As disapointed as all Bruin fans are. Any logical person cannot say the last five years under Howland have not been a HUGE success. Yes Ucla only hangs championship banners in Pauley, but give the man some time. With this years incoming class, it will be a never ending top notch talent pool coming in. Memphis's players clearly were more physical then Ucla's. Dont think Ben Howland is stupid. He will make any adjustments to his recruiting to fix these problems. I believe John Wooden didnt win his first title till 14 or fifteen years at Ucla. Florida's last two teams were some of the most dominate teams ever at all positions. They didnt even make the tournament this year. I dont see that happening under Howland's watch.
I agree wholeheartedly. Howland is a great coach and recruiter who resurrected UCLA's program. So what if he hasn't won a national title YET, or made some coaching mistakes in a critical game. There was this coach of a small southern school who years ago was roundly criticized because he couldn't get his team over the hump and win the championship even though he had led his team to several final fours. Give up? Thats right, Coach K and Duke. Think he should have been fired? Yeah right.
As much as I detest UC-LA in the PAC-10, UC-LA will again be a national contender (and yes, aside from competing against OSU, WAZZU, Oregon, Washington, California, and Stanford, I am a "Bruin" fan, particularly against teams outside of the PAC-10!!). After all, one of their best players is from Lake Oswego, Oregon!!!!!!!
You know, i was extremely disappointed in this year's loss in the final four. I think that the Bruins should have been able to win that game. But the thing is, is that part of the disappointment comes from having to wait a whole year for the next shot at the national championship. Coach Howland is, in my opinion, not only a great coach, but a great recruiter. I am sure that the Bruins will be back next year with a solid team.
Thanks to Mr Parrish for his fine column and kind words. And thanks to the other fans (Bruin and/or PAC 10) for their sentiments. While the MSM makes a deal out of Kevin Love's one-and-done, they overlook the fact that a lot of programs -- in terms of March Madness -- are one and done as well. One responder rightly points to Coach K at Duke and others point to Bobby Knight. Add UNC to the mix and you have a collection of programs that seem to sustain themselves on the basis of their reputation as good schools with great basketball programs.
These are programs that don't employ rent-a-body, Leisure Management degree players for their flash-in-the-pan appearances.
Well, perhaps that was a bit gratuitous; I commend Memphis on an excellent basketball team and wish them the best of luck.
Many of us also sincerely hope that OSU and Cal and Oregon get squared away -- as I know they will. The PAC-10 was a road-show abbatoir. When the Beavers come back, the Bruins' trip to the great state of Oregon will be no picnic!
But, after the sting subsides, we will be looking forward to our return.
As tough the PAC 10 is, I agree that Howland should schedule elite teams in their non- conference schedule . Next year we will probably have a new team but our recruits are going to be among the best, if not the best in the nation. UCLA lost in the Final 4 again, but we can be in it one more time if everything falls into place next year.
Final Four- back to back to back makes for a GREAT thing! Of course it's disappointing to come away without a title, but don't you think Duke, Kentucky or any other Traditional power would LOVE to trade places? With yet another top notch class about to come into Pauley, we WILL get that 12th title sooner than later!!! GO BRUINS
I am very disappointed how the season ended. I truly believed that UCLA had enough to win it all. However, there are a couple of things that I noticed are wrong with the Bruins. Firstly, we don't have depth like the other three teams in the Final Four. Eventually, this would have posed a problem and DID! Secondly, Howland is great coach and I still like him. However, Howland is too damn stubborn, instead in continuing man to man he should employ a zone and make Memphis beat by jumpers! Howland doesn't like using zone because he believes he has better athletes. Well, as we saw Saturday that wasn't the case. He needs to adjust and switch the defenses. Stop being ignorant Howland! If he doesn't want to play zone then at least double team Douglas-Roberts and Rose..make the other players beat you. Lastly, and most importantly, we need players to stay for another year. For instance, look at Florida they all stayed for another season to achieve greatness and they did. If the Bruins are really serious to win, the players would rally and stay another year to quell all the critics. Think about it if all the players stay another coupled with the incoming recruiting class...that's a team that has depth!
I am very disappointed... I thought for sure the 3rd time would be the charm... Hey but at least I am back on the boards on Monday... Now yesterday was a different story... I couldn't even get out of bed... Had a killer sports hangover... I need to take a sports break until the NBA playoffs... This years Bruins team took me on a wild ride that ended to soon... Thanks UCLA...
memphis is not better than ucla, they just were better that night. we played awfully, collison was so intent on the hype that we had to slow down the game's tempo that he forgot to play the damn game, we couldn't make an open shot in the last 30 minutes, no one saw kevin love inside ... the list goes on. we definitely could have won that game, and to see us go down not playing the way we did all year hurt badly, but it is what it is and we'll be back. go bruins, congrats on 3 final fours. let's make it another 3 ...
Memphis played great and UCLA played average. But, Memphis play is what drove UCLA into averageness. Collison could not get by or over his man. That meant he couldn't penetrate and hit those little floaters, the threes were contested, and he couldn't feed Love. On top of that Shipp became so tentative (for most of the last part of the season) that he wasn't really a threat and gave the Memphis D a free spot.
For us Bruin fans, maybe this will make Collison, Shipp and Mbah a Moute think about coming back -- they didn't really excel against NBA-type players so I gotta think their stock is down. Another year might help. And who knows, maybe Love will feel like he has unfinished business and could use another year to develop.
Bruins fans having nothing to worry about, we have a strong recruiting class with a five star prospect in Jrue holiday coming on board and players in Collison, Shipp, and Mbah a Moute who should return.
Although Memphis played great in the Final Four it was obvious that Collison was not rady to play against bigger guards. Rose frustrated him and he couldn't get the penetration that he was used to. Another year at Pauley can better prep him for the pros. My only concern is K-Love, the NBA is ready for him and his game can be taken to the next level. I hope he's not one and done like OJ Mayo who will be a HUGE disappointment in the pros (your future Harold Minor Trojan fans).
Howland is a great coach who has built UCLA into an elite team for years to come.
Howland took Pitt from rags to almost riches. He grabbed a "sketchy" Bruin squad and took them to 3 final fours. UCLA doesn't have to worry about maintaining a solid recruiting class and subsequent final fours (championships?). UCLA should be more concerned with locking Howland up with a nice long contract.
