UCLA BASKETBALL TRUTH

Howland was just what UCLA needed after Lavin. Howland and/or his staff has been able to recruit top players. But what happens when those players depart or just do not pan out?
You have to say Howland real first class of Mata, Shipp, Afflalo and Farmar was what Howland built his success on. Tough, hard nose players who worked at their game.
Now Howland second class Aboya, Mbah a Boute, Roll, Collison and Wright.
All except Wright bought into Howland system tough D and limited offense and the limited offense is on Howland and not the players.
Now Wright was the first of the players not to pan out and Howland is having success.
Third class Dragovic, Keefe and Westbrook begins the downward spiral in Howland’s recruiting and success. While Westbrook develops into a star he departs leaving a gap that is never filled. Keefe is a huge disappointment on the whole whether it was because of injury or being overrated, a McDonalds HS All-American, he never really quite caught on. Dragovic another player that never quite fit the mold and his off field problems did not help.
Fourth class Love and Stanback. Okay Love worked but he departed after one and so did Stanback who went to UNLV and is having some success there. So here lies the problem. The class of 2007 was small and departs after one year so there was no quality depth and no guards added to the program. Toss in 2006 where Westbrook departs with Love to the NBA and Drago and Keefe give you some depth but are not the type of players to lead the team to success.
UCLA does manage to have a good season in 2008 largely because Collison stuck around and Aboya opted to play another year and was very good for three quarters of the season but petered out towards the end. But UCLA departed both the PAC 10 and NCAA early.
Now Fifth Class of Anderson, Holiday, Lee, Gordan and Morgan looks outstanding. But how Morgan got to be such a highly rated player makes me wonder if High Scholl BB is any good at all in Texas! Anderson was a total disappointment this season. Lee has talent but fell apart at the end of this season after a good frosh season. Holiday really screws things up with his departure to the NBA leaving UCLA with only Anderson and Lee at guards. Gordon and Howland do not get along and Gordon departs this year. Morgan is a total wash at this point and is a non-factor.
In looking at the 2008-2009 season I thought Howland missed the mark by not having a more up-tempo game to compliment his talent. He had quick guards in Collison and Holiday. Lee has proved he is better player in an open court. Gordon was a player who wanted to run and UCLA was not big inside and would have been better off with a pressing team and open court offense, But Howland is inflexible and the cracks were really beginning to show. Holiday departed because he knew his talent would not be showcased at UCLA. Gordon did also but he did not figure it out till a year later. Aboya and Collison graduated and gone were the last two players that were truly hard nose defensive minded players in Howland mold.
Year six in recruiting Lane, Honeycutt, Moser, Stover and Nelson arrive to UCLA. Honeycutt is injured and misses the first part of the season and that is to bad because things may have turned out differently. Toss in Anderson’s injury and UCLA has only one guard in Lee who does not handle the ball well enough to play point and disaster looms. Are Stover and Moser actually on the team? If those two could not play on this team they must really suck or Howland can't coach. Nelson is a nice find but is limited on defense but that might be in part because he is not a center. Lane does nothing till Howland is forced to play him. Lane might turn out to be okay but really needs to hit the weight room.
So now the 2009-2010 season of agony is over and UCLA shortcomings in recruiting, player development and coaching came to the forefront.
I blame Howland who tried to mold this group into his system, which simply would not work. This team on a whole simple did not posse the talent to play man on man defense. When you have trouble beating Concordia and lose to Fullerton at home you as a coach need to evaluate the talent that you have and adapt to it even Lavin did this. But Howland stuck to his system and the result was that most embarrassing 5 game skid with losses to Portland, Butler and Long Beach State. Teams that should not even be on the same court as UCLA. While Gordon should have bit his lip and toughed it out I can see his point and Howland did not nor would Howland even try something new in the face of adversity. In the end Gordon was somewhat correct in that whatever UCLA was doing it was not working. UCLA did not have the talent to play one on one defense and could not grind it out on offense. This team needed to pick up the pace and try for easy baskets considering the true lack of ball handlers and play makers. Truly is there any player on the court that can take over a game on the offense? No, a BIG NO!
Now we look forward to the 2010-2011 season and UCLA is bringing in Smith, Lamb and Jones. Can these players adapt to Howland? Will Howland adapt to his players? Let say everyone returns the lineup will be like this;

Smith (F), Center
Nelson (S), Power Forward
Honeycutt (S), Forward
Lee (J), SG
Jones (J), Point

Backups

Morgan (J), Stover (S), Center
Lane (S), Power Forward
Stover (S), Forward
Lamb (F), SG
Anderson (J), Point

Now on paper this seems solid after all these were highly regarded recruits out of High School. The question is can Howland develop these players and put together a team in a system that can win? Or will the 2010-2011 start Howland downward spiral?