…how much of this griping is new among these players, and how much of it has been present, but is just getting from players to the public more easily because of Twitter.

I think a lot of players kept their mouths shut when the team was having success. I guess when the going gets tough, players like Jrue, Drew, and ML starting bitching.

“This person has protected their tweets”

something about stable doors and having-bolted horses…

Is it because of him getting the starting PG role?

Is it because he’s ticked off at CBH for something?

Is it good or bad?

WE. DON’T. KNOW.

M

this plays into my preexisting belief that that whole class got poisoned last year (for whatever reason – bad kids with sense of entitlement; poor handling by CBH; I don’t know)

Unclear how this becomes a discussion about CBH’s treatment of ND – I would understand that if MM/BL were the ones tweeting, or TH/RN were complaining about not getting enough minutes. ML has played major minutes in every game, and now has the added bonus of having the ball in his hands a lot. This tweet seems to reflect very poorly on ML, and indicates something about the atmosphere in the program, but I don’t see that this is an indictment of CBH.

As he was about to preside over his first trial, an old timer came in from next door and told him to take a piece of paper, cut it into fourths, and write K on one, Y on another, M on the third and S on the fourth, and put the papers at each corner of the bench. It was to remind him what he should be doing – Keep Your Mouth Shut. He told me following that advice never got him in trouble.

I think those four pieces of paper should be given to every kid along with whatever it is that he tweeters on.

It seems like he made those comments out of frustration. It’s the fact that, he wants to break out of his shell and burst on to the scene. So far he hasn’t, but he knows he can. He’s feels frustrated in himself and it’s very unlikely he’s “blasting” Howland. It seems like you guys are making something out of nothing.

I mean, not only is this pitbull already in a cage, but he’s needs to be chained down to protect the cage!

Talk about finding a way into Ben Howland’s doghouse. rimshot

The tweet could be 1000 different things. He could be self-motivating, talking about a girlfriend, not getting laid, his coach, his parents … whatever. These things just get blown out of proportion, but there really is nobody to blame but the tweeter. If you throw things out into a public forum, you have to understand that things are interpreted.

I am not sure how many people here played sports. Griping about a coach or style is nothing new. It happens in every locker room, win or lose. Players generally just learn to shut up when the team is winning. The problem with twitter is that it brings private gripes out into the open, but I assure you, there were gripes during the final four runs as well. If this tweet was a shot at the staff, ML needs to be put in his place. He needs to learn to choose his forum a little more wisely. That said, this things happen, and they are always going to happen.

I have a feeling ML didn’t know the implications of the words he used. We may have read too much into it also. After all, these are really just kids, two years after high school. Sometime words coming out of their mouth don’t really quite correlate with unspoken ideas in their head.

but I have no idea what he is talking about…

Why are we assuming this is basketball related? I have no idea wtf he is talking about….

…Is part of the malcontent lame kitten bust of a recruiting class of 2008/09. The kid thinks he’s the bomb — but doesn’t realize he’s been a bomb. If he wants to leave, let him leave. Regardless of how Howland has managed (or, for the critics, mismanaged) the rotation, Lee has been a constant presence on the court, and Howland turned to him when we needed a PG.

He’s shown some promise this year and improved on many levels. I like seeing him on the court. But he still has so much to learn, including the simple things, like, say, dribbling and passing. And regardless of Howland’s f-ups this year (or during any year), it’s not the coach’s problem that this kid is on an 0 for 5,000 slump the past few games. I hope he stays and contributes. But if he wants to leave, I’ll personally buy him a ticket to New Mexico where he can join Overrated No. 1.

Enough already. The only person standing in the way of ML is ML.

Despite Malcom’s 3-29 shooting beyond the arc, and the presence of no decent outside shooter except Roll.

I’m sure we’d be much better off with Lee shooting 30 times a game.

If he picks this number of to around 6-33 he can join the 76ers next year as a first round pick……stop whining ML and work on your shooting….focus my friend!!!!

Did anyone see Terrence Jones play against Josh Smith’s team the other night on ESPN2? That kid is a must get for us….hopefully Josh is pitching away…

I can see him being frustrated at having to play PG, but if he’s seen the RW example, he should take it as a gift. He gets the easy shots in our offense, because the other teams allow him to shoot. You cannot be a complete player without an outside shot. Its a stupid comment. Unfortunately, it hurts the program.

I am astounded if he can’t see that CBH’s approach works, as the team starts to jell.

If he hadn’t gone 2-9 perhaps he wouldn’t have been so frustrated. If he could break down someone off the dribble and get to the basket, he could improve his shooting percentage.

Things like twitter blow up random conversations into something big. It is a shame that a young kid can’t be stupid just among his friends. Let’s let it go.

Do we bash on Malcolm and criticize him?
Why not show him some support. We have just as many people here bashing on Howland for his “failed recruiting jobs” and inability to win games this season yet we immediately call this young man a whiner when we think he’s doing the same?

Malcolm is raw basketball wise and has a lot to learn attitude wise as well. He’s the point guard of this team. It’s not right to compare him to our past guards. Russell had the opportunity to play a year with AA and two years with Collision. Collision played a lot of games with both AA and JF. He doesn’t have an All-American guard mentoring him. Maybe he has the same expectation of that we Bruins all have. Maybe he frustrated because he thinks UCLA should be better than 11-11 and competing for a national title. Give him some breathing room.

I met him at an OC Bruins function 4 years ago. The group was about 70 old grays. The faithful that still hangs on from the 60’s and 70’s (like me.) He was patient, personable, talked to everyone, answered all of our questions. I cannot tell you how impressed I am. Coaches have to have a philosophy and cannot kowtow to the players, who will run over him if he does. He’s a great coach. Players who get as much Pt as JH and ML, and still whine about it, just aren’t nearly as good as they think. JH is showing in the pros that he has a long way to go. If he learned to shoot, and made the shots that he was provided by CBH’s system, he would have been better prepared for the pros. Prima donna’s need not apply in Westwood. Talented players who want to be stars will become better under CBH. I would remind everyone that even KL was raw at the beginning of the season, and really improved as the season concluded. (Man could we use him.) I have played basketball all my life. The Bruin program is so much better under him than it was before he arrived. No coach will do it the way you would do it all the time. I’m going to have to defer to the man with the proven track record.

I am not enough of a scientist to know how tweets work, but I do know that I have read lots of things that people have said on facebook and tweeter. If a geezer is no longer surprised to see communications like this displayed publicly, then every child with a texting device has to know that nothing they say is confidential. Not even e-mails are necessarily confidential if the recipient wants to forward them. (Remember all the e-mails made public during the Mike Leach lynching party?)

I absolutely reject the concept that Lee had any expectation of privacy, and in fact I’m confident that he knew that what he posted would be made public. I also reject the notion that he should not be held responsible for his statements because he’s so young. I believe he’s older tha Owa (I’m not even going to try his name) or the other recruits who went on TV and spoke so eloquently.

We know Coach Howland has a lot of tolerance and a lot of forgiveness in him. He’s a better man than I am. If it were my decision, I would invite Lee to take chair number 13 at the far end of the bench.

I hope I’m wrong about this. I hope Lee is honorable and does the honorable thing.

When this so-called #1 class did absolutely nothing (and yes, I’m including JH because he simply was not the impact player that he should have been). Now when they’re given the spotlight, they’ve shown what busts they are and are not owning up to it and doing something to correct it. CBH in the long run will rebound from a bust of a class (assuming he goes back to scouting and recruiting the type of players he had before). These kids? Unless they grow up in a hurry, they’re gonna be the same way the rest of their playing careers.