Gators simply better than Bruins

When Bill Plaschke picked the Bruins to beat Florida, he ignored the two critical factors that would determine the game -- the Gators’ dominant inside game, and the ability of Corey Brewer to shut down Arron Afflalo. UCLA was better than last year, but it was beaten by the one team in the country that can do everything the Bruins do, with players who are bigger and more athletic.

Plaschke’s article the next day, questioning Ben Howland’s offensive coaching skills, totally missed the point, and demeaned UCLA’s amazing season, in spite of Plaschke writing with the advantage of 20-20 hindsight. Has there ever been a less knowledgeable sportswriter in the history of The Times?

LON SHAPIRO

Granada Hills

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The Bruins going to the Final Four and being denied a national championship is not a disgrace. It is a testimony to what an outstanding coach Ben Howland is. Once again, he has taken his charges beyond what their ability would portend.

Arron Afflalo should come back for another year to fulfill his Bruins legacy. The addition of Kevin Love in the paint will give him the chance for a national championship and a shot at redemption.

BILL DUGGINS

Irvine

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I’ve been following UCLA since I was an entering freshman in February 1961 and, frankly, I’m tired of constantly reading that UCLA fans consider the season a lost cause if the team doesn’t win the NCAA championship. Anyone who understands John Wooden’s “Pyramid of Success” recognizes that it’s not championships that define success but character and effort.

Of course it’s disappointing to lose the last game, as it is for almost every team that plays in the tournament.

Coach Howland has assembled a group of outstanding young men with class and character and, obviously, the drive to excel. While the Florida game was not their best performance, they were facing an equally determined team of outstanding and well-coached athletes. While they didn’t win the championship, they upheld the John Wooden tradition in perhaps more important ways.

TOM LARMORE

Santa Monica

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When is someone going to acknowledge the elephant in the room? I’m referring to the officiating during the NCAA tournament. It seems like it was predetermined that only one Pac-10 team would go to the Final Four, and that team would not play in the championship game.

In the Florida-Oregon game, Florida had 43 free throws to Oregon’s 16! The USC-North Carolina game and the UCLA-Florida game were similarly lopsided. How much different might the results of these games have been if fouls were called more evenly, and key players were not afraid to play hard lest they foul out?

And no one can say anything about the officiating, right? It is disgusting when the outcome of the game is determined by the officials, not the players, and no one can do a thing about it.

NINA JACKSON

Los Angeles

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Hey, Bill Plaschke:

Could you please predict that USC is going to beat UCLA next season in football? Your Bruins victory prediction over Florida proves you really know what you’re talking about! Predict on!

JONATHAN BRAUN

Los Angeles

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“Hey, Billy Packer, this is your buddy Al McGuire. The Big Guy has two messages for you. First of all, you talk too much and He says you talk over the play-by-play announcer, so button up your lip, OK? He likes to listen to the play-by-play guy call the games.

“And he also wants to know if you learned to pronounce lackadaisical as ‘laxadaisical’ at Wake Forest so he can question the deacons there.

“Best, Al”

HOWARD COHEN

North Hills