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Post by dunninla3 on Nov 27, 2022 10:56:34 GMT -5
10,000 foot view. UCLA misses tourney in 2018. Athletic Dept recognizes changes need to be made and hires Keller as associate head coach. Keller coaches one season at UCLA then leaves and takes over rebuild at USC in 2020. Two years later USC is rebuilt and UCLA misses the tourney again. Athletic Dept is on the clock . . . I wrote this in 2019 when UCLA went up to the Farm and beat Stanford and Mac May had one of the days of her life. In the post game interview, May explained how Keller had worked with her/their confidence and mental approach, and she bought in, and said a lot of the players did as well. Almost every game at the highest level is mental/emotional. The players responded to Keller, and never have to Sealy. There is something that causes players at UCLA to lack in confidence, to lack in joy while playing, that ruins the experience for them. Playing becomes a job they didn't know they were signing up for. The players close down and endure until they graduate, or as noted, get out and play with joy elsewhere. What a shame. What an unnecessary situation the UCLA athletic department has allowed to continue. This dysfunctional program's biggest failure is not a lack of national relevance, but rather the way in which it snuffs out the love of competing in its young charges. 18, 19, 20 year olds lack experience and don't know what exactly is happening. It is a type of psychological abuse, a slow, amorphous poisoning that defies pinpointing. |
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Post by bbg95 on Nov 27, 2022 11:07:25 GMT -5
10,000 foot view. UCLA misses tourney in 2018. Athletic Dept recognizes changes need to be made and hires Keller as associate head coach. Keller coaches one season at UCLA then leaves and takes over rebuild at USC in 2020. Two years later USC is rebuilt and UCLA misses the tourney again. Athletic Dept is on the clock . . . I wrote this in 2019 when UCLA went up to the Farm and beat Stanford and Mac May had one of the days of her life. In the post game interview, May explained how Keller had worked with her/their confidence and mental approach, and she bought in, and said a lot of the players did as well. Almost every game at the highest level is mental/emotional. The players responded to Keller, and never have to Sealy. There is something that causes players at UCLA to lack in confidence, to lack in joy while playing, that ruins the experience for them. Playing becomes a job they didn't know they were signing up for. The players close down and endure until they graduate, or as noted, get out and play with joy elsewhere. What a shame. What an unnecessary situation the UCLA athletic department has allowed to continue. This dysfunctional program's biggest failure is not a lack of national relevance, but rather the way in which it snuffs out the love of competing in its young charges. 18, 19, 20 year olds lack experience and don't know what exactly is happening. It is a slow, amorphous poisoning that defies pinpointing. Yeah, I remember that. Auburn poaching Brent Crouch from USC really did a number on UCLA. |
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Post by dunninla3 on Nov 27, 2022 11:10:41 GMT -5
I wrote this in 2019 when UCLA went up to the Farm and beat Stanford and Mac May had one of the days of her life. In the post game interview, May explained how Keller had worked with her/their confidence and mental approach, and she bought in, and said a lot of the players did as well. Almost every game at the highest level is mental/emotional. The players responded to Keller, and never have to Sealy. There is something that causes players at UCLA to lack in confidence, to lack in joy while playing, that ruins the experience for them. Playing becomes a job they didn't know they were signing up for. The players close down and endure until they graduate, or as noted, get out and play with joy elsewhere. What a shame. What an unnecessary situation the UCLA athletic department has allowed to continue. This dysfunctional program's biggest failure is not a lack of national relevance, but rather the way in which it snuffs out the love of competing in its young charges. 18, 19, 20 year olds lack experience and don't know what exactly is happening. It is a slow, amorphous poisoning that defies pinpointing. Yeah, I remember that. Auburn poaching Brent Crouch from USC really did a number on UCLA. not sure what you mean, but I think you mean that Keller leaving left the players emotionally rudderless. I had hoped 2020 would be Sealy's last year and then see what Keller could do as head coach. Success as an associate HC is no guarantee, but even if he would have turned out average as an HC (which he hasn't) is would have been preferable to certain toxic. |
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Post by bbg95 on Nov 27, 2022 11:14:04 GMT -5
Yeah, I remember that. Auburn poaching Brent Crouch from USC really did a number on UCLA. not sure what you mean, but I think you mean that Keller leaving left the players emotionally rudderless. I had hoped 2020 would be Sealy's last year and then see what Keller could do as head coach. Success as an associate HC is no guarantee, but even if he turned out average (which he hasn't) is preferable to toxic. What I mean is that when Auburn hired Crouch, there was suddenly an attractive head coach opening across town that was too good for Keller to pass up. It's possible that if Auburn hired someone else, UCLA would have made a move earlier and hired Keller as Sealy's replacement. And another thing is that Keller's recruiting successes (e.g. Fleck) may have actually kept Sealy around longer because the team was better than it otherwise would have been. |
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Post by dunninla3 on Nov 27, 2022 11:15:53 GMT -5
right, we're thinking the same then.
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Post by InfoBot on Nov 27, 2022 11:30:41 GMT -5
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Post by bbg95 on Nov 27, 2022 11:38:02 GMT -5
Wow, how soft is the bubble this season? UCLA's RPI is 58th. |
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Post by InfoBot on Nov 27, 2022 11:45:33 GMT -5
Wow, how soft is the bubble this season? UCLA's RPI is 58th. Pretty soft as far as I can tell. The Big 10 teams that were on the bubble 2 weeks ago, played themselves out. The SEC teams have done the same. I feel like the last 4-8 teams in this year would have missed any of the last 5 tournaments. |
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Post by trjnc on Nov 27, 2022 18:52:03 GMT -5
not sure what you mean, but I think you mean that Keller leaving left the players emotionally rudderless. I had hoped 2020 would be Sealy's last year and then see what Keller could do as head coach. Success as an associate HC is no guarantee, but even if he turned out average (which he hasn't) is preferable to toxic. What I mean is that when Auburn hired Crouch, there was suddenly an attractive head coach opening across town that was too good for Keller to pass up. It's possible that if Auburn hired someone else, UCLA would have made a move earlier and hired Keller as Sealy's replacement. And another thing is that Keller's recruiting successes (e.g. Fleck) may have actually kept Sealy around longer because the team was better than it otherwise would have been. I checked back as far as 2017 and could not find anyone from Southern California that committed to UCLA that had any impact on the program and stayed for all 4 years. The closest I could find was Devon Chang in 2018 and she fled the program when she got a chance. Sealy seems to have an aloof coaching and recruiting style and appears to express zero passion for the team or the game. I totally agree that he seems to suck all of the confidence out of his players, especially the setters. It has been very difficult to watch. I think the top local talent is well aware of this and does not even consider going to UCLA. If Sealy really cares about the program he will retire/resign as soon as the season is officially over. |
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Post by dunninla3 on Nov 27, 2022 19:19:37 GMT -5
What I mean is that when Auburn hired Crouch, there was suddenly an attractive head coach opening across town that was too good for Keller to pass up. It's possible that if Auburn hired someone else, UCLA would have made a move earlier and hired Keller as Sealy's replacement. And another thing is that Keller's recruiting successes (e.g. Fleck) may have actually kept Sealy around longer because the team was better than it otherwise would have been. Sealy ... I totally agree that he seems to suck all of the confidence out of his players, especially the setters. It has been very difficult to watch. Difficult to watch because you feel for the players. It's like a bad marriage where the unhappy wife either gets out, or slowly, inexorably drinks herself into the grave. |
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Post by bbg95 on Nov 27, 2022 19:19:54 GMT -5
Wow, how soft is the bubble this season? UCLA's RPI is 58th. Pretty soft as far as I can tell. The Big 10 teams that were on the bubble 2 weeks ago, played themselves out. The SEC teams have done the same. I feel like the last 4-8 teams in this year would have missed any of the last 5 tournaments. Wow, okay, I believe you. I haven't been able to follow as closely this season due to being really busy with work. Thanks for elaborating. |
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Post by InfoBot on Nov 27, 2022 19:27:31 GMT -5
Pretty soft as far as I can tell. The Big 10 teams that were on the bubble 2 weeks ago, played themselves out. The SEC teams have done the same. I feel like the last 4-8 teams in this year would have missed any of the last 5 tournaments. Wow, okay, I believe you. I haven't been able to follow as closely this season due to being really busy with work. Thanks for elaborating. They still could be among the first four out, but there is a path for them to be in. We will know shortly here. I don't know enough about UCLA to know what that should mean for Sealy, but have heard from many in this thread and the UCLA 2022 thread that it is (maybe past) time for him to go either way. |
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Post by dunninla3 on Nov 27, 2022 19:28:09 GMT -5
Well, 2 minutes to go.
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Post by bbg95 on Nov 27, 2022 19:30:40 GMT -5
Wow, okay, I believe you. I haven't been able to follow as closely this season due to being really busy with work. Thanks for elaborating. They still could be among the first four out, but there is a path for them to be in. We will know shortly here. I don't know enough about UCLA to know what that should mean for Sealy, but have heard from many in this thread and the UCLA 2022 thread that it is (maybe past) time for him to go either way. Yeah, UCLA fans have been pining for Sealy to go for at least as long as I've been on this board (I joined in 2018). |
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Post by dunninla3 on Nov 27, 2022 20:13:05 GMT -5
UCLA fails to qualify for NCAAs for the third time since 2013 under Sealy
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