Early departures leave UCLA basketball bare
By Jon Gold, Staff Writer
The Los Angeles Daily News
Updated: 12/05/2009 11:08:15 PM PST
Ben Howland does not often give himself over to resignation.
He is a competitor, through and through. A no-nonsense basketball mind whose smiles are to be stored in a bottle and sealed tight, rarer than the most precious of metals.
But when asked about his recruitment of star players - and the aftereffects of them leaving after one, two, three years - he lets out a chuckle.
It is a weary laugh, the kind of laugh that implies the UCLA basketball coach has long ago ceded his frustration.
Almost a sad kind of laugh, as this pillar of college basketball, this man who has led UCLA to a 154-58 record in his six-plus seasons and three Final Fours, now realizes what those Final Fours might have cost.
They might have cost Howland the future.
Heading into today's matchup with No. 1 Kansas, the Bruins are 2-4, off to their worst start since 2002-03 - Steve Lavin's last year with the program - and they are in the midst of a three-game losing streak for the first time in five years.
Help is on the way, the Bruins believe. They have to believe.
Russell Westbrook would have been the Bruins' starting senior shooting guard this season. Instead, he is in his second season with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He cannot help.
Kevin Love would have been UCLA's starting junior center. He is in his second season with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He cannot help.
Jrue Holiday would have been the team's starting sophomore point guard. He is in his rookie season with the Philadelphia 76ers. He cannot help.
"It's very difficult, but it is what it is," Howland says, letting out an exasperated sigh. "It is the climate; it's the playing field that we're dealt with.
"It makes things difficult, especially when you don't know for sure a guy is going to leave. How do you replace that kid? How do you sign other people when you don't know for sure? We've lost seven guys early in six years, four in the last two, and that's a big hit."
As Howland says this, he does not rub his temples or curse the names of early-entry pioneers. It is the climate of college basketball, as Howland understands, and he's finally learning that the climate is cold and dark and scary.
Gone are the days of four-year starters and players waiting in the wings for their shot.
Consider this: Six seniors went in the first round of the 2009 NBA draft, and just one - Louisville's Terrence Williams - was a lottery pick.
Eleven underclassmen were drafted in the first round, meanwhile, including Milwaukee Bucks rookie sensation Brandon Jennings, who played one season in Europe. Six went in the lottery. The 76ers tapped Holiday at pick No. 17.
"As a friend and as a teammate you wish the best for them; Russell, I couldn't be happier for him," UCLA senior forward James Keefe said. "He worked his tail off for two years and he deserves to be in the NBA. Obviously, I wish he was here for my last two years. But you're happy for them. That's the ultimate goal as a basketball player. He gave us two years, and that's all you can ask of him."
For some players, the NBA beckons long before college.
Love was projected as a high lottery pick early in his high school career.
At the beginning of his recruitment, Love and Howland discussed the possibility of a one-and-done. Midway through what would become a Pac-10 Player of the Year season, it was the worst-kept secret in college basketball.
Love had given the Bruins all he had to offer.
"I kinda had known going in that I'd only be a year or two," Love said by telephone last week. "I intended to keep an open mind, but I really wanted to get into the NBA. That said, UCLA was the best year of my life. But I really only intended on being there for a year."
As soon as he realized his stock had risen so drastically, Love approached Howland.
What had been infrequent discussions about a hypothetical future turned into fact-based observations of Love's soaring prospects.
The conversations were always honest and amiable, Love said, sharing that Howland was a key figure in the decision-making process.
"He was pretty open about it," Love said. "Halfway through the season we started having meetings where he'd say I expect you to leave this year. He kept an open mind about it. He knew that there would be guys coming in. He knew the NBA was in my near future."
Around the same time, though, the NBA became a part of Westbrook's near-future, too.
Howland was blindsided.
He practically says as much.
"With Kevin, we knew there was a chance he'd leave after one," Howland said. "He was the No. 1 player in the country, just a great player, and he was big. With Russell, I didn't ever see it coming that he'd be gone after two years."
But he was.
And the Bruins are feeling it.
Besieged by inconsistent guard play out of sophomores Malcolm Lee and Jerime Anderson, UCLA sure could have used Westbrook's on-ball defense and penetrating ability.
He would have been the team's rock, its go-to-guy, its team leader and spokesperson.
Instead, the Bruins rely on a pair of raw, talented-but-untested floor leaders who have been forced to learn on the job with mixed results.
"Some of the mid-level guys improve so much in the first year, and then they could end up leaving in their second year," said Love, sounding as resigned to UCLA's fate as Howland. "You rarely see fourth-year guys in the first round. (Scouts) will put a tab on them that they have very good talent early, NBA size, so it's really tough to rebuild after a guy leaves.
"You're seeing that with UCLA now."
What gets lost, though, is the complicated fact that not only have the Bruins been robbed of talented stars to the NBA, but they've been hamstrung in finding immediate replacements, as well.
With only a few scholarships available per season, coaches can't exactly stockpile top recruits behind their starters. When a Kevin Love leaves, it is not as if UCLA has the No. 2-rated center at its disposal.
Not only did the Bruins lose Love; they lost out on a potential starting junior center rated just a few notches below.
"That's the interesting thing about college basketball right now," Keefe said. "As good as it is - Kevin gave us a great season, got us to the Final Four - do you trade that for a player who's going to give you multiple years? It's not an easy job for a coach to decide."
Years ago, Howland made that decision.
He went with Love, and it paid off.
He got the Final Four, the third straight for the Bruins.
He followed with Holiday, who helped the team to a 26-9 record last season.
He made his bed.
Now he's lying in it.
"It's tough on both ends," Love said. "Whether I'm sitting there watching on TV and knowing I could help out; I wish I could.
"But from so many different standpoints it was the right reason for me (to leave early). But I'll tell you this, for only being here a year, I can see how people are Bruins for life. ... On and off the court, UCLA was the best year of my life."
The best year.
The only year.
No comments:
Post a Comment