Bru'in our Future

NCAAM

Wednesday, February 2nd, was "national signing day" for high school football recruits, a supposed future unveils on this day.  I will not discuss my distaste for this circus.  Instead, focus shall be on the "other" reason 2/2 was circled in our Bruin calendars: USC Trojans @ Pauley Pavilion.  How un-Amerrrican of me to choose college basketball over college football during the college basketball season!  Anyways, UCLA took care of business (woohoo!) on our beloved Wooden home court and the next UCLA match-up was introduced.  St. John's @ UCLA.  Steve Lavin vs. Ben Howland.  The last UCLA coach vs. the current UCLA coach.  Call me crazy for assuming that Lavin v. Howland will be the case everyone (aka media) will judge.  Either way, I am here to play some preemptive defense for Coach Howland.

You can't talk UCLA basketball or coaching without thinking John Wooden.  Wooden himself would say not to compare yourself with the past.  Case closed.  I wish...  "They" will compare stats.  It always starts with stats.  Wins and Losses.  Why?  Because stats imply the results that everyone believes is the end-all.  Again, an anti-Wooden philosophy.  Mr. Wooden would stress the importance of how you got to winning, not just that you won.  Stat comparisons incite conclusions with only part-information.  More makeshift comparisons lead "the mob of fans" to second-guessing our Coach and question whether he is fit for the job (see last year).  
 
We cannot live in the past (Lavin ain't coming back), and must proceed as fans of our team instead of critics.  However, learning from the past so as to not make the same mistakes is key.  While I'm not studied enough to judge properly Lavin's tenure, I do believe his termination was too hasty and possibly a mistake after one sub-par season.  I know we have high standards, especially at traditionally successful programs, but we must adapt to what society has given us--the overwhelming desire to grab cold hard cash.  It's why college athletes leave early for the Pros.  Universities are supposed to be viewed as institutions for higher learning, yet we publicize how it would be "stupid" for students to stay in school, risk injury and miss out on million$.  It's the ugly truth.  (Trust me, Andrew Luck made the right decision to stay in school.  Even if he gets hurt, he will have a degree from Stanford and have a good chance of surpassing the average NFL lifespan of 50 something.)  Lavin was a casualty of the tragic trend for college athletes to jump ship.

Can you blame players like Baron Davis for deciding to leave early? No, that's his call. And you won't either after you see his UCLA highlights (and pre-injury reel): Baron Davis UCLA.  However, this has been a recent trend and we judge and criticize faster than we adapt.  The NBA saw too many high school "ballers" skip college and wash-out.  Not everyone is Lebron James or Kobe Bryant.  Too many were getting ill-advised perspectives to chase the money.  So, the NBA instituted an age-limit rule that basically forced basketball stars to try college for at least a year.  This rule has good intentions to guide young men on the right path, but it threw the college coaching system under the bus.  The John Caliparis are getting credit for scooping up NBA-ready athletes to bring temporary success and quick cash to their programs.  Such high recruiting pressures results in unethical and, consequently, illegal moves.  Of course, you could always leave your school (let them take the punishment) and you could get paid elsewhere (for example: Derrick Rose, Reggie Bush and their respective coaches).  Whatever happened to the idea of leading by example?

Before I get too carried away, time to channel my rage against greed into praise for one of my favorite coaches.  Howland is an excellent college coach.  One of the best defensive minds.  My freshman year buddy once told me "college is where you learn to play defense."  He was right.  In high school, these teens outmatch almost everyone that they don't need to focus on being coached (or maybe their high school coach isn't equipped to).  And who wants to learn when you're a teenager who "thinks" you're on top of the world?  The NBA is the best of the best, and unless you are a machine like Lebron James, you need coaching, especially on the fundamentals.  That's where Wooden painted his masterpiece and where Howland is doing his best impression.

Howland has gotten the best out of his cards.  Three consecutive final fours were built beautifully.  I'm glad Wooden got to see these teams.  They played solid team D, worked together, stayed disciplined, and exceeded expectations.  Each team got better as the year progressed, playing its best ball for the title run and each final four knock-out was reasonable.  Florida (2 times) was simply stacked: arguably one of the best college teams ever, who rocked two current top-10 NBA centers.  Memphis beat UCLA by the Derrick Rose factor and that win has since been forfeited.  Even though UCLA didn't win it all, Howland and his young men did their best.  Well done.

Howland then got punished for his success.  He brought in a "heralded" recruiting class.  This fabulous freshmen class had all the talent in the world.  Dangerous.  Their egos were through the roof and it resulted in UCLA's recent downfall.  They didn't believe in their coach and UCLA tanked.  Talent can't take you everywhere.  You need to earn it, not be born with it.  Good coaches don't stay down and neither will Howland.

UCLA's team is getting better each game and I'm excited for the future.  My college roommate (former Bruins sports writer) told me to watch out for next year.  We got all the pieces lining up: Reeves Nelson, arguably the hardest worker since Arron Afflalo; Tyler Honeycutt, an NBA-body who in a different system would be showcased and an early departure; Joshua Smith, a beastly freshman, who is only slowed by his lack of collegiate coaching and trainers; Malcolm Lee and Jerime Anderson, holdovers from "that recruiting class" who refused to quit; and our new point guard Lazeric "Zeek" Jones, a junior college transfer who has worked hard to overcome his lack of high school exposure because he backed up who? Derrick Rose.  Our General in the backcourt has got the right feeling: "I felt like I wasn't a true Bruin, until I beat USC."  LOVE it!  Don't forget the rest of our team like Tyler Lamb, Anthony Stover and the Wear Twin Towers.

Even if we don't succeed next year, I guarantee you Howland grooms his players (like Wooden) to succeed.  Howland has consistently produced excellent NBA players in Afflalo, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Darren Collison, Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook.  They all succeed because they play great defense, work hard, and have excellent fundamentals.  I believe his most successful player will be one who won't ever make the NBA, Alfred Aboya.  He never had the best physical tools, but he worked hard on and off the court (attending graduate school his senior season).  I hope Aboya reaches his dream to become President of his native Cameroon.

There are still overwhelmingly successful players in the NBA who won't play defense.  This may be good enough for them and the casual fan, but I want to see the best in people.  It's tough to learn the basics unless you learn them properly and early.  Let college coaches teach higher education and stop trying to turn them into NBA puppets.  Monta Ellis would be Allen Iverson if he learned D and Amare Stoudemire could have been the best power forward in the league right now if he learned defense (both skipped college).

Judging a college coach should be more than about the wins and losses, especially at UCLA!  A college coach should be judged on one criterion: how he or she coaches the young men and women.  Sports exist because people love to play and through this love you can learn great values.  Everyone feels warmed by the stories of impoverished kids turning their life around through sports (see the Packers' Donald Driver's story this Super Bowl weekend).  Sports is the one tool society has blessed us with that pierces through all our hatred, biases, and economical disadvantages to bring joy to so many.  Unfortunately, in recent decades we have lost this belief.  We have become blinded by our greed for money.  Think about any kid who dreams of a world series homer, an NBA finals game-winner, a Super Bowl touchdown, or a World Cup goal.  That dream is beautiful and amazing.  It's not because of the endorsements that follow or the fat pay-check from your next free-agent signing.  It's because everyone dreams to do what they love.