I'm going to cling to our cheerleaders because at this point, that's all we have. Outworked? Check. Outplayed? Double-check. Outcoached? Triple-check. ND is making a run at worst string of performances by a UCLA player ever and I'm more than aware of the Lavin era. That's how bad it has gotten. JA took a major step back and he wasn't that far forward to begin with. ML's revamped jumper looked awful and defensively, we were torn apart by a great shooting Portland team. The Pilots are no joke and when a good team plays well against a bad team playing poorly, you get 74-47. Here's the box score.
The most depressing part of the game is that the players looked fantastic compared to the coaching job of CBH and his staff. CBH has done a remarkable job with the UCLA program and the guy has a looooooong leash for everything he has accomplished. That doesn't mean that he can't do a pitiful job in spurts though and calling the job he is doing right now pitiful is being charitable.
It's been said for a while that CBH's biggest weakness is how stubborn he is. That has bitten him in games before, but never for a stretch of games like it has this season. CBH is running his same system and making no adjustments, despite having a team unlike anything he's ever had and skill sets unlike anything he's ever had. Coach Wooden was most revered from a basketball standpoint for his ability to play 15 different styles to fit 15 uniquely different teams. CBH is showing none of the flexibility as he continues to attempt to fit square pegs into round holes.
That doesn't even begin to get into the minute allocation issues. I'll leave that to you guys in your comments below and fanposts if you have more extensive thoughts. For now, I'm too upset to go any more in depth. I'll leave that for tomorrow. At least we have our cheerleaders...