Hey, folks, it’s not that I’m having a bad day, it’s just that I thought we were past the zillions of hypothetical questions. I feel like since the games are over, people just want to ask questions for the sake of asking them, and so some folks just type up anything.
But I don’t know which questions are genuine, and which are folks just having nothing else to do, so I answer many of them.
Now, here is set No. VI:
Howland has been great for UCLA, but I can’t help but notice that all 4 of his UCLA tournament losses have been blowouts–not even close. Why? And how can Howland overcome this?
I was thinking about that same thing after the Villanova loss, and I don’t have an answer. The only thing I can come up with is each time UCLA lost to teams I consider vastly superior athletically, and so Howland is able to get his players to overachieve until it comes up against a certain level of player. As someone said to me after the ‘Nova game, name one UCLA player who could start for Villanova.
you posted earlier that Howland praised Anderson when he was asked about Holiday’s potential role next season. Is he alluding to Anderson starting at PG next season regardless if Holiday stays? Do you think this upsets Holiday and cause him to go to the NBA?
I don’t think anything Howland says about future positions will sway Holiday’s decision. And i think he brought up Anderson because he wanted to give the kid some love since everyone was talking about Holiday running the point next season, even though Anderson was the backup this season.
Will you be attending the Chelsea vs Inter at the Rose Bowl 7/21? Not a huge soccer fan but it would be nice to see this match live.
I am contemplating it. Since I’m a Liverpool guy, I can go and “whistle” (it’s how us soccer fans boo) at Chelsea. But I may save my money for a few tickets to AC Milan against the Galaxy.
Is UCLA soon to offer the top QB on their board, if they have not already?
I don’t know. I think UCLA’s style is going to be to slow play a lot of recruits and see how they develop.
Brian, I want to apologize because I was guilty of whinning during the Nova-UCLA game on saturday. It was rather immature on my part.
Much appreciated. It was really out of control during the game. So much so I really lost the zest to do chats. I’m not sure if I will continue them or not.
Brian, whats your favorite part of the UCLA campus?
It’s a tie between Spaulding Field and Pauley because it means I’m watching football practice or a basketball game.
what is your opinion of Drew Gordon’s attitude? He seems like a hothead type of player that doesn’t respect his coach. Do you think Howland will discipline him if he doesn’t tone it down?
I like his energy and toughness, but I think he needs to tone it down a bit and not be so immature on the court. I think experience and a few discussions with Howland should be able to do the trick because he cannot keep behaving how he is, or he will be getting technicals left and right.
In Howland’s press conference, he was very positive of the freshman players. How much of it is “coachspeak”, and how much is what he really believes? He did not play Lee, Anderson, and Morgan very much this season.
I think it is both. He’s not going to crush a kid he recruited. He’s rarely, if ever, done that. However, in talking to my sources, they all say very good things about the three players you mentioned.
Do you think Jrue Holiday will leave for the NBA?
No, but I know he hasn’t made a decision yet.
Who do you have in your Final Four and who do you think is going to win the men’s basketball Championship?
I have Louisville, Memphis (ouch!), Pittsburgh and Oklahoma, with Louisville winning it all. And I still see Louisville winning it all because of their depth and talent.