Bruins Go From Champs to Chumps

Stanford 66, Bradley 58. Princeton 43, UCLA 41.

March 14, 1996: a day that will live in infamy. The students actually beat the athletes.

CRAIG LESLY

Santa Ana

*

The UCLA Bruins, seemingly clueless to the concept of teamwork, self-destruct in the first round. For once I agree with the coach’s cliches: More or less, this was a team effort.

TOM MADARA

Santa Monica

*

The whiny little Bruins will probably claim they would have won it all if they had gotten a better seeding. The truth is that last year they got a title they didn’t deserve because of a Tyus Edney prayer. This year they played to form and got what they deserve. Yeah, baby!

GREG HATFIELD

San Dimas

*

Jim Harrick has regained his customary postseason form, as the debacle against Princeton was simply one in a long line of tournament flops. The players, like Harrick, lost their composure in crunch time. The 1995 championship has to be considered an anomaly that is likely never to be repeated under Harrick’s leadership.

BILL PLEITEZ

Sherman Oaks

*

This upset loss, if one can call it an upset, should give a sense of humility to a conceited team and its supporters. Although Jim Harrick seems incapable of appreciating the fundamentals and the unassuming determination of Pete Carril and his non-scholarship players, Southland basketball fans should be smart enough to.

PATRICK DUDLEY, AARON

DAVIS, STEPHAN HARTMANN

Pasadena

*

Many Bruin fans will overreact to the abrupt ouster from the NCAA tournament, but the writing was on the wall since the opening loss at Santa Clara. During that game they displayed poor fundamentals, poor attitude and a leadership void that continued on through their last game.

WILLIAM DAVID STONE

Beverly Hills

*

Young man, UCLA’s coach got outcoached, UCLA’s players got outplayed, UCLA’s trainers got out-trained, UCLA’s fans got outfanned and UCLA’s sportswriters got outwritten.

Coach Harrick could have turned the antagonistic question into an opportunity to show leadership and class on national TV, instead of looking like the Bobby Knight of Westwood.

JOE HIRSCH

Lomita

*

You can bet the guy who asked Jim Harrick if he thought he was outcoached was not a local. In this town, it’s bad form for the media to address impolite questions--no matter how deserving--to the UCLA athletic establishment. Harrick, not surprisingly, attacked his questioner, even though Regis and Kathy Lee could have figured out how appropriate that question was.

CHARLES CHICCOA

Reseda

*

UCLA should petition the NCAA to increase the width of the basketball court. This would alleviate the crowding by the many swollen heads on the team, allow for the more efficient use of three basketballs, and provide better visibility for all of the flashy but unproductive moves made for the pro scouts.

JOHN MARTIN

San Pedro

*

The good news for the Bruins is that next year every player (except Kevin Dempsey) will be returning to make another run at the title. The bad news for the Bruins is that every player will be returning to make another run at the title.

GARY FENTON

Beverly Hills