I love the Steve Alford hire.
I’m watching the Kevin Ware injury on repeat.
I have little interest in what Aaron Gordon has to say tomorrow.
It was about time to get the Oregon cheerleaders off TV.
I will not miss this college basketball season.
APRIL FOOLS!
Are you kidding me!? Steve Alford was a fallback hire and I will not watch the Ware thing once. If Aaron Gordon says what I think and hope he’ll say dancing will ensue and preferably with an Oregon cheerleader. There are just three games left 🙁
But I really want to dig into this Alford hire.
It came across my ESPN ScoreCenter push notifications at something like 8:50am Saturday on my way to a pickup hoops game. I was driving alone and immediately didn’t know what to do. I headed to social media, quickly, and then to Wikipedia. The Alford page already mentioned UCLA.
Hadn’t he just signed a 10-year deal in Albuquerque?
Alas, Dan Guerrero and Bruins Nation have their man. He has to be. Westwood’s newest coach:
- 4 Tournament wins in 18 seasons as HC
- .589 win percentage at High Major Iowa
- 7 NCAA appearances
- 3 4* recruits while at UNM
- Avg AdjT ranking of 181st
- 1 Sweet Sixteen
- 0 Final Fours
But I’m willing to give the benefit of the doubt here. He’s signed, sealed, and delivered and it’s going to be his show. BruinsNation must withhold their vitriol for a minimum three-seasons. In my opinion, at least.
The Howland firing was universally accepted as a necessary change. It doesn’t always look right on paper but a break was necessary. A lot like your college girlfriend.
Alford doesn’t fit all the buzz words like “winning the press conference” or “home run hire” but he does offer a new regime in Westwood which is what the Bruins had coming to them. And while some will tell you that he was hired in desperation, that Shaka Smart and Brad Stevens’ declining led Guerrero to jump on the first available “yes”, I’m not buying it. Who’s to say he hadn’t been in the Pitino and Donovan camps for weeks? Why wouldn’t he have been? You fire the Head Coach of the conference champ and you knew you were going to do this for awhile. Phone calls were made. Interests were felt out. Guerrero had at least an idea of which trees to bark up and at a certain juncture he barked up the Alford tree and here we are.
Change for the sake of change.
Whether he’s a good fit or a successful hire will ultimately boil down to how he fills the left column. History suggests he might struggle to do so.
I say give it time. This hire can can hold the promise of spring after a cold winter.
And it sure ain’t April Fools.
have to appreciate BruinsNation trolling their own fans.
Yeah. “How to Survive You Coaching Hunt” rules 1, 9, 11, 12, and 13 have been violated there.
Am I the only person who thinks this was a good hire? Outside of Guerrero of course.
Maybe. But I’m totally open to hear why you think it is. My feeling is that it’s best attributes are:
Fresh start.
New opportunity.
Anything could happen.
Tradition prevails.
From a “who if left on the board” standpoint, I think he was one of the better realistic candidates for the job. But I am no Alford expert.