That's what Dennis Dodd is reporting. http://dennis-dodd.blogs.cbssp...270202/35022551

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USC BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK: O'Neill hitting recruiting trail

Howland?s Trying to Win at all Costs is the Real Problem

by DCBruins on Mar 1, 2012 5:44 AM PST in Basketball

A friend of mine is a high school football coach in the equivalent of a high major program. He told me how he was disgusted watching his son's peewee football game. The peewee coach ran a version of a trick play which worked and won the game. His point was simple, this is peewee football, and it should be about learning the game and not wining every game at all costs.

If this volunteer peewee coach felt such a need to win at all costs, imagine the pressures on Ben Howland. How much does he feel the need to win? But here is the punch line: the volunteer peewee coach lost in the playoffs to the same team later. Ben Howland trying to win at all costs has resulted in him likely missing the NCAA tournament in two of the last four years and failing to get past the first weekend in the other two. Ben's trying to win so hard, cost UCLA.

Let me be clear this is not about the Sports Illustrated article per se. A number of things in the article show the article is an overzealous attack. Simple errors made to make a point stronger that basic fact checking could have caught such as when the article says UCLA finished third in 2010-11, it was second. Statements that don't add up such as the fact Gordon and Nelson have always been close friends and it seems unlikely they got in the fight the article claims as neither seem the forgiving type. Reeves is now denying the article and specifically that he "confirmed the incidents to SI." IMO opinion AHMB had a strong point when he called out George Dohrmann for repeatedly falsely attacking UCLA as a LA Trojan Times reporter and later SI reporter. Dohrmann obviously has a beef with UCLA and is trying to get Howland and UCLA. He is not an impartial reporter and it seems likely he exaggerated certain incidents and did not follow good journalistic ethics (It has been said his main source was the fired team manager who he portrays as a victim in the piece). Reeves has a point when he says that most of the quotes are from unnamed sources.

But put aside the Reeves stuff, the specifics, and focus on the current team right now. I am still deeply troubled.

1. Jerime Anderson. Let's not beat around the bush. Jerime is/was a partying idiot who has disgraced the four letters multiple times. According to the SI article he was a drunken/stoned idiot his freshman year who did not try in practice which we have heard for years. By any stretch he was a terrible player his sophomore year. And after his "good" campaign his junior year he found stole an "unattended laptop" and was still planning to host a party until the bad publicity forced him to back out.

For all his bad antics Jerime received a benching for a half game, a suspension for an exhibition game, and a suspension for a season opener. Why the heck is this guy still at UCLA?

Simply put because Ben Howland wants to win. Tyler Lamb or D'End Parker as a backup Point Guard did not work for Howland. Anderson's initial "indefinite suspension" was reduced to one real game. In that game we lost in part because our then Point Guard Jones tried to be his high school teammate Derrick Rose and went 1-11. Howland felt he had nowhere else to turn and had to keep Jones in the game.

But did that really work? UCLA is 16-13 and NITCBI bound. Anderson has had some good games but has not played well in the clutch. Only time will tell but if Parker or Norman Powell turn out to be good players, but if they do people will again be wondering why Howland stood by Anderson in order to win right now on an NIT team. (Like Nikola Dragovic over Mike Moser). If he went to Parker or Powell earlier because Anderson was either kicked off or meaningfully suspended does anyone think UCLA would have been worse than their 2-5 start? And what message does that send to the team when the senior has been getting a pass for four years?

2. Josh Smith.

Josh's Freshman year Howland would not let him pick up a basketball for weeks. He made Josh ride an exercise bike and work out to lose weight at the start of the season and before. He was not sure what he had in Josh and was certainly not relying on him. That UCLA offense was supposed to "push it" and run more. It was built around Tyler Honeycutt and Reeves Nelson, good rebounding and ball handling bigs. But Josh turned out to be the best offensive weapon by the end of the year and the team did not run like the start. It was becoming Josh's team, at least on offense. In 2011-12 it was going to be Josh's team and even Reeves knew it.

But then this year Josh comes in more overweight than ever and what does Howland do? He still builds the team around Josh. Again we started 2-5 while Josh could barely get up and down the court. Josh is potentially the best player on the current team. The keyword being potentially.

Would we have been a lot worse in the first seven games if Josh does not play or practice with the team but instead spends his time with Richard Simmons or the UCLA equivalent to get in shape for two months? Brendan Lane is not a great player, heck I am not sure he is good enough to play in the PAC 12, but why not play him those first months when we are playing many of the kind of teams Lane should have been playing for in the first place. Again do we go worse than 2-5?

Josh and UCLA would have been better served instead of the fa硤e of Josh Smith trying to play himself into shape. Again, what message does it send to the players? It seems if you are a star, there is nothing you can do to lose that place in Howland's universe.

3. Reeves and the Wears

I get the feeling from the article if Travis and David Wear were not on this team, Reeves Nelson still would be. Forget the unsourced quotes in the SI article. The fact is Reeves lost it in the first game of the season when the Wears started shooting. The rise of the Wears was something Reeves could not accept and it showed in that first game against LMU. Reeves lost his cool and would not even sit with his teammates as the Wear twins took most of the shots. Why?

Reeves at a minimum has some mental health issues and did not deal with the change well. But the real issue is Reeves got his way before that because Howland needed him. With the Wears Howland felt he had an alternative and Reeves was not needed as much. Reeves was jealous of the Wears and, in a fitting irony, was a victim of the double standard for those who produced. Howland did not wait to reign in or discipline Reeves until he had an alternative. It was not because Reeves became more of a cancer this year that he was finally kicked off but rather because Howland had another player to play for Reeves. If the Wears were not on UCLA right now, Reeves still would be. And that is scary.

If Reeves Nelson intentionally injured James Keefe as described in the article Dan Guerrero (who knew everything according to Howland) and Ben Howland need to be fired today.

But even if that story is not true UCLA needs to clean house of an AD and coach who in trying to win right now, ended up leading UCLA Basketball to the worst period in its recent history. All season Howland has been saying how he is only focused on winning the next game. That narrow focus has seriously damaged UCLA for the long term.

Derrick Rose (G - Memphis), James Keefe (F - UCLA), Nikola Dragovic (F - UCLA), Brendan Lane (F - UCLA), Travis Wear (F - UCLA), David Wear (F - UCLA), Reeves Nelson (F - UCLA), Tyler Ho

For USC football players, track and field is back on the calendar

USC FOOTBALL

A long tradition of USC football players running track in spring was put on hold during Pete Carroll's coaching tenure (2001-'09). Now it's been revived under Lane Kiffin, strengthening the track team, particularly in the sprints.

Running back D.J. Morgan is one of a handful of USC football players who are being allowed to compete on the school's track and field team. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times / 3)

By Gary Klein

USC receiver Marqise Lee and running back D.J. Morgan are accustomed to catching passes. Trojans defensive backs Nickell Robey and Tony Burnett have been trained to knock them down.

On Saturday, the quartet will make passes ? by handing off a baton ? when they compete together in the 400-meter relay in the USC track team's season-opening outdoor competition at the Claremont Relays.

It's the first time since the early 2000s that USC football players have migrated en masse to the track, restoring a tradition that once helped the Trojans win multiple conference championships in the spring sport.

Burnett, Lee and Robey also will compete in the long jump.

"The idea is to keep them healthy," said Ron Allice, USC's director of track and field. "Don't hurt anything and just let them have fun."

With spring football practice set to begin March 6, the players could compete in two meets before focusing mainly on football. Their availability for the March 24 Trojan Invitational, featuring defending NCAA champion Texas A&M, is to be determined.

But Allice and the players hope the foursome can establish qualifying marks for the Pac-12 championships in May and also help the Trojans in the April 28 dual meet against UCLA.

"My main goal is football," said Morgan, a sophomore. "But I want to give 100% out there [on the track] too. I don't want to waste my time or others' time."

Before the mid-2000s, USC had a long, successful tradition of players doubling in football and track and field.

Heisman Trophy winner O.J. Simpson and former NFL receivers Earl McCullouch and Curtis Conway are among the football players who also competed as sprinters.

Olympic gold medalists Quincy Watts, Ken Carpenter and Fred Kelly were track athletes who also participated in football.

When Allice came to USC in 1995, his office was next to the football offices and he said there was an unencumbered flow of athletes between the programs. Former football coach John Robinson embraced players' participation in track and Paul Hackett, his successor, allowed them to honor the commitment.

Running back Sultan McCullough and defensive backs Darrell Rideaux and Marcell Almond were among the football players who ran track.

When Pete Carroll arrived as football coach in 2001, however, migration from the football practice field to the track stadium across the street ebbed.

"Verbally, Pete said 'no problem,'" Allice said, laughing, "But I never saw them anymore. I guess they'd get lost on their way over."

Lane Kiffin, however, gave his blessing for the crossover, which requires coaches to apportion and document the total of 20 hours per week the NCAA allows for countable athletically related activities.

"It keeps them competitive," said Kiffin, who replaced Carroll in 2010. "People worry about academics, but a lot of times our players do better academically during their season of competition because of the structure. Plus, it helps the university."

It certainly helps Allice, who manages a men's track program that has only 12.6 scholarships for athletes competing in 21 events.

"When we've been successful and won the [conference], it's because we had football help," he said.

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Trojans take tumble

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TEMPE, Ariz. ? Chris Colvin completed an acrobatic 3-point play with 19.4 seconds to play, and Arizona State escaped with a 56-52 victory over USC on Saturday night in a matchup of two of the bottom three teams in the Pac-12.

Jordan Bachynski had 19 points, one shy of his career high, and nine rebounds as the Sun Devils (9-20, 5-12) snapped a four-game losing streak.

Freshman Byron Wesley set a career best for the second straight game with 22 points for the Trojans (6-23, 1-15), who lost their seventh in a row. Maurice Jones added 12 points on 4 of 13 shooting for USC.

Trent Lockett scored 12 points for Arizona State.

Wesley had 18 points in the Trojans' loss at Arizona on Thursday night.

USC went the final 11:16 without a field goal after going ahead 47-45 on Wesley's 12-footer. But the Sun Devils couldn't pull away because they had offensive woes as well.

Chanse Creekmur's 3-pointer put Arizona State up for good 48-47 with 10:21 to go, then Lockett stole Wesley's pass for a breakaway dunk and Bachynski made one of two free throws to make it 51-47 with 9:07 remaining. Wesley's two free throws cut it to 51-49 and Lockett's rebound basket put Arizona State up 53-49 with 7:44 to go.

The Sun Devils didn't score again until Colvin's drive. Wesley made one of two free throws, then Greg Allen sank two from the line to cut Arizona State's lead to 53-52 with 5:41 left.

And there it stayed as each of the two struggling teams failed on multiple opportunities.

Finally, Colvin drove toward the hoop, was cut off and tossed the ball up toward the rim, drawing a foul from big James Blasczyk as the ball somehow went in. He made the free throw to boost it back to a four-point advantage, and the Trojans misfired two more times at the end.

The Sun Devils led by 11 in the first half.

After Wesley's layup put USC ahead 15-14 early, Arizona State used a 16-4 run to go up 30-19 with 3:17 remaining. Colvin and Jonathan Gilling sank 3-pointers in the run and the Sun Devils made 8 of 10 from the foul line.

Wesley brought the Trojans back by scoring twice, then Garrett Jackson sank a 3-pointer from the corner to cut the lead to 30-25 with 49 seconds left in the half. Arizona State led 31-25 at the break.

Jones' 3-pointer, followed by Wesley's three-point play, put USC up 39-38 with 13 1/2 minutes to go. Neither team led by more than four after that.

Wesley had 14 points at halftime on 6 of 9 shooting.

Arizona State was without Carrick Felix for the second game in a row because of the flu. Felix, the team's second-leading scorer at 10.1 points per game, scored a career-high 22 points in the Sun Devils' win at USC on Jan. 5.

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If you hate the NCAA now, wait until you read this.

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ARIZONA 65, UCLA 63: Bruins can't solve Arizona senior guard Fogg