The Howland Way to Play Basketball ... a.k.a. Winnin' Ugly
I may have written about this before. On the old blog. But it's struck me again.
I appreciate Ben Howland's ability to lead UCLA to scads of victories ... but I must concede I can't really give him or his program many style points.
Sure, this may sound as if I want the lily gilded. As if I've forgotten how wretched the Bruins became in the latter days of Steve Lavin, not to mention the Walt Hazzard Reign of Error or the Chaos That Was Harrick.
But, Jiminy Cricket, if Howland can recruit some of the best players in the country, can't he get them to win in a way that is vaguely appealing to watch?
I wrote for today's newspapers that UCLA's 56-46 victory over USC on Sunday was inartistic. (Read that column here.)
UCLA missed 41 of 62 shots. The Bruins missed 9 of 21 free throws.
USC was harassed into 20 turnovers. The Bruins made 13 steals.
It was a sloppy, dive-on-the-floor, climb-over-the-back, loose-ball kind of game.
And so many of them are, under Howland.
He loves his defense. That hand-to-hand, navel-to-navel defense. Which makes for aesthetically wretched hoops.
Yeah, I know, Howland and the Bruins have been to the last two Final Fours playing that way. But I worry that his success at it will lead other coaches to emulate his ways, and the Pac-10 might turn into the Big East, with blood-letting and in-the-paint muggings considered de rigeuer. The way to play basketball correctly.
That would be unfortunate, beacuse basketball should be a soaring, fast-paced game of almost balletic skill and artistry. But that's not how Howland's Bruins play.
I haven't quite reached the point where I would rather see them lose attractively. Not many defeats are attractive, considering how results-oriented we are.
But I'm thinking about it.
Let the dogs off the chain. Let Collison and Westbrooks and Shipp run! See what happens. UCLA still wins 20-plus games, I'm sure of it. And is way more entertaining.