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Going into the draft, the Pacers needed a point guard, said Walsh, who was then the team's general manager. People in Indiana wanted him to take hometown favorite Steve Alford, who had just won an NCAA title at IU. Walsh said he never entertained that thought. He had his mind set on Kevin Johnson, who in high school led the state of California in scoring (32.5 points) and was named the Northern California Player of the Year. "This kid was good," Walsh said from his Indianapolis home this month. "So if I could have gotten him, I probably would have taken him. But I realized pretty quickly that we weren't going to get him."
Lonzo Ball would like to see Earl Watson become UCLA’s next basketball coach. The Lakers’ second-year point guard spent one season at UCLA under recently fired coach Steve Alford and spoke well of him. “He’s a good person, good coach, he helped me a lot, but the job’s open,” Ball said Wednesday. “I’d like to see, maybe, Earl Watson get the job. I know Earl personally. I think he has coaching experience in the league. Obviously, he went there, he’s alumni, so I think he’s a good fit.”
Steve Alford didn’t hesitate when asked about Lonzo Ball’s enthusiastic and controversial father, LaVar. Was LaVar Ball around the team much? “Zero,” Alford said. Was he ever at practice? “Never at practice,” Alford said. “Never at practice; never called me.”
Adam Zagoria: UCLA junior Thomas Welsh will return to school for his senior season after having tested the NBA Draft waters. Good news for Steve Alford.
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With some concern about LaVar’s potential involvement with his son should he be drafted by the Lakers, Luke Walton appeared on the Dan Patrick Show and said that the Lakers will talk to UCLA head coach Steve Alford about LaVar’s involvement: “I wouldn’t personally, but yes, somebody in our organization will, absolutely.”
Lonzo Ball never mentioned the hamstring injury following the loss to Kentucky and it’s unclear when he suffered the ailment. By the end of the game, he appeared to have a different gait. Bruins coach Steve Alford said in his postgame news conference that Ball was healthy, but acknowledged the two spoke only briefly after the game.
After the NCAA Tournament, Williams predicts UCLA coach Steve Alford will leave for Indiana, a job vacated last week when the school fired Tom Crean. Given Alford starred at Indiana during his playing days, helping the Hoosiers win the 1987 national championship, that potential move makes sense. Alford's replacement at UCLA? "I see Mr. Earl Watson, the head coach of the Phoenix Suns, coming back home to UCLA," Williams said.
Some NBA officials recently told The Journal Times they were concerned about an alleged asthmatic problem for Kevon Looney, the former Milwaukee Hamilton High School and UCLA standout. Because of his asthma issues, some of those individuals stated Looney’s stock could fall to the point where, instead of being a fringe lottery selection, he could slip late into the first round. But UCLA coach Steve Alford refuted those opinions, telling me Looney was never hampered by asthma in the one season he played for the Bruins. “Tell me one freshman in the country who played 32 minutes a game and averaged a double-double (with 11.6 points and 9.2 rebounds),’’ Alford said. “There was nobody. He can play long stretches. We saw no issues of that (asthma problems).’’
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Abdul-Jabbar, 66, made no mystery of his desire to replace recently fired Ben Howland at UCLA, carrying out a media campaign to rally support. He was passed over for former Indiana star and veteran coach Steve Alford. When the Bucks filled their coaching vacancy with Larry Drew, it seemed to signal the end of Abdul-Jabbar’s coaching hopes. “It didn’t work out and that’s the way it goes,” Abdul-Jabbar said on Tuesday, speaking before an appearance at the Barnes & Noble on Fifth Avenue and 47th St. Wednesday. The NBA’s all-time leading scorer was there to promote his latest book, “Sasquatch in the Paint,” loosely based on his upbringing in Manhattan. “I’m not going to ram my head against the wall. It’s time to move on. I’m not actively pursuing that,” Abdul-Jabbar said of looking for future coaching jobs. “Writing has been a nice thing for me. I’ve been pursuing that more so than anything else.”
New UCLA coach Steve Alford gave a pretty good indication that Muhammad is on his way out when he acknowledged Thursday that he has not had any contact with Muhammad since taking over at UCLA on March 30. "I have not spoken to him," Alford said. "I've seen everybody else and spoken to everybody else. I've placed some phone calls but I have not been able to touch base with him."
Miller's No. 31 jersey is one of five retired by the Pacers. The others are for Daniels, Leonard, Roger Brown and George McGinnis. "Reggie's career speaks for itself, but he ranks at the top with any player at making end-of-game shots," said Pacers President Larry Bird. "I was fortunate enough to see it first-hand as a coach and his ability and leadership helped drive this franchise to another level." Former Pacers President Donnie Walsh, who drafted Miller out of UCLA with the 11th overall pick in 1987, was initially criticized for not choosing Steve Alford, the Indiana University legend. Miller quickly quieted critics. "There was a lot of tension (about) it on the draft, then I think after one or two years it died down and we didn't hear too much on it after that," Walsh said. "That was because of the way Reggie played."
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