Andy Enfield v. Steve Alford

Remember this quote from Andy Enfield when he got hired at USC about UCLA coach Steve Alford: “I’ve made it to one Sweet 16 in two years, and he’s made it to one Sweet 16 in 18 years.”

If you want to update the score, it’s now one Sweet 16 in six years vs. four Sweet 16’s in 22 years.

66 thoughts on “Andy Enfield v. Steve Alford

  1. Both teams ended up 2-1 in the tournament. Season is over. Let’s go watch some baseball. Fight On!

  2. Alford has reached his peak and the future is more of the same inept and indifferent ability by him. He hasn’t a clue how to adjust against a formidable foe. On the other hand Enfield and his squad have steadily improved with every year these past 4 years of his tenure.

    Next year looks good for USC … as to bel-air tech well there’s always the ‘oh come let us adore him’ mantra that is now >40 years….If only….why? Gone are the days….in the gloaming…jonnie…nellie…sam…JD….the sweet con by the LA Times and their cover-up of the most unreported corrupt program in the history of NCAA men’s basketball.

    bel-air tech would have been so much better off had Alford left….he didn’t and another year of more of the same home cookin’….

  3. UCLA, the “basketball” school, is in the same place as SC. And was mentioned, both teams had the same record in the tournament. And UCLA has the baggage of the Ball father, who is getting roasted on ESPN. How sweet it is.

      • He’s just making it tougher on his sons in their careers. People now want to see the sons fail because of the father’s nonsense.

  4. I love it when coaches bust each other’s chops, some of the best repartee I’ve ever read was between John McKay and Bill Walsh. Now that was game week! Fight On!!!

    • Hmmm Walsh was never a head coach when McKay was at USC unless you’re referring to their joint stints in the NFL (Walsh 1979-88 and McKay 1976 to 1984).

      Now if you mistakenly typed ‘Walsh’ instead of ‘Ralston’ yeah baby that was war truly war.

      • Absolutely right. Sorry bout that. None the less, John vs. the PAC 8 was a spectacle every week. The coaches hardl

        • McKay was the best, Howard Jones next and then Pete Carroll. PC is last because he split when it was on his watch when the penalties came down. That was the same stunt John Robinson pulled after the 1981 season and was the prime reason Mike Garrett fired him after the 1997 season.

          • Can’t argue with your assessment, but favorite doesn’t always mean best. My favorite will always be JR, can’t help it. Just like my favorite Raider coach and tv analyst will always be John Madden.

      • Absolutely right, mea culpa. None the less, McKay vs. the PAC was a beautiful thing to read. Bet the blogger has nocturnal emissions just wondering what that was like.

  5. Enfield was being pretty ballsy with that statement. No doubt Alford has been more successful. Hopefully Enfield can keep Metu and Boatwright and close what looks like a real good recruiting class. USC is positioned well as a second tier Pac 12 basketball program now. He needs to step up his game to get it to the top tier.

    And congrats to Gonzaga and Oregon. Good day for west coast hoops.

  6. While toasting two Northwest teams to the Final Four with a Deschutes, Mr. Jenkins observes that it’s obvious which LA coach has done more with the available talent and program resources.

    • Alford isn’t 0 – 9 vs Oregon and Andyain’twinning’s away games vs ranked team record hovers at a mind boggling .095/.100 WPct.

      Andrew’s pray and hoist brick all the time offensive strategy seems cribbed from a YMCA shirts and skins game.

        • Alford never went ONE & DONE, after a TO to set the defense, on an opponent’s, under the basket, inbounds pass for a 1inch layup.

          • I remember your glory days, watched and enjoyed them actually, these days are not those!

          • Glory days? Shouldn’t you call them Cheating Days with Woody Woodpecker and The Swindler? LOL!

          • Maybe, I don’t know, so I can’t say, I’ll say this though, no lay ups was not a rule, it was a way of life. I learned more about basketball watching those teams than watching this week.

          • Yeah, I hear you. But the fact remains. SUCLA basketball is much ado nothing these days, much like their glorious football program. LOL!

          • Alford was in Memphis and Coach Enright was glued to a seat in Hubris Hut watching Alford Friday night. I’d bet large $$$$ Andyain’twinning would throw you under a bus to have been playing Kentucky Friday night.

          • You’re probably right , he probably had a decent game plan, it might actually have worked.. or maybe he would just teach his boys to yell “Ole”, like Alford did.

          • Losing continues for SUCLA, but what’s new? It’s simply normal, correct? LOL!

        • And yet the UCLA defense was ranked ahead of USC in the KenPom rankings. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for either.

          • Never said anything about our defense, but Alford’s kids looked stuck in the mud, no hands up no cutting off drives to the basket, and I really don’t give a hoot about kenpom nor who he thinks is better. That’s why they play the games. How many of his final four are in?
            The kids just lacked intensity, motivation or purpose..just my opinion.

          • The post was about Alford v. Enfield.

            Kentucky was the better team at the end of the day. Pretty simple. They had better athletes, better defenders and better coaching.

          • I’m not trying to hit on the kids, he (Alford) should’ve had up, primed and ready. Were they over-worked, I couldn’t say, but your right, Kentucky was much more athletic and fresh.

          • Sometimes you play someone who is just better. Bruins had no answer for Fox. Thomas Welsh has had big games against Kentucky and was in foul trouble in this game. Ball struggled. Stuff happens.

      • Be honest (if that’s possible) Are you glad Alford didn’t get the Hoosier’s job?

  7. Seriously though fellas, heard multiple times that the scrimmage went well. Just wondering, is the defense so good because the offense is so inexperienced? Or are we on a magic carpet ride?
    We need to let the process work itself out and let the coaches have their way, trouble is I just can’t wait. 5 1/2 mos to go, don’t know I can do it.
    Oh ya, jus think the fuclans have to wait till next bb season and then they still have Alford.

    • The defense is good,and will get much better.Especially as freshman DL’s get reps.I think Sam useing spring to get acquainted with new wr’s.Sam not taking hits.OL needs time.Burnett and D.I played little. Think it’s been an excellent spring so far. Whole different world for Darnold now.His competition doesn’t start until September..

      • You got that right. Lots going up on righ now with the offense, gonna take time. I have great faith in this process, both sides des of the ball. I wanna get at them ruins, Betiku, Murphy, Cook, these kids going to rock it. Consistency will be our holy grail!!!

  8. I still think Enfield is a better coach. If all Alford could with the talented team he had this year was get to the sweet 16, he’s an average coach, at best. They won’t be nearly as good next year. He’s losing at least 4 guys(assuming Leaf leaves) that amount to over 60 points a game and over 20 rebounds a game. He was bragging after the loss that he’s been at UCLA 4 years and has taken them to 3 Sweet 16’s but all you have to do to get to the Sweet 16 is win the first 2 games and if you are one of the higher seeded teams in the tournament, the first 2 games are against lower seeded teams. You don’t really start getting to the better teams until you hit that 3rd team and Alford has never got past that 3rd game in his career. No team was more experienced than UCLA in this tournament. They had 2 freshmen who will be one and out and 1st round draft choices who started all 36 games this year. Then they had a junior(Welsh) who has started every game since his freshmen year. They they had 2 seniors who also have started just about every game since they were freshmen. Then they had Holiday who had started most games in his first 2 years before Ball beat him out this year. But even this year, some people called him the best 6th man in college basketball. You had Aneboku who many pro scouts are encouraging him to go one and out because of his natural talent. Then you have Goloman who is an outstanding player and will be better in the future. A good comparison would be Kentucky who had 3 freshman, a sophomore and one senior as its starters.

    • Ball–#1 Overall Pick
      Alford–Senior veteran player and a former 5-Star
      Hamilton–Senior and a former 5-Star
      Leaf–1st Round Pick
      Welsh–Really improved and is as solid as any PF-C
      Holiday–pretty much a worthy of starting, but a really good sixth man.

      Then you have the two big men reserves. Alford had the pieces to win a championship.
      For him to mention that 4 straight sweet 16’s is something to be proud I have to stop him and say no it’s not when you coach at UCLA and basketball is supposed to have much higher demands right? A program like SC or Stanford could be happy with 4 sweet 16s bit ucla not ucla, and not after losing with squad he had this season. Alford played for Bobby Knight at Indiana where basketball is everything and now coaches at ucla. It’s even more certain now that Alford isn’t a elite coach. Bill Self or Roy Williams would be a lot more angry with the outcome of their season if they lost in the sweet 16 again at Basketball power schools NC or Kansas.

      • It wasn’t 4 straight Sweet 16’s. He went to the Sweet-16 3 of his 4 years at UCLA. Last year his record was 15-17. He finished 10th in the Pac-12 and got blown out by 25 points by SC in the 1st round of the Pac-12 tournament. He was 0-3 against USC last year and didn’t even make the NCAA playoffs nor the NIT.

        • I don’t know how that slipped by me. My bad. I forgot they were awful last season. But Alford can’t be pleased with the outcome. This was a final four team in my opinion only they weren’t good enough defensively and it showed when Fox slashed to the paint and Ball expected double teams and they never came. He’s fell short at New Mexico and UCLA is what I meant with the 4 sweet 16’s

    • Dana Altman is a hall of fame coach. Still I am pleased with where Enfield is taking the program. I doubt most ucla fans would say this about Alford

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