Didn't see it. Only those of you special enough to live in SoCal got this game. Instead, I got some lame womens' game and something about Texas football. Yippee!
Elsewhere, the bloom is off Oregon's rose after choking at home against $C last night, so Saturday's match-up loses some luster. But the Bruins should beware of team that wants to take out some frustrations. Also, Washington and Arizona played an exciting game. Props to Arizona on a big win. Maybe someday those two teams will discover that they're actually supposed to play at both ends of the floor.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Full Circle
Heading home today. Sitting at LAX right now waiting for my flight back to Chicago. I've been from Temple City to San Clemente, back to Temple City, up to Santa Cruz, back to Temple City the next day, down to San Diego the day after that (played Torrey Pines - North Course), back to Temple City, and now here.
Most disappointing moment? Realizing the parimutuel punched in an exacta on the 5 horse and the 10 horse instead of the 5 and 9, which I'd requested. Didn't realize it until I walked away. Had time to correct it, but the odds on the 9 and the 10 were virtually identical, so I figured "what the hell, it's probably a sign." It was. A sign that I'm an idiot. The 5 and 9 came in, and the $3 exacta would have paid me $180. I didn't bet anymore after that.
Most disappointing moment? Realizing the parimutuel punched in an exacta on the 5 horse and the 10 horse instead of the 5 and 9, which I'd requested. Didn't realize it until I walked away. Had time to correct it, but the odds on the 9 and the 10 were virtually identical, so I figured "what the hell, it's probably a sign." It was. A sign that I'm an idiot. The 5 and 9 came in, and the $3 exacta would have paid me $180. I didn't bet anymore after that.
Monday, January 01, 2007
Dominance - Washington 74; UCLA 96
One early trend for the Bruins seems to be that they play down to their competition in games against non-marquee opponents. But in a matchup with more hype, they simply dominate their opposition. Such was the case against Michigan, and such was the case yesterday against 14th ranked Washington. The Bruins took the lead from the outset, forced turnover after turnover, most of which led to easy baskets, and put Washington in a hole from which they'd never see daylight.
Washington was able to hang around most of the first half, occasionally cutting the lead to around four, at which point the Bruins would run the lead back out to nine, and there were times that UCLA looked in danger of losing the lead, but with just under three minutes to go in the first half, they scored the last nine points of the first half, and the first six points of the second half for a 15-0 run that all but put the game away.
The Huskies responded with a zone defense that gave the Bruins trouble at times, but timely shots from Mike Roll, who finished with 15 points, and James Keefe brought Washington out the zone, and UCLA took over from there, adding another 12-0 run that slammed the door.
Aaron Afflalo played the game of his life, pouring in 20 in the first half, 27 for the game, while adding 8 assists and five rebounds. In addition, he hit all of the big shots when UCLA needed a shot in the arm. Darren Collison added 15, and almost had more assists (12) than points. In all, UCLA finished with an astounding 29 assists. Just Shipp finished with 13 points in limited time due to his sprained ankle, while LRMAM and Lo Mata each added eight more.
If this is how the Bruins are going to play against big time opponents, it's going to be a great year. Now they just need to come out with a little more fire against teams like Washington State. The next test is at Oregon on Thursday. Mac Court is really a brutal place to play, and the Bruins have yet to play a true road game, unless you really want to count Chaminade. How they approach that game will say a lot about their season.
Washington was able to hang around most of the first half, occasionally cutting the lead to around four, at which point the Bruins would run the lead back out to nine, and there were times that UCLA looked in danger of losing the lead, but with just under three minutes to go in the first half, they scored the last nine points of the first half, and the first six points of the second half for a 15-0 run that all but put the game away.
The Huskies responded with a zone defense that gave the Bruins trouble at times, but timely shots from Mike Roll, who finished with 15 points, and James Keefe brought Washington out the zone, and UCLA took over from there, adding another 12-0 run that slammed the door.
Aaron Afflalo played the game of his life, pouring in 20 in the first half, 27 for the game, while adding 8 assists and five rebounds. In addition, he hit all of the big shots when UCLA needed a shot in the arm. Darren Collison added 15, and almost had more assists (12) than points. In all, UCLA finished with an astounding 29 assists. Just Shipp finished with 13 points in limited time due to his sprained ankle, while LRMAM and Lo Mata each added eight more.
If this is how the Bruins are going to play against big time opponents, it's going to be a great year. Now they just need to come out with a little more fire against teams like Washington State. The next test is at Oregon on Thursday. Mac Court is really a brutal place to play, and the Bruins have yet to play a true road game, unless you really want to count Chaminade. How they approach that game will say a lot about their season.
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