I would suggest people not to get too excited about following comments from JH after yesterday's loss: "Right now, I'm leaning toward coming back here, most definitely," Holiday said. "I want to finish what we started off. We have a great freshman class coming in and I love these guys. They're my brothers now. "I don't want to leave the freshmen that are here now. We have a great bond, a great chemistry. It's going to be good next year." If anyone needs a reminder how much these post games comments here was AA after Bruin's Final-4 loss in April of 2007: After Saturday's emotional loss, Afflalo seemed certain to consider playing his senior season. Most NBA draft prediction sites have Afflalo as no better than a late first-round pick and most have him in the second round. We all know what happened afterwards. So I don't really see any point in getting hopes up (or down) at this point of time. JH himself gave himself an out after the above reference comments: "There's certain things that if I hear, and they're good deals and all that," Holiday said, "some stuff you just can't back down from." And Coach Howland himself is pointing toward a deliberate process wrt to JH's ultimate decision in coming weeks: "I will tell the parents and Jrue what I think, but ultimately it comes down to his decision, and their decision. They have to be able to weigh all the factors, and where he would be if he came out now, and where he wants to be." One thing I can say that if I were to write a post on next year's core of Ben Ball warriors, I would write assuming that JH will not return next season. In this kind of situations, I always assume players are going to leave, because it makes for pleasant surprises when kids decide to stay. But that's just me. I know I wrote in the title of this post asking people not to jump to conclusions. I wrote that so that people don't get too excited in making too much out of post game comments about whether or not a kid is going to jump to NBA (forgoing the possibility of making millions) after a tough loss. I will have more thoughts on yesterday's game early tomorrow am. GO BRUINS.
The lure of playing with Love next season, of keeping intact a team that didn't have a senior, appeals to Afflalo's deep sense of responsibility.
"I have a lot of respect for my teammates, the coaching staff, the university that's done a lot for me," Afflalo said. "Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for some good things. Coming back next year is something I have to think about. But my sole purpose in coming to UCLA was to win a national championship. I'm still intent on doing that."
Filed under: