"I mean, I saw some guys that really fought and some others that were not all there. No team can win like that."
[Jay] Bilas pointed to senior guard Jerime Anderson leaving the Lahaina Civic Center court in tears after UCLA's 79-63 loss to Michigan on Wednesday as a sign of the type of character the Bruins (1-4) needed to reverse their worst start in 24 years.
But Bilas questioned the conditioning efforts of center Joshua Smith and said Reeves Nelson's suspensions that sidelined the forward for 11/2 games have hurt a frontcourt that has failed to measure up to lofty preseason expectations.
"I expected that Smith was going to come back more prepared than last year; he's less prepared," Bilas said of the 6-foot-10, 315-pound [Smith mostly likely weighs somewhere around 370-380lbs. - Ed.] sophomore, who had 12 points but six turnovers against the Wolverines. "He was a net loss with the turnovers, the buckets he was giving up because he really couldn't keep up defensively. It negated every point that he scored."
6 months ago
Nestor
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So irritating to read this, no excuse for lack of effort and/or conditioning. Some of these student-athletes need to show some personal pride.
I agree with Bilas on his view of the program.
It is hard to watch Smith right now he is has so much potential to be a lottery pick he needs to get himself in shape if he wants the money.
by Seahawcla on Nov 24, 2011 5:53 PM PST via mobile reply actions
This absolutely fits with everything I suspected
It isn’t necessarily Howland’s playbook that’s the problem. It’s the obvious reluctance/refusal of this team to execute.
What I don’t get is why. Why is it that Howland’s lost all control? Is it the mindset of the players? I mean, fundamentally, are Farmar & Aflallo that different from Holiday & Gordon? Or is it something else? I don’t buy the “Howland’s a jerk” or “Howland isn’t a nice guy” line of thinking. I mean, Lavin was definitely a nice guy but an awful coach.
So what is it? It has to be the favoritism. Dragovic and Holiday spent a whole season bucking the system and were rewarded for it. So what motivation do Nelson, Smith, and others have to buy into the system? Nevermind that it works — if Howland himself won’t enforce anything, what’s the point?
by indigo27 on Nov 24, 2011 7:22 PM PST via mobile reply actions
From my perspective being a "jerk" ...
It includes playing favorites and as a result screwing around with careers of players.
Yeah, that's what I was getting at
by indigo27 on Nov 24, 2011 8:21 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
Yeah, there is a very succinct difference between a jerk and a hard-ass.
Howland has clearly crossed that line, judging by the body language and energy given by the team every minute it is on and off the court.
"I have one word for you...Be careful."
-Jose Guillen
If I were Howland . . .
I sit Josh Smith and only play Stover and Lane. While the team practices, Smith would run gassers. I would let him know in no uncertain terms that when he is down to the previously agreed weight and shape, he can expect to play.
And, yes, even if that means next year. In the NBA.
I’m clueless as how to fix Nelson or Jones. I really thought Zeek was one of the better players we had last year. I can only hope this slump of his is only a slump and he soon breaks out of it.
Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. ~ Vince Lombardi
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