The Daily Pravda (you may know it as the Daily Bruin) has come out with a beauty of an article regarding the recent losing streak and that there are people out there that dared to suggest that UCLA Basketball Coach Steve Alford be fired for poor performance.
The Daily Pravda (also called the Daily Bootlicker) has written absolutely tone deaf articles in the past. Let's recall the Student Seating Fiasco at Pauley, which led to the #SFatPauley campaign. Remember when they sold out, and abdicated all responsibility to the Morgan Center? BruinsNation remembers. Did they address the issues that affected their fellow students in regards to seating at Pauley? Nope. (By the way, that link also details past problems with the Daily Bruin.)
Then the Pravda trotted out soft puffy pieces that showed how little they cared other than getting their access to Morgan and to act as a mouthpiece. Called out again by BN.
2 years later: the Daily Bruin then called out BN, saying BN is crazy for advocating for the firing of Ben Howland. And you know what? re-read that article, and it talks about the national "hate" around Ben Howland and the UCLA program at the time. Sure sounds familiar nowadays, doesn't it? It's not hate. It's called having standards, and these "out of touch" and allegedly "not tuned into the program" national writers know more about UCLA history and standards than some current undergrads.
This piece on the backlash on Alford being unwarranted is absurd. UCLA is currently being led by a coach that should not have been hired in the first place. Furthermore, the recent losing streak was embarrassing, led by a coach that has been trying to showcase his son who should not be the starting point guard at UCLA.
It goes over the usual talking points.
- He won the Pac-12 tournament last year! (so?)
- It's not his fault that four players left and they're now in the NBA! (successful coaches plan ahead.)
- It's not his fault that Jonah Bolden and Jon Octeus couldn't get admitted! (yes, yes it is. He took a chance on a graduate transfer that couldn't get admitted, forgetting this is UCLA and not New Mexico, and on a player that would not qualify completely. Read some NCAA rules.)
- This is still a good recruiting class! (without a point guard to back up his not a point guard son.)
- Wannah Bail academic ineligibility is not his fault! (yeah, a kid that couldn't hack it at Texas Tech was also going to have a hard time at UCLA.)
- Again and again, WAHH SHORT BENCH WAHH SHORT ROTATIONS STARTERS TIRED BUT CAN'T DO ANYTHING.
- Coach Alford couldn't bench Bryce Alford - there was NO ONE ELSE! (whose fault is that in recruiting?)
- We played really good teams. (Implying we are not.)
Sure Alford could have game-planned or motivated his players better, but against teams as deep and dominant as Kentucky, Gonzaga or Utah, UCLA never had much of a chance at keeping those games close, let alone winning them.
All teams that are well coached or have a coach that knows how to recruit properly and sell the program and what they can offer. Also the Pravda is stating we had no chance in those games and had no chance of winning them.
What kind of program is UCLA if we have no chance of beating fellow premier programs?
One that has fallen to the wayside, and has the wrong leadership - in the head coach and in the Athletic Department.
The piece ends as always, with the humongous buyout that Alford is owed, as that is the reason to have to grit through the next however many years we still owe him 10.4 million dollars. Might as well just shrug and deal with Steve Alford as the UCLA head coach.
Oh well.
Even the students today do not have hope. And why should they? They have been given no standards to aspire to in UCLA's premier sport.
Change is needed at the top. We don't have to "get used to it."
Go Bruins.