Bruin legend Bill Walton was at the PUG last night and he wasn't happy about watching ugly basketball from Coach Wooden's program. He repeatedly blasted Howland with an emphatic vote of no confidence. The video above captures the most telling exchange between ESPN play-by-play announcer Dave Pasch and the Big Redhead.
Adam Zagoria posted a transcript:
Pasch: "You've criticized the attendance now five times. Give me a solution. How do you fix it?"
Walton: "Play better basketball."
Pasch: "OK, well, that's obvious. How do you play better basketball?"
Walton: "Better style."
Pasch: "Alright, so, is that the coach? Is that the players?"
Walton: "It's the coach.
Pasch: "So you're not a Ben Howland fan?"
Walton: "No."
Pasch: "Well, he went to three straight Final Fours. He hasn't made the Tournament the last three years. Has his time run out here in Westwood?
Walton: "I'm not in charge. If I were, things would be different."
Later, Pasch asked, "What the next best option there for UCLA?
Walton: "Do they look like they're having a good time? Are they playing great basketball? Are they selling tickets. Is this an atmosphere that you would say, ‘Yeah.'"
Walton dead-panned of the fans and players: "This looks like people are getting ready to go to the dentist."
You should listen to the exchange above in which one of the greatest Bruins of all time indirectly called out UCLA's incompetent athletic director to end the charade and fire Howland now.
Bill Walton gets it. The interesting question here is do you approve Walton's public blasting of Howland and Guerrero on the national stage? Discuss.
Go Bruins.