in Westwood (who will commit to defense and team basketball). Some quick details after the jump.
Let's start with the elephant in the room as in Howland's Matt Barkley. Nikola Ragovic apparently tweaked his ankle during layup drills (!) and came out put together perhaps his ugliest first half (quiet an accomplishment for him) of his UCLA careering with 0 points and 0 rebounds. Yet Howland rewarded him with 18 minutes, basically sending a clear signal to Bobo Morgan that perhaps he should be considering transferring somewhere else.
Dragovic's first half performance was ugly enough that Howland finally discovered the Earth was round and perhaps he ought to start Brendan Lane, who was having a productive first half (despite getting yanked right after his first turnover). Lane put together another great game on a sore ankle, scoring 8 rebounds and 5 rebounds in 23 minutes.
With Lane in Bruins made their run in the second half and closed it within 8 at 41-33. That is when Tyler Honeycutt picked up his 4th foul and Howland inserted you know who. Immediately the Ducks went on a run to push the lead up to 49-35. Again, Howland didn't even bother considering trying out either Bobo or Moser for Tyler. He was also letting Jerime Anderson getting shredded time after time by Tajuan Porter, forgetting that he had some kid name Mustafa Abdul-Hamid on the bench, who has done at least an average job (all we are looking for our points guards these days is an ‘average' effort) this season.
Yet despite Howland's less than mediocre coaching effort the Bruins made another run closing the game within 3 - 62-65 - with 3.34 left in the game. At that point we all thought if Howland really wanted to win the game he would put in Brendan Lane, who was perhaps having the best game of his freshmen career, and also put in Abdul-Hamid, who hasn't proven to be a disaster in closing minutes ala Jerime Anderson. Yet for inexplicable reasons Howland stuck with Ragovic and Anderson, and the Bruins went on to choke away another game by imploding down the stretch. Couple of ugly turnovers by Anderson essentially sealed the game for Ducks.
As mentioned up top Brendan Lane was one of the silver linings of today's dispiriting effort at Pauley. The man of the game for Bruins was none other than Tyler Honeycutt, who put together another great game with 4 points, 13 assists and 9 rebounds. Michael Roll had a great senior day with 25 points, while Malcolm Lee chipped in with a tenacious 18 points. It's too bad all of their effort was wasted by their head coach. I will let you take it from here.
GO BRUINS.
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Of course Ben shouldn't be fired
Let’s just make him Nikki’s top assistant :)
Dragovic
He is the anchor that has dragged this team to the bottom of the sea this season. Without him on the floor for so many minutes, we would have had a much better season.
Dragovic is the worst player to get minutes in the 30 years I have been watching the Bruins, pathetic.
by DocBruin on Feb 27, 2010 4:42 PM PST reply actions
On the bright side...
…this is the last time we’ll see the Belgrade Bricklayer in Pauley. Moreover, BL (when he’s been allowed on the floor) has shown some flashes of potential.
If Howland will grow a pair and run out these kids and let them play, I actually like our chances of recovering fast with Lee, Honeycutt, Lane, Nelson, Moser, Smith, Jones, Lamb and Smith (assuming he can drop the weight). I think next year we’ll get our wish and see more of Moser, but knowing Howland, he’ll hamstring Lamb and let him languish on the bench.
If we use the talent we have and not commit ourselves to Serbian “shooters” who flat-out suck, we have a good shot at making a run at the conference title next year (when the conference should still suck).
I think Howland
will also hold back Lane next year in favor of Reeves Nelson and keep letting Nelson play even if he doesn’t improve on defense. I wonder if Howland even cares about defense at this point.
UCLA Point Guard.
In all The World there has to be a Better point guard than Jerime Anderson. Please Coach Howland stop playing that Guy you are killing me. Yea Howland’s style is turning off alot of potential recruits. Just get rid of Anderson he is Horrible. he is the reason we lost today and alot of games.
by Carlos I. Carbajal on Feb 27, 2010 4:45 PM PST reply actions
Howland
I agree, Anderson & Dragovic should have had their PT given up to a combination of Bobo, Lane, Moser and Abdul Hamid. Had he stuck with that rotation all year, we would not be the disastrous mess we are right now.
by DocBruin on Feb 27, 2010 4:45 PM PST reply actions
Nestor is correct
you cannot blame the players, it is the coach that allows them on the floor or keeps them off of it. This season SQUARELY lies on Howland’s and his assistants for not recognizing what we see every game.
by DocBruin on Feb 27, 2010 4:47 PM PST reply actions
I don't agree...
While some of the blame is his, of course, CBH didn’t throw the ball out of bounds instead of into MR’s hands, or try to throw a bounce pass at someone’s feet in the closing minutes of the game. Nor did CBH launch another ill-advised brick from 3 point land. Those errors are on the players. And the biggest elephant in the room? Free throws. If you add up all of the free throws the Bruins missed this year (they “lead” the Pac-10at 61 percent – -that is the worst I have ever heard of!), and all of the 1 and 1 opportunities blown, this team would have been much more competitive this year. And that, my friend, is on the players.
The Coach Decides Which Players Are on the Floor and When
And, he’s made terrible decisions, all year long.
I am sympathetic to the lack of talent. But, some coaches have won awards for getting the most out of what they had.
CBH won’t get any awards for that this year. Pulling out players when they are hot makes no sense. Leaving Bobo, who can take up space and block shots on the bench makes no sense. You want to justify it because ND can out-rebound him? Look again, on a rebound per minute, Bobo is not that far behind.
I have disagreed with Nestor a lot this year. But, he is absolutely right in his complaint that BL deserved more minutes. And, he deserved more in this game.
CBH had to take risks this year. There were no easy personnel choices. He had, at most, 3 strong players — MR, RN and TH. He did not have TH all season. And, RN needs to improve on D. But after them, there was some fall off.
We have seen glances of potential from ML — what he can do if not playing the point. MAH was invited to the party far too late. He and Roll could have allowed ML to play off the ball a bit more and help develop the drive/inside game.
The substitutions seemed to lack a sense of context. Does he not track the game flow? Does he not understand that when he puts ND on the floor and the other team goes right at him and spurts — that says something?
As to terrible passes and jacked up inappropriate shots — both were done by players who should not have been on the floor at that time. If we needed a 3, do you want a 1-6 ND to take it or a 6 -12 MR? Why, all year, did ND think he had the green light to just throw up shots ? That is coaching.
And, JA’s turnovers at the end of the game? Was anyone surprised by that? Who is the best passer on the team? Not JA. In fact, TH, MR, and Bobo are all better.
I am a very strong supporter of CBH — I’ve written a few FanPosts supporting him this season.
But, one thing we should expect of any teacher is that the students improve. Who improved this year? (I don’t think we can say TH improved. I think he played himself into shape.)
This is not on the players — they were put in positions where one could easily predict they would fail. The man who put them there is responsible.
sjh
Fantastic post
And this comment stood out to me:
The substitutions seemed to lack a sense of context. Does he not track the game flow? Does he not understand that when he puts ND on the floor and the other team goes right at him and spurts — that says something?
I wonder WTH does his “staff” do during the game? It’s on his staff to track every single detail from the bench and they are getting paid to be more attentive than what our eyes can see or read during the game thread.
Are they missing the obvious? Any of them telling the head coach that adjustments are needed?
They are all too busy playing mini-head coach
If you ever watch them during the game, its pretty funny how dumb the look. CBH is up yellng and jumping around, Daniels is up pointing at things, and the other two knuckleheads are just up and yelling. For anyone wondering if the players tune out the coaching, just imagine what you would do if there were 4 different people all yelling stuff to you while you are trying to communicate with your teammates. Very poor communication by the staff.
I'd give Daniels somewhat of a pass
because he has developed bigs during his time at UCLA.
I am at a loss in terms of what the two Scots – Garson and Duncan – bring to the table.
Not to mention the time he spends with recruiting
I think daniels is the one we can keep
Formerly ucla13_usc9
by Josh Schlichter on Feb 27, 2010 5:58 PM PST up reply actions
I dont agree either..
..What’s a coach supposed to do when these players cannot shoot the basketball. It’s horrible and Oregon was smart to zone this team all day. We got one player that can score from the perimeter and he’s graduating. The entire first half were nothing but bombs thrown up and only clanking the rim. It’s embarrassing to see a team with no shooters. Howlands mistake for this year is recruiting, not coaching. As for Moser, if he can’t get minutes on this years team, then he must be bad. Howland has been successful everywhere he’s been. I’m not giving up on him yet.
by LouisianaBruins on Feb 28, 2010 5:41 AM PST up reply actions
You put the players with the best chance of succeeding in a position to succeed
and CBH did not.
If you have a player who has not been hitting from outside for several games — you do not allow him to jack up shots from the outside and especially at the end of the game on a crucial possession.
If you are not scoring from the outside, but your slash and inside game show some sparkle, you go inside. You do not allow one player to destroy possession by jacking up and missing 3’s early in the shot clock.
If you need a score, you don’t put in a player who has shot 3-8, 1-6 from 3, in that game and leave one who was 4-4 on the bench. Betting on season averages? ND is shooting .386, BL .575.
If you need a D stop, you do not put a matador in to play D.
If you have but one or two possessions to pull the game out, you do not put the ball in the hands of a turnover prone point guard.
No, a coach cannot make the passes and shots BUT he can make sure he has a scheme to win that puts the talent he has in the best place to win. And, CBH did not do that, yesterday.
sjh
Absolutely true...
…that it is a combination of errors. Poor play plus poor game coaching. And some of the poor play can be poor coaching too (not preparing the team, getting them up for it, etc.). But at some point, you have to stop criticizing CBH and lay some blame on the people on the floor. I played HS basketball and I always gave my all (learned quite a bit in Coach Wooden’s summer camps). When you get the chance to get on the floor, it’s 100 percent or nothing. Perhaps some of their lackluster play was due to knowing that they probably wouldn’t get yanked…and partly b/c they seemed to have given up on this season for the most part, at least at times. I know when I played in big games that it was all on me to do my best, and I never thought for a second that the coach had anything to do, really, with the outcome- – no as much as the players. We had a guy like Russel Westbrook — not as talented but just as enthusiastic and into each game. Guys like that draw the rest of the team into that way of thinking. There really isn’t anyone like that on this team, yet. TH could be that guy, along with RN. But they need more DC’s and RW’s out there. It’s scary to compare the talent we had in the three final four years recently with this talent (and had the Pac-10 overall not been this down, wed’ definitely be in 10th place, by a lot).
"When you get the chance to get on the floor, it’s 100 percent or nothing."
You’ve hit it on the head.
With CBH this year, their were no sanctions against players, one in particular, who did not give 100%.
Said another way, there was no discipline imposed by CBH so the standard became “you can give less than 100% and nothing will happen”.
And, once that became the standard, the season was on its way down the toilet.
sjh
Let me get this straight
What more does Howland need to not play this awful incarnation of a basketball player? 0 points. 0 rebounds. Bum shoulder. Bum ankle. WHAT THE FUCK?! Does Rago have mind control powers or something? 34 minutes??!!!
Stupid stupid stupid. No other way to put it.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
Sigh
Dragovic had a terrible first half, and his second half was definitely bad (aside from a nicely timed three pointer). But our run did come with him in the game – when we FINALLY went with three forwards instead of three guards – when we had Lee, Roll, Dragovic, Lane and Honeycutt all in.
Anderson was the main culprit. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a worse game from anyone in a UCLA uniform before. 0 points for most of the game, ended with 3 (2+FT) and single-handedly choked the game away when we were tied by throwing the ball out of bounds. Got beat several times on D where the Oregon player just ran around him and he did nothing. Terrible, terrible.
Of course, as said, the real blame goes to Howland for keeping him in. WHY? That was what I kept screaming. WHY?! Put Abdul-Hamid in, he can’t defend but at least he can shoot. Put Lane back in, he was making some plays. Put Morgan in, he has size.
Oregon runs came in the game
when he entered the game. Also, Ragovic being one of the anointed “leaders” by Howland himself set the tone for the pathetic first half.
I agree re. Anderson. He was horrid down the stretch but he is a sophomore unlike Rago whose mistakes as a senior and then still getting mins for it is simply inexcusable.
I would amend your second sentence
Rogovic being one of the anointed “leaders” by Howland himself set the tone for this pathetic season.
by silverlakebruin on Feb 27, 2010 5:35 PM PST up reply actions
This is an honest question
When did Howland “anoint” Dragovic as a leader?
I didn’t remember reading any quotes that said such, so I searched the archives for “Dragovic” and used the find tool with the word “lead” on every article from this season, and a few from the very end of last season. The only quote I saw from Howland himself connecting Drago to leadership is here:
“We took a number of ill-advised shots,” Howland said. “As soon as it got tight [in the second half], Mike Roll took a bad shot. Nikola Dragovic took a bad shot. Those are the guys who are expected to be our leadership. They have to calm us down and make sure we get a good one.”
To me, that reads as ‘these guys are our seniors, so they should be leading’ rather than ‘this team needs a leader, and I’m choosing Dragovic.’
Unless I’m very much mistaken, in the one place where he really can choose a leader – his captain(s) – Howland has not chosen Dragovic. During warm-ups, the referees usually take a couple players from each team and talk to them; I assume these players are the team captains. This year, my memory tells me it has only ever been Roll and Keefe there, not Drago. That also leads me to believe that Howland doesn’t love Drago as much as has been suggested – otherwise he would choose him as a captain along with his other seniors.
So what I’m looking for is something specific (ie, a quote) where Howland says that Drago is a key team leader. I don’t really buy the playing time argument, because that would mean Lee, Nelson, Honeycutt and the seniors are all the leader of this team.
(Note, this isn’t meant to defend Drago; he most definitely isn’t a leader. I just don’t think Howland thinks he is one either.)
Sorry if you don't see it that way
That quote clearly shows Howland expects him to be leader. If you look at our official site Dragovic is given the same billing in our basketball site along with Roll and Keefe. He is one the “leaders” and “faces” of Howland’s basketball program and given what a control freak Howland is, it is not by accident. So it’s a little ridiculous to say he hasn’t been anointed by Howland. His minutes on the court all speak for themselves.
this nightmare of a season is almost over
I just want to see some new blood…let’s see what the new generation of Ben Ball Warriors can do. Anderson better work his ass off this off-season.
CBH made no sense today
cBH had one of his most pathetic coaching displays I have ever seen today. After getting killed on the boards by OSU, you would think he would try and do something to fix that. Instead, he decides to play small ball with predictably terrible results.
I understand the frustration of ND playing instead of BL, but the real issue was JA playing over BL. With JA out there, it moves MR to small forward, a position he is too small and unathletic to play. BL should have been out there with ND and TH so that we could actually rebound missed shots. Amazingly, we went on our run in the last ten minutes with this lineup in. But to no surprise, cBH again decides to go back to JA who literally throws the game away.
I would understand playing small ball if we the third guard could handle the ball / play lock down defense /. be a good shooter, but JA is none of these. In fact , he is the exact antithesis of these qualities. How cBH could leave him in there instead of playing an actual basketball lineup (you know, one with two guards and three forwards), is beyond me. Absolutely pathetic.
Playing Anderson was inexcusable
But the tone was set letting Rago get 18 mins despite getting 0 points and 0 boards. I also think we have good reasons to question exactly what Howland saw in practices making him go with Rago over Lane and Bobo all season.
Agreed
I don’t blame ND’s lack of rebounding in the first half on ND though, I blame it on CBH. Unless you are a physical freak like TH, it is impossible to rebound when you are going 3 on 2 against longer and more athletic players. To a person, this team is terrible at boxing out, so the only way they are going to get rebounds is by throwing as many tall players at the hoop as possible. I love MR, but he simply does not contribute anything to the defensive glass.
I have always said BL will be a great player by his junior year. He has a lot to work on, but the talent is obviously there. JMM just is so slow and clueless I don’t think it is ever going to happen with him.
3 basic problems with this team this year
First, we never had an average point guard. Anderson and Lee never got it done. I am not giving up on Anderson, but Abdul-Hamid ended up having a better season which is stunning. Because of Anderson we were a mediocre team.
Second, Dragovic made us worse than mediocre. He never deserved 33+ mins a game. It was a travesty that he was not reduced to 14-17 mins a game and rest of it used to develop our talent. I have never seen a player demoralize an entire team and a fanbase like him. On the court while Howland counted on him for being leader, he did everything against the tenets of Ben Ball and still kept getting mins.
Lastly, the first two reasons are on Howland. While we did an okay job somewhat picking ourselves up after the debacle 2-6 start, Howland’s confusing game management/roster development (cost us a better season).
I think we might have talent to pull it back together next season, but the problem is Howland has shattered all the trust he built up on previous 6 seasons in Westwood. I hope he can built that back up in next 2 seasons but I don’t feel very upbeat about it right now.
Yup
My only quibble with that is that I would argue that JA is much much more demoralizing to his team and to the crowd then ND. Even when ND is at his worst, he at least doesn’t smile. On the other hand, when JA gets torched on defense despite giving a five foot cushion or throws a terrible pass, his reaction is a stupid f****ing smile and a repeat performance the next possession. ND’s shot selection annoys a lot of people, but it doesn’t inspire the same hatred in person that JA does.
You are in the minority in this
Anderon’s performance has been inexcusable this season. But he wasn’t counted on being a head “leader” by the head coach. He also has two more years left and I am going to wait another year till I make my final judgment on him.
With Dragovic it wasn’t just his shot selection, it was his total disregard of all facts of basketball game. Moreover, unlike Drago, Anderson didn’t manage to get himself on police blotter multiple times as a Bruin student athlete.
Please don’t insult any other student athlete from UCLA again by comparing him to Rago.
I'm not quite so sure
I really don’t want to fight over this because they both are beyond frustrating. But I’m pretty sure that if you were to take a straw poll of Pauley on who is the most demoralizing player on this roster, JA would win by a large margin. Maybe its the fact that people have accustomed to “Drago being Drago” and will be gone in a few weeks that makes him more bearable, but I think you might be one of the few people looking forward to having JA around next year.
It does not ease my pain to think that the future of UCLA basketball is dependent on a “point” guard who seems to get worse each game, has terrible hands (not sure if he physically has small hands or just not soft hands, but I think that is the source of many of his troubles, particularly dribbling), and no heart. Every time he gets beat on D, he doesn’t try to catch back up, he just pulls up and smiles.
I have never heard so many bad comments by a Pauley crowd directed at one UCLA player as I did today at JA.
Anderson is a sophomore who had terrible stretches
Rago was the senior leader who ended up being a cancer rather than a leader for this team. While Anderson was on the bench, Rago killed this team consistently with his abominable efforts and kept getting rewarded by the head coach.
Anderson played a big role in today’s loss. Ragovic played a bigger role in rotting the core of this program thanks to Ben Howland.
Anderson has been playing hurt -- It's CBH's fault for playing him at critical moments
ND was hurt, today, too.
He need not have played so much.BL and Bobo would have done as well with the minutes.
sjh
Exactly
Putting him in position to fail and further destroying his confidence (when he could have stuck with Abdul-Hamid). Did the exact same thing during the game against the Trogans, bringing in Anderson in to turn it over after we had closed within 2.
The kid is hurt. He is not playing with confidence while Abdul-Hamid has been serviceable. So why not stick with Abdul-Hamid? Pure insanity.
You could turn out to be right
I just want to wait another season before making that conclusion bunz. As of right now Ryan Walcott tops my list in that category.
JA is flat out City College material, if that...
Point guards are the quarterback of any team, and they are expected, indeed mandated, to be leaders. It comes with the position. Look at any good or great point guard – -they are most definitely “leaders” on the team. JA does not fit the bill. I agree with the unbelievable smile on his face after every blunder that makes it all the more frustrating, and if I was on this time, it would make me really hot. He has had 2 years. If a player does not show signs of being able to play by the end of year #2 in a D1 program (all players have injuries, so I won’t let JA off the hook on that), it ain’t gonna happen. I have been feeling somewhat the same about ML, but he has shown signs of life. I think in the right role he can be a fine contributor, though his outside shot (which is critical for a 2) isn’t as impressive as you’d like. He needs to work on that so he can be a threat to shoot the way a 2 is supposed to (even if he can’t head fake and beat someone off the dribble to the rim as effectively as you’d like either).
Completely agree with you and Poncho
I just don’t get the smile or smirk on his face after mistakes. If you have any sort of pride or competitiveness in you, there are times you need to get tough on yourself and get serious, especially when letting your team down.
Someone had written in the game thread that Anderson acts like a chicken running around with its head cut off 99% of the time, but that other 1%… LOL. I’ve noticed when he has those 1% moments he finds a way to bang his chest or strut or head nod or display swagger like he’s a star. I don’t mind a player showing emotion or excitement, but I look at displays of bravado kind of like vocal leadership. A player cannot be an effective vocal leader on a team unless he is one of the best players. If you don’t show the performance on the court/field to back up your words, then your teammates will look at you as a blowhard.
I’ve also noticed throughout the season (esp earlier in the season) that he makes a mistake he will either criticize another player or give them a look like it was their fault.
I guess what I’m saying is that I don’t think Anderson has the mental makeup (definitely not the basketball skills and maybe not the athleticism) to be a leader or point guard (a de facto leader as 2ndGenBruin states) on this team. And that the behavior mentioned above is undermining what little confidence his team has in him. When Anderson is in the game, he often tries to huddle the team together after stoppages in play. Earlier in the season, his teammates would gather around him, but as the season wore on they now mostly just walk away.
I know this may sound mean, but I wish he could just transfer away to another school this summer. Both for his sake (in between my bouts of anger at him, I genuinely feel sorry and embarrassed for him) and for ours. That may not be possible due to our lack of depth or other reasons. If he does stay, I hope he puts his nose to the grindstone this summer and really does everything in his power to elevate his game. He needs to be humble on and off the court and just work.
by truebluebruin on Feb 28, 2010 12:55 PM PST up reply actions
Watch BL
He actually BOXES OUT. The trick to rebounding is simply putting your body in between the defender and the ball/hoop. I have NEVER seen Rago actually box out another player. It doesn’t take height to be a great rebounder. I’m 5’9", and I routinely dominate the boards in pickup games. Why? Because I don’t watch the ball, I just box the shit out. Ugh, so frustrating to watch.
Another bright side...
…is maybe I can go back to UCLA for some kind of graduate degree. I have four years of eligibility left and I know for damn sure I can put up 0 points and 0 rebounds in a UCLA uniform.
All season his in game coaching has been horrible
his ability to adjust and feel for the game seems to be getting exponentially worse.
I know CBH is going nowhere, but I have zero confidence he can keep this team perpetually top 10. I see him being able to keep us in the top 25 with sweet 16s more often than not, but not a national powerhouse. I just don’t think he will change. It’s not in his nature. I know this is a minority position, but I just don’t see him getting it done and wouldn’t be surprised if he is shown the door in a couple of years.
by silverlakebruin on Feb 27, 2010 5:38 PM PST up reply actions
As I have said
I don’t even think any pressure will be necessary if he doesn’t make a Final-4 run and win back a Pac-10 title in two seasons. No one will want to pay up for his work product and fund Pauley renovation.
I understand why people think that CBH is responsible
but I also think you have to hold the players accountable for their actions as well. CBH should manage these players better and not pulling those out who are not performing up to par is inexcusable. There should not be a double standard letting one player make mistakes and poor choices without any threat of being benched, while yanking out another the first gaff they make. With that being said the stupid careless passes and lack of hustle still needs to be blamed partially on the offender. JA has had two full seasons and his decisions on the court are mind boggling. Shot selection and lack of hustle by ragovich doesn’t need any further commenting. These are alledgedly division 1 players and not performing up to the expectations at this point is a shared responsibility between player and coaching staff.
Drago tweaked his ankle
by tripping over Anthony Stover and falling to the floor while the team was RUNNING OUT OF THE LOCKER ROOM!!! That’s the season in a microcosm right there.
It was in the layup line.
Also a poor reflection of the coaching staff. They were all out there (except CBH) because of senior day when ND tripped and not a single one of them or the 10 person training staff came over to check on him. One trainer eventually came over, but the rest of the merry band of fools were just happy yukking it up on the bench. Can you say out of touch.
One wonders
if they did indeed see… It’s hard to say it, and I can’t wish injury even on trogans, but if you were on the team, and you were pissed beyond belief that ND’s been babied despite his lousy play (I’m being generous), and if he happened to suffer a minor injury that might (in some alternate world) decrease his playing time….
Agree with Nestor
The coach runs the team. Whatever happens or doesn’t happen, it is the coach that is responsible for how well or not his players play. A lot of what you see on the court should be taken care of by going over and over the fundamentals. I do not see a cohesive team or coaches. Don’t get mad at me for this, just thinking, is Mike Montgomery available? Please don’t get angry.
by Forever a Bruin on Feb 27, 2010 5:34 PM PST reply actions
The bright spot in my day
After the game, I met Tyler and “Insomniacslounge”. I recognized Tyler and went over to them after the game to introduce myself. What an AMAZING kid he is! He was so polite and upbeat and knows A LOT about Bruin sports. He just warmed my heart and it cheered me right up after that dang game. Thank you, Tyler and keep up the GREAT work cheering on our Bruins!
"The entire world that bleeds blue and gold ... they have been dying for this." - Coach Rick Neuheisel
Yes
you need to meet him! He is really inspiring and he can hold a conversation about UCLA basketball like an adult. :)
"The entire world that bleeds blue and gold ... they have been dying for this." - Coach Rick Neuheisel
It was great meeting you and your family, too
I’m so glad that I had the opportunity to meet not just you, but three generations of diehard Bruins fans. Getting a chance to meet so many supportive and caring people such as yourselves was certainly one of the better highlights of this season for me. For that reason, I’m sorry to see it come to an end.
Oh, and it cracked me up that during your conversation with Tyler, he told you that Lane and Anderson needed to hit the weights during the offseason. Sometimes I think that maybe I’ve nurtured a child that knows a little too much about UCLA sports.
by insomniacslounge on Mar 1, 2010 2:37 PM PST up reply actions
So today I decided to try something new.
I decided that instead of watching the game as a whole, I would concentrate on Dragovic. I watched his every move. I didn’t really watch much of anything else. Just him. I wanted to see if I was just missing the good stuff that he does because maybe I had built up so much hostility towards him that I couldn’t see it. You know what I discovered with my little experiment??
HE IS THE WORST PLAYER I HAVE EVER SEEN WEAR A UCLA UNIFORM IN MY DAYS AS A BRUIN!! THE ABSOLUTE WORST!! I discovered that he really doesn’t do anything even reasonably well. NOTHING!! Absolutely Nothing!! I even got my wife to be included in my experiment, and she isn’t a basketball fan in the least. She had the quote of the day after the first half, “God, he is really, really bad isn’t he?”
I don’t think there has ever been a worse performance by a senior on senior day in the history of senior days. Drag was constantly off balance, out of position, bullied off the block, out-hustled……….do I need to go on? The real question is WHY DOES HOWLAND LET THIS HAPPEN? I just don’t understand. I can’t comment on the others because I was so concentrated on Dragovic and how bad he was. I kept waiting for Howland to pull him so that I could watch the game, but he never did.
The only silver lining is that he will no longer grace the court again…….and for that, I am truly grateful.
He does post up decently
Which makes it even more aggravating when he sits outside and throws up 3 pointers.
Please watch the Howland post game presser
criticizes Jerime, makes excuses for dragovic, says he only had 1 rebound because his shoulder and ankle were hurting.
Of course, he has averaged 2 rebounds a game over the past 6 games, so Im not sure why Howland thinks this performance is influenced by injury.
He blames Jerime specifically for turnovers and bad defensive plays, but doesn’t say a single negative think about Drago when asked. Unbelievable.
I think Howland and Drago are on their own emotional broke back mountain.
by silverlakebruin on Feb 27, 2010 6:16 PM PST reply actions
A coach should not throw players under the bus in a presser
Is there somewhere I can find the presser?
As I said above — what would make a coach think JA would play well in the situation?
He has to take responsibility for putting JA there.
sjh
you have to have a premium subscription to bruin report online
I don’t know anywhere else that would have it.
by silverlakebruin on Feb 27, 2010 7:03 PM PST up reply actions
Its fitting isnt it?
On senior day, a day when your leaders and captains of a team step up and carry a team (such as pondexter last week against us), Roll who is a true benball warrior steps up and Drago plays shi**y on an important day like today. Wtf? CBH
Question about not blaming the players
Nestor said way up-thread that he thought we shouldn’t be blaming the players at this point. I’m not sure. Are these guys playing to their potential? (Real question – I’ve only seen a couple of games.) Have they quit on the coach? Are they just not skilled enough? I assume there is no longer any question that Coach Howland’s decision to keep playing Rag (no D and no O) fits the definition of insanity. Is the decision to play Rag the only consistently insane one that Coach Howland is making?
To make a boring story short, is Nestor correct? Should we stop blaming the players? If this is the best then can do, then I don’t blame them. If we can’t blame the players, then that leaves the Coach, and should we start thinking about a replacement? Maybe Coach Howland no longer has whatever magic he had for that string of successful seasons.
My answer to all these questions is that I don’t know.
The players deserve 100% of the blame. In classes, there are always people (otherwise similar in educational background, intelligence, memory, etc.) who do well and people who do poorly. Professors don’t tell students to do extra problems or study diligently; as young adults who are 18+, it really is up to students to put in the work needed. Similarly, if any of our basketball players don’t perform decently on the court, it really is their own fault. Yes there is a talent gap—some of them just do not have the physical tools necessary to be a good player, but all the ones who were recruited surely can be a contributor.
Ben Howland also deserves 100% of the blame (this is the great thing about blame, everyone can be fully responsible). As a manager of the team, it is his responsibility to recruit players who (i) have the tools, and (ii) have the motivation to succeed, and (iii) to motivate them. For example, medical schools don’t just take students that are very “intelligent” (read: talented), but also students that have demonstrated the drive to apply that intelligence. I’m not sure why it seems to me that work ethic is just assumed for college and NBA recruiters, because it’s surely not constant across players. It seems that, for this group of players, CBH has underachieved in all 3 areas.
Why the adulation for Ben Howland anyway?
As I see it (and I’m surely no expert but have watched alot of bb over the years) CBH is not a great coach. Maybe not even a good coach. And particularly not a good West Coast style coach. He came out here from Pitt and turned the team around by installing a lock down defensive style. But he was blessed to have the likes of JF, AA, LRMAM, KL, RW, DC, PAA, LMR, JS and who knows who else. I don’t believe these players were made better by CBH; they made him into a winner. They took him to 3 final fours — and lets not forget we lost in the semi’s each year (as many have noted due in part to preparation and in-game coaching). There’s an old axiom that good offense beats good defense every time. Howland will always coach eastern style; will never be anything else. That then leads to a tough recruiting task vis a vis athletic, fast, exciting high school players. If we are waiting for Howland’s lock down defense to win us another banner, its going to be a long wait. With the odds of any team winning the NCAA in any given year (no matter how good they are) being quite long, perhaps the focus ought not be on final fours and titles, but in playing aggressive, spirited, fun, modern, entertaining (after all, sports are just that — entertainment for us wannabees) west coast basketball. If we were the best at that, we’d be in the tourney year after year and have as good a chance of going all the way as anyone — probably moreso than with the defensive oriented play that we will obviously see under CBH. Sure we’ll need to wait it out another couple years to see where he takes the program, but I wouldn’t be sorry to see something new around Westwood. Maybe DG should take a chance and elevate some high school coach who has all the qualities of a great coach. Otherwise, don’t expect any of the elite coaches in Div I to come to our rescue.
There are so many ridiculous statements in this post.
I know we lost a tough game and are having a miserable season, but let’s not get irrational.
May I remind you that Coach coached high school ball for 11 years .....
with a record of 218-42.
And it also took him a looooong time to win his first title here
So there’s something to be said about making the transition from high school to college. Coaches today don’t get that kind of leeway to learn the ropes develop a program.
I was thinking
about the basic relationship between player and coach. In 1946, in high school or in college, when the coach said jump you either asked how high or you watched from the bench. We all know it’s not quite that simple anymore. Just like the vast majority of today’s college coaches flame out in the pros, I don’t believe a high school coach, even a successful and talented one, could step in today as HC in a mid-major or higher (much less one of the top programs) and put together the kind of results AD’s must now expect. The level of expectations and the whole culture of the sport is so completely different now from level to level, in a way that can’t have been the case early in Coach’s career.
So to answer your question about Coach…I’d have to wonder. Threatening to bench Walton if he didn’t live up to the grooming standards of the team worked then; it sure wouldn’t now. From everything I’ve heard and read Coach was quite skilled at adapting to the situation at hand, but I just wonder if the basketball world isn’t too completely different now.
(To those lucky enough to have seen Coach in action, please realize that these are the musings of someone who became a Bruin during the early Harrick years, so I would give your answers much more credence than my own.)
The expectations hypothesis
I learned in some class that things happen in many cases because people expect them to happen. Walton got his haircut because in his heart he knew that Coach was serious and would sacrifice one boy’s ego for one man’s view of team rules. Now kids expect that threats of discipline are empty, because no discipline has ever been imposed on them ever, at any level. No star player is ever benched. (Oh, maybe they don’t start because of something, but players dictate what happens.)
Sure, I know times have changed, but I’m not sure they’ve changed for the better. Allen Iverson and practice comes to mind. Terrell Owens and every team he’s ever been with. Modern players making modern millions havve no fear of discipline and have no sense of shame. And why should they? They have never had a Coach to teach them right from wrong?
In my opinion, Coach would be as successful today as he was in the 60’s and 70’s, under his definition of success. The team might not have the same winning percentage, because there are so many more highly skilled players today. I’m very confident that our players would be more likely to have the demeanor of Lew Alcindor or Bill Walton than the Allen Iverson or Terrell Owens. One of the more volatile personalities we had was Sidney Wicks, but he played Coach’s way.
KS, I think your Walton example is the perfect illustration of what’s wrong with modern coaches. Kids today would tell their coach to put it where the sun don’t shine if they were told to get a haircut, or to do any of a million things. Coaches know this, and have given up. Is there any doubt how Coach would have reacted if Walton had not gotten his hair cut. Walton’s conduct in light of Coach’s ultimatum makes it clear what his expectations were.
'not sure times have changed for the better'
I completely agree. I taught for a number of years, and even though I’m not quite 40, I would often have conversations with other teachers my age along the basic theme of ‘it wasn’t like this when we were kids…’ It’s not just kids knowing they can essentially dictate what happens on the team; many kids dictate what happens at home. Maybe my observations qualify me for honorary early geezerdom, but it sure does seem like things have changed.
I like your point about Coach succeeding by his standards. I don’t think he could get ‘even’ two straight titles – I honestly doubt he could get to the Final Four in today’s world – but I’m sure he could put together a combination of 12 players who give their all and play for the greater good of the team. I’d pay to watch that.
I would bet on Coach getting to those final fours
In the same way CBH did — with some really talented kids AND some kids not quite as talented BUT with all of them playing to the top of their talent level most of the time.
There are some really great players who are not prima donnas. Who work hard to improve. Who take instruction well and put out effort in practice and on the court.
We have said all year that we bought the fools gold of the soph class. I don’t recall Coach making massive mistakes in talent evaluation.
sjh
Or they would get the hair cut this year and leave the next.
I think the players have many more options now than then as well. Go pro, go overseas, transfer. Walton already had a deeper since of honor than many other players, then and now. But Coach might have lost some other players had they had the options they have now.
Go Bruins!
Bottom Line: The Shoe Companies and the AAU Have Ruined College Basketball
It’s too long a topic to tackle here and now.
But, there is a difference between players of my day and those of today.
The corruption of kids, the sense of entitlement and unaccountability, even Coach would have had a problem with it IF he took those kids.
I don’t think he would have — even if it meant not hanging banners.
Don’t forget, his definition of success had nothing to do with banners — it had everything to do with playing one’s best and being a team player.
In this day, Coach would find kids who would make us proud — and surprise us, because within his system they would have in fact won more games than expected and possibly make a mark in the tournament.
sjh
He was also a college coach before he came here
Dayton High School: 1932-1934
South Bend Central High School: 1934-1943 (?)
Indiana State University: 1946-1948
UCLA: 1948-1975
We didn’t hire a coach straight out of high school.
And he was a former National College Player of the Year
which is more than can be said for Harvey Kitani or Ed Azzam
by SuperBruinMan on Feb 27, 2010 9:19 PM PST up reply actions
No, no high school coaches at Pauley !
My goodness, my goodness. Notre Dame tried it, failed ever so spectacularly during the early 80’s when they hired someone from a Cincinnati high school football powerhouse to coach in South Bend. Except for a brief moment of glory later under Lou Holtz , that was the beginning of the end for Notre Dame football.
Yes, should the unimaginable happens in two years’ time, some elite Division I coach will come if the money is there. Enough said.
Hmm
and lets not forget we lost in the semi’s each year
Seems like you may be the one who has forgotten..
by SuperBruinMan on Feb 27, 2010 9:19 PM PST up reply actions
Player development
Players can or may improve only through hard work. This is done during the off season by playing and working on what is needed to improve. Playing not resting, going to the beach, chasing the girls-you get better by playing against better caliber players than yourself. It can be done BUT the player has got to buy into it. I would hope Anderson will and can but only time will tell. I will watch for any development as he seems to have regressed since Canyon HS. to him I say go to where the competition is and PLAY
Put things in perspective
It took Coach Wooden 14 years to get the Final 4. Although he never had a losing season, a lot of fans weren’t too thrilled with him when he went 14-12 in 1960. Many wanted to bring in a “better” coach. But then along came Walt Hazzard and Gail Goodrich and the Wooden Era began. Even Coach Wooden had rebuilding years, and he didn’t have to deal with one-and-done.
Lighten up on Howland.
by BruinsinceBarnes on Feb 27, 2010 9:10 PM PST reply actions
After a season of lurking...
and reading the repeated rants against CBH and thinking to myself that the Coach himself would never have survived the impatience displayed on this board, here, finally, is a comment with which I can heartily agree.
Thank you, sir.
Additionally, I would point out that there has been much complaint against players like DG who have a sense of entitlement and an insistence to do things their own way rather than buy into a system, but I see that same sense of “I know better than anyone” in so many of the postings here.
I have been horribly frustrated at this season and totally agree that dreadful mistakes appear to have been made, but I would not be so arrogant as to assume that I can fully understand or appreciate all the issues that CBH is dealing with in connection to the team and each of the players. This does not mean he is either right or wrong, it just means we don’t have sufficient information to judge — other than to look at the results and make assumptions. And it is very easy to make assumptions. But those assumptions are not necessarily right.
I don’t think DC, AA, PAA, RW, LMR, or MR would agree that no learning was going on during their years here. Some players take to learning, some don’t. Coach may very well have been better at spotting those players than CBH — or it may just be that a higher percentage of players listened back then. But I don’t think Coach would have an easy time recruiting in today’s environment with the first Twitter post that practices start with how to put on your socks. Coach’s belief was that you do things a certain way, and that you strive only to do things in that way, and by keeping your focus there, and trying your best, you succeed. Winning or losing was immaterial, irrelevant. The focus was on how you did things, down to the tiniest detail, like putting on socks. That mindset would get Coach zero one-and-dones, and very few of the most athletic kids. But he might bring in a TH or a DC… but then, so did CBH.
Howland is no more stubborn than Coach was, and he works in a far more complex and competitive world, in which there is far less tolerance for not caring about wins and losses. He had 2 building years, 3 great years, one acceptable year and now has had one dreadful year. But it happens. Roy Williams has had a pretty crappy year as well.
I agree that some slack is definitely in order.
Just a thought
Nestor…if you want this site to be balanced, change the tone. If you want everyone to agree with you, keep doing what you have been doing lately. Those of us who are not ready to fire Howland will leave.
Here's another thought
Read.
Ben Howland is not going anywhere in the near future and we don’t want him to. However, the duration of time he gets to fix the mess he has created is finite.
Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing if people who can’t read and understand a simple and explicit disclaimer left.
Ridiculous
Have you read anything that’s been posted here? Find just one quote where the moderators or any of the BN regulars (not trolls) have advocated Ben Howland’s firing. (hint: it doesn’t exist)
Formerly UCLA Class of 86
No mention of firing CBH
I have not seen any concerted effort by those who regularly contribute to fire the coach but the critics of his staff and stubborn mindset to keep playing the Drag are seeking to make him aware that the performance of his team to put it mildly -sucks. I do not feel he should be firede based on his early successes. One bad year does not merit even considering his removal. However, I hope he cleans-up his staff and gets a recruiter who is respected in the western states at least.
Sad
This team has been just a sorry state of affairs for Bruins basketball. Too much blame to go around, but it always must start at the top. Howland needs to take responsibility for his bizarre coaching decisions this season with the lineup. I hope once this season is over that he reviews all the tape over again and sees where he made his mistakes and correct them over the summer. He’s known as a avid tape watcher, so hopefully he’ll be less stubborn to make adjustments to his philosophy in order to get this team to where it should be.
As for the players, well, what more can we say? Outside of Honeycutt’s potential, only Reeves Nelson showed any life this season, and he still has a lot of work to do in his game. Other frosh weren’t even allowed to show what they can do in order for the rally killers to get more time (Anderson, Dragovic, and Lee). Worse yet, when a player comes in the game, he doesn’t look like he’s ready to play most of the time.
rally killers?
Really? Dragovic is certainly not a very good player and both Anderson and Lee need a good amount of work but let’s get our criticisms right. I seem to remember being down 59-49 tonight when the following series of events took place: Malcolm Lee two made free throws, ORE made free throw, Dragovic made layup, Malcolm Lee made layup, ORE layup, Roll three pointer, Lee layup, Lee layup, ORE three, Anderson layup and one. That’s a 15-6 run where 12 of the 15 points came from the “rally killers”. Anderson’s turnover may have ended our last real shot at winning the game but the 12 points from our “rally killers” was the vast majority of the rally that got us back in last night’s game.
I'm retarded
13 of the 16 points and a 16-6 run.
Take Lee out as a "rally killer"
I feel Lee has real potential if he get those delusional 2 and done or 3 and done thoughts out of his head.
Without Lee (8 pts) in your equation, were left with 5 out of 16. Not that strong.
by truebluebruin on Feb 28, 2010 1:29 PM PST up reply actions
I'm not talking about one game
The whole season those guys have done stuff that have killed rallies. Of course, there were times when they did contribute, but too many times I see them on the floor and make bad plays.
Lee showed
more of the slashing kinds of plays he is capable of. If he has the confidence and is not trying to run the point as a natural 2, I’d bet he could give us 20 points a game.
I agree that Anderson is not a good point guard
but I don’t really think that Mustafa Abdul-Hamid is an obvious choice to replace him, especially in crunch time. It seems like everyone here feels that Howland is an idiot for giving Anderson minutes over Abdul-Hamid. It’s easy for all of us who watched the game to say that Abdul-Hamid should have played in place of Anderson. Until that turnover by Anderson we were still very much in the game. The problem with much of the criticism regarding this is that we only see what happens in the game.
The coaching staff is able to spend much more time than any of us with the players and are able to make decisions based on a much greater amount of information regarding players. It really seems like this fact is lost among many people. We see how bad someone like Anderson can be and then just assume other players would be better. I see a lot of posts asserting that Abdul-Hamid would be an improvement but I don’t think this is really that obvious.
Anderson had a terrible, terrible turnover at the end of the game so let’s take a look at turnovers. Anderson is not a very good ball handler but neither is Abdul-Hamid. Anderson has turned the ball over 3.87 times per 40 minutes this season while Abdul-Hamid has turned it over 3.11 times per 40 minutes. Basically Abdul-Hamid has 20% fewer turnovers than Anderson but for every 40 minutes played, Anderson has less than one more turnover. Taking care of the ball is obviously extremely important but the difference over the course of a full game is fairly close.
Aside from taking care of the ball a point guard must distribute the ball. Anderson dishes out 1.47 assists for every turnover he has. Abdul-Hamid only has .93 assists for each turnover. This translates to 5.7 assists per 40 minutes for Anderson and 2.9 assists per 40 minutes for Abdul-Hamid.
When applied to the situation at the end of tonight’s game we see that Abdul-Hamid is 20% less likely to turn the ball over, but also roughly half as likely to have an assist. Also, since we were down three points, it should be noted that Anderson has shot 37.5% from the three point line to Abdul-Hamid’s 30%.
Aside from these stats Anderson grabs more boards and steals the ball three times more often than Abdul-Hamid. Obviously these stats aren’t the be-all-end-all in determining who is a better player but they are a direct reflection of how these two players have played over the course of the season and at least make it appear as though the decision to play Anderson isn’t quite as one sided as it is implied by some of the posts here. Intangibles come into play but these aren’t really things that can be accurately measured and I’d imagine that the coaching staff would have a better idea about which players have intangibles that are better suited to given situations.
Would Abdul-Hamid have done better at the end of the game? Well I doubt he could have done any worse but we have the ability to evaluate after the fact. Was Howland right in playing Anderson? Perhaps. I don’t have the insight that he and the coaching staff do. From my perspective it doesn’t appear as though that particular choice was really all that terrible. In fact, down three with less than a minute left I think I would want the player who is twice as likely to have an assist and who has a significantly better 3 point shooting percentage on the court. Sure, Abdul-Hamid made that game winner against Washington, and that was probably the highlight of the UCLA basketball season, but one play isn’t enough to make me want to choose a player who has performed more poorly over the course of the season.
The 'trust what the coaches see in practice' argument
will be believed by all once someone can explain why ND has gotten 32 minutes a game. Nobody has succeeded at making that argument so far. You’re welcome to try.
The argument regarding what coaches see
is not directed at ND’s minutes. I am still trying to figure that one out. I provided a good look at both Anderson’s and Hamid’s statistics this season to show that Anderson has outperformed Hamid and then threw that in as something else to consider. While it certainly appears that the ND situation is being mishandled I’m not ready to assume that the coaching staff is completely inept when it comes to personnel decisions. Regardless of how competent you think they are, they still have much more information about the team than us. It is just one more reason to wonder whether or not Abdul-Hamid should be getting more of Anderson’s minutes which is suggested in the article by Nestor.
Yeah Anderson has been really dependable all season
He was dependable during those final minutes against Southern Cal. He really came through with that planned “bank” pass to Roll.
I am not an Anderson “hater.” However, to assert that those TOs by him was something new is either ignoring or willfully forgetting about what has transpired the entire season.
I'm not saying he's dependable
I’m just saying that I don’t think Abdul-Hamid is better. I don’t recall asserting that the turnovers by him were something new. I simply provided statistics to show that Abdul-Hamid turns the ball over only slightly less often than Anderson and that Anderson has an all around better game than Hamid, which could explain why he is getting more minutes, especially down the stretch. I would argue that not playing Anderson in favor of Abdul-Hamid would be ignoring or willfully forgetting about what has transpired the entire season given the fact that Anderson has put together a better body of work.
Also
since it is constantly suggested by you that we start looking towards next season by playing our young players, I would think playing Anderson over Abdul-Hamid would be right up your alley.
Playing young
Playing young kids doesn’t mean that we are giving up on wins. I have advocated for more mins for Lane and Bobo up court, not just for the sake of getting them ready for next season, but I also believe playing them more give us better chance to win. Playing young and shooting for victories are not mutually exclusive.
Similarly in the backcourt I think Abdul-Hamid should have gotten more mins because he earned them with his sound play, while Anderson despite his slightly better statistics never proved that he could get it done during crunch times this season.
I don't think playing Abdul-Hamid
by taking away minutes from Anderson over the course of the season would have improved our chances to win games. Anderson has performed better overall. I don’t think there is enough data to prove Abdul-Hamid is a better player in “crunch time” than Anderson. Abdul-Hamid did make that amazing shot but one play does not mean he is better in crunch time. It means he made one amazing play. Abdul-Hamid didn’t even play very well in that game. He had two critical turnovers with us down 1 point with around 12 minutes left. He also had only one assist and zero rebounds to go with his four points. Anderson has been unimpressive in every type of situation but I don’t think he has been especially bad in crunch time. Regardless of the situation I think Anderson is the better choice.
huh?
Anderson has performed better overall.
Anderson has been unimpressive in every type of situation
I don’t think he [JA] has been especially bad in crunch time.
Anderson has performed better overall than Abdul-Hamid.
Abdul-Hamid has been even less impressive overall.
Anderson has not performed substantially worse in crunch time, he just plays like he always plays, which is better overall than Abdul-Hamid.
Anderson might not have "peformed substantially worse" statwise
He has blown multiple games and costing us victories. His performance in those moments were unacceptable for Pac-10 point guard.
I definitely agree
with you there. I am certainly not trying to make it sound like I enjoy investing my time and emotions into a team where he is a major contributor. I just feel that Howland’s decision to give him as many minutes as he does is not necessarily a bad decision. I do see where you are coming from though and sometimes question which of the two point guards should see more time.
The problem I have with that
is that “during crunch time” is a very arbitrary way of selecting chunks of a player’s performance and it does not give enough data to really prove definitely whether a certain player is better in this situation. Basically it seems like your argument is that Abdul-Hamid made a game winning shot and that Anderson turned the ball over twice and almost a third time in the last minutes of games. While this alone seems to overwhelmingly favor Abdul-Hamid it is only about five minutes of game time. I don’t think it is fair to say with any kind of certainty that one player is better than another based only on this amount of data.
We will have to disagree
Just because Anderson’s stats are marginally better doesn’t make his overall performance better than Abdul Hamid. There are more than just stats when it comes to assessing a pg’s performance. It is also about leadership and bringing steadiness on the court. This year Hamid has been better than Anderson. Throwing stats in favor of Anderson is not going to change that.
Stats certainly don't tell the whole story
but I just don’t see enough from Abdul-Hamid on a regular basis to think his intangibles are that much better than Anderson’s. I see where you are coming from though and I don’t think giving either one the majority of the minutes would be a bad decision.
Not to mention JA's crunch time performance against Cal in OT
With the “assist” to MR off of the defending player’s arm. He got a miracle bail-out for that blunder that should have cost us the game.
by gradstudentbruin on Mar 3, 2010 7:52 PM PST up reply actions
I think Lee looked great in the game getting to go back to the 2.
He looked “un-caged” and was being very creative without the ball and creating points. I think we saw some of this last year. As for JA, I felt bad for the kid. He looked together most of the game and was playing a conscientious game. Unlike drago, he looked very upset with himself when he messed up (2 critical turnovers at the end of the game). He made mistakes, but not from lack of effort, and in this game he looked like he felt bad about it. As for Drago, getting any playing time except to spell a player, like the rest of you, I just don’t get. My section of Pauley kept yelling for him to foul, because it seemed like the only way to get him out of the game. Of course, that would necessitate him being near a player! It was incredibly upsetting being there and seeing him on the court so much. Lane was playing such a positive roll, not just filling in. I was incredibly upset with Howland. We can blame the players, Drago for instance, but his play has been consistently the same, so the blame lies with Howland. Whoever brought up the definition of insanity, thank you. I have a friend who’s been in and out of an abusive relationship for many. many years. At this point, it’s on her for going back. I can’t listen any more. Basketball and abuse are not the same, but watching Howland put ND in the game, began to feel like a very minor form of abuse…to the rest of the team, to the fans, and to basketball.
I was so upset after watching the CBH and ND show that I couldn’t even come to BN…some good wine and comfort food were more in order. But I’m so glad BN is here so that I can express my views and read the views of real Bruins. One more thing, I was really proud of the hard play that got the team back to square with Oregon. It was exciting to watch and the whole place was going crazy (even the upper deck was standing!). I was very proud. But that was our game to win. And again, while the turnovers were upsetting, drago’s 3 pointer (as good as a turnover) is more upsetting to me.
Go Bruins!
JA looked upset?
He was laughing at his own poor play after throwing a bounce pass at a teammate’s feet and then following that with a no-look to Roll, when Roll wasn’t w/in 5 feet of where he threw the ball – -that didn’t look like determination to do better to me. He looks like he “lets it go” way too quickly, like he doesn’t care. I have no idea what JA’s probelm is, whether it’s his injuries distracting him or preventing him from playing well. But at this point it looks like CBH made a recruiting error, and JA doesn’t appear to be ready to be “coached up” to the job of PG. We have to hope that our JC transfer, LJ from Logan College is “the answer,” or next year may be harder to watch than this one has been.
But I will concede that JA was way better than ND...
…after ND threw a ball away or made some silly mistake, the cameras focused on him, and he tried to clap his hands together as if to say “darn it” but he actually whiffed! His hands barely touched if at all. That says it all.
How pathetic is it
that we need to win three straight games just to get all the way up to .500 on the season and we’re discussing two players out of the top 6 in the rotation, trying to figure out who is less awful.
Sorry, but you can't judge a player by the look on his face
true emotions run far deeper. You have no idea how he feels inside. Body language analysis is trendy pseudo science.
It’s not fair to see he didn’t care or didn’t hurt.
sjh
I'm not saying he doesn't care that he embarrassed himself...
…but if you’ve ever played competitive sports, and seen that look, which to me looks totally disengaged, well, I wouldn’t think anything other than he really doesn’t care enough. He may care some, but not enough about the team or the game. If you embarrass yourself, you give your teammates the look that says “my bad, it’s on my, I’ll do better” and not wallow in self pity.
I was at the game and did not see JA's facial expression.
However, from where I sat, his body definitely looked down as he went to the next play or off the floor…hanging his head, drooping his shoulders. Embarrassment can also lead to false smiles. But as the television viewers had a better look at his face, I’ll defer to what you saw.
Go Bruins!
ML had a good game and JA was better until ...
I really see great promise in ML and, like Nestor, am willing to see how JA comes back after an off season of work.
My problem is that I didn’t see any evidence that either worked hard last off season.
I think they may have gotten the message this year.
sjh
Due to Keefe and Nelson not being available, we saw a lot more of Lane and I was impressed. He needs more development.
CBH still played way too much of Dragovic, that much we all agree on. Does he have some sort of off court agreement or infatuation with Dragovic? Did he think once senior day rolled around ND would magically have a career day? We’ll never know. We do know ND did play the same as he has been all season, maybe worse. And he still got a lot of playing time.
Morgan and Moser with no minutes? Not sure why at all. A little low post presence might have helped us get a few more boards, taken some load off Honeycutt (and coincidentally, led to less fouls). Morgan and Moser NEED playing time. They can help low post depth tremendously next season. This season is over. It doesn’t matter whether we win the Pac-10 tourney and get a NCAA Tourney berth. CBH needs to stop worrying about giving MAH, MR, and ND playing time, Get Moser, Morgan, Lane, MORE time, and even allow those kids who have been riding the pine all year or for multiple years a shot at some minutes. I don’t say throw the game away, I’m saying use the depth and get everyone at least a few minutes.
Jerime Anderson is not a lost cause. He needs serious off-season development. He needs a daily personal coach over the off-season, if he can become a better ball handler and passer over his junior season he can still have a very good senior year. I know he threw it away at the end of the last game, and believe me I haven’t been real impressed all year but I think JA can overcome his shortcomings.
ML is a #2 who can sneak into a #3 like we saw against Oregon. For gods sake, let the kid play there, don’t ask him to be a #1.
That’s all. Nestor has been on CBH all season and ratcheting it up, I think most of us agree CBH IS A GREAT COACH, but he needs to remember he is at UCLA, not Pitt nor Northern Arizona, and he is dealing with kids who probably have never seen a fundamental half-court set or if they have, it was in junior high school when they were still learning.
13-9
A missed 3 by Dragovic is as bad as a turnover, considering how we don’t have enough of an inside box-out that we can consistently get rebounds. Think about that. 1 made, 5 turnovers. Thats why I HATE relying on a 3 point game, but if you have to do it, have it in the hands of a REAL SHOOTER like MR, who shot 50% from 3, and didn’t just catch and shoot with 30 on the shot clock.
13-9
ONE-AND-DONE HANGOVER
Let me begin by correcting an earlier poster that CBH DID NOT LOS THREE STRAIGHT SEMIS. JF’s team absolutely destroyed Big Baby’s LSU squad before losing to the Bigger Baby (Joe-Kim Noah) in the Final. That was the miracle team that beat Gonzaga in the greatest game since Edney’s coast-to-coast.
Anyhoo, I think Howland’s issue might be his attempt to keep his players from defecting early to the NBA . . . this is the only explanation for why CBH seems to heavily favor his seniors and why he keeps his younger, more talented crew, on the bench. Westbrook was never expected to blow up like he did after he postered Boykin and wound up on ESPN every week, and Jrudas’ unexpected departure left us with JA and ML starting at the 1 and 2 instead of RW and JA. I never loved JH, but this team might have won 3-4 more games with him in the lineup this year, and that would have been enough to win this horrible conference.
One-and-dones
are a real problem not just for this team but for NCAA bball. Their devestating effect can be seen very clearly with the departure of KL and JH, but it was only compounded by the fact that CBH did NOT recruit a true PG to replace JH.
I am of the opinion that CBH needs to recruit a true PG and a C every year. He can move the PG to #2 if he is a shooter (which most are), or move the C to a #4 if he is athletic enough. They are the pillars of CBH’s gameplan and he needs to focus on it.
13-9
+1 and -1
You wrote:
Jrudas’ unexpected departure
I do like take Jrue and making it into Jrudas. Very nicely done.
That being said, only the totally stupid or blind didn’t know Holiday was leaving after one season. One of our biggest criticisms of Howland this season is that he totally failed to plan for Holiday leaving (which everyone was saying was going to happen, from the “professionals” on WWL to the amateur blogger/board poster types at BRO and BN), leaving us woefully thin in our front court.
by Bellerophon on Feb 28, 2010 10:29 AM PST up reply actions
I don't get this logic:
I think Howland’s issue might be his attempt to keep his players from defecting early to the NBA . . . this is the only explanation for why CBH seems to heavily favor his seniors and why he keeps his younger, more talented crew, on the bench.
I have no way of knowing if you agree with the logic or not, charnaw, but it troubles me if indeed CBH thinks this way. Young talented players who have the ability to play in the NBA, have the potential to play in the NBA, or believe they have the potential to play in the NBA are not going to ride the pine in Westwood for a couple of years so they can finally get on the court and show their stuff by their third or fourth year in the program. They’re going to bolt, be it straight to the pros (see JH, who would have benefited from staying at UCLA and having a year to run the point) or to wherever they believe greener pastures to be (Stanback et al).
The weekend phenomenon
In all of my years watching UCLA bball, either on TV or at court side, I cannot remember a year that we so consistently lost on the weekends. This problem needs to be looked into. There must be something outside of bball going on here. Distractions. The coaching staff may be falling prey to this as well. In any case, someone needed to recognize this trend and make corrections for it. Here’s an idea, anyone that likes “clubbing” better than bball and the team, doesn’t play on the weekend.
Another concept, it may take more than assist. coaches to correct these problems. I can think of several professionals that seem to be needed: trainers, dietitians, psychologists, lawyers, relationship counselors, police, immigration attorneys (oh, I’m sorry, I got lost just thinking about one player).
Louisville, KY for UCLA class of '87
My observations...
I was at the game yesterday. Dragovic, who is no fluid athlete to begin with, was really limited by his shoulder. You could see him wincing when he was forced to reach for balls. I think he tried to tough it out because (a) It was his last game at Pauley, (b) His parents were there to watch him play, © He felt he could perform and help the team. He was consistently being bullied inside and was a nonfactor on the boards. Howland handicapped the team more by his lack of timeouts down the stretch – could have really used a timeout to draw up a play in the last three minutes. Sigh.
I would also say that JA played a great game until the final two minutes. I guess that is like saying somebody is almost aced a final but missed 30% of the questions. JA’s decision making and lack of agression are his downfall. His biggest minus as a point guard is his inability to make the easy play. He forces passes in traffic trying to make a highlight reel play, but he does look for his teammates – some of his passes are simply head scratching. Howland played him because Lee was so successful playing off the ball, and he needed Roll to spot up and not be a playmaker. JA is what he is – a very good backup PG, he is not someone the Bruins want with ball in his hands with the game on the line. Unfortunately that was the position he found himself in on both ends of the court in crunch time.
As easy as it is to blame the game on CBH coaching decisions or ND and JA – the game was lost on the boards. UCLA missed RN’s in both games. Save TH’s heroics against OSU and the Bruins are looking squarely at the play-in game. This nightmare of a season is almost over.
Life is what happens when you're busy making plans.
That falls squarely on CBH
I could see Bobo being a bigger factor than Moser. Moser, frankly, hasn’t been given much of an opportunity. I thought that MM might get a sniff when TH got into foul trouble. ND was definitely playing hurt – during the stops in play he was always rotating his arm and rubbing it.
Life is what happens when you're busy making plans.
Yep
I really wanted to see at least 15 mins of Bobo. Have been saying all along we should have tried at least 4-6 mins of Moser to give Honeycutt a blow (and keep out of foul trouble).
MM
He seems like a really good teammate – both he and Bobo are really upbeat and are pulling for their teammates. I hope both young men don’t lose their patience and stick with the program because there will be minutes next year. I saw MM in a couple AAU games a couple years back when my nephews were playing and he is really raw but could cause havoc in the zone because of his athleticism and length. I know Howland would never do it, but I would love to see the Bruins go with RN, TH, MM, ML and MR and let them play a trapping zone and run. I’ll try to get a fan post up on the Pac-10 tourney and our outlook once the pairing are unveiled.
Life is what happens when you're busy making plans.
Anderson is "a very good backup PG"?
I’m not sure he is a good or even a serviceable backup. There have been many here that have voiced their opinion that he is not a PAC-10 or perhaps even a Div 1 level point guard.
by truebluebruin on Feb 28, 2010 3:03 PM PST up reply actions
C'mon now
Anderson has been a disappointment, but to say he’s not a Pac-10 or D-1 PG is a stretch.
Life is what happens when you're busy making plans.
I think currently Anderson is not an average Pac-10 guard
However, as I stated today I am not giving up on him yet.
JA
Stats don’t tell the entire story here, he’s battled through some injuries, but he is shooting 50% for the season, is tied for the team lead in assists, is second on the team in 3-pt FG %. His major minuses are his decision making and turnovers. I think he’s just a young player that has struggled with his confidence a bit, but has a lot of room to improve. He’s not performed anywhere near the level of his predecessors, but that doesn’t make him below average – just not a pro like we have grown accustomed to.
Life is what happens when you're busy making plans.
Guess we will find out
I hope he works his rear end off this off season and come back strong next year. From what I have seen this year (and I will trust my eyes) I saw a kid who played less than average and cost us multiple games down the stretch. He needs to get stronger and little quicker and he needs to give us at least above average effort on defense. I didn’t expect him to be a “pro” but I was hoping he would become a serviceable option. He hasn’t been this season and has been disappointing. Still as I said, I will wait till one more season.
That is fair
I saw most of these guys play in HS – granted it’s not comparable (AAU or HS ballvs D-1 hoops), but to say JA doesn’t have ability is not accurate. I actually think the teams offense is better with him on the floor because it allows ML to not think and to be aggressive. All tha said, the bigger question for next year’s team is where the outside shooting is going to come from. Tyler Lamb is not a drop dead sniper from beyond the arc, ML isn’t close to being consistent either. Hopefully the Bruins can sign Trey Ziegler to fill MR role.
Life is what happens when you're busy making plans.
In case we all forgot...
JA was the third rated PG in the class of 2008. I’m more alarmed by his lack of explosion – he was a really good penetrator in HS that could finish at the rim. I haven’t seen him hardly dunk this year – makes me wonder how sound his legs are.
Life is what happens when you're busy making plans.
Regression
Sorry don’t mean to beat a dead horse. Speaking of his class ranking, here is his scout profile:
http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=8&c=1&nid=2369450
Couple things I notice. Many people have mentioned that he has regressed since his high school days. After learning that he was set to be UCLA starting point guard due to attrition, he didn’t put enough work into his game this last summer (allegedly admitted to his younger brother). Considering he got his “Golden Ticket” to UCLA before his junior season in HS, do you worry about his sense of entitlement? (is being soft an OC bb player issue?) It makes me think he didn’t work hard enough after committing.
Also, I can’t find it, but I remember Anderson saying (paraphrasing), “I’m disappointed that I won’t be getting as much playing time,” after learning DC would be returning for his senior season. Can you imagine? Instead of looking forward to practicing against and learning from an All-American, he’s complaining about getting enough playing time as a true freshman? Seeing how unprepared he is as a sophomore, this attitude just baffles me.
One of his strengths is listed as poise. The only way I can explain that is that he must have played against much less talent in a really weak conference. Is this what people talk about when they mention overrated OC basketball players?
His areas for improvement are listed as passing and perimeter shot. Really?! How could the number 3 PG in the nation be a weak PASSER (as we’ve witnessed) and perimeter shooter?
by truebluebruin on Feb 28, 2010 4:05 PM PST up reply actions
I understand
Nestor wanting to give him another year to prove himself. I don’t think you can honestly deny that he is one of the worst UCLA point guards in memory (perhaps only Ryan Walcott and Moose Bailey were worse).
by truebluebruin on Feb 28, 2010 3:38 PM PST up reply actions
At this point
Jerime Anderson is one of the worst UCLA point guards in recent memory. Let’s see what he does next season.
Watching on TV
it seemed pretty obvious to me that ND was not feeling near 100%. He hardly moved his left arm as he ran up and down the court.
Speaking of point guards
DC just put a great move on Dirk…and they moved Kidd off of him and put Terry on him…too much scoring.
Go Bruins!
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