Over the last few years we have heard Karl Dorrell and his staff repeatedly saying how his program is heading in the right direction because everyone is "on the same page." Of course it really has turned out to be a whole lot of BS given the mediocre and less than inspiring performances during last years (well except for those 4 comeback wins against shitty teams spearheaded by the 2LIVEDrew). Anyways ... why I am bringing up that phrase? Because that is operative phrase in today's article by Brian Dohn, which goes over how Jordan and AA, the two leaders of this team have walked the walk (emphasis mine):
Arron Afflalo and Jordan Farmar didn't mince words. As high school seniors, they flat-out questioned the desire of UCLA's players, and vowed to end two years of mediocrity in Westwood.
Afflalo said the 2003-04 Bruins showed "a lack of toughness" and demonstrated "little will to win." Farmar said he was recruited for "toughness," something the program was lacking.
Two years after making those comments, Afflalo and Farmar, the Bruins' starting sophomore guards, delivered on their promise to return UCLA to glory. They have led the second-seeded Bruins (31-6) to their first Final Four since 1995, as UCLA will face No. 4 seed LSU on Saturday at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.
And amazingly, Afflalo and Farmar provided the attitude adjustment with little resistance from the very players they criticized.
"It's because we have great kids, and they're all on the same page," UCLA third-year coach Ben Howland said. "They're about winning, about getting the program back to where we all expect it to be, which is at the highest level. They've done a good job of getting along with one another because, the bottom line is, they're great kids."
Yeap they are all "on the same page." Who else is "on the same page"? From the same article:
Afflalo said the 2003-04 Bruins showed "a lack of toughness" and demonstrated "little will to win." Farmar said he was recruited for "toughness," something the program was lacking.
Two years after making those comments, Afflalo and Farmar, the Bruins' starting sophomore guards, delivered on their promise to return UCLA to glory. They have led the second-seeded Bruins (31-6) to their first Final Four since 1995, as UCLA will face No. 4 seed LSU on Saturday at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.
And amazingly, Afflalo and Farmar provided the attitude adjustment with little resistance from the very players they criticized.
"It's because we have great kids, and they're all on the same page," UCLA third-year coach Ben Howland said. "They're about winning, about getting the program back to where we all expect it to be, which is at the highest level. They've done a good job of getting along with one another because, the bottom line is, they're great kids."
"I'm not really a vocal leader. I lead more by example," Afflalo said. "I try to go out there and do the right thing, play my heart out and hopefully, the others will see that. I would love to believe (that happened), and I think so."
When Bozeman was reminded of Afflalo's and Farmar's comments following Saturday's 50-45 defeat of top-seeded Memphis in the Oakland Regional final, he shook his head and laughed.
"Yeah, I remember that," Bozeman said. "At that point, it kind of grazed my ear. I took nothing of it. This team, I guess, everybody's on the same page. At that time, I think we had people that had different agendas. At this point, all that is in the past."
And back in another office in Morgan Center guess who else after three years of mediocrity is still trying to get his team - yeap - "on the same page"?
When Bozeman was reminded of Afflalo's and Farmar's comments following Saturday's 50-45 defeat of top-seeded Memphis in the Oakland Regional final, he shook his head and laughed.
"Yeah, I remember that," Bozeman said. "At that point, it kind of grazed my ear. I took nothing of it. This team, I guess, everybody's on the same page. At that time, I think we had people that had different agendas. At this point, all that is in the past."
"Well, we're new in a lot of areas. The offensive line has a lot of young players and new players that are playing and there are interchangeable so there's some frustration there getting everybody on the same page and that is understandable at this point because you don't have your five, you don't have your top five linemen that have had that continuity to work together. That will be developed later the rest of the spring and during summer."
Oh just google the phrase "on the same page" with Dorrell and see how many times it comes up? I just bring this up because given what Howland has accomplished in three seasons, how obvious it is becoming what a mediocre coach Dorrell truly is and what a bunch of hot air/bullshit in the form spin and excuses are always coming out of Dorrell's mediocre, always in a rebuilding mode, uninspiring, boring, listless football program. He will have to match feat equal to what Howland has done this season if Dorrell wants to justify taking almost million bunks in salary every year in Westwood. Howland has earned his pay while Dorrell clearly has not. Howland's team is "on the same page," while Dorrell is still looking clueless trying to get everyone to find that page.Let's just hope some day we will have a coach like Howland leading the UCLA football team out of the Rose Bowl. Only then we will be playing a meaningful football game in January instead of gloating and spinning a BS win over some mediocre Big-10 program in late December in a city no one cares to be in.
Thank God for Howland.
GO BRUINS.