Ben Howland needs to do more than just cut ties with Reeves Nelson

Reeves Nelson is suspended again.

Or kicked off the team, depending on who you listen to.

"This continues a trend of very disappointing behavior by Reeves," Howland said in a statement announcing an indefinite suspension that was handed down to Nelson Tuesday afternoon for conduct unbecoming of a Bruin. "I personally have worked hard with him to illustrate the importance of the code of conduct for our student-athletes, as well as the ramifications for violating it. I am disappointed that he has continued to fall short of my expectations."

But if you listen to Tracy Pierson of Bruins Report Online, Nelson has already been kicked off the team. His report prompted the statement from Howland. Pierson, for what its worth, is as plugged in to the UCLA program as anyone.

If Nelson only is suspended, than Howland needs to do the right thing and kick Nelson off of the team. At this point, any talent that he has and any production that he provides is completely out weighed by the distraction that he is creating.

Its like when you've reached the point in a relationship with a significant other where, no matter what you two do, the day ends up in a fight. The constant bitterness never allows you to have any fun. At that point, its time to break it off.

And for Howland, its time to break off the relationship between UCLA and Nelson. Nelson was suspended twice already this season and then benched for the second half of UCLA's loss to Texas.

While he's at it, he should probably put Josh Smith on notice. That young man's weight is a problem. It keeps him off the floor and keeps him from being the player that he is capable of being. Nelson may be a distraction, but Smith is doing just as much damage to the team by ignoring the fact that he needs to lose weight.

Ben Howland has a lot to do if he wants to rebuild UCLA. The biggest need is probably patching up his relationship with AAU programs like the Cali Supreme and the Oakland Soldiers. Why do you think he had to hire an AAU coach from Atlanta to his staff? All his Southern California players come from Double Pump Elite -- and most of his kids are from the Pump-n-Run programs across the country, all run by the Pump Brothers -- and it should be obvious that talent isn't cutting it right now.

But for now, the least Howland can do is to try and get control of the players in his program. Until then, UCLA doesn't even look like a team that deserves a trip to the NIT.
Continue reading...

Reeves Nelson game-winning tip-in bails out UCLA

UCLA protected their home court against Cal with a much-needed 86-84 win to move to 4-2 in the Pac-10 and remain just one game behind Washington in the loss column.

Reeves Nelson scored 24 points in the win, but none of those points were more important that the tip-in he had with 2.2 seconds left to win the game after an Allen Crabbe three tied it up eight seconds earlier.



Lazeric Jones, who has played very well during the Bruin's three game winning streak, also added 24 points while Tyler Honeycutt had 15.

"For him to get that tip," UCLA head coach Ben Howland said after the game, "to not give up and not quit, to run the floor and get that last play, that was exciting."

It was a nice win for UCLA, and certainly exciting, but it masks the bigger issue -- UCLA gave up 84 points in regulation to Cal.

"They just scored on us too easy," Howland said. "It was like we weren't even on defense."

Continue reading...

POSTERIZED: Reeves Nelson ends BYU's comback bid

There are few things that will get a player and a crowd more fired up than a huge dunk.

But a huge dunk at a critical juncture in the game is one of those things. Take Reeves Nelson of UCLA as an example. With about a minute left in UCLA's win over BYU, the Cougars were fighting their way back. They had cut what was once a 13 point lead to just five while the Bruins looked completely out of sync offensively.

That's when Nelson said "comeback this":



Now I know that Nelson is a fiery guy, but one of the things that has impressed me about him this season is that he doesn't get too high or too low. When he scores a big basket, he'll run back on defense. If he gets called for a foul he doesn't like or agree with, he'll get back on defense. He's been very even keel this season.

Watch his reaction to the dunk.

Yeah. He's fired up. I love it.

Was this as good as the rest of the dunks for 2010-2011?

POSTERIZED - Kendall Marshall and John Henson, UNC
POSTERIZED - Terrence Jones, Kentucky
POSTERIZED - Rodney Williams, Minnesota
POSTERIZED - Joe Jackson, Memphis
POSTERIZED - Shay Shine, High Point
POSTERIZED - Harrison Barnes, North Carolina
POSTERIZED - Kent Bazemore, Old Dominion
POSTERIZED - CJ Fair, Syracuse
POSTERIZED - LeBryan Nash
POSTERIZED - Rodney Williams, Minnesota
POSTERIZED - Travis Leslie, Georgia
POSTERIZED - Terrence Jones, Kentucky
POSTERIZED - Marcus Jordan, Central Florida
POSTERIZED - Lorenzo Brown, NC State
POSTERIZED - Tai Wesley, Utah State
POSTERIZED - Trent Lockett, Arizona State, and Derrick Williams, Arizona
POSTERIZED - Brandon Paul, Illinois
POSTERIZED - Jordan Hamilton, Texas

Continue reading...