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I woke up this morning to "We hired a new coach."
"Excuse me?"
If you thought nothing happened before noon on a Saturday, you are wrong!
First, we had the welomes:
Congrats to Coach Steve Alford on becoming a new member of the Bruin family. Excited 4 next year!#GoBruins
— TOBY BAILEY (@toby_bailey) March 30, 2013
I am so excited about Steve Alford. I've admired him from afar 4 a long time. Disciplined,great style of play,teacher, man of integrity! 😃
— Cori Close (@CoachCloseUCLA) March 30, 2013
Steve Alford is the new head coach at UCLA. Congrats to Steve who is a serious competitor...a guy we went up against in the Big Ten.
— Jon Crispin (@CrispinHoops) March 30, 2013
Great hire for @uclambb ! Welcome to the Bruin family Steve
— Kiki VanDeWeghe (@KikiVanDeWeghe) March 31, 2013
I love how XSF is into everything UCLA:
i don't know much on Alford's hire but I do think he ran a dang good show at New Mexico... #excited #uclabball
— Xavier Su'a-Filo (@HughJundies_) March 30, 2013
And the not as overly warm welcome:
As a lifelong UCLA supporter I wish Coach Alford & The Bruins all the best.I will be looking forward to next season. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (@kaj33) March 30, 2013
And a welcome that's probably more skeptical than "come in, put up your feet"
Would Indiana hire a Bruin?? #Justsaying. #stillgonnasupport
— Baron Davis (@Baron_Davis) March 30, 2013
A Hoosier??We will see... #bruin4life #WWJWS
— Baron Davis (@Baron_Davis) March 30, 2013
Another Bruin says..
👈wakes up 😲 sees UCLA headlines 😱 after the initial shock jus sits staring into space 😳 then gets ANGRY! 😡! Dammit!!
— Jarrad Page (@JarradPage44) March 30, 2013
With that being said. Alford could end up being 1 of the best coaches we've had at UCLA so I'll reserve judgement.
— Jarrad Page (@JarradPage44) March 30, 2013
The reactions from the media were just as mixed. Some were pleased, some were skeptical, and some just flat out hate us no matter who is the coach.
Alford will win a lot of games at Ucla. Good hire. Just one note - his teams play a style that reminds me of…Ben Howland’s teams
— Dave Flemming (@FlemmingDave) March 30, 2013
Steve Alford will be fine at UCLA, I think. But I bet the school never thought it would hire a man with a 5-7 record in the NCAA Tournament.
— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) March 30, 2013
Love the Steve Alford hire at UCLA. He's an excellent coach.
— Jason King (@JasonKingESPN) March 30, 2013
Fire Ben Howland and hire Steve Alford, who has perennially flamed out in NCAAs. Hmmmm. Bruin fans can't be overjoyed with this.
— Jon Wilner (@wilnerhotline) March 30, 2013
Before you knock the Alford hire: UCLA has a phenomenal track record hiring Indiana basketball legends.
— Marc Isenberg (@marcisenberg) March 30, 2013
Alford at #UCLA: Tier below Shaka, Brad Stevens; tier above Lorenzo Romar, Mark Gottfried. Like most things in life, some good/some bad.
— Brian Murphy (@knbrmurph) March 30, 2013
He probably can't wait to mock us.
I actually think this is a solid hire. Steve Alford is a terrific coach. But I doubt UCLA fans will view it that way after the Harvard loss.
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 30, 2013
Maybe it's a CBS thing to hate UCLA.
Lavin: five S16s in six years = FIRED! Howland: three straight F4s = FIRED! Alford: no S16s since '99 = HIRED!
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) March 30, 2013
Well, at least he might have some perspective?
By 2019 Alford will be gone from UCLA and the program will be in no better shape then than it was last night. Just IMHO.
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) March 30, 2013
Wow Glockner really hates us or has delusions of being a bad comedian like Seth Davis.
We've secretly replaced Ben Howland with a poor man's version of him. Let's see if anyone notices.
— Andy Glockner (@AndyGlockner) March 30, 2013
Oh ok, well as long as you explain it. (whatever.)
Clarifying my pts: I think UCLA made a solid hire, but they hired a guy w/ many of the qualities of the more accomplished guy they fired.
— Andy Glockner (@AndyGlockner) March 30, 2013
But many agree, a change was needed at UCLA, and Alford might have that California magic.
EVERYONE that grew up playing ball in Southern California in my age group dreamed of playing at UCLA. Howland made that less of the case.
— Nate Jones (@JonesOnTheNBA) March 30, 2013
Six of the last seven California natives to commit to Ben Howland didn't finish their career with the Bruins. That needs to change.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) March 30, 2013
Alford basically a younger version of Howland from X&O standpoint (less annoying timeouts though) but WAY better at interacting with kids.
— George Dohrmann (@georgedohrmann) March 30, 2013
Well there's definitely one thing the kids can learn from their coach now:
Coach Alford not only today becomes the Head Coach of UCLA but also the best shooter in the program...
— Sean Farnham (@SeanFarnham) March 30, 2013
I could certainly nominate a beat writer or general UCLA writer to follow in the UNM beat writer:
New Mex's Steve Alford to #UCLA ... first Lobo beat writer quits after loss to harvard, then coach leaves...
— chris foster (@cfosterlatimes) March 30, 2013
Best of luck to you, Coach Alford. You have quite a task before you - UCLA basketball should not and will not be taken lightly.