As UCLA’s skid reaches three games, the pressure on Alford is heavier than ever

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per CBS:

When Steve Alford was hired at UCLA in 2013, he left a freshly signed 10-year contract at New Mexico and was brought aboard college hoops royalty to capture league titles, make Final Fours and, yes, absolutely, win a national championship.

Five years in, Alford's essentially not accomplished any of that, and now with the 80-66 loss to No. 15 Ohio State on Saturday afternoon at the CBS Sports Classic, it seems like the Bruins' program is in thicker mud than ever before under the 54-year-old coach.

UCLA was outworked Saturday by an overachieving Ohio State team that is now 11-1 and flirting with top-10 status in the polls. The Bruins have spilled completely, going from No. 17 in the third week of this season's AP Top 25 Poll to free-falling in every major ranking and metric the sport can offer.

The Bruins, picked No. 2 in the Pac-12 preseason poll, are now 7-5 overall and carry a 1-4 record against major-conference opponents. If the NCAA Tournament started tomorrow, UCLA wouldn't even qualify for the NIT. Its average margin of defeat against Michigan State, North Carolina, Cincinnati and OSU: 19.8 points. And that's not accounting for the deflating home loss to Belmont last week.

Alford's now lost three consecutive nonconference games for only the second time in the past 11 seasons. He tried to spin it afterward.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-b...uins-coach-steve-alford-is-heavier-than-ever/

Go Gophers!!
 

Perhaps Bob Knight was correct? Watching that documentary, when Knight came out of the opposite tunnel and "startled" Alford and the opposing coaching staff was amusing.
 

Alford had Iowa stuck in neutral and only managed one NCAA tourney win in three appearances in eight seasons. I'm not sure why UCLA would have ever thought with confidence that he was a coach who could lead them to numerous Final Fours and championships.
 

I suspect that when UCLA inevitably fires Alford after this season that’s where Musselman will end up. Perfect for him there.
 

WindyCityGopher said:
I suspect that when UCLA inevitably fires Alford after this season that’s where Musselman will end up. Perfect for him there.
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I think that is entirely possible but there is a whole lot of noise about waiting one more year and getting Rick Pitino as the smoke on his issues dim and carry less weight in L.A. . He has spent a great deal of time there. UCLA HAS ALREADY KICKED THE TIRES on 3-4 coaches and those coaches were not interested.
 


GibsonSG said:
Alford had Iowa stuck in neutral and only managed one NCAA tourney win in three appearances in eight seasons. I'm not sure why UCLA would have ever thought with confidence that he was a coach who could lead them to numerous Final Fours and championships.
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That's pretty good for Iowa. A school in a terrible state with terrible HS basketball.

That record in MN gets you a 10 year deal.
 

LesBolstad said:
That's pretty good for Iowa. A school in a terrible state with terrible HS basketball.

That record in MN gets you a 10 year deal.
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:confused:

Tubby got fired with a better record here than Alford had at Iowa
 


WindyCityGopher said:
I suspect that when UCLA inevitably fires Alford after this season that’s where Musselman will end up. Perfect for him there.
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Not sure of the UCLA culture anymore or Musselman's personality/style, but it wouldn't surprise me if UCLA thought he could easily become bigger than UCLA, which in the past they haven't wanted. If Eric is anything like his dad, he would be "too much" for the suits at UCLA.

Alford cashed in on his short stint at New Mexico to get UCLA (I think a distant third or fourth choice for the Bruins) when he coached them to a 2 or 3 seed and had a great turnaround. I don't think it was overwhelming confidence by UCLA that brought him on.
 





builtbadgers said:
I think that is entirely possible but there is a whole lot of noise about waiting one more year and getting Rick Pitino as the smoke on his issues dim and carry less weight in L.A. . He has spent a great deal of time there. UCLA HAS ALREADY KICKED THE TIRES on 3-4 coaches and those coaches were not interested.
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Translation: They flirted with Tony Bennett and he shot them down.
 

This was by far the strangest hire of any that year. He didn't do jack squat at Iowa, now he was supposed to be all that at Westwood?
 



howeda7 said:
Translation: They flirted with Tony Bennett and he shot them down.
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That is not how things get handled on the Bennett side. When he turned down Marquette, UW, Texas, LSU, Ohio State, IU and ILLINOIS it is a polite and behind the scene no thank you. Great concern is taken to leave each school or NBA team in a position of strength to get a priority appearance. There is no need to sell or promote yourself when there are constant overtures.
 

I mean, Liberty is really good. Can’t blame the coach for losing to a squad like that.
 

I had a long drive yesterday, listened to UCLA vs. Liberty on Sirius...even the UCLA announcers couldn't find anything positive to say about the Bruins.
 

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