Was he really "forced" out at Iowa? I may be remembering events incorrectly, but I thought he left more or less to New Mexico of his own volition. I do remember him being a giant ********* when he left, talking about how New Mexico was much more of a "basketball" school than Iowa.
Reread the posts. In regards to his 3-seed teams getting "upset"- over-performed in the regular season. See Wisconsin this year.
I will be shocked if Alford can handle the pressure at UCLA.
To be fair to Alford, his previous stops were at places like Iowa and New Mexico.
The issue when you fire a guy like Howland is that unless you get an Izzo type coach, you are refreshing, not improving, in the coaching department. Sounds like that was needed though.
He over performed at Iowa exactly 1 year. He was nowhere close to "over-performing" at Iowa. In fact, he underperformed at Iowa compared to the 20 year average that he took over.
And as others pointed out, New Mexico, only game in town, state, really. Big arena, poor conference.
Hasn't been out of the NCAA opening weekend since Savage Garden was topping the charts. And only there period a handful of times.
Bad hire.
A fluke? That is a big jump you just made.So those year's were a fluke, and you shouldn't hold it against him that his team "really wasn't 3-seed good"?
Is that what you're saying?
They why the hell hire him, since, he's apparently never had a team that wasn't fluke good?
Alford wasn't the best but was far from the worse. Tom Davis had a 66% overall winning record and a 54% conference record. He did really well in the tourney though.
Alford had a 59% record overall and a 48% conference winning record. If you throw out his first season it is actually pretty comparable to Tom. Problem is that even though he made it to the NCAA three times, he only advanced once.
The other problem was that Iowa fans did have a exceptionally high view on what they should be able to do. Tom's last year he went to the Sweet 16 and yet even with 13 tourney wins in 13 seasons, Iowa didn't renew his contract. Iowa fans thought that the next hire would get them to the Final 4 and it didn't happen. Thanks to Lickliter, Iowa fans can be happy about NIT's and NCAA appearances but Alford was held in a higher standard than current coaching staff. All the other issues were just excuses to be upset.
Alford is a alright coach for a place like New Mexico, but if he can't find a way to win in the tourney he won't make it anywhere for long.
A fluke? That is a big jump you just made.
He got a team with average talent to have an above average season- a win or go home tournament tend to expose such high seeds. He coaches teams to show-up more often than the opponents. However the NCAA tournament is everyone's Super Bowl, that advantage is gone. He is now at a big time program, he will have superior talent.
If you are UCLA and cannot get an Izzo type, I would get someone who's downfall is not having great talent due to coaching at less than desirable programs.
I fail to see how "overachieving" in 1 out of 8 seasons as a major conference coach proves this. What about the 5 seasons at Iowa where they failed to "show up" in the NIT, or missed it completely?
And don't try to tell me NW St had superior talent to Iowa. Hell, don't try to tell me Harvard has more talent than New Mexico.
I get the idea to try and make it seem like an "Iowa problem," but I think Steve has pretty much proven what he is.
After 14 years, you sort of are-what-you-are. And for Steve, its a guy who misses the tournament more than the makes it, and woefully underperforms when he gets there.
Again, my response was to the post saying Alford's issue is being upset twice as a 3 seed.I fail to see how "overachieving" in 1 out of 8 seasons as a major conference coach proves this. What about the 5 seasons at Iowa where they failed to "show up" in the NIT, or missed it completely?
I get the idea to try and make it seem like an "Iowa problem," but I think Steve has pretty much proven what he is.
After 14 years, you sort of are-what-you-are. And for Steve, its a guy who misses the tournament more than the makes it, and woefully underperforms when he gets there.