[Dale WorthingtonParticipant]

What do you fellas think about this?

The punk signed a 10 year/$20 million contract extension the day before New Mexico croaked to 14-seed Harvard. Now he bolts to UCLA. Can’t really blame him on that one but I don’t believe UCLA found their guy. Alford, in 14 years between Iowa and New Mexico, performed quite well during the regular season, but was a major disappointment in the NCAA Tournament.

If UCLA couldn’t get Shaka Smart or Brad Stevens, I would have honestly thrown the kitchen sink at Sean Miller from Arizona.

Coach Miller has gone to 4 Sweet Sixteens (2 times he won one more game and went to the Elite Eight) over 9 seasons between Arizona and Xavier, and I expect Zona to be right back in the Elite Eight or Final Four next year. His track record when it matters most is impeccable.

[SiggyParticipant]

I don’t think they could’ve gotten Miller. He’s well compensated and, quite frankly, Arizona is a better job than UCLA these days.
Alford’s a good coach. Good X’s and O’s guy. He’s not confined to just half court basketball, but that is his strength. I’d like to see how he fares with better talent.

Not bad. Who were the other candidates? I know Mark Gottfried was one. Alford > Gottfried as a pure basketball coach, but Gottfried is a better recruiter than Alford. Alford better retain some staff who can recruit for him.

[surveParticipant]

Agree with everything you said. I dont think Miller is leaving anytime soon. Gottfried and Romar were the other candidates. Both have underwhelmed from a coaching perspective while having plenty of high level talent to work with. (The seem to underperform with the more talent they have.) Yes, they are good recruiters, but it shouldnt be too hard for Alford to corral talent at UCLA.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

It’s kind of strange that they Fired the coach that has a more impressive record over the past decade than the guy the Hired?

[SiggyParticipant]

I honestly think they fired Howland because of his personality. He has the type of personality that can rub people the wrong way, burn bridges and not build rapport with players, fans and boosters. I still think he’s a good coach, just not very personable. I think he needs to be at a program where he can push middling players to overachieve and improve their games over the long haul. He’s not the type of coach that should be coaching one-and-doners IMO.

Alford might not have gotten THE big recruits in Cali, which is understandable at New Mexico, but he has been able to recruit California to a degree with guys like Kendall Williams and Tony Snell. He has to be good enough to reel in the big fish in Cali though.

[ph90702]

What makes you think that Alford can recruit in any way, shape, or form? I don’t see him recruiting much better at UCLA.

[SiggyParticipant]

I don’t know to be quite honest, which is why I questioned it in my first post in this thread. UCLA has the type of school and market that sells itself though.

[ph90702]

I’m of the belief that recruiters can recruit anywhere. UNLV (my team) and Memphis are the best recruiting schools outside of the “Big Six” conferences. They’re bring in four and five star talent.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

To alot of outsiders that UCLA Job seems like Eutopia for a coach..The most successful college basketball program with a total of 11 Championships…12 title game appearances,4 perfect undefeated seasons,88 game winning streak and a great talent base to recruit……But insiders know some coaches don’t want to deal with:

1. the agents and wanna be agents

2.the pro scenery

3.the fan base and supporters

4.the pressures of coaching at the school

5. and more importantly John Wooden’s Shadow…..

Alford seems like a great hire..But he has his work cut out for him……But Howland left him with some good players to work with ,even if Shabazz leaves as expected……

[SiggyParticipant]

The UCLA mystique will never go away, but it’s not nearly as attractive of a program as it once was. I wouldn’t even consider it a top 10 head coaching job in the nation, which you figure it would be given the history and market.
The pressure of coaching at a university like that doesn’t match the support. It’s like the “fans” and alum would rather bitch and moan instead of go to the games. The turnout at some of their home games with the revamped Pavilion and exciting class was sad to see.

[ph90702]

Shabazz isn’t staying.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

Alford coached Drew Gordon at New Mexico..I Wonder if that Connection will bring Drew’s brother Aaron to UCLA? Or does Drew still have harbor bad feelings for the Bruins and talk Aaron out of going there?

[Dale WorthingtonParticipant]

Very interesting predicament for the Gordon family, indeed, my fellow RUDEBOY!

[SiggyParticipant]

UCLA’s not on Gordon’s short list. Even before he trimmed his list, UCLA wasn’t on it. OTOH, New Mexico was.
You rarely hear of recruits adding candidates this late in the process.

[DolanCareParticipant]

It’s difficult for me not to view this hiring as UCLA settling, and after reading the above posts it seems like this forum agrees with me. He is a middling coach, who has gotten programs to play above their pedigree, but he UNM nor Iowa have shined in the tournament or big games in general. It’s even more surprising that UCLA hired him after that loss to Harvard, a game where UNM looked so lost offensively.

I might got dogged for this, but why not wait for someone from the professional ranks? Why not make it a sexy pick that will get UCLA back into discussions. This may seem farfetched, but I have this vision of a D’Antoni hiring once he gets canned at the end of the season.

Obviously, D’Antoni is the antithesis of college coaching since he has almost no game management and would probably enforce bad habits. But could you imagine the appeal for blue chip recruits??? You have a chance to shoot with reckless abandonment under a coach who was once highly succesful in the NBA. Where do I sign?

IDK, it could be interesting.

[theprophetParticipant]

alford knows the game very well. it will be interesting to see what he can do with the type of recruits ucla has. i like the hire for ucla. that was pretty out of bounds to do to new mexico though, but how can you blame him?

[llperez]

Not a sexy pick, I’m just meh over it. But as for his lack of tourny success at Iowa and unm, how many NBA players did he coach there? He will get NBA talent at ucla, the school recruits itself. Neither howland nor lavin before him or harrick before him had any trouble landing elite recruits.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

I Heard Dick Vitale say on ESPN ,that he know for a fact that UCLA didn’t ask for permission to talk to Alford…..

In pro sports that would be considered Tampering….So it seems the NCAA has a different set of Rules 1 for players and 1 for coaches…..

[Author]

Posts