Howland Interview, Pt. 3
I sat down with UCLA head coach Ben Howland for an extended interview on Tuesday, and here's the last part...
Gold: OK, so what happened last year?
Howland "Last year was really a culmination of all the guys we lost, making some recruiting mistakes in terms of character judgments, and it was really a tough year for us. The plus the last year was the Honeycutt and Nelson got a lot of experience. This year, for me is about turning the program around back in the right direction. We're on the way toward building something special."
Gold: How difficult is the rebuilding, compared to building?
"Well, in 04-05 we barely got in the NCAA tourney. we were young. Farmar and Afflalo were freshmen. We were piecemeal. We were starting three freshmen. The next year, when we added Mbah-a moute and added Alfred and Collison we really took off. we went from an 11-seed to going to the national championship game the next year. It's a building process you go through. Even the year before that, we had a losing season."
Geez Jon,
Are you intimidated by or afraid of Ben Howland? If not, then why all the namby pamby softball questions?
How about REAL questions we ALL care about? Like:
1.) Why does he seem to have such a hard time breaking the zone? Even when he has had both outside shooters and an inside presence?
2.) Since it seems breaking the zone is not his forte, why not hire an experienced coach, so he can focus on D?
3.) What is he going to do to address the GLARING PG issue?
4.) Considering how good Kendall Williams has looked at New Mexico, does he regret snubbing him?
5.) Why did he take Carlino in desperation, but not Williams, who seems like a much better player anyway?
6.) Does he regret letting good players like Stanback, with his size and overall length get away? Maybe he needs to work on his communication skills?
7.) Does he agree with some of his critics that he can be stubborn to a fault?
8.) Since he focuses on and is such a defensive specialist, why can't he get his players to play with defensive intensity or simple fundamentals?
A.) His Centers hedge for crap (they make a half assed effort, often extremely ineffective and don't even spread their arms out)Then they are often out of position getting to the lane, often resulting in easy lay ups for the opposong team.
B.) There is often very little defensive help, especially in the lane. Centers often play Ole defense. Again, resulting in easy baskets.
C.) They hardly trap anymore, this used to be one of our effective strategies.
Seriously Jon, why don't you let us ask some of these questions next time. Just a thought. I mean, Howland hardly EVER gives interviews, why not take advantage of it? I'm sorry, I never criticize you, but this was truly disappointing.
Geez Jon,
Are you intimidated by or afraid of Ben Howland? If not, then why all the namby pamby softball questions?
How about REAL questions we ALL care about? Like:
1.) Why does he seem to have such a hard time breaking the zone? Even when he has had both outside shooters and an inside presence?
2.) Since it seems breaking the zone is not his forte, why not hire an experienced coach, so he can focus on D?
3.) What is he going to do to address the GLARING PG issue?
4.) Considering how good Kendall Williams has looked at New Mexico, does he regret snubbing him?
5.) Why did he take Carlino in desperation, but not Williams, who seems like a much better player anyway?
6.) Does he regret letting good players like Stanback, with his size and overall length get away? Maybe he needs to work on his communication skills?
7.) Does he agree with some of his critics that he can be stubborn to a fault?
8.) Since he focuses on and is such a defensive specialist, why can't he get his players to play with defensive intensity or simple fundamentals?
A.) His Centers hedge for crap (they make a half assed effort, often extremely ineffective and don't even spread their arms out)Then they are often out of position getting to the lane, often resulting in easy lay ups for the opposong team.
B.) There is often very little defensive help, especially in the lane. Centers often play Ole defense. Again, resulting in easy baskets.
C.) They hardly trap anymore, this used to be one of our effective strategies.
Seriously Jon, why don't you let us ask some of these questions next time. Just a thought. I mean, Howland hardly EVER gives interviews, why not take advantage of it? I'm sorry, I never criticize you, but this was truly disappointing.
Geez Jon,
Are you intimidated by or afraid of Ben Howland? If not, then why all the namby pamby softball questions?
How about REAL questions we ALL care about? Like:
1.) Why does he seem to have such a hard time breaking the zone? Even when he has had both outside shooters and an inside presence?
2.) Since it seems breaking the zone is not his forte, why not hire an experienced coach, so he can focus on D?
3.) What is he going to do to address the GLARING PG issue?
4.) Considering how good Kendall Williams has looked at New Mexico, does he regret snubbing him?
5.) Why did he take Carlino in desperation, but not Williams, who seems like a much better player anyway?
6.) Does he regret letting good players like Stanback, with his size and overall length get away? Maybe he needs to work on his communication skills?
7.) Does he agree with some of his critics that he can be stubborn to a fault?
8.) Since he focuses on and is such a defensive specialist, why can't he get his players to play with defensive intensity or simple fundamentals this year?
A.) His Centers hedge for crap (they make a half assed effort, often extremely ineffective and don't even spread their arms out)Then they are often out of position getting to the lane, often resulting in easy lay ups for the opposong team.
B.) There is often very little defensive help, especially in the lane. Centers often play Ole defense. Again, resulting in easy baskets.
C.) They hardly trap anymore, this used to be one of our effective strategies.
Seriously Jon, why don't you let us ask some of these questions next time. Just a thought. I mean, Howland hardly EVER gives interviews, why not take advantage of it? I'm sorry, I never criticize you, but this was truly disappointing.