Brian Schwartz / Roundup
Us Bruin fans all remember that night in 2006 when the underdog UCLA Bruins took down the Gonzaga Bulldogs and punched their ticket to the Final Four.
The next two years, the Bruins made it back to the Final Four, only to come up short both times.
The Bruins were guided to these Final Fours by none other than Ben Howland.
Since then, however, the Bruins have fallen off the map in the NCAA basketball world.
Who is to blame for their recent struggles?
That’s right, Ben Howland.
When Howland took over the team in 2003 from Steve Lavin, the Bruins were a total shipwreck.
Howland regained respect for the storied program in his second year, when he pulled in one of the top recruiting classes in the country and led the Bruins back to the NCAA tournament.
Recently, Howland has guided the team back to the level that it was at when he took over for Lavin.
One of the main reasons for the team’s struggles is Howland’s style of offense.
Most possessions, the Bruins pass the ball around the perimeter for 30 plus seconds and then throw up a contested shot, giving away valuable possessions.
Being a season ticket holder, I have watched in disapproval as the Bruins toss up last second shots and seemingly give the ball away.
Another reason that Howland has been failing lately is his lack of recruiting.
Howland has missed some top recruits such as forward Derrick Williams (University of Arizona) who is projected to the number one pick in the upcoming draft, according to nbadraft.net.
According to an article in the LA Times, Howland was quoted as saying, “We did a poor job not evaluating them as well as we should have,” referring to Williams as well as San Diego State forward Kawhi Leonard.
Although the Bruins currently are tied for first place in the Pac-10, we need to remember one thing: the Pac-10 is terrible.
Yes, Howland may be improving, but this improvement does not mean that Howland is a good coach.
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