Howland Calls Out Anderson For Off-Season Laziness, What About Ragovic?
by Nestor on Mar 3, 2010 10:34 AM PST
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PrintOn what Jerime Anderson can do to keep his starting point guard position next season: "He’s had a very up and down season. He started the season 1-for-11 against Cal State Fullerton. He’s had some good games. Number one he has to get in good physical shape to stay healthy. For him, it’s learning to play lower and really be committed to do everything to be the best he can be. Playing basketball every day, working on his handling, working on his free throw shooting. I think he could’ve done a better job in the offseason."
I don't know whether it was good or bad for Howland to so publicly call out his pointguard. Here is the question though if Howland is blaming Anderson for being lazy during off-season, why is he not holding Nikola Ragovic to the same standard?
From what we have seen on the court, it certainly doesn't look like Ragovic worked on getting stronger. He looks soft, lazy and did not make any improvement on any aspect of his game. He did double his number of arrests becoming the only UCLA student athlete in recent history to get arrested twice. What is even more disturbing in Rag's case that Howland expected him to come back as "leader" and yet it looks like Rag did nothing to make himself a better player and instead piled up more baggage off the court.
So what gives? Howland can talk about "character" all he wants. We appreciate him being honest and reflective. However, his reflections do not explain the disaster we have seen on the court through this entire season. I am not sure how he can demand his recruits to show more "character" considering from his actions this season he has done nothing to establish it on the court.
If Howland really wanted to set the tone for next season, he would do it by benching Ragovic as the starter for rest of this season and go with the same line up he used second half to start on Saturday. It would be a good starting point otherwise his latest reflections will stand out as yet another mea culpa which never amounted to anything of substance.
GO BRUINS.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.
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I believe Rag's availability
for Thursday is questionable because of his shoulder injury, so Howland may be forced not to play him, or limit his minutes.
by silverlakebruin on Mar 3, 2010 10:56 AM PST reply actions
If Ben brings Rag in late with the game close
Will it be a Bizarro Willis Reed moment? Like, inexplicably, everyone starts playing like it’s November against Long Beach and Arizona finishes on a 25-0 kick?
One more thing
Anderson was offered early, and accepted and because Ben offered him his stock and rating went through the roof. He received two scholarship offers: Kal and UCLA (and that was at the end of Braun’s tenure when Kal was in a world of hurt)
Hoopscooponline, among others, thought Jerime was a backup player at best, and best suited for the WAC or another lower level conference.
From their website: (there is no permalink, you have to scroll down to December 20)
http://www.hoopscooponline.com/visitors/free-visitors.html
We bring this up, because earlier this week Greg Hicks wrote the following on his web site: “One thing people need to keep in mind is that Anderson was a very good prospect. There’s a reason that every scout with a clue (not to mention numerous coaches across the country) liked him so much out of high school. That he hasn’t developed into the player that everyone thought he would be is on him and the UCLA staff. You don’t see many top prospects that are worse in their sophomore year of college than they were as high school seniors. Whether Anderson can recover and fulfill the promise that he once showed remains to be seen.” First of all, I would like to point out that I have always maintained that Anderson was overrated and that he was never good enough to be more than a good role player for the Bruins. Second, I have stood the test of time in the business (I’ve been publishing the HOOP SCOOP for almost 27 years). I also have been the recruiting analyst for Basketball Times, which is the top monthly basketball publication in the nation, for over 20 years, am a member of the McDonald’s All-American Selection Committee, and have been recognized by numerous publications, including Sports Illustrated, as one of the foremost authorities on high school basketball in the United States. So obviously when Hicks implies that I didn’t have a clue about how good Anderson was in high school, he’s doesn’t know what he’s talking about. As a matter of fact, after watching Anderson score nine points in the semi-finals and 16 points in the Silver Division Championship Game at the Double Pump Best of the Summer High School Boy’s Basketball Tournament at Cal State Dominquez Hills in Carson, CA on July 31, 2007, I told Hicks that I thought he was right about having to watch Anderson play in his high school setting to appreciate him. And this is important, because Anderson was a soft Orange County player who at the time would have been a good fit for a school in the Western Athletic/Mountain West Conference or the mid-major level.
So Howland may want to blame his work effort, but it is just as likely that Howland bet on a guy who was going to be at best a PAC 10 backup.
by silverlakebruin on Mar 3, 2010 11:20 AM PST reply actions
I tend to trust Hick's judgment on recruits
He has had a great track record when it comes to UCLA hoops. Hicks was one of the very first guys to scout Russel Westbrook. I have also heard Kerry Keating who we are all high on, thought highly of Anderson.
The other two options were Larry Drew and Holiday. We got Holiday. Drew is having his own issues. So I am not really going to fault Howland re. Anderson. What I hold him accountable for him though is not living up to the standard he has set since he arrived here. He has always been about defense, intensity and hard work. He hasn’t demanded that from his players and his in-game management from last year and half, establishes that. To me that has been the most disturbing aspect of Howland’s leadership last 12 months.
I think the point about other options is a good one
looks like PG was a weak position in that class across the country, but we needed our PG of the future to come from that class due to the departure of RW and the upcoming departure of DC.
FWIW, a list of PGs from that class (JH was a SG per Scout)
http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=9&c=4&cfg=bb&pid=40&yr=2008
Interesting to see how much the teams who got the supposedly top prospects are doing – Arizona never had a minute of Jennings, but UConn, UCLA and UNC are all struggling this year.
(Not blindly trusting Scout.com’s rankings – just putting them out there for discussion)
SLB – did you have a better idea about who we should have been chasing for the PG position that year, while not being able to promise anything better than backup minutes for the first year? Just curious as to what you saw as the alternative to signing JA at the time.
by britishbruin on Mar 3, 2010 11:57 AM PST up reply actions
The problem for me
Is not going hard after a pg last season and have contingency plan in place after striking out over Gaddy and Snaer.
you think he knew early enough
that freshman JA wasn’t going to turn into a decent PG? When you start trying to close the deal on the kids for the current frosh class , you hadn’t seen much of the current sophs. To really press for a high quality PG in that class he would have had to think that JH was leaving and that JA wasn’t going to cut it (and convince a HS kid of these two things…). Any idea if there were decent PG options uncommitted later in the season (a la when we signed RW late)?
"Contingency plan" does not equal "replacement"
We began this season with ONE real point guard option: Jerime. (God bless Mustafa, but there’s a reason he never even averaged five minutes a game prior to this year; he’s just not that good). There’s no problem at all with simply getting a backup point guard; hell, we had our eyes on guys like Xavier Thames and Jared Cunningham who are currently doing well in backup PG roles for Pac-10 teams. Who knows if Jerime even struggles as much as he does if we have one of those guys breathing down his neck and making him work for his PT? Maybe he becomes what all the scouting reports said he could become.
[reply to a post which seems to have disappeared by N...]
Seem to be two separate points
1 – going hard after a high talent point guard last year
2 – having a contingency plan in place to land a serviceable backup point guard last year
?
I think it might have been difficult to land a high talent point guard last year unless you could convince said guard that JH was definitely leaving early, as no-one is going to want to start off as 3rd choice guard behind JH and JA. Even having one highly touted PG (JA) just one class ahead of you might make you think twice, unless you were sure you would beat him out – which might be clear now but might not have been clear last year.
Having a plan in place to pick up a less-highly-sought-after-backup if JH were to turn pro seems like a sensible plan, if you can convince someone that holding out for an offer from us is a better idea than signing with a mid-major (a la RW). That was why I asked about whether there were any uncommitted PGs late in the recruiting game.
The uncertainty re one-and-done (whether it is our coaches being uncertain about JH staying or going, or whether it is other team’s coaches being able to spin to our target recruits that JH is going to stay and hold down the PG spot with JA backing him up) seems to make it difficult. The ideal scenario for the team was JH returning backed up by JA; the contingency plan was for JA to play point with ML able to play some minutes as required; they did not build in a double contingency plan from the beginning, and were unable – or unwilling – to pick up a lesser PG when it became clear that JH was leaving.
Hmm
I just deleted my own post . Apologies for that. I wasn’t happy with the point I was making and I just wanted you guys to discuss it out. So sorry about that.
no worries
if only I was able to delete the bad points I wish not to have made over the course of the season…
If I recall....
I think part of the problem in constructing a credable back-up plan was that JH jacked CBH and Company around on the draft. JH put one toe in the water and held out the option of withdrawing from the draft at the last moment.
CHB had one hand tied behind his back. He couldn’t go after a PG not knowing he had a scholie to offer. By the time JH declared his intentions, the cupboard was bare of recruits.
JH really did the program a disservice by pulling what he did. He hampered our possible PG recruitment and then he trashed talked the program. I’m glad he’s out of here and riding the pine in Phillie. Hope the cashe was worth it JH!
That's a nice theory
But everyone connected within basketball world that the whole idea of Holiday “testing” waters was a charade. Unless something catastrophic happened (i.e. an injury) Holiday was gone. Only one in basketball world who were surprised were perhaps Howland and his assistant staff.
Really?
Greg’s missed on a few. I don’t think that makes him bad at his job, its an almost impossible task and you are going to miss some, but this is one he missed on big time. I would question how the number 3 PG in the country for Scout (based on Hicks evaluation primarily) garners two scholarship offers total, while being academically qualified and no character or fit issues. There were a lot of people who saw problems in his game transferring to the next level, particularly those who understand the low level of athleticism in Orange County high school baskteball. Greg’s been having to defend his high opinion about Anderson since Anderson’s senior year in high school. There is more than just a work ethic problem here.
Good point on limited Cali options, but we can recruit players from all over, (Bobo, Smith, Luc, Rago, Love, etc),.and after 3 consecutive final fours, you can’t really fall back on I can only recruit in Southern California. You have to be able to develop a national reach at all positions with those kind of results. We misevaluated in 2008 and were comfortable with Anderson. We missed on landing a bigtime PG recruit last year, and appear to have to get a JC guy for 2010 recruiting class as the elite PGs are not giving us a look. With the team looking to be average at best again next year, and going on the road without a home in 2011 while Pauley gets “redone” I am not seeing any stellar recruits coming in to make up for the whole in the PG postion. Hopefully the JC guy can give us two good years while the ship is righted, we can get back to winning and recruit some talent.
by silverlakebruin on Mar 3, 2010 3:29 PM PST up reply actions
I have the same concern about state of recruiting as you do
As for Anderson I want to wait another year before reaching a final conclusion on him. I am sure Hicks might have missed evaluation here and there. It happens as you said. Yet he has earned my trust based on what I have read from him since I started reading his thoughts more than ten years ago. Plus the way he comes down on BRO message board, he makes me look like a softie. :-)
Yes
It’s also confirmation bias. Look at the two schools we beat when ND didn’t play: CSU Bakersfield and Pepperdine, who are now 7-22 and 7-23, respectively. I’m pretty sure that there was something else responsible for those wins other than Drago not playing.
by b d on Mar 3, 2010 1:32 PM PST up reply actions
I wish somebody would just ask CBH straight up about his perceived preferential treatment of Drago. I’d love to hear his reasoning.
Sure hope BNers who will be attending the alumni/coaches even this summer
Ask him about it respectfully but very poignantly (making clear to him how it looked to rest of us).
"He did not make any improvement to his game"
Kind of true. But “he got substantially worse in every single aspect of his game” would be more factual. I don’t know how you explain his shooting percentage falling from 45% to 38%, or his 3-point percentage falling from 38% to 28%, or his rebounds/steals/assists/blocks staying almost exactly the same despite his averaging many more minutes per game. And those are just the numbers; last year I remember him being bad on defense, but not so bad that you thought he had money on the opposing team. This year, you can’t say that. It’s just bizarre. Of course, as you’ve been saying all year, the most bizarre thing of all is that Howland keeps running him out there despite all of the above.
from a statistics perspective
you might think that it is easier to keep shooting percentages high when you are the team’s third or fourth option on a team dominated by seniors with a genuine point guard, rather than someone who launches contested shots with regularity.
However, in the ever-interesting “how well do you shoot the ball from the FT line with no defender present” statistic, his performance dropped significantly as well. Which is just bizarre.
or, rather than 'just bizarre'
“supports your contention that he got substantially worse”
True
And why it’s bizarre is that guys usually don’t just get substantially worse as they get more experience. As far as I know, he didn’t get hurt or screwed up mechanically; I guess the best explanation I can think of is that his whole legal situation was a detriment to him psychologically (in which case, Howland deciding not to suspend him for the year might have been his worst decision of all).
none of our underclassmen can shoot the rock...
…except TH. I’ve never seen RN take a jumpshot, nor Bobo. ML and JA are just terrible from outside 5 feet.
ND effort v. JA's
Please read first: I am not talking about any CBH decision on playing time for ND or JA in this post I am only giving my opinions on effort.
ND got hurt diving for a ball. ND has dived for balls other times this year. ND toughed it out and kept playing when hurt in the OR game. ND has drawn charges and put himself in the way of big men. (Not as often as he should but he has done it)
JA is known for laughing and having a smile on his face, even when he gets burned. I have not seen him dive for a ball once this year. I don’t remember him drawing a single charge. JA has been talking about nagging injuries all year long but missed a session with the trainer which got him benched and was likely part of a larger effort problem
I am saying to me, on the surface, it seems ND has tried harder than JA and has put more effort out than JA.
Again, I am not arguing that ND deserves his minutes, has played smart, tries enough on defense, etc. I am only saying his effort level seems higher than JA’s at time and thus CBH may be justified in singling our JA out over ND.
I have also seen
Rag eff around despite losing. I have also read facebook messages from Rag just laughing and ridiculing about the idea of playing defense. Most importantly his play on the court has been a barrel of laugh on us.
Anderson has been terrible. Rag has been atrocious as a fourth year senior.
I don't know if this appropriate to share
but I work for UCLA Recreation and occasionally we do work at Pauley. One time one of my coworkers was doing some stuff on that legendary court, and Rago was doing a standard drill, shooting a series of balls that had been placed in different positions on the court. After he missed every single one, he picked up the last ball and hurled it, yelling “Come on!” It landed very close to my friend. One of the staff came over, picked up the ball, meekly apologized, and left. My coworker doesn’t even watch basketball, but he knew from there that he didn’t like Rago.
not sure what to make of that
Doesn’t sound like someone who doesn’t care about performance and doesn’t get down on himself when he makes mistakes. Unless you are saying he was shouting “Come on” at some distraction being perpetrated by the work going on?
He doesn't give a rat's ass
His plan all along was to go back to Europe and play pro there. Or, be a cab driver.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
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