UCLA in Disarray

[mr. synellinden]

This Sports Illustrated piece is quite a revealing and shocking account (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/magazine/02/28/ucla/index.html) of how and why the UCLA basketball program has imploded since its run of three consecutive Final Fours.

It is certain to change a lot of people's perceptions of Ben Howland, and it is very damaging to the UCLA athletic department in general.

[OldPhiKap]

This Sports Illustrated piece is quite a revealing and shocking account (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/magazine/02/28/ucla/index.html) of how and why the UCLA basketball program has imploded since its run of three consecutive Final Fours.

It is certain to change a lot of people's perceptions of Ben Howland, and it is very damaging to the UCLA athletic department in general.

So much for UNC West. LD II and the Wear Brothers have proven themselves to be bad at making college attendance decisions. Twice.

[COYS]

This Sports Illustrated piece is quite a revealing and shocking account (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/magazine/02/28/ucla/index.html) of how and why the UCLA basketball program has imploded since its run of three consecutive Final Fours.

It is certain to change a lot of people's perceptions of Ben Howland, and it is very damaging to the UCLA athletic department in general.

That is some crazy stuff. Duke has had it's fair share of egos and locker-room tension. K and the staff have not been immune to recruiting players that ended up being poor fits for the program. However, it is insane how far UCLA fell under Howland in such a short time. I wonder if part of Howland's problems includes underestimating the degree to which Reeves Nelson was tanking team morale. It seems crazy that someone would consistently seek to hurt his own teammates the way that Reeves Nelson did. Soooo glad he didn't want to come to Duke, although I suspect his time in Durham would have been much shorter than his time in Westwood.

[CLW]

That is some crazy stuff. Duke has had it's fair share of egos and locker-room tension. K and the staff have not been immune to recruiting players that ended up being poor fits for the program. However, it is insane how far UCLA fell under Howland in such a short time. I wonder if part of Howland's problems includes underestimating the degree to which Reeves Nelson was tanking team morale. It seems crazy that someone would consistently seek to hurt his own teammates the way that Reeves Nelson did. Soooo glad he didn't want to come to Duke, although I suspect his time in Durham would have been much shorter than his time in Westwood.

Interesting quote from a presumably current player, "Can you imagine the same thing happening at Duke? Can you imagine players getting away with that stuff under Coach K?"

[gam7]

This article is disappointing from a sports journalism perspective. Obviously, the program appears to be disfunctional, but the article strikes me as being basically a gossip column about UCLA over the past few years. If this is SI's answer to the outstanding investigative sports journalism work of Yahoo! over the past few years, this is an epic fail.

[kingboozer]

I hope our program doesn't turn up like this once the Coach K era is over

[Tjenkins]

This article is disappointing from a sports journalism perspective. Obviously, the program appears to be disfunctional, but the article strikes me as being basically a gossip column about UCLA over the past few years. If this is SI's answer to the outstanding investigative sports journalism work of Yahoo! over the past few years, this is an epic fail.

I agree, based on the rumors I heard the previous 24 hours, I expected some scandal along the lines of the Eddie Sutton era at UK in the late 80s.

Having said that, it looks like Howland has lost control of his team and Nelson comes across as a sociopath.

[Swardy]

This article is disappointing from a sports journalism perspective. Obviously, the program appears to be disfunctional, but the article strikes me as being basically a gossip column about UCLA over the past few years. If this is SI's answer to the outstanding investigative sports journalism work of Yahoo! over the past few years, this is an epic fail.

I agree with this. There is hardly anything shocking or out of the ordinary for probably 90% of the colleges out there. Luckily here at Duke we recruit a higher standard of person so we dont have to deal with this but we are the exception not the rule. This is not the Miami football story, at least not yet. I don't think there is disarray just a couple of bad seeds and obviously some mismanagement by Howland. They are setting up for next year when they reopen Pauley with a great new recruiting class and they will be "back".

[Chris Randolph]

I hope Reeves Nelson gets picked up by an NBA team next year and tries to pull that crap in those practices and in an NBA locker room. Haha

[DukieInBrasil]

UCLA's getting what it deserves i guess. The behavior allowed by Howland, as described by former players, is despicable. I sure hope Reeves Nelson is denied any chance at the NBA, who would want to take on such an obvious cancer to team chemistry?

[nolan8or]

I agree it did read kind of like a gossip column, but it was all very interesting to see the causes behind such a quick downfall. I think there's a good chance Howland gets fired after this season. Also, if I was Shabazz and read this article I would immediately eliminate UCLA from my list of schools.

[-bdbd]

I would think this can't hurt Duke's recruitment of T. Parker and 'bazz, both of whom had been considering UCLA I believe.

More-so for 'bazz. Will be great to see this #1 recruit in this year's class at Saturday's game. Though more recently UNLV has sounded like more of the threat.

[burnspbesq]

This article is disappointing from a sports journalism perspective. Obviously, the program appears to be disfunctional, but the article strikes me as being basically a gossip column about UCLA over the past few years. If this is SI's answer to the outstanding investigative sports journalism work of Yahoo! over the past few years, this is an epic fail.

Sorry, must respectfully but vehemently disagree.

UCLA has been a mess for the last four years. Assuming the article is accurate (and there is no reason to believe otherwise; given the explosive nature of the allegations, it would have been vetted out the wazoo by counsel), now we know why.

The interesting question from a local perspective is how the LA Times managed to miss this story.

[freedevil]

Sorry, must respectfully but vehemently disagree.

UCLA has been a mess for the last four years. Assuming the article is accurate (and there is no reason to believe otherwise; given the explosive nature of the allegations, it would have been vetted out the wazoo by counsel), now we know why.

The interesting question from a local perspective is how the LA Times managed to miss this story.

I agree. While the "gossip" aspect of the column is, in my mind, not the most enjoyable form of journalism, the incidents SI reports on -- particularly those where Howland could have intervened to prevent further problems -- help explain how a remarkable program that has still enjoyed good results in recruiting is in a pretty shoddy state at the moment.

The interesting thing will be how recruits process this article.

[flyingdutchdevil]

How is this gossip? The writer talked to over a dozen players and staff? Gossip would be talking to students who aren't affiliated with the program (much like we do with Duke! :)).

Really interesting article. Happy the Duke-Nelson relationship didn't work out. I rarely ever call a player this, but what a punk.

[Jderf]

Happy the Duke-Nelson relationship didn't work out. I rarely ever call a player this, but what a punk.


Nelson comes across as a sociopath.

Well, sociopath is a bit strong, if you ask me. "Bipolar" would probably be closer to the truth. For someone who is guilty of such completely inexcusable behavior, his quotes display some remarkable lucidity. He definitely has some issues, serious issues, but he seems to recognize them for what they are. I'd say that is the first step to correcting the problem, although it is just one step on a very long path.

My take-away is that it is crazy how much a single negative player can affect a program, if given free reign. Makes me happy that K tries his best to avoid the Nelsons and Humpries of the world. He certainly wouldn't tolerate that sort of conduct.

[Des Esseintes]

That is some crazy stuff. Duke has had it's fair share of egos and locker-room tension. K and the staff have not been immune to recruiting players that ended up being poor fits for the program. However, it is insane how far UCLA fell under Howland in such a short time. I wonder if part of Howland's problems includes underestimating the degree to which Reeves Nelson was tanking team morale. It seems crazy that someone would consistently seek to hurt his own teammates the way that Reeves Nelson did. Soooo glad he didn't want to come to Duke, although I suspect his time in Durham would have been much shorter than his time in Westwood.

No question that every program, including Duke, must deal with poor fits and locker room discord from time to time. I would say, though, that this story cast an interesting light on recruiting for me. There are a bunch of these guys--Nelson, Josh Smith, I think Drew Gordon, and possibly others--that Duke recruited and lost out on. One of the things that makes Duke "not for everyone" is the extremely high amount of buy-in players are expected to offer. While that might cause us to lose out on some talent, it probably helps shield us from a certain kind of disruptive talent. While it's true that K wouldn't listen past the first verse of the Ballad of Reeves Nelson, it is also likely true that Reeves Nelson wanted to go to a program where he had greater freedom to, ah, express himself. All of which is to say that perhaps Duke didn't so much dodge some bullets as it was Duke basketball is constructed in such a way as to make it far less likely to be struck by these particular bullets. But yes, thank gawd.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

This article reminds us that a lot happens in recruiting that we are unaware of - often times "missing" a top prospect is a blessing, and our coaches wisely back off on prospects who they don't think are good personality fits. So if it seems like Coach K and the boys aren't recruiting someone as hard as you might like, there might be a very good reason for this - though there have been some personalities that haven't fit in well at Duke, I think Coach K is a better judge of character than 99.9% of the coaches out there.

[miltk]

Reeves is not suited to deal with people...end of story. He will either end up being a surfer on the north shore looking out to sea every day, be a hermit, a forest ranger, or turned inwards and zen out in Woodstock. He was let go by a Lithuanian team after one month.

As for Ben, he has kind of been twixt a rock and hard place. He's had to deal with TWO issues (1) players of questionable character and (2) the perception that he is tough to get along with(with players). So on the one hand he has to discipline and on the other he's had to show he's a tolerant fatherly soul. On the one hand people will say he let things go to far, on the other people can say he gave a player every chance before letting that player go,,,,and he DID eventually let Gordon, Morgan, and Reeves go.

As for other "subtler" perceptions and sub plots, hey,,,just watch the movie "Rashomon". People in Indiana and zona were saying Matt Carlino was a whiny, coddled baby BEFORE he ever committed to UCLA and they were glad he never chose their school.....you just don't know.

[Lennies]

I hope the Lakers pick up Nelson so he can compete with Metta World Peace, on and off the court.

[MChambers]

As for Ben, he has kind of been twixt a rock and hard place. He's had to deal with TWO issues (1) players of questionable character and (2) the perception that he is tough to get along with(with players). So on the one hand he has to discipline and on the other he's had to show he's a tolerant fatherly soul. On the one hand people will say he let things go to far, on the other people can say he gave a player every chance before letting that player go,,,,and he DID eventually let Gordon, Morgan, and Reeves go.

For me, the most interesting part of the article was the discussion about how removed Howland was from his players. I can't imagine Coach K ever coaching that way.

[miltk]

For me, the most interesting part of the article was the discussion about how removed Howland was from his players. I can't imagine Coach K ever coaching that way.

that was always an issue and everyone is westwood knows it. i thought everyone else did too. it's always been a common belief that coaches recruited against howland citing that specific issue. i don't think ben actually coaches differently from other hard-@sses but clearly there was a disconnect in his bedside manner...but everyone in westwood knew this. WE'RE treating this like it's no big deal, espn outside the line gave the story a cursory review. it's a non story in that there's no scandalous angle, nothing sanctionable.

therefore anti ucla people will it one way, and pro ucla people will view it another. where is the line drawn between tolerance and discipline. for instance,,,tyler honeycutt's mom was interviewed when he went into the draft. she said she wanted him to stay because tyler had always coasted through life opting for the easy way out. she wanted ben's tough hand to straighten tyler out.

the 08 class should go down as the biggest fail in ncaa history...a superstar who quit on the team, a pothead, a player who tried to organize a mutiny, a player who simply was overrated, and an okay-good player. i think that class set the tone for the ensuing 3 years

[MChambers]

that was always an issue and everyone is westwood knows it. i thought everyone else did too. it's always been a common belief that coaches recruited against howland citing that specific issue. i don't think ben actually coaches differently from other hard-@sses but clearly there was a disconnect in his bedside manner...but everyone in westwood knew this.
You obviously follow this stuff more closely than I do. I can certainly understand other schools using this in recruiting. Hard to see why a kid would want to play for a coach like that.

[AZLA]

This is the first domino that will result in Coach Collins or Wojo eventually becoming the new head coach in Westwood.

What's the over/under on the timeline and which coach will it be?

[miltk]

You obviously follow this stuff more closely than I do. I can certainly understand other schools using this in recruiting. Hard to see why a kid would want to play for a coach like that.

ben come off as a really nice gentle soul,,,,until practice. but like i said, many coaches coach like him but they're able to temper their discipline with a love an concern that reaches kids. but you know what, that's a gift in great coaches. in that respect, howland has no filter.

[miltk]

This is the first domino that will result in Coach Collins or Wojo eventually becoming the new head coach in Westwood.

What's the over/under on the timeline and which coach will it be?

here's the thing. ucla's coaching history post wooden is wrought with fails, and the simple fact is, it's not the glamour job people think. other than ben, bartow, and brown ucla has always had to settle for in-house 5th choices. ben is really the perfect ucla coach because it's his dream job. for any other coach, ucla is a resume stuffer for their next stop.

btw, i know this is not the thread for this but..... kyle was interviewed and asked if this changes his mind about ucla. he and his dad are steadfast about ucla. this translates into bazz going to ucla, AS IT ALWAYS HAS BEEN because you know kyle, bazz, parker, and adams have already talked about this article. kyle's affirmation is a confirmation of the group united. i know you guys won't like hearing this but bazz/dad has been playing duke and ky. after all this is done you'll understand that this has always been about the group and playing with kyle.

[burns15]

here's the thing. ucla's coaching history post wooden is wrought with fails, and the simple fact is, it's not the glamour job people think. other than ben, bartow, and brown ucla has always had to settle for in-house 5th choices. ben is really the perfect ucla coach because it's his dream job. for any other coach, ucla is a resume stuffer for their next stop.

btw, i know this is not the thread for this but..... kyle was interviewed and asked if this changes his mind about ucla. he and his dad are steadfast about ucla. this translates into bazz going to ucla, AS IT ALWAYS HAS BEEN because you know kyle, bazz, parker, and adams have already talked about this article. kyle's affirmation is a confirmation of the group united. i know you guys won't like hearing this but bazz/dad has been playing duke and ky. after all this is done you'll understand that this has always been about the group and playing with kyle.

I would completely disagree with this. I don't know of any coach that considers UCLA a resume stuffer. When was the last coach you saw that succeeded at UCLA for any period of time and jumped to another "more prestigeous job", barring NCAA violations of some sort at UCLA. UCLA is a top 5 job in the country...period.

[miltk]

I would completely disagree with this. I don't know of any coach that considers UCLA a resume stuffer. When was the last coach you saw that succeeded at UCLA for any period of time and jumped to another "more prestigeous job", barring NCAA violations of some sort at UCLA. UCLA is a top 5 job in the country...period.


one thing is that there are certain departments/jobs at ucla that don't garner the salary and commitment that other schools do. trainers, for instance. as a broadbased athletic program, ucla's status is elite, there is no question. but for some of use who would like to see, shall we say, more preferential treatment to major sports, the admin's view is more egalitarian. i absolutely believe admin cares more about ucla's "first to 100" than basketball or football, while i believe that the two sports are the backbone of any school's program.

i think the lack of backing by admin is felt and reflective of the fanbase apathy in los angeles. when you have a commuter based enrollment where students have to drive 1.5 hrs to school you have a disengaged fanbase that's not invested in the sports and this also is reflected in admin.

[Swardy]

here's the thing. ucla's coaching history post wooden is wrought with fails, and the simple fact is, it's not the glamour job people think. other than ben, bartow, and brown ucla has always had to settle for in-house 5th choices. ben is really the perfect ucla coach because it's his dream job. for any other coach, ucla is a resume stuffer for their next stop.

btw, i know this is not the thread for this but..... kyle was interviewed and asked if this changes his mind about ucla. he and his dad are steadfast about ucla. this translates into bazz going to ucla, AS IT ALWAYS HAS BEEN because you know kyle, bazz, parker, and adams have already talked about this article. kyle's affirmation is a confirmation of the group united. i know you guys won't like hearing this but bazz/dad has been playing duke and ky. after all this is done you'll understand that this has always been about the group and playing with kyle.

From what I am told you are absolutely right. The bazz, kyle, parker, adams is pretty much a done deal and has been the plan all along and I don't see why this would change any of it. I know we would want it to, but the fact is what in the article would make an elite kid not want to play there. I've said it all along that next year UCLA will be back and the disastrous 2008 class and the mismanagement of Nelson is basically what caused this not some big bad program issue. I also think UCLA being good is also good for college basketball as right now the Pac 12 and the whole west coast is pretty much irrelevant.

[hurleyfor3]

i think the lack of backing by admin is felt and reflective of the fanbase apathy in los angeles. when you have a commuter based enrollment where students have to drive 1.5 hrs to school you have a disengaged fanbase that's not invested in the sports and this also is reflected in admin.

Ucla's a commuter school? Really? CS-Northridge, Long Beach State, Pomona and the like I can buy, but ucla?

[miltk]

Ucla's a commuter school? Really? CS-Northridge, Long Beach State, Pomona and the like I can buy, but ucla?

you could be right over the mountains in the valley and still take an hour to get in. i don't even go back to la anymore because driving from hollywood to westwood (5 miles)was a major pain.

[hurleyfor3]

Oh, sure, blame the 405. :|

[SoCalDukeFan]

is the project to overhaul Pauley Pavilion.

This article is an embarrassment to the program and I would guess will embarrass some or all of the big time donors. I, and some of my UCLA friends, would not be surprised to see the big time donors bring pressure on the school to get rid of BH. Most of my friends want DG out there asap.


SoCal

[Jim3k]

This is the first domino that will result in Coach Collins or Wojo eventually becoming the new head coach in Westwood.

What's the over/under on the timeline and which coach will it be?

The guy who is actually suited to deal with this stuff would be Jeff Capel and he should take Nate James with him. Having been a HC, he's got the experience to deal with this. James could be his enforcer. Can you imagine Reeves Nelson, or anyone else taking on James?

Besides that, I expect that the Wear twins would have instant respect for Capel. That would go a long way toward settling things down.

[airowe]

btw, i know this is not the thread for this but..... kyle was interviewed and asked if this changes his mind about ucla. he and his dad are steadfast about ucla. this translates into bazz going to ucla, AS IT ALWAYS HAS BEEN because you know kyle, bazz, parker, and adams have already talked about this article. kyle's affirmation is a confirmation of the group united. i know you guys won't like hearing this but bazz/dad has been playing duke and ky. after all this is done you'll understand that this has always been about the group and playing with kyle.

Haha. You're still believing everything you read, huh? I guess our bet is still on then.

[Swardy]

Haha. You're still believing everything you read, huh? I guess our bet is still on then.

I would say the newest Shabazz article is worse than the SI one for UCLA
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/17511404/ncaa-warns-schools-to-be-wary-over-top-recruit-muhammads-eligibility

[burnspbesq]

This is the first domino that will result in Coach Collins or Wojo eventually becoming the new head coach in Westwood.

UCLA AD Dan Guerrero has never shown any signs of being that smart. He was in over his head at UC Irvine, and somehow got fired upwards.

[Verga3]

I would say the newest Shabazz article is worse than the SI one for UCLA
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/17511404/ncaa-warns-schools-to-be-wary-over-top-recruit-muhammads-eligibility

Remember the recent Radford violations. Are Ben Lincoln and Benjamin Lincoln in the SI piece one in the same?

Quote below. Here is a link to the full article. http://www.roanoke.com/sports/college/wb/277163

"When Greenberg knew that he would be suspended, he wrote a letter to a university supporter explaining what happened. The letter provided fresh details of the case.

The letter was written on university athletic department letterhead to Ben Lincoln of Charlotte, N.C., and dated Feb. 11. The letter was included as an attachment to an e-mail Lincoln sent The Roanoke Times. In the e-mail, Lincoln was identified as managing partner of Redwood Wealth Management in Charlotte. He described himself as "a supporter of Radford basketball and Coach Greenberg."

In Greenberg's letter to Lincoln, the coach discussed the violations as well as providing additional previously undisclosed details."

Interesting.

[JG Nothing]

I would say the newest Shabazz article is worse than the SI one for UCLA
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/17511404/ncaa-warns-schools-to-be-wary-over-top-recruit-muhammads-eligibility

Where there's smoke there's fire. Perhaps it is time for Duke to stop recruiting Shabazz. I was never comfortable with the recruitment of John Wall and the interest in Eric Bledsoe. Duke won a national championship without them. We'll survive without Shabazz.

[BlueHeaven]

I thought it was interesting and telling that Reeves Nelson is tangentially still blaming Howland for his poor behavior patterns-- saying if he was disciplined earlier he wouldn't have gotten into those patterns. Sounds like he's had much needed therapy, but needs more. Um, how about you don't act like a psychopath and no one needs to discipline you.

[lotusland]

I would say the newest Shabazz article is worse than the SI one for UCLA
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/17511404/ncaa-warns-schools-to-be-wary-over-top-recruit-muhammads-eligibility

My favorite part is all of the UK supporters comments at the bottom. They are already making excuses and attacking the messenger as if Bazz had already comitted there. I'm not really excited about another 1 and done guard anyway but I hope Duke doesn't take him unless the NCAA clears him in advance or announces his suspension time in advance. I'm sure Duke wouldn't play him if there's a chance that games will later be vacated. I really don't think what is alledged necessarily makes him a bad kid or someone you don't want on your team but you can't take a chance on eligibility...unless you are Cal.

[Jderf]

You can't take a chance on eligibility...unless you are Cal.

Who has somehow made a career out of it. :cool:

[Sgt. Dingleberry]

I found the content of the article really non-news worthy. I think a lot of stuff like this happens all the time, all over the place. There is only one thing in the article that really floored me....


The task of indoctrinating a new player -- such as Westbrook, another unranked recruit, who enrolled in 2006 -- fell to the veterans.


Russell Westbrook was an unranked recruit? Wow. (I just relooked at the rivals final 2006 ratings and sure enough he was a 3-star unranked recruit)

[miltk]

I found the content of the article really non-news worthy. I think a lot of stuff like this happens all the time, all over the place. There is only one thing in the article that really floored me....



Russell Westbrook was an unranked recruit? Wow. (I just relooked at the rivals final 2006 ratings and sure enough he was a 3-star unranked recruit)


I believe russell received 3 schollie offers. wyoming, sdsu, and ucla...not sure about this.

[miltk]

I thought it was interesting and telling that Reeves Nelson is tangentially still blaming Howland for his poor behavior patterns-- saying if he was disciplined earlier he wouldn't have gotten into those patterns. Sounds like he's had much needed therapy, but needs more. Um, how about you don't act like a psychopath and no one needs to discipline you.

reeves mom, while she doesn't "blame' ben, says she thinks ben could have parcelled out bits of discipline along the way instead of the one final dismissal. like,,,where were the parents. and oh btw, reeves brother who plays fball ofr ucla was also a pain but neuheisal cut him loads of slack. ucla's new hc, mora jr., just dismissed the other nelson from the team. the nelsons are clearly dysfunctional, no doubt hippie parents who cut their kids lots of slack and probably imbibed in some weed right along with them.

[killerleft]

reeves mom, while she doesn't "blame' ben, says she thinks ben could have parcelled out bits of discipline along the way instead of the one final dismissal. like,,,where were the parents. and oh btw, reeves brother who plays fball ofr ucla was also a pain but neuheisal cut him loads of slack. ucla's new hc, mora jr., just dismissed the other nelson from the team. the nelsons are clearly dysfunctional, no doubt hippie parents who cut their kids lots of slack and probably imbibed in some weed right along with them.

I always dreamed about having parents like that... but no such luck.:p Seriously, though, the Nelson boys are only part-human, it seems: Half-Nelsons, if you will. I bet our own Nelson, Demarcus, could straighten them out pretty quick!!

[SoCalDukeFan]

Like all the other Pac12 schools the UCLA team stayed at a hotel within a block of Staples Center for the Pac 12 Tournament.

However UCLA was the only school (of the 8 in the first round games) to take a bus rather than walk to the game.

Josh Smith missed the bus, first time he was late all year. So he walked to the game, and beat the bus.

He was suspended for the first half for being late, even though he got to Staples before the rest of the team.

SoCal

[dukedoc]

Like all the other Pac12 schools the UCLA team stayed at a hotel within a block of Staples Center for the Pac 12 Tournament.

However UCLA was the only school (of the 8 in the first round games) to take a bus rather than walk to the game.

Josh Smith missed the bus, first time he was late all year. So he walked to the game, and beat the bus.

He was suspended for the first half for being late, even though he got to Staples before the rest of the team.

SoCal

WOW, they are truly, as the title of the thread indicates, in disarray. Shall we call this "Walk-gate" or "Gratuitous bus ride - gate"?

[DukieInBrasil]

reeves mom, while she doesn't "blame' ben, says she thinks ben could have parcelled out bits of discipline along the way instead of the one final dismissal. like,,,where were the parents. and oh btw, reeves brother who plays fball ofr ucla was also a pain but neuheisal cut him loads of slack. ucla's new hc, mora jr., just dismissed the other nelson from the team. the nelsons are clearly dysfunctional, no doubt hippie parents who cut their kids lots of slack and probably imbibed in some weed right along with them.

Now that's just an ignorant thing to say. Couldn't have been alcoholic parents? Couldn't have been parents who had to work 2 or 3 jobs to make ends meet? Couldn't have been just simply being lazy parents? Couldn't have been poor parenting skills? Couldn't have been personality-driven problems of the boys?
In my experience, hippies make better parents, cuz they care about things beyond themselves. But congrats on taking a cheap pot-shot (pun intended) that reveals, simultaneously, triteness and profound ignorance.

[hurleyfor3]

Josh Smith missed the bus, first time he was late all year. So he walked to the game, and beat the bus.

He was suspended for the first half for being late, even though he got to Staples before the rest of the team.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_UpLtGEWoY