Nelson, Howland meet to discuss attitude
UCLA junior forward Reeves Nelson and head coach Ben Howland met on Monday afternoon to talk about Nelson's recent attitude and actions after the Bruins' regular season-opening 69-58 loss to Loyola Marymount, a source inside the program confirmed.
The team's leading scorer and rebounder from a year ago scored 13 points and had eight rebounds in the loss to the Lions, reportedly growing frustrated with the lack of offensive attention going his way.
Nelson has had attitude issues in the past and he and Howland have spoken in private numerous times before, but the latest flare-up could result in a suspension.
Reeves... you can have as much attitude as you want when you get to NBA: where everyone has gotten attitude, from players to owners...
What a Neub...
Reeves is the one who should be meeting with Howland to discuss Howland's attitude!
Howland's been nonchalant in the past during these early season so-called cupcake games!
Remember two years ago? The Portland Pilots of the West Coast Conference blew us out by almost 30 points 74-47!!!
Leave Reeves alone Howland! Reeves has something you don't have early in the season, "SACK!"
How about these other Howland disasters!
2003 lost to UC Santa Barbara 61-60
2004 lost to Boston College 74-64 @Pond of Anaheim
2009 lost to Cal St. Fullerton 68-65 before a national ESPN TV audience!!!
2010 lost to Montana @Pauley Pavilion 54-44
Back off Ben! Your the choker!
Do we play basketball as well as softball and water polo? Why didn't someone tell me!?
Both Reeves and Howland have issues here.
I agree that Howland needs to get his team ready and pumped early in the season. He seems to slowly bring them in through the season. I remember how mid-way through Pac-10 season he's got the team bringing great quick double teams and traps that aren't seen early in the season. Why does he not have these and other strategies brought in early? I don't know, and I don't like the team constantly losing to directional and minor schools early in the season, much like I don't like his teams flaming out early in the conference tournaments. He also needs to bring in an offensive minded coach and give that guy time and authority to mold a more diverse offense.
I get the feeling that he has little regard for these factors, but no one will know unless he comes out and explains these things.
Reeves has a bad attitude, and I don't particularly like the attitude that anything is owed to him. You have to go out and earn it every practice and every game. That attitude won't get you far in life. In the pros, he's nothing more that a Mark Madsen type. these young kids always think they are more than they are. And they have weasels around them willing to pump smoke up their butts all the time. Get real Reeves, you will learn a lot from Howland that may help you be a better pro player if you make it that far. Of course, with mental problems, many teams may forgo a contract on someone like you.
That loss to LMU was BAD, no doubt. Interestingly, it was two positions on the court that basically earned them the loss. 44 of their 69 points came from two guys. WTF, you can't bring hard traps and knock em down once in a while. UCLA left a lot of fouls on the scoreboard, Reeves had zero. Knock the guy down when he comes in the lane. I would've gotten in that kid Ireland's face a lot more, too. On offense, UCLA did as they've done the last few years, a lot of standing around.
Middle Tennessee State beat that same LMU team yesterday. Somehow, they got 22 personal fouls called against LMU, 4 on Ireland and Hamilton and 5 on DuBois and Okonji. UCLA only managed to get 12 personal fouls called against LMU. ZERO on Ireland. Why? Timid play, standing around and jumpers from Westwood.
Toughen up and act like a man, not a child, Reeves. And to Howland, start caring about these early season games. Thank you.
Marc: you're right. He's Mark Madsen 2.0...nothing but a Neub. Just another McQueary redux...PA Neub.
Maybe the knuckleheads at BN will circulate an occupy Reeves petition
The meeting should have been about why he jacked up so many 3 pointers in the game. For the 3 years he's been there he has never been the focal point of the offense so why is he crying about it now. He's earned first team Pac 12 honors because he's a scapper around the basket and outhustle's his opponets. I think he and Smith read to many press clippings on how good they are suppose to be and forgot they still need to prove it on the court.
UCLA Bruins website informs us that Reeves Nelson suspended indefinitely. If this young man has any clear thoughts in his head and any good figures in his life to speak to him about maturity and life, then perhaps he can come out of this a better person.
The ball is his court to show coach Howland that he understands that he needs to show better character. If he cannot, then I would assume he is gone. He is obviously at a fork in the road, which path he takes is up to him.
BTW, POS Nestor is practically calling for Howland to be fired. That guy is a head case and only a head shrink will be able to identify the many issues that plague his poor head. LOL
Marc makes a very insightful comment above. I agree that both CBN and Nelson have areas that could stand changes/improvement, but with regard to the LMU game I was particularly disgusted with Nelson.
I was at the game and I watched very closely the interaction between Nelson and CBN. On one occasion when Nelson was pulled shortly after entering the game (presumably for a defensive miscue because I don't remember it being after being one of his awful shots), he was sulking noticeably. (He walked to the bench with his head down without making eye contact with CBN, waved his hand in disgust, and moped around near the back of the huddle during timeouts.) This type of behavior is NOT ACCEPTABLE at any time for any player and is a clear sign of disrespect towards the coach that corrupts team morale.
As Marc notes, Nelson acts as if he is entitled to something, but he could not be more mistaken. After the game, I commented to my friend that Nelson should be benched unless he changes his attitude. His shot selection clearly demonstrated that he felt "entitled" to take terrible shots without any regard for team play. I applaud CBN for addressing this problem immediately without letting it fester and turn into a season-long soap opera.
As for the loss to LMU, I think several factors were at play. First, we didn't play with as much energy as LMU, and this will usually decide the outcome in most games. Is this the players' or head coach's fault? Well as someone who played competitively, in my opinion this ultimately falls on the players. The coach can only do so much to get players motivated, after that it is up to the players to bring their "A" game on the court. The players for the most part played with a sense that "we are UCLA and at some point the opponent will roll over." Well as we see that didn't happen.
Second, we did not play smart basketball. We had a clear size advantage with Smith and Wear, yet we could barely get the ball inside due to atrocious entry passes. Our team as currently constructed is not going to win any shooting contests (an issue that deserves attention), so if we do not exploit our inside advantage or push the ball hard and get points in transition, we are basically playing on a level playing field with the opponent, even against LMU. LMU has some good athletes and actually had better overall quickness on the floor than UCLA.
Third, our strategy during the game was lacking, and this falls on CBN. The LMU point guard (a very good player) consistently broke down our defender off the dribble or would come off high pick and rolls that led to kickout 3s. I know CBN doesn't like to play zone but I thought we should have at times gone to an extended matchup zone to neutralize their outside shooting and ability to break down the on-ball defender. After about their third or fourth 3-pointer it was clear that they could shoot the ball from long-range, yet we wound up giving up 10 3-pointers without any defensive adjustment. It's hard to win any game giving up that many.
Overall, UCLA didn't play with energy or toughness. Totally agree with Marc that we should have brought the trap on occasion, knocked some players down when they got in the lane. Not dirty play, just tough play to establish a presence and mood on the floor, especially after falling behind. I agree too that our offense is sometimes downright awful and not worthy of a division I school, let alone at UCLA. Part of this is because we play selfishly and take terrible shots, part of this is because we look like we've never seen a zone defense before. I think it's a great idea to bring in an offensive minded coach to help CBN. Finally, we need to make a greater effort at recruiting guys that can shoot. It sounds pretty basic but most teams will zone us, and we need guys who can make open shots.