It could have been magical.
Imagine walking into Pauley Pavillion and hearing the following starting lineup for the 2008-2009 UCLA Bruins Men's basketball team: Darren Collison, Jrue Holiday, Russell Westbrook, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Kevin Love.
I'm getting (West)wood just thinking about it.
That lineup would have wreaked havoc in the NCAA Tournament. The defense, the athleticism. Not to mention guys like Shipp, Aboya and Roll off the bench. There's absolutely no chance that team doesn't win it all. Ah, if only star student athletes stayed in school!
What could have been great unfortunately never came to fruition. Love and Westbrook left early, and nobody can really blame them. They both went top 5 in the 2008 Draft and had stellar rookie seasons. Luc Richard was a 2nd-round steal in his own right.
What remained for Ben Howland was a young, inexperienced but"highly touted freshman class" who hoped to follow in the footsteps of legends like Baron Davis and Jordan Farmar. Jrue Holiday led the pack, but the Bruins never meshed together and had their first disappointing season in a while. Holiday looked as though he'd need another year at UCLA to develop his game, but like prize recruits before him (Ariza, Farmar, Afflalo, Mbah a Moute, Westbrook, Love), Holiday declared early for the 2009 NBA Draft.
What first seemed like a "test the waters" declaration is now looking like an all-out bolt from Bruinland. Holiday is climbing up the draft boards, meaning he's as good as gone and the Bruins are going to be left with a skeleton crew. Granted they have some nice freshmen coming in, but the Bruins aren't getting all of the top recruits in the Los Angeles area anymore. USC has now signed Top 5 Nationally players the last 3 years, further hurting UCLA's recruiting. With Holiday gone, it's going to be a long season for the Bruins.
Remember that Josh Shipp, Alfred Aboya and Michael Roll are all graduating too. Can you say "middle of the pack"? Bruins fan should get used to the Bruins being one of two teams for the next couple of years:
1) That not so good Bruins team that struggles to get into the NCAA tournament and annually finishes around .500.
2) That over-achieving Steve Lavin-like Bruins team that gets a #9 or #10 seed in the tournament and somehow makes it to the Sweet 16 every year but never advances beyond that.
Get used to Bruin teams
that remind you of this guy.
Thanks Holiday. You were the Bruins only hope and now you're leaving us only you're clearly one year away from being NBA-ready. Based on potential, I'm sure you'll be a mid-to-late 1st Round pick but is that what you really want? You could have led the Bruins to another title run and possibly worked your way back into Top-10 draft status. I guess it was too good to be Jrue.
Imagine walking into Pauley Pavillion and hearing the following starting lineup for the 2008-2009 UCLA Bruins Men's basketball team: Darren Collison, Jrue Holiday, Russell Westbrook, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Kevin Love.
I'm getting (West)wood just thinking about it.
That lineup would have wreaked havoc in the NCAA Tournament. The defense, the athleticism. Not to mention guys like Shipp, Aboya and Roll off the bench. There's absolutely no chance that team doesn't win it all. Ah, if only star student athletes stayed in school!
What could have been great unfortunately never came to fruition. Love and Westbrook left early, and nobody can really blame them. They both went top 5 in the 2008 Draft and had stellar rookie seasons. Luc Richard was a 2nd-round steal in his own right.
What remained for Ben Howland was a young, inexperienced but"highly touted freshman class" who hoped to follow in the footsteps of legends like Baron Davis and Jordan Farmar. Jrue Holiday led the pack, but the Bruins never meshed together and had their first disappointing season in a while. Holiday looked as though he'd need another year at UCLA to develop his game, but like prize recruits before him (Ariza, Farmar, Afflalo, Mbah a Moute, Westbrook, Love), Holiday declared early for the 2009 NBA Draft.
What first seemed like a "test the waters" declaration is now looking like an all-out bolt from Bruinland. Holiday is climbing up the draft boards, meaning he's as good as gone and the Bruins are going to be left with a skeleton crew. Granted they have some nice freshmen coming in, but the Bruins aren't getting all of the top recruits in the Los Angeles area anymore. USC has now signed Top 5 Nationally players the last 3 years, further hurting UCLA's recruiting. With Holiday gone, it's going to be a long season for the Bruins.
Remember that Josh Shipp, Alfred Aboya and Michael Roll are all graduating too. Can you say "middle of the pack"? Bruins fan should get used to the Bruins being one of two teams for the next couple of years:
1) That not so good Bruins team that struggles to get into the NCAA tournament and annually finishes around .500.
2) That over-achieving Steve Lavin-like Bruins team that gets a #9 or #10 seed in the tournament and somehow makes it to the Sweet 16 every year but never advances beyond that.
Get used to Bruin teamsthat remind you of this guy.
Thanks Holiday. You were the Bruins only hope and now you're leaving us only you're clearly one year away from being NBA-ready. Based on potential, I'm sure you'll be a mid-to-late 1st Round pick but is that what you really want? You could have led the Bruins to another title run and possibly worked your way back into Top-10 draft status. I guess it was too good to be Jrue.
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