With UCLA Basketball Head Coach Steve Alford underachieving in his third season, frustrated Bruin fans are making their voices heard.
Year three of the Steve Alford era is almost over and instead of improving off of the previous season’s efforts, things have gotten worse.
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The UCLA Basketball team is pretty much out of the NCAA Tournament on their own merit, though they can still make it by winning the Pac-12 Tournament (though that seems unlikely seeing as they have not won four straight games in conference).
With two games remaining, the Bruins are in 10th place in the Pac-12 and currently hold 6-10 conference record. For most Bruin fans, this will not do.
On top of the #FireAlford claims on social media, there has been a open letter directed at UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero by a group known as Restore UCLA Hoops. In the letter, it points out several things that need changing with the UCLA Basketball program. You can read the letter at RestoreUCLABasketball.wordpress.com.
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Without going into the specifics, the letter points out three main themes: (1) Steve Alford has his team playing inconsistently and without effort, (2) he lacks the ability to teach “good, sound basketball” and (3) that he is using UCLA to showcase his son Bryce Alford.
In regards to the first two, these claims are very evident, especially if you have seen a UCLA Basketball game at all this year. The Bruins have talent, but are being horribly mismanaged. There is no development, no defense and a gross misuse of the roster. That brings us to the third claim.
The letter states, in regards to Bryce, that “this isn’t something that a few crazy fringe fans believe, but the overwhelming majority of rational fair-minded UCLA fans who have watched the team consistently since Steve and Bryce Alford arrived. It’s important for you to know what this perception is, and that UCLA fans believe that their beloved UCLA program has been hijacked to a degree by a coach who has put his family interest ahead of those of the UCLA program, and just how anathema that is to the undersigned who cherish the program as something greater than a mere basketball team”
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Whether you agree or not, the point is that UCLA Basketball is underachieving and these fans believe that something has to be done to rectify this once great program. Since Steve Alford has apparently taken it upon himself to redefine “UCLA” for his own bidding (and is doing it with poor results), it would be in UCLA’s best interest to relieve Alford of his duties.