Dan Guerrero Fiddles as NCAA Screws UCLA Women's Basketball Program
by tasser10 on Mar 22, 2011 2:27 PM PDT
in Basketball
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Just when everyone here was "moving on" from the stinging end to men's basketball season in Florida, we experienced a bitter end for another UCLA basketball program this week. Coach Nikki Caldwell and her Bruins gave us a terrific season this year, but it all came to a crashing halt when the no. 3 seeded Bruins went down against no. 11 seeded Gonzaga on the Bulldogs' home court in the second round of this year's tournament.
Gonzaga played a great game. They took it to the Bruins, who did not play their usual stellar, trademark Caldwell defense. There was no question though that hey were buoyed by a rabid home crowd, and a group of referees who might have been affected by that "atmosphere." It happens all the time in basketball games. We are all used to it after experiencing mediocre Pac-10 officials for years.
The disturbing issue here is, where has the UCLA athletic department been in all this? It simply defies logic and common sense that a number 3 seeded UCLA team, which put together one of the best seasons in women's hoops, had to play against the 11 seed on their home court. Coach Caldwell took the classy route and called it "interesting." She could have said lot more but she left it at that. But where was the protest from UCLA AD Athletic Director Dan Guerrero?
Dan Guerrero is not that difficult to spot. We have seen him in the NCAA selection committee in the past. He was showing up in
We understand that Guerrero might not have wanted to ruffle any feathers. He is good buddies with those NCAA bureaucrats. But is it too much to ask from Dan to show a semblance of public leadership and speak up on behalf of student athletes who just got screwed?
When Guerrero does make his public appearances it tends to be a day late and a dollar short. Recently he just looked desperate as the fiasco around the Pauley Center Court made his department look dysfunctional and incompetent.
We appreciate Guerrero running a clean athletic department.
We appreciate Guerrero keeping UCLA in the black during a time of economic crisis.
But leadership should not be limited to just keeping kids out of trouble and balancing the checkbook. Guerrero should know that leadership also requires standing up for student athletes and the broader community he represents.
You can let the NCAA know how you feel about the Bruins getting jobbed by emailing the NCAA Director of Division I Women's Basketball Championship – Tina Krah – at tkrah@ncaa.org.
Send her a note and speak on behalf of Coach Caldwell’s Bruins.
It appears they are not going to get much support from their own athletic director, who is too busy fiddling. Again.
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completely ridiculous
Aside from the issues of our own seeding (not being a #2, being in Stanford’s region, and being sent to Spokane), why does Gonzaga play a home game as an 11 seed? They finished the season ranked #19 in the nation, I know a lot of times rankings aren’t indicative, and by simple math they should be a 5 seed, or maybe dog them down a couple lines for a weak RPI.
Bottom line: This match-up should not have happened in Spokane, and definitely not in the 2nd round of the tournament.
In one of the articles about this, I read that the NCAA actually gave Gonzaga the choice of being seeded lower knowing that they will be playing in Spokane. Nobody agrees that Gonzaga should have been an 11 seed after being ranked in the top 20. The Zags chose to be seeded lower to get the home court advantage. All the NCAA cared about was having sold out crowds for possibly four games.
by R7s7t on Mar 23, 2011 10:08 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Dan Guerrero
is following in the footsteps of his inept predecessor.
We criticize some of our basketball players for being more focused on their future than their present — that’s exactly how I’ve felt about Guerrero for the past few years.
He so wants to be the head of the NCAA that he is not representing us well. Of course, notw that Ethical Pat is his competition, he’ll probably disappear into his “make no waves” role.
In a job that demands strong vision and leadership we have the invisible man.
sjh
I don't know about invisible
but certainly an A+ bureaucrat. He’s excellent at glad-handing donors and schmoozing the regents and chancellor. Supporting athletics? That’s only 98% of the battle.
"Every day was a good day at UCLA." -Coach John Wooden
Gonzaga got the home court/low seed last year too.
And, surprise, surprise! “upset” their way into the Sweet 16!
Looks like we missed the all important negotiation conference call with the selection committee. Sounds like Gonzaga’s on their speed dial.
I can’t remember the last time we didn’t lose our last tournament game to a Host Team. If I recall we’ve now lost to Gonzaga, Nebraska, Purdue, and Minnesota, all on their home courts, in front of sold out arenas.
It's hard for your sport to be taken seriously
When the “reward” for a better season is a true road game against a worse-seeded team.
Can you imagine what the outcry would be if on the men’s side, 2-seeded Florida had to play 7-seeded UCLA at Pauley Pavilion? This is the same thing.
I don't follow women's basketball
but I know with the men there is a rule that a team cannot play on it’s home court. The women should have the same rule. But, of course, I’m sure it all comes down assuring good attendance and money, both of which would have taken a hit should this game have been played on a neutral court. Still, your point on Guerrero’s representation, or lack thereof, is a good one. Something publicly said on UCLA’s behalf was warranted here. They did get screwed, plain and simple.
This was the first year that I've paid any attention to women's basketball, and after I looked at the bracket I couldn't believe what I saw.
It really makes no sense. None.
OT: Our coach is beautiful, win or lose.
by AllHailMightyBruins on Mar 22, 2011 3:34 PM PDT reply actions
That cricket sound coming from our AD's office
I like having an AD who does his magic in the background, kind of the polar opposite to what Garrett was about.
But that doesnt mean we hear nothing from the AD. Dan should log a formal complaint publicly. Show some support to Nikki and the fine year her team had. If nothing else, it will prove that he is at least awake….
by WestlakeVillage Bruin on Mar 22, 2011 3:44 PM PDT reply actions
I would like
to see Guerrero lobby the UCLA administration for more funds to pay assistant coaches. In my opinion this is a big reason our money sports have slipped lately. We have the talent to win. Now we need to develop them.
It's not just the women
In 2009, we had to play Villanova in Philadelphia in the second round, and this year Florida in Tampa. Granted, we didn’t have great seasons, but we shouldn’t be playing a true road game in the second round of the tournament, on the east coast.
Just a sign of life, Mr. Guerrero. Show us you care.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
There's a difference IMO
Our men’s team played Florida in Tampa and Villanova in Philly, but we were seeded much lower than those teams and we didn’t really have any argument to justify keeping us out west. Nova, and especially Florida were rewarded for having superb regular seasons by playing pseudo-home games in the tournament against a lower seed.
For our women’s team this year, there is no excuse. We were a 3 seed. They were an 11 seed. Regardless of ticket sales, there is no justifiable reason why a 3 seed should have to travel to the HOME COURT (not just home town/state) of an 11 seed. If the women’s committee determines that a home court is necessary, then alter the format to mirror the NIT or something, where the lower seed travels to the higher seed’s home court. There should never be an 11 seed with a home court advantage over a 3 seed.
Technically, Spokane Arena is not the Bulldogs' Home Court
McCarthey Athletic Center is Gonzaga’s on-campus arena. That said, Spokane is not a big city and Gonzaga is just about the biggest game in town. Throw in the fact that these two arenas are little more than a mile apart and few would quibble that this was indeed a home game for the Zags.
OT: I graduated high school in Spokane. The people there are generally very conservative, salt-of-the-earth type folks, but they never met a school bond measure they didn’t pass. If you ever want a good cry, go visit a public school in Spokane one day, then come back and compare it to the jail yards that pass for public schools here in Los Angeles. It’s truly mind-boggling what a little money well spent can get you and I’d be willing to bet their per-student expenditure is much less than ours as well.
Technically: Spokane Arena is the site of the regionals (WSU is the host)
And the Kennel was the site of the first two rounds.
Hmmm ... something rotten in the state of Washington?
According to this the game was contested in the Spokane Arena.
It was held at the McCarthey Athletic Center and had Gonzaga written in large letters across the floor.
Not at the Spokane Arena. http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-women/2010-12-19/ticket-information
Go Bruins!
That's what I'm saying
Spokane Arena is site of sweet 16 and elite eight. The Kennel (McCarthey Athletic Center) was site of first two rounds. Unless you’re agreeing with me, then yes.
Villanova
In 2009, Villanova got to play their first two NCAA Tourney games in the Wells Fargo Center. This is the same arena where Villanova played 8 of their home games last season.
I have no problem with a 1, 2, or 3 seed playing near their campus in the NCAA Tournament. UCLA played in San Diego for their first two games of the 2006 NCAA Tourney and in Anaheim for the first two tourney games in ‘08. However, I don’t think ’Nova should have been allowed to play their first two ’09 tournament games at the Wells Fargo Center, since that is their part-time home arena.
+1
No team, no matter what the seed, should be scheduled to play a non-final-four NCAA tournament game in their home town. There are always other options and it’s just plain unfair.
Well hopefully our guys will have that advantage in 2013
The West Regional is at Staples
Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I tweeted my followers to ask which I should take
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Mar 22, 2011 6:38 PM PDT up reply actions
kansas got shafted
as a #1 seed in ’07 having to play a 2-seed (us) in our backyard.
For the men's tournament
There is no protection guaranteed beyond the first weekend and only the top four seeds even get location consideration in the first round. The only rule is against teams playing at sites they are a host, but teams have worked around this by having the conference be the official host (something the Pac-12 needs to start doing). In the second weekend the committee will try to take location into consideration, but seed integrity takes precedence over location.
Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I tweeted my followers to ask which I should take
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Mar 22, 2011 7:22 PM PDT up reply actions
I wouldn't call San Jose
our backyard.
But we did have the overwhelming crowd support, as we did in Oakland in ’06 against Memphis.
Kansas Didnt Get Shafted...
Nowhere near the same thing…. That was a late round game, a #1 vs. #2 and not in our backyard….some 400 miles away.
This was a 2nd round game, a #3 vs. #11 and their court is either their home court or at most 10 miles from their home court, in what essentially is a one-horse/University town.
That said…you have to love the interest in our Women’s B-Ball team….
Hate to think it was because our coach is flat out stunning, so I am going with school pride…
by WestlakeVillage Bruin on Mar 23, 2011 12:48 PM PDT up reply actions
What the.....
UCLA, Arizona, Washington and the Lady Bruins allgot screwed. Wake up Pac-10 Commish!
DG is an easy target, but why did the selection committee allow this?
I’m looking at the women’s bracket scheduling for each sub-regional . . .
PHILADELPHIA Region
- Seed UConn is hosting at Storrs, CT.
- Seed Maryland is hosting at College Park, MD.
- Seed DePaul travels to Uni Park, PA hosted by #6 Penn St.DePaul barely beats PSU and advances.
- Seed Duke is hosting in Durham, NC.
DAYTON Region - Seed Tennessee is hosting in Knoxville, TN.
- Seed Ohio State is hosting in Columbus, OH.
- Miami travels to Charlottesville, VA hosted by #11 Seed James Madison. Miami loses to #6 Seed Oklahoma.
- Seed Notre Dame travels to SLC, Utah hosted by #15 Seed Utah.Notre Dame beats UTAH and moves on.
DALLAS Region - Seed Baylor is hosting in Waco, TX.
- Seed Michigan State travels to Wichita, KS but there are no local teams in that sub-region.MSU barely survives #12 Seed UNI in first round and is trailing #5 Seed Green Bay as I type this.
- Seed Florida State travels to Auburn Alabama hosted by #14 Seed Samford.Its a short trip and FSU appears to be moving on as I type this.
- Seed Texas A&M travels to Shreveport, LA hosted by #10 Seed LA Tech.LA Tech loses in first round and it appears Texas A&M will move on.
SPOKANE Region - Seed Stanford is hosting at Stanford.
- Seed Xavier is hosting in Cincinnati, and LOST.
- Seed Kentucky travels to Albuquerque, NM but there are no local teams in that sub-region.Kentucky loses in second round to #5 Seed UNC.
In summation, of the 16 Top 4 Seeds, 8 teams are hosting the first two rounds, including 2 #4 seeds. Of those 8, 6 are moving on to the Sweet 16. Of the remaining 8 Top 4 Seeds, 2 teams are playing very close to home and another 2 are playing in sub-regions that are not being hosted by potential opponents. Only #2 ND, #3 UCLA, #3 Miami and #3 Depaul had to travel large distances to play hostile opponents. UCLA and Miami lost, and DePaul barely survived.
Oh, and by the way, the four #11 seeds are Gonzaga (hosting at 28-4 and on a 18 game win streak at the beginning of the tourney), Middle Tennessee (23-7), James Madison (26-7) and Dayton (21-11).
It's all about the Benjamins.
The NCAA wants to ensure a certain number of seats will be sold, so once the sites are determined, there was no way Gonzaga was not going to stay in that region, just to ensure local fans would show up.
I’d be OK with this financial arrangement if this were done to help the higher seed, as a way to reward teams for having a good regular season, and for an extra incentive to get one of those top 4 seeds.
The women’s NCAA Tournament also has that stupid rule that the men’s doesn’t have about travel, which is why we ended up in Stanford’s regional, and Texas A&M ended up as the #2 seed in #1 seed Baylor’s regional. That’s also a crappy way to reward a conference’s top teams, by ensuring there’s no way the Final Four can have both schools representing. This rule also needs to change if women’s basketball wants to be taken seriously as a sport.
by BruinKid on Mar 22, 2011 9:10 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Yes, yes,yes!!!!
We can discuss the obvious flaws in teams getting a leg-up via “neutral” sites, but the reality is that site decisions always have been about the money and will always be about the money attracted by geographically-centric cash-spending fans.
The actual worst upshot of the UCLA-Gonzo game would be if it sours Nikki Caldwell on the long-term support she can expect at UCLA. Ms. C. is the closest UCLA has in a coach who can establish a long-tenured, upper-eschelon basketball program and bring home a national championship. (No disrespect meant to CBH, but the men’s program in a sport that is ostensibly a NBA quasi-minor league, hurts his chances year-after-year when having to deal with some players’ immaturity and ego, as well as their blood-sucking family and friends).
It’s difficult to determine from here if it’s being done, but CNC should be positioned by UCLA as the greatest media darling in the greatest media center in the world. It’s remarkable for me as an alumni working in marketing on the other side of the country that CNC isn’t “branded” as an examplar of UCLA intelligence and coaching ability. With her charisma and physical beauty, she is the perfect “model” of 21st century boosterism (not meant pejoratively), considering the quacks and hacks in similar men’s game roles elsewhere that are accorded such esteem.
Coack Nikki….PLEASE STAY IN WESTWOOD TO BUILD THE WOMAN’S TEAM INTO A PERENNIAL TOP 10 TEAM!
by C.T. in Boston on Mar 23, 2011 2:29 PM PDT up reply actions
Exactly
I don’t blame Dan Guerrero too much in this one. Should the rule be changed? Yes. But it’s not as if UCLA was singled out purposely, it’s just how the chips fell.
It's not about blaming Guerrero
it’s about getting him to stand up for our programs in a vocal manner without sounding like a whiner. He needs to show that he has his teams’ best interests at heart. Of course it is not his fault, we don’t expect him to make the committee change the seedings, but to point out the injustice done to a team that had a great season.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
Something else that might help
I’m fairly sure Larry Scott was there at both of our games this weekend. Hopefully he can be another powerful voice with the NCAA about how ridiculous this situation was.
Hey Guerrero, do you want to keep Coach Caldwell in Westwood?
The greatest basketball coach in the world not named Wooden is Pat Summitt, Coach Caldwell’s coach and mentor at Tennessee. If and when she decides to leave, who do you think will be a the top of their list as a replacement?
Or what if UConn or Stanford or Baylor or Duke or any other perennial top women’s teams needs a new coach?
Now what is Coach Caldwell going to think about when she gets a bigger $$ offer from a bigger name program with an AD with a track record of making women’s basketball a priority? Is she going to chose the lesser paying, lesser profile program, that rolled over and did nothing when her team get the gigantic screw from the NCAA? Or might she consider a better situation elsewhere?
This is partly about not letting U.C.L.A. get screwed (again). This is also about showing a committment to a fantastic young coach, and showing her that the administration will do everything it can to support her and keep her in Westwood.
greg in denver, UCLA guy for life - BruinsNation.com
by gbruin on Mar 23, 2011 7:25 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
And all the LSU AD needs to tell her is...
I will never let you play a road game in the tourney to a team seeded 8 spots lower than you.
Deal. Gonzo.
greg in denver, UCLA guy for life - BruinsNation.com
Maybe Dan will read this
if we stick it in his stack of TPS reports.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
everyone knows that Nikki Caldwell is using UCLA as a training platform to prepare for her future when Summit eventually retires. so let’s do the best we can while she’s here.
as for the seeding and location for the first 2 rounds, it was ridiculous to have to play far away while Montana (14 seed) and Gonzaga (11 seed) got to play near home while we were a 3 seed.
"Everyone knows"?
What are you talking about? Do you have quotes? If not, don’t use your opinion to start rumors. Thank you.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
Everyone doesn't "know" that
but we would be right to worry.
Which is why Guerero and the admin, and the fan base by the way, need to do everything they can to show Coach Caldwell they will support her 1,000% and make her want to stay in Westwood.
greg in denver, UCLA guy for life - BruinsNation.com
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