UCLA's NIT Chances Fade With 75-68 Loss At Oregon
by Tydides on Jan 21, 2012 3:35 PM PST
in Basketball
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PrintUCLA's season long flirtation with .500 ball continues. At 9-9 against Division 1 teams and 3-4 in conference, the Bruins are officially mediocre. The worst part is that the team had figured out a blueprint for success and completely ignored it down the stretch and Oregon seized advantage and sent the Bruins home once again without a conference road victory (box score).
The first half was an impressive rebound from Thursday's defenseless debacle. UCLA held Oregon to 23% shooting in the half and were efficient everywhere but the free throw line and where Joshua Smith was involved. The most impressive player of the first half was Anthony Stover, who despite not having the big numbers in the box score was an intimidating force in the middle, freeing our perimeter players to gamble a little more and not have to help in the post. Stover tallied 3 blocks before halftime playing extended meaningful minutes with Smith's foul trouble. The rest of the team besides Smith did their parts offensively, and the Wears even impressed with their effort on the defensive glass. It looked like a healthy mix of Stover, three guards, and a Wear would be enough to carry the 13 point halftime lead to the end.
Of course, things are never that simple for UCLA basketball. Oregon deployed a full court press that our backcourt looked unprepared for, resulting in numerous turnovers and bad decisions. The first half MVP Stover? You'd be hard pressed to find him in the second half until Howland got desperate late in the game. It took all of 4 minutes for the Ducks to erase the halftime deficit. It boggles the mind how many chances Smith gets despite looking completely ineffective and uninterested in the game. Smith being in pushes Howland to bring in both Wears, which inevitably means a return to the failed David Wear at 3 experiment. Oregon's EJ Singler, who had just 6 points at halftime ended up with a career high 26, and he began heating up against Wear.
If this was the first headscratching substitution pattern we had seen out of this team it would be one thing. But I don't think it's much of a stretch to conclude that the 51 second half points had a strong correlation with removing an active and intimidating defensive presence like Anthony Stover in favor of the Smith + 2 Wears or 3 Guard + 2 Wears lineups. Without a true interior presence to keep opponents honest, Oregon had 10 offensive rebounds after halftime and the Wears looked overmatched against a board crashing Duck team. This failure is about substitution patterns and personnel management. Again. And it's even more obvious because we saw the difference within the same game against the same opponent.
It is sad that none of this even seems remotely surprising. This is what this team and this program have become. It is our identity now. A below average program in a way below average conference.
Next up is Utah at home, a game that we should win handily, and that will surely have the more delusional among us - the HOWLERS (tm) - convinced that things will be better down the stretch. Unfortunately, the problems with this program are far deeper than that and we're beginning to see exactly how deep every time this team collapses down the stretch. This whole season certainly has a "swan song" type of feel to it.
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Josh Smith should be ashamed of himself . . . and now we'll be stuck with him for another year
MIN FGM-A FTM-A OREB REB TO PF PTS
Joshua Smith, C 12 1-3 4-6 2 3 4 4 6
Josh Smith
Has he never heard of the word “Hustle”? I want to scream when I see him continuously Walk down the court, no drive, not working in the paint at all. It’s like he thinks just standing there will get the job done on either end of the court.
by Bruin_jim on Jan 21, 2012 3:56 PM PST via Android app up reply actions
Time for more addition by subtraction.
by Seth Chandler on Jan 21, 2012 4:13 PM PST up reply actions
Very true
I don’t know if I would kick him off the team but I would not play him another minute or allow him to practice with the team until his weight is down and his desire is up to the standards that UCLA ( and his teammates) deserve.
WIthout the arrogance
Not a fair comparison.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
The delusional among us
Let’s call them what they are ... HOWLERS [Keep Howling! OMGZ 3 Final-4s!!! Let’s be “patient” with him … forever].
had to come back...
to second this motion. The one thing DG has done well is hire coaches that have names easily ascribable to their respective fans. Neubs, Dorrellistas, now Howlers. Sounds great to me!
Get ready to read it relentlessly on BN
I can’t wait to read Chianti Dan’s “word from Westwood” in which he will be howling about our dysfunctional, joke of a hoops program.
Great analysis
Tydides- thanks for being objective when it would be so easy to be torn up about the latest exercise in futility.
Marques Johnson is certainly annoying, but he did hit the nail on the head when he said that the next 2 games are not home games on $C’s campus in front of 3500 fans (not sure if that was for each game, or with the way things are going, both games combined).
This is starting to look a lot like the last RN year in football. Win a game here or there, and the backers call for more time. Meanwhile, the rest of us who know where the program(s) should be, and there is no confidence that we can get there with the current coach.
It is now the same in basketball. “Wait- we can still win the conference tourney, and get into the NCAA tourney”. BFD !!!%#$&% That has not been UCLA’s standard in the past, and it should not be UCLA’s standard now.
Awe man, UCLA's NIT chances are fading!
We shouldn’t care about the NIT. We should be caring about the NCAA tournament and reaching the Final Four! Screw the NIT, UCLA should be above the NIT and never should be considered for it.
I can’t stand watching this team play and watching Howland continuously call a timeout when we are on a run and then not having them when the need them most! I can go on about Howland, but not continue my rant about him. All in all, UCLA should be a juggernaut and have to even worry about a sorry ass team like Oregon!
by Trojanswearskirts on Jan 21, 2012 3:55 PM PST reply actions
Clock is still ticking Ben.....
And time unfortunately, doesn’t seem to be on your side.
Tick-tock, tick-tock.
Go Bruins!
It has to be over
Hopefully Guerrero will have the courage to pull the plug and not cost us either Anderson or Adams. But, even if it does, it has to be over.
Is it common in college hoops for coaches to get fired midseason?
It happens quite frequently in CFB…
Any thoughts?
by UCLA_beer&mathematics on Jan 21, 2012 4:59 PM PST up reply actions
I hope you're right about Howland being a lame duck.
His final fours seem to have bought him more slack than I think he deserves.
Is that the clock in the side bar?
The one counting time since the last conference title? The one that keeps on going and going?
greg in denver, U.C.L.A. guy for life - BruinsNation.com
Howland must go.
this program is disgraceful. today’s debacle was a microcosm of the season - poor decision-making; the wrong players on the floor; poor coaching; lack of execution of the
fundamentals…………
I keep thinking of what one of the U of Texas players said, after their second-half rally. He said that during halftime, Coach Barnes told them to “hang in there, that UCLA was not tough, and they would give up.” of course, Coach Barnes was correct. what a damning indictment!
I don’t want to ever hear again about how Ben Howland took the Bruins to 3 final 4s -
I might add, he should have won at least 1 if not 2 championships.
Coach Howland is stubborn; he alienates his players; he shows blatant favoritism; he has time and again failed to recruit point guards.
I see nothing but negatives for both Coach Howland, and this program.
Jeremy Pick
by wesparker28 on Jan 21, 2012 4:15 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
Fantastic summary of a dismal game
I don’t have anything to add. To the last person who leaves this party, don’t forget to turn out the lights.
This one is on the coach
I agree with dc. We showed in the first half we have the talent and players that could win the game. In the second half we went 2 wears and smith. Got taken off the dribble by slow players like sims and singler. Pathetic 2nd half. Wears are both nice players but one at a time is the best lineup. Have similar strengths and weaknesses. We need to play for the future – Powell though not neccesorily a star should play over JA or zeek if we are looking to next year. Stover needs to play more.
by realfabfive on Jan 21, 2012 4:19 PM PST via mobile reply actions
This one is on the coach
I agree with dc. We showed in the first half we have the talent and players that could win the game. In the second half we went 2 wears and smith. Got taken off the dribble by slow players like sims and singler. Pathetic 2nd half. Wears are both nice players but one at a time is the best lineup. Have similar strengths and weaknesses. We need to play for the future – Powell though not neccesorily a star should play over JA or zeek if we are looking to next year. Stover needs to play more.
by realfabfive on Jan 21, 2012 4:19 PM PST via mobile reply actions
this one?
i think if you look at our losses, 80% of them are on CBH because they are to less talented teams. If we lost to the Beavs and the Ducks because they had more talent, that’s one thing, but we are being plain and simply outcoached. I don’t know about this “play for the future” that I have been hearing about often though. I think you have to play to win, not “play for next year” or “play to get guys ready for the NBA.”
Smith is single handidly killing us... Howland is to Blame too!
Smith needs a treadmill at his dorm in class at practice and during games… No playing basketball until you lose 20-30lbs! All the talent to be wasted on a lazy person!
Letstoverplay.com!
by UCLAman7 on Jan 21, 2012 4:27 PM PST via mobile reply actions
Bingo
All the talent to be wasted on a lazy person
How can Howland allow this kid to ruin himself like he has? I’m floored that nobody has put Smith on a nutritionist-monitored weight program . . . if nothing else than to keep this guy alive.
Joshua Smith
The bottom line, as I’ve said before, is that Joshua Smith is not an athlete. He is worse than pathetic. He shouldn’t even be able to play unless the game is out of reach for the other team or for UCLA. It is sheer folly to think that he can play in division one.
Hey guys
Let’s not have personal attacks on our student athletes. Let’s stay away from that. Smith has been excruciatingly disappointing but he hasn’t gotten good coaching and leadership since he came to UCLA. Thanks.
+1
Please don’t attack Smith. He’s one of us and although he may not have lived up to expectations so far, its not cool to call him names or attack him. He’s a Bruin through and through and that should warrant respect. He is no Reeves or Drew.
Dump Dan!
by bruinclassof10 on Jan 21, 2012 10:07 PM PST up reply actions
+1
And not just because I am a lot more worried about his head then his stomach.
Joshua Smith.... comments
Right on! I have been saying this all long , but I was treated as idiot and biased by someone in this forum. I have nothing personal against Smith.. In fact as a person he seems to be a likeable person. After watching him the first time during the Macdonald all American High school game, I could not understand what was the interest in him. During the time he was in, he just stood around on both end of the floor with absolutely no energy and/or determination ..
You got treated like an idiot
For saying he was useless last year. This is completely untrue. We would not have been counting on him this year if that were the case. Don’t try and revise history, because we remember these things far better than you do.
IT'S OVER!
CBH’s run at U.C.L.A. is soooo over!
by UCLA_beer&mathematics on Jan 21, 2012 5:02 PM PST reply actions
Pull the trigger, Donut Dan!
Unfortunately I don’t see him pulling it, he doesn’t have the guts!
by Trojanswearskirts on Jan 21, 2012 5:06 PM PST reply actions
I give up
I thought it was only fair to give Howland a chance to get through this season of all away games and have one more season at Pauley as his last chance.
But you can’t have two seasons in three years like he’s had.
You can’t lose player after player.
You can’t put players on the floor who make mistakes, who are out of shape, who can’t handle the basics.
You can’t blow big leads, can’t constantly misjudge your talent, can’t keep leaving better talent on the bench than is on the floor.
Enough.
We’re embarrassing the tradition. That can’t continue.
Yes, it's not the losses. It's the egregiously bad decisions.
Decisions we can all see happening. No coach in his right mind would say, “We blew them out in the first half, looks like I’d better put different players on the floor for the second half.”
by Seth Chandler on Jan 21, 2012 5:25 PM PST up reply actions
Little good news ...
Women’s water polo:
defeated Colorado State in Ann Arbor, Mich., 9-3
defeated Indiana Ann in Arbor, Mich., 10-5
This will be the subject matter for DG's "blog" next installment
I can save him and his readers the trouble-
“Dan- how can so many of UCLA’s teams be so good? Take for example Women’s Water Polo, and their domination in Ann Arbor.”
“I am glad that you asked that. Some people might think that the results reflect hard work, dedication, and talent. That is sooo wrong. The results reflect my leadership.”
“Dan- another question. How about Women’s Basketball, which lost by 21 at home (and I do mean on campus) to an Oregon team which was tied for last place in the conference before that game?”
“I’m sorry. We are out of time. I am completely in favor of a complete and frank discussion with respect to any aspect of UCLA athletics, as long as it is one question hand-picked by me.”
LOL
The results are a direct result of me “strapping it on.” All of those recruits? Straps. Our women’s water polo teams? Straps.
Dump Dan!
by bruinclassof10 on Jan 21, 2012 10:08 PM PST up reply actions
Lay off the Women's BB team ... they lost a talent from graduation and then...
… they had 2 best players (from not a deeply talented roster) go down for the season. They are purely in survival mode with what’s left to put on the court. You should read an excellent fanpost on this site to understand where I’m coming from.
My parody was more about DG's reaction when teams win and when they lose
His bio takes full credit for NCAA championships, and doesn’t mention a word about sports which have fallen off the cliff.
I have no doubt that the remaining players are working hard. They are dedicated to the school and their teammates, and I wish them well.
DG can not be held responsible for season ending injuries. But he can be held responsible for the head coach. It is his hire.
This is not to say that Close won’t be a good coach. Maybe she will. But we already had a good/great coach. After the Olivier era, we had a breath of fresh air with Nikki Caldwell. And what happens? DG lets her get away.
No doubt DG considered that to be inevitable, and we couldn’t possibly match LSU’s offer. My question is why not? If we want to compete at the top (and why shouldn’t we in women’s basketball), then we need to pay.
We need to get rid of DG and his bloated salary. If that frees up funds so that we can retain top coaches like Caldwell, so much the better.
Again, nothing against the individual women’s basketball players. Everything against DG.
Check out Stover's FB post
It says it all….she should have played major mins in 2nd half….Smith, aka P Diddy Reese, needs to sit
Howland can never leave well enough alone.
Bill Walton tells a story about the championship game against Memphis State in which he made 21 out of 22 shots. The Bruins had been running the same play and scoring on it about six times in a row:
“We were running the same play over and over and so, during one of the timeouts, Greg Lee looked over at the coach and looked all around at us and said, ‘Hey coach. Bill is shooting every time down, he’s got a ton of points, we’re up by 25 already, could we run another play?’ Coach Wooden looked at Greg, looked at all of us and said, ‘Why?’”
The whole clip is worth watching, but the story comes at about 1.45 in:
http://youtu.be/TUiJ7CAN15A
We were up by 13 at the half, doing everything right. Why change?
RIP Joe Pa.....
….your pain is over. Condolences to his wife and family as well as PSU students and alumni.
Missed the Game -- Thank Goodness
Here’s what I take from the box score: they have 18 more points at the free throw lane. They were 28-32 for more than 80% and we were 10-21, less than 50%. They got a lot more shots and made them. Game over.
My uneducated take: we must have played bad D and fouled a lot to stop shots. They are fundamentally sound and make ft’s, we are fundamentally weak and miss.
We outshot them, out rebounded them and had 2 more turnovers.
If I had not seen this team play so poorly, I’d look at the box score and not understand how we lost. Having watched us all season, from reading this thread, I get it.
Were the fouls on Josh legit calls? Or just “he’s big” fouls? He had 4 TO’s — bad passes, dropping the ball? He used to be sure handed and a very good passer.
FWIW — I have been a big Stover fan all year, would play him instead of Smith and play one Wear at a time. Seems that worked.
Glad I decided to walk the beach with friends. This game would have killed me.
sjh
As usual, Josh was a nonfactor, foul trouble or not
He played 12 uninspiring minutes of flopping and sweating profusely somehow, while making a single field goal . . . ONE. He did have 4 turnovers and 3 rebounds though. Kid is ruining his future
Take the beach any time
At least our basketball team makes it easy to make plans on the weekend. There is nothing to miss.
Honestly
As we have mentioned repeatedly no one should be showing up at UCLA athletics events or $upport it until Chianti is gone.
by Nestor on Jan 21, 2012 6:56 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
It used to kill me to miss a game
I’d be really upset when I could not see one. Would cheat at seminars and watch on my phone (like that tv commercial), or call someone to give me play by play over the phone, or follow the threads.
Now, I’m actually a lot more peaceful — I don’t have that drive to support a program or culture that does not give a shit or support its fans. I’ve been a Bruin since 1962, a fan since before that — and I have finally reached my disconnect point.
I’ve not given a penny to UCLA since last year, have written the Chancellor, called his office — and never gotten a response.
I’m beginning to learn that there is life out there on Thurs and Sats and that I’m not obligated, by loyalty, to suffer bad performances. I walk out on bad movies and concerts — I don’t have to sit through this OR support it financially.
Strap On has to go BEFORE he gets a chance to hire another coach. And, Block really must go — for tolerating failure in an important part of UCLA’s mission. He would not tolerate this in any other department in the university.
Go Niners!
sjh
I don't care about Howland's program at this point
Only watch it in the same people check out a trainwreck. His time at UCLA is done. He is a lameduck coach from hereon out.
by Nestor on Jan 21, 2012 8:38 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
Was at the game...
Attended my first game at the Matt Knight and echo all of the comments that the is the end for CBH. We were surrounded by sympathetic Duck fans (I HATE it when an opposing fan feels sorry for U.C.L.A.) and even they were shocked at our collapse.
Sitting behind the bench, Ben looked lost at several moments and around the five minute mark, I could really sense that he knew that either the team would turn it around and pull out the game/season or the whole thing was going off the cliff (with his career). The somewhat shocking thing is that he knew which players ought to be on the floor and failed to implement.
The weird substitutions, Josh’s lack of interst on playing hard and eliminating dumb fouls, the horrific free throw shooting…argh!
Hopefully D wear is OK (he mouthed to someone sitting behind him that he couldn’t put any weight on his knee).
Hanging in Eugene tonight surrounded by Duck fans aglow in delight over their team’s rise I can only recall the dominant U.C.L.A. teams of the past. And that’s an unacceptable state for our Univerisity.
game over
time to hit reset on the hoops program.
by Strathmore&Gayley on Jan 21, 2012 6:42 PM PST reply actions
Question: Who would you have starting and playing for us?
Looking at the entire team lineup, who on this team has earned the right to play and for how many minutes?
Norman Powell has spurts of greatness, but is SO raw in other respects. Same with Tyler. On Thursday, he looked like a lost lamb amongst wolves (OK, Beavers). Stover plays great defense, hustles all the time but doesn’t seem to have any offense. Joshua is out of shape and seems to have zero passion for the game. The Wear twins seem to put it all on the floor, but they’re just not top tier players. Zeke? Jerime? Go through the entire team and help me understand how we could have a better group playing? We don’t seem to have anyone who can consistently even make Free Throws. Maybe I’d get someone from the women’s team to teach (and shame) them on making free throws.
Call me a Howler if you wish, but I just don’t see how he’s got much material to work with right now. More “discipline”? A hypno-therapist? What would it take to turn this group of young men around? What do you do when your ‘main guy’ in the middle can’t jump, and his main replacement can’t score? Yeah, yeah, I know about the recruiting problems and the early departures, but I’m more interested in what this or any other coach and this team could do to turn things around.
The fact that Howland failed to utilize Mike Moser is reason enough to can him.
He lost other guys early to the NBA, to transfers, to guys that enrolled but never played, to Reeves “Me-me-me-me” Nelson and Drew “Its about me and not you” Gordon, but Mike Moser epitomizes Howland’s failure. He was a good kid . . . Howland wouldn’t play him and granted his release . . . and now he (and UCLA transfer Chace Stanback) are blowing up for a really good UNLV team. Finally, if you were Shabazz, why would you play for Howland?
Don't forget
Failure to recruit a true pg for 4 years. That’s just one example. Of course right now the focus should be on getting Chianti canned first. Get Chianti out, bring in a new AD who can hire the new coach.
by Nestor on Jan 21, 2012 8:35 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
I felt that way about the football coach too.
But we went ahead and hired a new one anyway in a very disfunctional way.
I am not sure Howland can develop players on offense.
When Moser left, I wasn’t too upset. I thought he deserved more mins to try out, but honestly, they guy looked pretty lost on offense when he was out there. Now, it is becoming clear that players just really don’t look comfortable on offense under Howland; Lamb scored 26 and now looks too scared to take a shot? Smith has undoubtedly regressed on O, even taking the weight out of the equation. Stover is living totally on defense, even in his third year in the program, if he has a chance to develop even a little on offense he could play in the NBA. RW seems to be the only example of a CBH player who progressed, but how much of that was just growing into his body?
Agree, probably only thing I would do, is start playing for next year
Which means starting Powell, allowing him to play through the rough patches and developing Stover, by giving him more P.T. No matter whatever is said, Howland is not going anywhere, at least not for another year. He will be given the opportunity to see if he can right the ship, with a couple of new recruits already signed, and a few more good players still considering UCLA, it’s a good probability, not just wishful thinking, we will be back as a force next year.
Its as much as pipe dream as
Neubs talking about contending for Pac12 championships.
by Nestor on Jan 21, 2012 8:40 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
Apples and Oranges
A couple of good players, surrounded by decent players, can carry you a long way in basketball. Football is a whole differerent story. As I said, Howland has next year to turn things around, if he doesn’t, it won’t just be a few hundred folks on this site, asking for his job, but the majority of Alumni and boosters. He is a smart guy, he knows the expectations.
Yeah, cuz, you know,
the last 4 years he’s really shown how good he is at turning things around. Just go back and try to find as bad a 4-year stretch in UCLA’s history as Howland has had. These ain’t his first 4 years either. It’s gotten away from him…
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
I agree that Power and Stover should be getting more PT. And I'd bench Smith until he loses weight OR
shows some fiery spirit. Being big just isn’t enough in D1.
The Wears ......
…. cannot make the medium range shot jumper because of their straight line ball shot release . In addition they lack that explosive vertical leaping ability on rebounds
Easy on Lineup
I wrote before the game that Powell and Stover needed to play more. Howland said David Wear never should play 3 again yet there he was at 3 after we were up by 8 and the lead disappeared.
Also, why the heck have Jerime bring the ball up. He is not good under pressure like that. We needed Jones against a press.
So more Powell Stover, no Wear at 3 and less Jerime against a press.
Don't know why
I stay up late once I finally get a chance to watch on the DVR uninterrupted. I could be having dreams instead of watching nightmares. Seriously think I’m done bothering to watch late games – and they’re pretty much all late games out here.
Roses are red, violets are blue...f*** $C.
I don't even watch the day games
I’d rather watch Dora with my daughter.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
Darn
Was hoping for a duck hunt, but they’re doing surprisingly well this year.
I'm interested to see if DG has a big involvement in both FB and BB
He’s shown a knack of meddling his hands in the football program, tieing RN’s hands with assistant coaches RN didn’t pick. I wonder what involvement he’s had with baseball, in addition to the poor Poly renovation progress. I’m also hesitant in blaming Howland completely for the quality of this season so far. Home games have been away, and away games have been a complete collapse. Whatever happens to Howland by the end of the season, I expect institutional change before the season ends, and that means Dan must go. UCLA should not have the highest paid AD in the PAC-12 be at the helm of two revinue program that’s had 4 straight years of medioricity.
by wingsabre on Jan 22, 2012 1:26 AM PST via mobile reply actions
UCLA guards could not handle the Oregon full cout press ...
… to start the second half. Questions and answers:
1. What is wrong with this picture? Everything.
2. Is this the sign of the apocalypse for CBH? Yes.
3. Could there be anything more shameful for the program of Coach? No.
4. Have we become the modern versions of the hapless Michigan and Duke teams in the Final Four of our first basketball NC? Obviously not: we won’t make it to the NIT even.
5. Can it get any worse? Ummm. Yeah.
6. Is the time for excuses over? Yeah.
7. Have you seen the Cal game? Hey, Dufus, we got creamed in basketball!
UCLA Basketball Sucks...
After the Maui Invitational I decided not to watch UCLA hoops until UCLA in general showed us the alums, and fans some respect by doing things right. I was only reading BN for updates and reading everyone’s comments (yes i read them all and find them very entertaining and insightful and i would comment but they have been posted like 5 hrs earlier so most likely no one will respond anyways) However, today I was home alone with nothing better to do so I turned on the TV and flipped through the channels and found the UCLA game. The first half, I think Oregon was so crappy it made Howland and UCLA look like they knew what they were doing on the court. Second half, Oregon made a few shots without playing well and in the end defeated UCLA. I could write forever like many of my fellow Bruins have done about our problems, but to me it’s plain simple we don’t have talent nor the athleticism to hide the lack of talent. Also, judging by his attitude in the few games i have watched this season, I get the impression that Josh Smith along with some of the other players are annoyed with Howland and I can almost put my money on that Josh Smith will leave this season for the NBA because he has some sort of skills and would provide “competitive 6 fouls.” It just seems like players don’t find joy in playing for Howland and if this is true then i also think if this kid Shabbaz is in its right state of mind he would pick another school and not UCLA. I have seen some YouTube videos on Shabbaz and quite frankly this kid is not the type of player Howland gets. Usually, those types of players are recruited by Calipari or Roy Williams but not Howland. Honestly, can anyone see Shabbaz playing in an offensive scheme so slow, boring and unexciting with this kids abilities? Furthermore, I think that LA Times article is crap about how Howland ball gets you drafted and prepares you for the NBA, if that’s the case then the one and done expert, Calipari should get an article on how he gets these one and done’s to play as an exciting, dynamic, and fun to watch team and then gets his players drafted in the top 10 which means some good cash. (i know people will say he cheats and what not and it’s true, but the man on the pure basketball aspect gets his players to play fun ball.) Finally to finish my rant, I am not going to watch any more UCLA basketball, I will read BN occasionally because I have been reading it everyday after work and it depresses me to read how we all are suffering through this crap. I wish people in the Athletic Department knew exactly how we the alums and fans feel with every lost but I’m afraid it doesnt bother or hurt them as much as if does many or all of us in here. So until things really change in Westwood, I am going to live my Thursdays and Saturdays with no regards for UCLA basketball. (sorry for the rant and thank you for letting me vent)
"Winners Then, Winners Now... Bruin in Madrid"
by uclaprofe on Jan 22, 2012 2:47 AM PST via iPhone app reply actions
Poor PG play is a huge problem
on this team. We have not had a good PG since Collison left. There is no leadership on the floor and even though Zeke works and plays hard, he makes stupid decisions regularly and takes too many shots and poor shots. “Never mistake activity for achievement.”
Time for Josh to sit and Stover to play. If both Wears are in, play a zone with Wears on lower wings and Stover working the middle. Wears have improved a lot this year but you cannot win without a PG who will get everyone involved and not make the number of mistakes regularly made by Jones and Anderson.
Also, when is the last time a Howland team gave up 51 points in a half. Unacceptable.
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