Here is another Wild Prediction: Ben Howland will be out of UCLA faster than you think!
Before you dismiss it as totally crazy, keep in mind that I predicted Jamal Boykin's transfer out of Duke more than 12 months before it happened, so you can upgrade this prediction from "totally crazy" to "really crazy" :)
Why is Ben Howland is going to be out of there faster than you all think? Because of his style of play. As long as he is winning games, he will be fine, but once he has a couple of iffy seasons, it will all collapse like a house of cards. He won't get the Steve Lavin benefit of the doubt.
John Wooden himself, who doesn't want to say anything negative, has pointed out during his interviews with ESPN this year that "he does it with defense", and "the game is too physical". You can read between the lines there, the Wizard is saying that Howland is winning with slugfest, instead of playing the game the way it's supposed to be played!
Ben Howland will find himself in a Tubby Smith situation once he stops going to the Final Four. He may have an impressive record on paper, but it won't be good enough for the legacy of UCLA/Kentucky, because at those places, it's not just wins and losses, it's also how you play. As some of the biggest and most historic college basketball programs, they are not just another team, they are the guardians of the game. The coaches call themselves the Guardians of the Game, so when you are the coach of one of the top ten programs, you have even more responsibility. And as such, the fans expect not only wins, but high caliber basketball.
Neither Tubby Smith nor Ben Howland have been able to deliver that. Especially when they get compared to the Rick Pitino and John Wooden style of play.
What's even more telling with Ben Howland is that he has the fastest point guard in the country, and he uses him to run on offense, not to score, but to put pressure on the defense and then pull back. Don't believe me? Grab some UCLA tapes from the previous years and take a close look.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Wild Prediction: Ben Howland will be out of UCLA faster than you think!
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5 comments:
You have a) absolutely no clue what you are talking about b) no understanding of what UCLA fans want and c) no appreciation of how great a coach Ben Howland is.
UCLA fans would give Howland tenure at this point because his teams play hard and smart.
In previous years at UCLA and Pitt he had marginal offensive talent.
And as long as you're pulling up tapes, take a look at his Northern Arizona teams that won using 3 pointers.
Winning a championship has a lot to do with luck, but look for UCLA to compete year in and year out.
Where do people come up with this stuff?
I did not expect this to sit well with UCLA Bruins fans :-)
Unlike Coach K, my only issue with Ben Howland is his style of play at UCLA. I don't have anything else against him.
As you can read, I am not complaining about NAU, but his style of play at UCLA. I'm not questioning his coaching skills, but his playing style decisions.
When you are coaching one of the top programs in college basketball history, one is expected not to game-plan like a desperate mid-major coach trying to slugfest it out hoping for a W :)
But winning is an absolution, so as long as he keeps on winning, few people will complain. My point was that when he stops winning, the ugly style of play will come back to haunt him :)
Here it is seven months later and I just stumbled upon this article. Fortunately, to paraphrase Bob Knight, we at UCLA have forgotten more about this game than this guy will ever know and we know that Howland is doing great. UCLA teams always won with defense. If you could not or would not defend you did not play for coach Wooden. If you can, watch some complete game tapes from betwen 1968 and 1974. Those teams just plain demoralized the opposition with defense.
I'm a UCLA bruin, and before this season began I would have said you are crazy. But, I think Howland really struggles in using our players to their maximum offensive abilities. Also, I've heard he is pretty abusive to players. Hey, Coach is supposed to win games, not be your friend.
I am crazy, but that's not the point :)
But this is college basketball, not the NBA. The "Coach" is supposed to be the "mentor", the "father figure", the "teacher", the "professor", etc, etc. He is not supposed to use and abuse the players. After all, they are the ones who pay him the millions.
He would rather sit a 30ppg player because some stiff plays 30% better defense. So good luck to all the 2009 freshman in getting out of there because he will ruin their game Coach K style :)
Ben Howland had probably the least understated three Final Fours in a row, probably because he didn't win them like a basketball team, but he won like a football team. It's like the three Izzo Final Fours. Is it really basketball?
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