Part II of what is happening with the coaching search. We continue with ur conversation with a source that has strong and close ties to UCLA’s basketball program.
As we said earlier regarding picking a college coach, Chris Carlson, will be the point man according to the source and the process is to narrow the list down and have a working list of 10 coaches in which to choose from in which to investigate and down the road see, and interview.
There was a good chance that when the Bruins were in Washington that Carlson talked to Mike Hopkins. My source said if Carlson was on that trip you could bet money that Carlson talked to Hopkins who is really showing off his coaching chops. The Huskies dropped their first conference on the road against enigmatic ASU, a Sun Devil team that was coming off a 21-point loss to Washington State.
Hopkins favors the 2-3 zone defense but AD Dan Guerrero hasn’t been a proponent of the zone, he prefers man defense much like Ben Howland ran when he was at UCLA. But the source said the game has changed so who knows.
The source reflected on when Howland was hired back in 2002, Guerrero wanted to change the culture of UCLA basketball. They had to get away from someone like Steve Lavin and needed to hire someone who was disciplined, defensive oriented, detail oriented that the Bruins would go into every game no matter the opponent with a chance to win because of the way they played defense the Bruins weren’t going to get outplayed and that is why Ben Howland was hired.
Source repeated the process to make clear what the dynamics were with the coaching change of Howland, the issue with Howland was they were hearing no one wanted to play for Howland because of his old style defense-first mentality and not a lot of offense and the thinking of the recruits were you have play offense in the NBA, so Guerrero’s mindset changed toward an offensive minded coach and that is why Steve Alford was hired.
Alford came with a strong offensive resume. He was a scorer as a player and had NBA experience and all his teams could score points. The source said that Alford did what he was supposed to but added that he wasn’t disciplined and his teams didn’t play defense.
Again the source repeats the mantra that he believes that Guerrero will revert back to what he believes is the best way to coach a basketball team with discipline and defense.
In a contradictory statement, the source that Guerrero wants someone who is a proven head coach that would leave out the favorite son Earl Watson though well connected on the AAU circuit, he is not a proven head coach on the HS, college or pro level, but this source was adamant that Watson would definitely get an interview. We shall soon see.
I asked the source if there was any chance that the Bruins could persuade a guy like Mark Few to rebuild the program and he was quick and confidently said no.
The source said he doesn’t believe anybody that has a really good and stable job would leave to coach at UCLA because he said at this time, it’s not a better job than the one they would have now.
They wouldn’t make that much more money at UCLA because of the cost of living in Los Angeles and all the other things coaching in this city brings.
The source said that the only way they would a coach who is winning like a Few at Gonzaga is if the said coach is having difficulties at his present job.
The source doesn’t believe that they will land a coach at a top school that has a really good thing going on there has to be something that would motivate the said coach to leave.
They could be looking at someone who is currently coaching an up and coming D-I program with west coast ties that would be a good fit for UCLA.
The source reiterated that the Bruins will look for someone who is familiar with the west coast and has some connections. The source said UCLA will not hire a coach without west coast connections.
They did that with Alford and they feel that they made a mistake. UCLA felt that Alford had trouble adjusting to Los Angeles. The source said that Alford never really acclimated to the city.
The source went through the list again of possible coaches again. From the NBA list, Fred Hoiberg doesn’t have maybe the west coast ties but he has traveled out here frequently because he coached the Chicago Bulls in a major market, plus he was the coach at Iowa State where he ran a really good offense, played against top teams and had a good system.
Mike Brown is at Golden State his kids went to Mater Dei. He’s from out here and he has coached out here. He was the head coach with the Lakers. Earl Watson played at UCLA. Coached at Phoenix. Still lives out here, owns a house and has a lot of ties to the area.
On the college level, Mike Hopkins played at Mater Dei. Went to Syracuse and now he is at Washington. He still has family out here in the area. Bobby Hurley is at least coaching in the conference so he has been around Los Angeles. He has played national basketball. He has coached at major places and is well respected in college.
According to the source, UCLA is a long shot chance at Virginia’s Tony Bennett, but the odds got a little better. Why keep trying to beat Duke when he already knows how to beat Washington.
If the Bruins start to look nationally when you start to see the names bantering about look to see if the said coach has ties will be a good lead, that this guy could be legit.
The source mentioned Virginia Tech coach Buzz Williams as an up and coming coach who might catch Guerrero’s eyes. If they don’t have the ties are they going to be the right fit and are they going to be able to handle L.A.? Are they going to able to live out here? What is their family like?
That is why the job of getting a new coach at UCLA isn’t as easy as it once was. The job doesn’t have the glamour that it once had. Again the source UCLA isn’t going to lose anyone over money like in the past, it will be whether it is a lateral move or a step up.
The source said it’s not just the ghost of John Wooden that hovers over the program but what happened to Howland. He went to three straight final-fours and they still couldn’t wait to get rid of him.
According to the source, there are a lot of issues that the new coach will have to address. Will Kris Wilkes and Jaylen Hands be on board? What will Tyger Campbell and Shareef O’Neal do? They could end up losing quite a few players.
The game is won with outstanding guard play and as UCLA fans have witnessed this season the guard play has been inconsistent at best.
The source lamented that if UCLA had Campbell, a true point guard, they may be a completely different team, but they don’t have a true point guard.
Alford’s teams were good when they had a true point guard and weren’t that good when they didn’t.
Again the source reiterated that it would serve UCLA best if they have a coach in place by the middle of March so they can get on the recruiting trail bring in people for visits at the beginning of April before the signing date and sign another point guard to go with Campbell for starters.
Getting to the end of the conversation the source said that there a lot more issues to deal with positives right now, but it is still UCLA.
The source added that for the first time the crosstown schools is beating UCLA in recruiting. “I can’t remember SC ever wiping out UCLA in basketball recruiting,” the source bemoaned. “USC has the No. 1 class in the country coming in. Oregon has a top-five class. Even if Arizona losses Sean Miller, they will still be back.”
“It’s not an easy situation for UCLA and it is not an easy call,” the source said. “But the system is in place and they will vet everybody and go through the process and whittle it down to one or two guys to bring in.”
As we said earlier regarding picking a college coach, Chris Carlson, will be the point man according to the source and the process is to narrow the list down and have a working list of 10 coaches in which to choose from in which to investigate and down the road see, and interview.
There was a good chance that when the Bruins were in Washington that Carlson talked to Mike Hopkins. My source said if Carlson was on that trip you could bet money that Carlson talked to Hopkins who is really showing off his coaching chops. The Huskies dropped their first conference on the road against enigmatic ASU, a Sun Devil team that was coming off a 21-point loss to Washington State.
Hopkins favors the 2-3 zone defense but AD Dan Guerrero hasn’t been a proponent of the zone, he prefers man defense much like Ben Howland ran when he was at UCLA. But the source said the game has changed so who knows.
The source reflected on when Howland was hired back in 2002, Guerrero wanted to change the culture of UCLA basketball. They had to get away from someone like Steve Lavin and needed to hire someone who was disciplined, defensive oriented, detail oriented that the Bruins would go into every game no matter the opponent with a chance to win because of the way they played defense the Bruins weren’t going to get outplayed and that is why Ben Howland was hired.
Source repeated the process to make clear what the dynamics were with the coaching change of Howland, the issue with Howland was they were hearing no one wanted to play for Howland because of his old style defense-first mentality and not a lot of offense and the thinking of the recruits were you have play offense in the NBA, so Guerrero’s mindset changed toward an offensive minded coach and that is why Steve Alford was hired.
Alford came with a strong offensive resume. He was a scorer as a player and had NBA experience and all his teams could score points. The source said that Alford did what he was supposed to but added that he wasn’t disciplined and his teams didn’t play defense.
Again the source repeats the mantra that he believes that Guerrero will revert back to what he believes is the best way to coach a basketball team with discipline and defense.
In a contradictory statement, the source that Guerrero wants someone who is a proven head coach that would leave out the favorite son Earl Watson though well connected on the AAU circuit, he is not a proven head coach on the HS, college or pro level, but this source was adamant that Watson would definitely get an interview. We shall soon see.
I asked the source if there was any chance that the Bruins could persuade a guy like Mark Few to rebuild the program and he was quick and confidently said no.
The source said he doesn’t believe anybody that has a really good and stable job would leave to coach at UCLA because he said at this time, it’s not a better job than the one they would have now.
They wouldn’t make that much more money at UCLA because of the cost of living in Los Angeles and all the other things coaching in this city brings.
The source said that the only way they would a coach who is winning like a Few at Gonzaga is if the said coach is having difficulties at his present job.
The source doesn’t believe that they will land a coach at a top school that has a really good thing going on there has to be something that would motivate the said coach to leave.
They could be looking at someone who is currently coaching an up and coming D-I program with west coast ties that would be a good fit for UCLA.
The source reiterated that the Bruins will look for someone who is familiar with the west coast and has some connections. The source said UCLA will not hire a coach without west coast connections.
They did that with Alford and they feel that they made a mistake. UCLA felt that Alford had trouble adjusting to Los Angeles. The source said that Alford never really acclimated to the city.
The source went through the list again of possible coaches again. From the NBA list, Fred Hoiberg doesn’t have maybe the west coast ties but he has traveled out here frequently because he coached the Chicago Bulls in a major market, plus he was the coach at Iowa State where he ran a really good offense, played against top teams and had a good system.
Mike Brown is at Golden State his kids went to Mater Dei. He’s from out here and he has coached out here. He was the head coach with the Lakers. Earl Watson played at UCLA. Coached at Phoenix. Still lives out here, owns a house and has a lot of ties to the area.
On the college level, Mike Hopkins played at Mater Dei. Went to Syracuse and now he is at Washington. He still has family out here in the area. Bobby Hurley is at least coaching in the conference so he has been around Los Angeles. He has played national basketball. He has coached at major places and is well respected in college.
According to the source, UCLA is a long shot chance at Virginia’s Tony Bennett, but the odds got a little better. Why keep trying to beat Duke when he already knows how to beat Washington.
If the Bruins start to look nationally when you start to see the names bantering about look to see if the said coach has ties will be a good lead, that this guy could be legit.
The source mentioned Virginia Tech coach Buzz Williams as an up and coming coach who might catch Guerrero’s eyes. If they don’t have the ties are they going to be the right fit and are they going to be able to handle L.A.? Are they going to able to live out here? What is their family like?
That is why the job of getting a new coach at UCLA isn’t as easy as it once was. The job doesn’t have the glamour that it once had. Again the source UCLA isn’t going to lose anyone over money like in the past, it will be whether it is a lateral move or a step up.
The source said it’s not just the ghost of John Wooden that hovers over the program but what happened to Howland. He went to three straight final-fours and they still couldn’t wait to get rid of him.
According to the source, there are a lot of issues that the new coach will have to address. Will Kris Wilkes and Jaylen Hands be on board? What will Tyger Campbell and Shareef O’Neal do? They could end up losing quite a few players.
The game is won with outstanding guard play and as UCLA fans have witnessed this season the guard play has been inconsistent at best.
The source lamented that if UCLA had Campbell, a true point guard, they may be a completely different team, but they don’t have a true point guard.
Alford’s teams were good when they had a true point guard and weren’t that good when they didn’t.
Again the source reiterated that it would serve UCLA best if they have a coach in place by the middle of March so they can get on the recruiting trail bring in people for visits at the beginning of April before the signing date and sign another point guard to go with Campbell for starters.
Getting to the end of the conversation the source said that there a lot more issues to deal with positives right now, but it is still UCLA.
The source added that for the first time the crosstown schools is beating UCLA in recruiting. “I can’t remember SC ever wiping out UCLA in basketball recruiting,” the source bemoaned. “USC has the No. 1 class in the country coming in. Oregon has a top-five class. Even if Arizona losses Sean Miller, they will still be back.”
“It’s not an easy situation for UCLA and it is not an easy call,” the source said. “But the system is in place and they will vet everybody and go through the process and whittle it down to one or two guys to bring in.”
