Kareem Abdul Jabbar Talks About Steve Alford and UCLA Basketball

Kareem Abdul Jabbar (KAJ) ripped into Steve Alford on a radio interview:

"People used to learn how to play the game at UCLA," he said. "And I don't think that's happening now."

KAJ closely follows pro basketball so I imagine that one of the prime examples to him of this is Zach LaVine who learned little or nothing at UCLA under Steve Alford.  Unfortunately there was another similar example when last year's best NBA prospect Kevon Looney similarly did not develop or improve his game at UCLA.  (Shoot, Alford did not even call plays for him.)

One thing is more certain, KAJ did zero in on one aspect of Steve Alford's teams for his criticism:

"I watched them in the playoffs," he said. "They don't even know how to run the fast break."

Hmm.  Who leads the fast break traditionally?  Oh the point guard.  Who is UCLA's point guard?

Last year UCLA improved after a disastrous start when they committed as a team to make an effort on defense and made Norman Powell the number one option.   Powell would often bring the ball up and go one on one.  That was our break.  Sigh.

Kareem was sympathetic to Alford saying it is a tough job but this concluding comment was particularly damming.

"I think that that's a real disappointment to those of us who are part of the tradition."

Thanks KAJ for being the best player in the history of college basketball.

Go Bruins!