LETTERS: Sweet or sour ending for Bruins?

UCLA's Zack LaVine, left, and Bryce Alford, right, walk off the court after the Bruins' loss to Florida, 79-68, on Thursday in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament.

March 28, 2014 4:26 PM PT

Not sure which game Bill Plaschke was watching when he wrote such glowing compliments of UCLA’s Sweet 16 performance against Florida. Defense wins games in the tournament, and the Bruins’ defense, absent for much of the season, was AWOL as Florida nailed jump shot after jump shot. But at least Steve Alford made great halftime adjustments .... oh, wait. UCLA lost to a less-talented, better-prepared, better-coached team. But they did beat the 12th and 13th seeds to get there.

Another Steve-16 for UCLA ... just with a different Steve.

Tony Siracusa

San Gabriel

The UCLA-Florida tournament matchups are starting to feel very much like the Celtics-Lakers playoff series in the 1960s when Boston broke our hearts year after year. It took something very special to finally beat the unbeatable foe. And while Kyle Anderson is a terrific player, I’m afraid there was no Magic in the arena.

Jerry Leibowitz

Culver City

OK, it’s not the coach’s fault when Parker misses a key free throw, or LaVine and Anderson miss layups at crunch time, or they make only three out of 18 three-pointers and get out rebounded by 10 boards, but when you finally close in to one point and you put your son in and take out your best player, that ain’t kosher, Coach.

Alan Segal

San Diego

I have been a UCLA basketball fan since the days of Walt Torrence and Willie Naulls. This year’s team exceeded my expectations, acquitted themselves well in the tournament, and I hope that Steve Alford has a long and illustrious career in Westwood. The days of John Wooden’s success cannot be revisited and we can no longer look to his achievements as a standard by which to compare today’s teams.

Michael Davidson

Altadena

Dear Zach LaVine,

Did you ask Shabazz Muhammad how the splinters are on the NBA bench while he develops his game? And remember, Reeves Nelson and Tyler Honeycutt are still saving you a seat at their table at the Todd Marinovich Cafe.

Jeff Black

Beverly Hills

Laker lowlights

Bill Dwyre’s column of Laker talking points followed by his version of the facts needs a revision.

1. The Showtime Laker teams never won a ring without Kareem. As good as Magic was, no Kareem, no ring! 2. The Lakers’ championship teams were all built around a dominating post player. 3. The power forward position also played near the rim, not camped at the three-point line. 4. “No rebounds, no rings.” Remember that? 5. No “D,” no rings, even if you win 65 regular-season games. Once the playoffs begin it’s all about defense, which is why D’Antoni never got a smell of the finals. 6. And finally, all of these facts are points that D’Antoni and his small-ball system have no use for.

Bruce Alan

Granada Hills

About Bill Dwyre’s question of the NBA’s view of the Jeanie Buss-Phil Jackson “engagement” being a possible “conflict of interest”: Given its inordinate length, it’s rumored that Webster’s New World Dictionary is contemplating changing its definition of the word, as is the U.S. military taking a fresh look at the definition of its “rules of engagement.”

Bob Jackson

Simi Valley

I want to thank the Busses for the following;

Being an avid Lakers fan since 1971 and being unable to afford to go to a game with my kids as we watched the Magic era, the Shaq-Kobe era and the Kobe-Pau era come and go, I have come to the conclusion that maybe in two years I can finally afford to go to see a Lakers game live with my family of five.

Alex Gonzalez

Pico Rivera

It is certainly understandable that Lakers fans are upset over the current condition of the team and it is understandable that folks might consider Kobe a bit self-absorbed. One can argue about his methods but you can’t argue with Kobe’s effort because, for the most part, he is all about winning. However, Steve Nash unabashedly tells everyone that all he cares about is getting next year’s paycheck, and there isn’t a single comment about it in Sports Viewpoint. Is that because Nash is, uh, Canadian?

Rodney K. Boswell

Thousand Oaks

I have a suggestion for the Buss family. As a going-away gift to Phil, they should give Kobe to the Knicks, nothing in return being required. Just take over the payments on Kobe’s contract. Question is, would Phil take him?

James Morgan

Alhambra

I agree that the Lakers could improve their prospects significantly if they were to bring back the last coach to take L.A. to the NBA playoffs. His name is Vinny Del Negro.

David Medrano

Alhambra

Hockey town!

Enough already with the depressing, negative columns. Kobe/D’Antoni/Lakers ... blah, blah, blah. Puig/Kershaw/Dodgers ... blah, blah, blah. How about an occasional uplifting piece on the Kings’ and Ducks’ strong seasons? Doesn’t both teams qualifying for the upcoming Stanley Cup playoffs warrant some much needed positive coverage?

Judy Wastri

Rancho Palos Verdes

Kudos to Jonathan Quick for becoming the Kings all-time win leader! However in all fairness, Rogie Vachon had 79 ties on his record with the Kings in the pre-overtime and pre-shootout era. If the Kings had won half of those games with the current overtime/shootout rules, Rogie could have had added an additional 40 wins to his Kings record.

Mike Gamboa

Buena Park

Into the Blue

Thank you for Bill Plaschke’s superbly written piece on Yasiel Puig. I took a lot of flak last August when I suggested to friends that the Dodgers should trade Puig then, when he had over-inflated value (for a front-line pitcher, perhaps).

Puig is a disruptive influence, talented but poison for any team with realistic chances of going all the way. It will always be about him and not his teammates. That is, until his juvenile approach to life brings about the sort of off-field calamity that makes him think twice. Well, maybe all we can hope for in his case is that he thinks once.

Michael Jenning

Van Nuys

It’s difficult to understand why Yasiel Puig had such difficulty defecting from Cuba. With his attitude and demeanor, I wonder why he just didn’t walk on water to Miami.

J.J. Volpe

Rancho Cucamonga

So, according to Stan Kasten: “I am now concerned that some fans at the start will not be able to see games. And that is disappointing, and it shouldn’t be happening.”

Gee, no one could see this coming.

Mike Butler

Quartz Hill

I just thought of another way for Magic Johnson and the Dodgers’ ownership team to squeeze more money out of fans. Currently, you allow fans to listen for free on AM radio. Shame on you! You should cancel AM radio and put the Dodgers exclusively on XM radio. Fans would have to pay $20-$30 a month to have radio access!

I used to hate the Yankees and love the Dodgers; now I hate both for exactly the same reasons.

David Waldowski

Alta Loma

I would like to personally congratulate Magic Johnson, Stan Kasten, Peter Guber, Mark Walter and the entire Guggenheim Group on sinking to a level far below Frank McCourt. Nice jobs, guys! Thanks to your new television deal with Time Warner Cable, you are keeping Vin Scully from millions of your fans.

Believe me, we won’t forget. Just ask Frank.

Lee Evans

Thousand Oaks

Did you see the Dodgers on TV from Australia last weekend? Neither did I.

Ron Yukelson

San Luis Obispo

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Lee Evans

Thousand Oaks

Did you see the Dodgers on TV from Australia last weekend? Neither did I.

Ron Yukelson