Could This Be Coach Howland's Last Year In Westwood?

If this season ends in disappointment, Bruin fans shouldn't look much further than Howland.

The title kind of says it all, but just to reaffirm my beliefs, I think coach Howland could be coaching his last season here at UCLA. It isn't because I think Howland is a bad coach, though I do lose sleep over his lack of offensive innovation; but rather, his inability to keep players around.

Just in the three and a half years that I've been here at UCLA, coach Howland has lost Jrue Holliday, J'Mison Morgan, Drew Gordon, Malcolm Lee (that's four of the infamous "fab five"), Tyler Honeycutt, Mike Moser, Chace Stanback, and Matt Carlino. Sure, a couple of those guys went pro (prematurely), and others decided to leave (while some were either forced off the team or decided they were better off elsewhere).


In my opinion, this is unacceptable. He has been unable to keep the players focused on success in the college game. Some are focused on the college life, while others are focused on what's ahead. It's been awhile since Howland has had an Afflalo, Mbah a Moute or Aboya, but he needs to find one desperately right now. Whether he transforms freshman guard Norman Powell into that type of player (Powell is said to remind many of Russell Westbrook), or finds a way to get Jerime Anderson and Anthony Stover to be those types of players.

If only a couple of those players were still here, this UCLA team would be completely different. If Drew Gordon never decides to transfer to New Mexico, maybe Howland can discipline Reeves correctly early on. If Moser were still here, we'd have a great perimeter shooter, or if Matt Carlino hadn't left, we might have some more consistent guard play.

There are a lot of different scenarios for this team, and I don't think any would be worse than what we have now. I have always liked Howland ideally, but recently he hasn't produced the roster that the UCLA program needs. He needs to go after recruits that will play his way, players who don't have a problem checking their egos at the door and submitting to  a coach's style. A smart player wouldn't have a problem with that, they should know that Howland coached players are a hot commodity when the NBA draft comes around. Teams trust players that come out of his system.


Tweet