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DubCoffman62

Lazy Slob
Are you kidding me? First they lose to Loyola Marymount to open the season and then Middle Tennessee State comes into town and hammers them by 20 shooting 10-11 from 3 point land :lol: Holy shit, what happened to Ben Howland and that program? 3 straight final fours and now this.
 
Big Bill does not think much of Howland and really not that much of the UCLA basketball program right now.
UCLA escaped with a 59-57 win against Washington on Thursday night thanks to pass-first point guard Larry Drew's buzzer-beating three-pointer.

The win, while sluggish, helped the Bruins (17-6, 7-3) remain in a three-way tie for second place in the Pac-12 Conference behind Arizona. Barring a catastrophic setback, UCLA appears to be a virtual lock to make the NCAA tournament. Still, with a highly touted recruiting class including Shabazz Muhammad, coach Ben Howland could be on the hot seat if the Bruins don't make a deep March run.

Former UCLA big man Bill Walton, calling the game for ESPN, made it clear he doesn't think Howland should be coaching the Bruins.

Walton continually made fun of the small crowd size at Pauley Pavilion and then was asked by play-by-play announcer Dave Pasch if he was a fan of Howland's. Walton wasn't shy, replying with a harsh "No."

Here's the full dialogue from the exchange between Pasch and Walton:
more
http://www.usatoday.com/story/gameo...and-during-uclas-win-over-washington/1902393/
 
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On the highlights last night, Drew dribbled by Muhammad who was frantically calling for Drew to give him the ball. After Drew made the shot and was tackled in celebration by nearly all of his teammates, Muhammad just walked by them...what a fucking punk.
 
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MililaniBuckeye;2303143; said:
On the highlights last night, Drew dribbled by Muhammad who was frantically calling for Drew to give him the ball. After Drew made the shot and was tackled in celebration by nearly all of his teammates, Muhammad just walked by them...what a fucking punk.

He's not being paid to be a team player.
 
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I think UCLA's struggles in recent years can be generally traced back to leadership issues that start at the top with Howland and get exacerbated by having some high maintenance players. Bill Walton is a moron - he thinks every team should be playing up-tempo transition basketball all game, and if they don't get out in transition very often then they're playing the wrong style. He may be justified in wanting Howland gone for his poor leadership in recent years, but the style of play and fans that he's ripping aren't remotely the problem.
 
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DZ83CK;2303215; said:
... the style of play and fans that he's ripping aren't remotely the problem.
I disagree to this extent: watching the glacial pace of UCLA basketball would make a corpse impatient. It's a highly unentertaining brand of hoop that I have no interest in watching - and not many other people enjoy it, either.
 
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Well, the style of play clearly wasn't a problem when he started at UCLA, even after playing the same style at Pitt. He was able to get plenty of talent to join to help them to 3-straight F4s. A lot of top talent has signed on at UCLA in recent years in spite of their struggles, but Howland just hasn't molded the talent into a winning program.
 
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