Fire Karl Dorrell

(Photo credit Associated Press)

Ben Howland was on the Jim Rome show today. I listened and here is a quasi-transcript for those interested. Regardless of your thoughts on Jim Rome and his schtick, he is one of the better interviewers in sports today. He has also has a pretty good relationship with Ben Howland, and unlike some of the other ESPN talking heads, doesn't have an unnatural hatred for UCLA. Here is what I was able to transcribe:

JR: Ben, great to have you back, how you doing?
BH: Great to be on

JR: beaten by Oregon State
BH: Disappointed with how we played, we didn’t play close to how we’ve been playing, always a lesson to be learned, postseason, have to play with sense of urgency. Oregon State played with a sense of urgency, we didn’t, happy to be in, based on how the committee decided, we were confident, happy to be close to home.

JR: How much of an edge is it to be playing at the McHale Center [in Tuscon]?
BH: Better for both teams, I like how they’ve done [pod seeding], good for players, fans, families, that’s a great thing, excited to be in an environment we’ve played in before, but [Hoosiers reference the hoops are] still ten feet high

JR: How do you prepare for Texas Tech?
B: Difficut to prepare for, good fundamentals, set good screens, they’re like blockers, they change angles, scrrens, flare scrrens, rescreen, screen on the ball, we have to call out the screens, they have two good guards.

JR: You've never coached against Bob Knight
BH: I have unbelievable respect for him, that being said, rather play one of our nonconference opponents, I just want to win.

JR: You have a young team, do you approach those young players the way you approach upperclassmen?
BH: You don’t treat every player the same, the freshmen, Aflalo, Farmar, Shipp, also Mata, have done a great job all year long, they’re a big part of the reason for success. You make more mistakes when you’re young, they're playing over 30 minutes a game each, a little thin, [injuries] forced to play 4 perimeter players for three positions.

JR: How much better is it just for experience to be in the tournament?
BH: The experience means so much, getting in will help us for the future, but it’s all about now. We want to win today, get ready for a Texas Tech team, they had opportunity to win Big XII tournament, beat Oklahoma on Saturday, they're a hot team, it will be a challenge.

JR: What are your thoughts on Washington? Are they one of the best four teams?
BH: they have a chance to get all the way to St. Louis, they're a tough team, in the Alaska Shootout, they beat some good teams, NC State, Utah, they beat Arizona twice. They have four guards who are very difficult, get up and down. Lorenzo did a great job. I'm happy for Washington, the Pac 10. Arizona, had they won, would have been fighting for a 1 seed.

JR: Has the UCLA opportunity been what you thought?
BH: It’s been great, I’ve been blessed, lucky. It's been a dream since I was a kid, always been the pinnacle job in all the profession, we’re building something, recruiting, fans have been great, I’m excited.

JR: You and Rick Majerus had a good relationship, with him taking the USC job, but now he’s gone, what happened?
BH: Not sure, but he had 15 years at Utah, he grinds, 110%. You never leave your job in college basketball. I think he realized he needed more time, for his health. I’m glad because I don’t have to compete against him. I appreciate everything he’s done for me. The number one thing is health. I'm excited, he’ll get a great job.

It was an interesting interview. I think Coach Howland showed one of the reasons we are so excited about what he is building here. With all the players we have coming back, and the recruits Coach Howland is bringing in, there are nothing but good things in store for UCLA basketball.

A word about the haters. It's annoying, but as far as I'm concerned, it's all good. If nobody hates you, you're probably a failure. Think about how infuriating Pom Pom Peetie is at that gloridied community college across town. Do you seriously think anyone who graduated from there thinks those kinds of things about KD? Doubtful. Look at Duke. Yes, it's annoying to hear Dick Vitale braying incessently about them, but people love them or hate them because of success. So when you hear various morons of the day talking bad about what Coach Howland is building, just remind yourself, it's because they fear us, they fear UCLA basketball again. And that is great. No one fears KD.