Praising Howland: ABC Announcers Take Note Of UCLA Alums Thriving In The NBA

Although in the saem eschelon as the interchangeable professional coaches who scam their ways into college positions, Howland seems to see his role differently.

He trains his players to make it in the pros…those athletes too immature or selfish lose the opportunity to learn how to be a BB professional. I also have to believe that those who never play at a higher level are also prepared to be professionals in their chosen fields.

For those drinkling copious amounts of Howland Haterade, be careful what you ask for…you just might get it. Are you willng to sell the soul of the university for the BB equivalent of Cheaty Carroll? As an alumni, I’m not.

“Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone…”

I like the recent quotes like this; especially on all PGs who have played for CBH at UCLA, including one who should not be named. It is amazing to have that many players playing significant minutes as PG in the pros. With the exception of last year, we were beginning to look like Point Guard U.

The flipside, and it is a downside I am willing to take, is it will mean that we may/will attract some guys who are putting in their time before they can pro. Except DC, all the players above mentioned left early. I am not trying to restart that debate on the merits of each rather just saying these sort of quotes will hopefully help us recruit some great talents but hopefully they will be more like AA than Jrue Holiday. It is up to the coaches to figure that out as well.

“I think it would make a lot of sense if someone from Ben Howland’s staff track this kind of clip and combine them to put together in a web video. It would be a powerful recruiting tool for Howland’s program.”

Good point. In case Dan Guerrero misses this edition, maybe you should send this to him.

…a certain Gatorade POY, one-and-done, thinks the world of himself, but should have stayed in school if he wanted to be a better player. Yep, the pine cheeser Holiday. JH never bought what Howland was selling – -and despite the “he was out of position at the #2” canard, he hasn’t shown that he can be a serviceable 1 or 2, yet anyways. THAT should be as big of a lesson as our stars (LRMAM, DC, RW, KL, AA, TA) making it big – that staying in school learning Howland’s techniques, and contributing more than a flash-in-the-pan.

to the argument “Coach Howland has all these great NBA players come through UCLA and still couldn’t win a title”

This type of clip demonstrates that people who watch and analyze the NBA for a living can see the effect of good college coaching on a player’s NBA performance by looking at the commonalities in the performances by our recent alums.

In my heart of hearts, I do believe CBH has the pure coaching ability and determination to live up to the tradition of UCLA. The question to me at this point is whether he and his staff can sell it to the right recruits – identify the right kids and convince them that it is in their best interests to come to play for the four letters in CBH’s system. Nestor, you are absolutely right that someone in the athletic department should be gathering up this type of media quote and helping us set out our stall.

always was the selling point, the single most potent force behind college recruiting. But nothing opens high schoolers’ eyes these days more than NBA’s mega $$$$. This is a sad, albeit rather pragmatic statement not just about our high school athletes, but our society as a whole. Nothing beats the lure of $$$$. That’s the bottom line. By the same token, if you want good coaches to come, for instance, you can’t get by offering someone relatively average salary packkage either.

player A & B. Yet some can only accomplish one but not both. Carmelo Anthony did it at Syracuse. Going further back now. Remember Michigan’s Fab Five ? They stayed two years and did not win one.

National High school Player of the Year, with multifaceted talents pudits claimed even better than Larry Bird’s. Win or lose, would I stay more than the mandatory limit of one year at an institution with the winningest basketball traditions, strong academics and a coach some say only second to Wooden ?

So what Loyld’s ( may be missplled ) of London heavily underwrites my insurance in the event of a debilitating, career ending injury. I am not really counting on someday retiring handicapped to the exent that I cannot reenroll to finish my undergraduate program.

Yes I grew up enamored of wearing a jersey with those four mythical initials, playing on the hallowed court where, high up in the rafters, eleven banners perpetuate a winning mystique and excellence. But somehow I got to ask myself if these are legitimately compelling reasons for me to remain and not exercise the right to earn the $$$$$$$ guaranteed me even before I ever played my first freshman game ?

In the days long gone by, many scholar athletes would have raised their hands and emphatically said yes. But this is 2010. If there are still kids like that out there, they have to have their brains checked.

Now to translate all that good publicity into recruiting wins and continue on the tradition of these types of players going through the program and less like the last couple of classes, with a few exceptions.