This column is going to be abou ““ TIMEOUT.
Wow, sorry. That was a strangely early spot for a timeout. Let’s move on, though. This is better. I’m finally stringing some good sentences together and ““ TIMEOUT.
Welp, just when I was generating some momentum”¦
This column is going to be about Ben Howland. The UCLA basketball coach is in the middle of his ninth season atop the program.
It’s high time we checked up on his progress.
Howland famously led the Bruins to three straight Final Fours, none since there’s been a Democrat in the Oval Office. We’re now four years removed from the last elite UCLA team.
Few reminders remain of those Final Four teams, except perhaps the coach’s propensity to call timeouts early and often, sometimes at seemingly inopportune times.
Howland has always loved to call timeouts right before the predetermined media timeouts, a strategy that effectively squashes any momentum or flow for either side and is usually only beneficial for those waiting in an extra-long urinal line.
The coach believes in setting up his defense and maintaining structure and order.
That worked when Darren Collison and Arron Afflalo were suiting up. Not so anymore. This group of Bruins needs all the intangible help it can get, and not allowing for the ebb and flow of momentum within a game ““ particularly when it favors your team ““ is counterintuitive.
Losses at Oregon State and Oregon this past weekend proved that personality traits of Howland’s teams have been lost to time.
Gone is the trademark shutdown defense ““ UCLA yielded 87 points to Oregon State.
Gone is the trademark mental toughness and killer instinct ““ UCLA blew a 13-point halftime lead in its loss to Oregon.
The most concerning element of the Bruins’ downward spiral is that it often seems that Howland can’t figure out his players.
What to do about Joshua Smith, the uber-talented sophomore center who can’t seem to figure things out?
Discontent players have been leaving the program ““ either of their own choosing or Howland’s ““ quicker than you can say Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
It’s interesting to watch Howland these days. He’s putting his hands to his head a lot more on the sideline. He’s got an awfully quick hook for his players, especially the younger ones.
He often dances around questions from the media. Not that these things are new for him, but they’ve been magnified and enhanced over the last few years of struggle.
Still, it’s weird to think about generating a proverbial “hot seat” for a coach who’s taken his program to three Final Fours in a decade.
And as much as the number of Bruins in the NBA can testify to Howland’s ability to prepare his players for the next level, it remains to be seen whether any of the players on the current roster will even come close to sniffing NBA riches, which essentially makes that a moot point.
What’s the benefit of playing for Howland if you don’t have a realistic shot at the professional ranks?
If UCLA lands top recruit Shabazz Muhammad, Howland will have secured his best class ever top to bottom. Sure, he owes plenty of that to his assistant coaches, especially first-year man Korey McCray. But a class of that caliber can buy a coach a few more years. Muhammad and UCLA commit Kyle Anderson have win-now ability.
That doesn’t solve the issues of the present, though, which have us scratching our head just like Howland so often does. Where has the magic gone?
As hard as it is to say, it may soon be time to question whether Howland has run his course with this generation of players.
Maybe it’s time he got fired. Maybe he needs to completely overhaul his system and style. Or maybe he just needs a timeout.
If you’re ready to admit you miss Mike Moser, email Eshoff at reshoff@media.ucla.edu.