Alford to UCLA
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Ghost
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I say this every time he comes up, so here we go:
He was coaching at Iowa while I was living there, I never met a single person that had a kind word to say about him or his wife. Pretty much everyone said they were just jerks.
Hope he fails!
He was coaching at Iowa while I was living there, I never met a single person that had a kind word to say about him or his wife. Pretty much everyone said they were just jerks.
Hope he fails!
PeteCalvin
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Head scratcher. He's not a West Coast guy. Hasn't been a dynamite recruiter. Doesn't have that "LA" personality. Don't see him being any different than Howland. Howland had some great talent and could never get it to translate into his system. Some say it was his hard ass attitude. I think they just hired the younger version of Ben Howland. Not sure this is what they needed for long term success. They hired a name, nothing more. I could be wrong, though.
Flacusian
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Wow! That is concise and to the point for sure.
Upstate
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He'll fit right in in Los Angeles
Flacusian
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His end of season presser was replete with quite a few zingers... here's the link
http://isaacavilucea.wordpress.com/tag/steve-alford/
http://isaacavilucea.wordpress.com/tag/steve-alford/
Gabjon
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Ghost
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Yeah, it was bizarre. They would defend Pierre Paul (or whatever his name was) after his second or third or fourth raping as an okay kid, but they love all things Iowa, and everyone I knew HATED that guy when dealing with him (and probably his wife more). I know we have a couple other Iowa ppl here, maybe they heard differently. He was winning games too while there.
He has been a 3 seed 2 times at New Mexico 2010 and 2013 and hasn't made the Sweet 16 either time losing to 11 seed Washington in 2010 and 14 seed Harvard this year. The guy lost Northwestern State 14 seed when coached Iowa as 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. The dude only had 1 sweet 16 performance when he was at Southwest Missouri State in 1999 and he only took the New Mexico job because he was 1 year away from getting fired from Iowa. This hire by UCLA reeks of desperation on both sides. Alford knew his success at New Mexico wasn't good and UCLA needed a warm body.
Jasoncuse
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Wow, UCLA's brand is pretty weak at this point, eh? Alford is as good as they could get? He had decent success at NM, but nothing overwhelming or proof that he could get UCLA back on top. What happened at Iowa? Was he canned there? I can't imagine him leaving a Big 10 program for NM.
I'm sure this isn't going over well for UCLA fans.
I'm sure this isn't going over well for UCLA fans.
Pete Thamel @SIPeteThamel
If you polled 50 college coaches -- who is a better coach, Howland or Alford? -- I'd bet Howland wins 75-percent of vote.
This hire shows how bad the UCLA brand is right now. They hired a coach who only took New Mexico to the round of 32 2 times while there and fired Ben Howland who took them to 3 straight final fours. UCLA would have been better off hiring Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and watched that train wreck.
If you polled 50 college coaches -- who is a better coach, Howland or Alford? -- I'd bet Howland wins 75-percent of vote.
This hire shows how bad the UCLA brand is right now. They hired a coach who only took New Mexico to the round of 32 2 times while there and fired Ben Howland who took them to 3 straight final fours. UCLA would have been better off hiring Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and watched that train wreck.
zeekay
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Oh they will move, just to a program that they know will give them a chance. UCLA is hated in the coaching fraternity for firing a guy who did take them to 3 Final Fours. If you're Shaka or Brad Stevens why would you go there only to be fired 3 years later? That ruins your coaching career, and they're pretty young so it's a big risk. If they go there and are fired they will never see a top tier job again.
It also shows that UCLA is not on the level of Duke, Kentucky, UNC, Kansas, etc. that they think they are (i.e. every coach's dream). It's their karma for cheating for 20 years or whatever under Wooden. F Them.
Hoov50
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Come on now, Kareem would never give up his realty television diving career for that job.
Good coach for New Mexico, terrible hire by UCLA.
There is no chance he will meet the expectations they have there. He'll be fired in 5 years.
Howland is a better coach, but just got burned out by the weight of the expectations there.
Give Howland a year off, and wherever he goes he will have more success than Alford will have at UCLA.
There is no chance he will meet the expectations they have there. He'll be fired in 5 years.
Howland is a better coach, but just got burned out by the weight of the expectations there.
Give Howland a year off, and wherever he goes he will have more success than Alford will have at UCLA.
DoctorBombay
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thebigeast44
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If I'm New Mexico, I'd hire Howland right away and hope to laugh their asses off if he is more successful at NM than Alford is at UCLA.
I don't think I could love this plan any more than I do.
That would be fantastic.
Ghost
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Eh, from what I recall it was a few things.
One, the fans hated him. I think they weren't thrilled when they hired an IU guy, but then from the dealings I had with ppl that dealt with him he was just generally an arrogant pr*ck and he has wife were both known for having pretty nasty dispositions. And not in a "don't bother me I'm at the mall with my kids kind of way." By the end of his tenure he just wasn't liked in a relatively small community.
Two, the rapist was allowed back on the team after sexually assaulting half the co-eds in Iowa. He was given a lot of chances, but I think they got a little fed up with them all. Although ppl did like Pierre Paul more than Alford...lol. I think they felt he was letting a lot of crap go w/ his players.
I think some of the players weren't happy with him either - the non-Pierre Paul types - which didn't help. The kid that ended up at Tennessee in that drug/guns rental car thing was on that team too (think he got a hardship transfer once Alford left).
Three, he saw the writing on the wall - everyone wanted him gone, and he was going to be let go after the following year (or sooner) regardless. He saw it coming and bolted.
VaBeachOrFan
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Yeah, Vitale and Bilas really going off on that aspect. They say UCLA didn't even ask NM for permission to talk to Alford.-VBOF
newmexicuse
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I like the Lobos after the Cuse. Say what you will, Alford was good for NM, and he was well respected in the Albuquerque community. Despite his tournament disappointments, overall he did a great job for the Lobos.
Biggest thing he might bring to UCLA is his kid Bryce, a very highly touted recruit.
As much as I enjoyed the Howland posts in this thread, most likely Steve's long time assistant, Craig Neal, ends up with teh UNM gig.
Biggest thing he might bring to UCLA is his kid Bryce, a very highly touted recruit.
As much as I enjoyed the Howland posts in this thread, most likely Steve's long time assistant, Craig Neal, ends up with teh UNM gig.
