Another Nice Night on the Hardwood

Illinois, UCLA, and UC Riverside all had more points than their opponents at the final horn.  I like it when that happens.

Illinois over Minnesota

It wasn't pretty when these teams played the first time, and it wasn't pretty tonight.  The teams combined for only 93 points, but Illinois had 52 of them, including the final 10 to avenge their loss in Minneapolis earlier this season.  The win puts them in second in the Big Ten, and you have to think their spot in the field of 65 is pretty secure right now.

The best is still yet to come for the Illini, with a young team, and great classes lined up for the next two seasons, but one of the things that makes this team so interesting is the mix of youth and experience.  They start three sophomores and two seniors, and the sophomores are their top three scorers.  But they wouldn't be where they are right now with the seniors.  Trent Meacham had 13 points, including a big three late in the second half, and Chester Frazier has just been phenomenal this year everywhere but on the offensive end.  He does everything for this team except score, which is fine, because they don't need him to score, and he's just enough of a threat that teams occasionally still have to respect his offense.  Off the bench, Calvin Brock has really had a great season.  He's the best athlete on the team, and while he only had two points tonight, he finished with four steals in fourteen minutes.  

As for the Sophs, Mike Tisdale didn't have a great game, but Mike Davis had another double-double.  This is a kid that was barely recruited, was thisclose to heading to prep school before Bruce Weber swept in and offered him a scholarship, and now he's one of their most important players.  Demetri McCamey is really shooting the ball well from long range, and he showed the ability to get in the paint and cause some trouble.  He just needs to keep his head in the game on every possession.  

Once again, the Illini finished with assists on almost 75% of their field goals.  Their not a team that scores in isolation, nor do they put back a lot of offensive rebounds, so they need to work together to get the ball in the basket.  It's fun to watch (when they score more than 33 points).  I'm astounded that they're as good as they are this year.  But I'm really glad they're back.

UCLA over Stanford

Mercifully, Fox College Sports kind of screwed up and didn't show the first 10 minutes of this game.  When they finally cut over from the Wazzu-ASU game, UCLA had started to make their comeback, and played fairly well the rest of the way, doing just enough to pull off the victory on the road.  

After a rough junior season shooting the ball  (43%; 32% from three), Josh Shipp has been very reliable this year.  He's up to 49% from the field, and 40% from three.  He's had an excellent senior season, and he had a great game tonight, pouring in 24 points on 9/12 shooting, 4/5 from long range.  The other surprising senior has been Alfred Aboya.  He's stayed in games, his numbers are up in every category, and he hit four clutch free throws tonight to salt the game away.  

On the other hand, contrary to what the Illini have seen, the young players have not lived up entirely to expectations.  I don't really mean that as a knock, because expectations were REALLY high.  Probably unfairly high.  I've been impressed with Drew Gordon, and Malcolm Lee plays like a talented freshman, where maybe 3/5 plays are really good, but with a few mistakes mixed in.  The jury is still out on Jerime Anderson.  And honestly, I kind of feel bad for Jrue Holliday.  We were spoiled with Kevin Love's polish last year, and I think we expected great things from Holliday this season.  We've gotten inconsistency, which is really what you should get from a freshman.  But he needs to defend better.  That's where the Bruins are really lacking this season.  I'll say right now that if he's a lottery pick, he should go.  That's a lot of guaranteed money, with a new CBA looming.  But if he does, I suspect that UCLA fans will be a bit disappointed with what they got, and Holliday will be a little disappointed with what he gave.  Then again, we're almost to March, and perceptions can change really quickly when the tournament rolls around.

After a lackluster first ten minutes, the Bruins did something we haven't seen much of this year.  They showed some heart.  They made Stanford play at their tempo in the last ten minutes of the first half, and that got the Bruins back into the game.  The squeaked out a lead in the second half, and they hung on, despite, as usual, some questionable road officiating.  I loved the series of plays I saw from Aboya late in the game when he tipped in a Josh Shipp miss to give the Bruins a seven point lead at one end (gingerly avoiding an over the back call), then calmly stepped out of the way on a Josh Owens dunk.  He realized he wasn't going to stop Owens, he avoided his fifth foul, and he was a critical component of the win down the stretch.  

I still think the team that blitzed the Bay schools, U$C, and Notre Dame is out there, lurking.  We'll just have to see whether that team shows up down the stretch.  Saturday at Berkeley is going to be a big test, and how they respond will tell us a lot about what we can expect the rest of the way.  They should sweep the Oregon schools, so a win Saturday keeps them in the hunt for a share of the conference title.  

UC Riverside over Cal State Fullerton

Yay!  Didn't see it.  But they're 16-10, and over .500 in conference.  I'm proud of my alma mater.  

Good Weekend

In the span of about 30 hours, give or take:

• UCLA destroyed Notre Dame 89-63
• UC Riverside held home court on UC Davis 58-53, getting back to .500 in conference
• Illinois manhandled Purdue (albeit without Robbie Hummel) 66-48
• The Kings went on a 10 minute blitz that took care of the New Jersey Devils, 3-1
• And the Lakers went into Cleveland and showed the Cavs that the best are in the West with a 101-91 victory

UCLA

UCLA has been absolutely rolling since dropping a tough road game in Seattle (which I didn't see, for various reasons).  Since that game they've beat Berkeley, Stanford, U$C, and Notre Dame by an average of over 20 points per game, and none by fewer than 16 points.  In that stretch, seven different players have scored in double figures, and all but Jerime Anderson have done it multiple times.  That's what you call offensive depth.  They made over 50% of their shots in three of those games (over 60% against Stanford), and have made almost 50% of their three pointers (27/55).  Suddenly there are a lot fewer people complaining that Ben Howland can't coach offense.

This really looks like the Best offensive team the Bruins have had in the Howland era.  They have four starters who can shoot from long range with well above average efficiency.  They can't just make threes, they're legitimate three point threats every time down the floor.  The fifth, Alfred Aboya, has developed a mid-range game seemingly out of nowhere, and now he's a guy that opposing defenses really need to pay attention to.  He dropped 19 on ND, making 9 of his 12 shots.  

The best thing about the blowouts is that the freshmen have been able to get a lot of game minutes.  The trio of Malcolm Lee, Anderson, and Drew Gordon averaged about 12 minutes per game each over that stretch, and looked good doing it.  That sort of experience will be important in March.  If you go back to November, the conventional wisdom was that this team would not hit its stride until about this time, having dealt with the loss of three NBAers and integrating five freshmen into the rotation.  That's happening now, and the Bruins look as good as they've ever looked.  They have a go to player in Collison, but the best part about the way this team is playing now is that any player should be able to hit a shot in crunch time.  They didn't show that against ASU, but the team that's played the last two weeks in no way resembles the team that couldn't find the basket with a map and compass a few weeks ago.  

Illinois

Up and down lately.  Home and road.  Jekyll and Hyde.  But today against Purdue, they led wire to wire against a pretty good team and completed the season sweep.  During their rough spots on the road, the Illini have really had trouble executing their offense.  This is a team that gets a ton of baskets directly by way of the assist.  At last check they led the nation in percentage of baskets on which they were credited with assists.  But against Minnesota, they just didn't move the ball at all.  The Wisconsin game was better, but they couldn't make shots.

Today they moved the ball very well, and they made their shots.  The Illini recorded 21 assists on 25 field goals, and led from wire to wire.  Purdue threatened a few times, but the Illini never let the lead get below four, and they put the Boilermakers away with a 23-9 run midway through the second quarter.  The best sight today was Trent Meacham making three of five from long range.  He's struggled lately, and they need him to produce if they're going to be successful.  They're already playing one limited threat guard, and they can't afford to play two.

Speaking of Chester Frazier, he did a marvelous job on E'Twaun Moore.  The sophomore averages 14 points per game, and Frazier held him to six points on 2/9 shooting.  On the offensive end, Mike Davis had a great game, dropping in 14 for the Illini, and Mike Tisdale's ability to hit the mid-range jumper consistently really made the Boilers pay for hedging on screens up high.  

The Illini start three sophomores, and they look like they'll be able to absorb the losses of Frazier and Meacham next season.  They're ahead of where we thought they'd be, and the future really looks bright.

Kings

Speaking of bright futures, the Kings have now won six of their last seven games.  They had only won 17 of their first 44 games, but they've gotten themselves back into the playoff hunt in the crowded Western Conference.  

You build from the net out, and the Kings had stocked the farm with goalie and defense prospects, but couldn't keep the puck out of their own net last year.  This year, the kids are paying dividends.  Jonathan Quick has been outstanding with a 2.38 GAA, and a .920 save percentage.  He's grabbed the number one job, and he doesn't look like he's going anywhere.  That's great news for Kings fans waiting on Jonathan Bernier, because if Bernier's going to get the job, he's going to have to be really outstanding.  The question is who will still be in the organization next year.  Quick's performance has started to make Bernier and Jeff Zatkoff look like very attractive trade bait.

On the defensive end, Drew Doughty has been their best blueliner all year.  But the emergence of Kyle Quincy, the tough play of Matt Greene, and the return of Jack Johnson means the Kings have two thirds of their defense of the future playing and winning right now.  

It took a while to get them going, but the offense is finally chipping in, and that's why the Kings are winning right now.  The Kings average about 2.41 goals per game over their first 44.  They've averaged four goals per game over their last seven, and have scored three or more times in all but one of those games.  The game in which they scored less than three was a 1-0 win over Ottawa.  They're young, they're fun to watch, and they're starting to win again.  This is just the beginning for the Kings.

I'm not going to write about the Lakers or UCR, but rest assured, I'm very happy with those wins.  

Finally, the inspiration for the title of this post:

A New Power is Rising in the West

Well, maybe that's a little presumptuous. Don't look now, but the UC Riverside Highlanders are 2-0 and atop the Big West conference (along with Long Beach State). Not only that, but they actually have the best record in the conference when you combine conference and non-conference play, so this may not be a total fluke.

Last night they beat UC Santa Barbara 71-69, overcoming a twelve point deficit in the second half. UCSB was picked second in the conference by the media before the season started. Better yet, they've won their two conference games with diverging styles. In the conference opener, they scored 91 points against Cal Poly SLO, while last night they held UCSB to only four second half baskets. A few two many fouls led to lots of Gauchos on the free throw line, and the Highlanders survived a last second would-be game winning three pointer that came a hair too late. But 2-0 is 2-0, and hopefully a good start (they're 9-4 overall) will create a buzz on campus that brings people out to the Student Rec Center.

When I was at UCR, we were Division II, and there was virtually no interest in athletics from the general student body. I knew a few guys on the baseball team, one of whom was all over the record books by the time we graduated, but otherwise, I would have barely known that we had a baseball team. In 1995, there was finally some excitement when the basketball team rolled through the D2 tournament to reach the nationally televised championship game. I actually remember bars around campus playing that game on the radio, and people actually going to bars to listen to it. The excitement died when the Highlanders couldn't hang onto a 20+ point lead, and lost to Satan (bruce pearl) and Southern Indiana. But the University is twice the size it was when I was a student, and a positive start could help fill the place up a bit.

It's nice to have my three favorite teams playing interesting basketball this season, as opposed to one for the last couple seasons.

Long Weekend

Lots to cover, so I'll just give it all the short shrift in which I specialize.

The Angels finally reached .500 on the road, recovering from a couple of awful games in Detroit to take three from the Yankees. Kendrick's back, and Kotchman and Napoli are currently raking. Figgins looks pretty much lost on both sides of the ball, alternative good plays with spotty plays at third base, and generally alternating bad at bats with crappy at bats. Hillenbrand is still a total waste of a roster spot.

They came home and harnessed that momentum into a total implosion against the Mariners last night. Poor pitching, poor fielding, and mediocre hitting against a team that has now won four straight and sits only 3.5 games behind the Angels in second place. Santana and Weaver close out the set against the M's, then it's Baltimore for four and the Twins for three. It's a 10 game homestand in which the Angels should really go 7-3, but last night wasn't exactly a confidence builder.

In the college ranks, UC Riverside won it's first ever Big West championship, and will be making it's second appearance in the field of 64. Unfortunately they were screwed by the selection committee and have to travel to Tempe for the regional. Traditionally, the Big West champ hosts a regional. This year, the committee decided to reward second place Long Beach State. That would be the same Long Beach State that UCR bitchslapped three straight times a couple weeks ago. Sort of reminds me of that year in the mid '90s when UCR was the top team in the regional (D2) and was forced to head up north because the NCAA didn't want to make Sac State and Chico State travel south.

As for me, I spent the weekend running around, playing golf, and boozing with friends for the most part. Finally took the new irons (it's a mixed set) out on the course and struck the ball pretty well. CDGA Amateur qualifying is next week.

So, the Sweep

That really was a great sweep, wasn't it? Two fairly equally matched teams, one just kicking ass on the other all weekend. Of course, I'm referring to UC Riverside's sweep of Long Beach State, vaulting the Highlanders into first place in the Big West, and probably locking up no worse than a spot in the field of 64 for the second time in school history. They can clinch a share of the conference title with a win against UCI this weekend. If they win one, and LBSU loses at least one in their season finale against Cal State Fullerton, the Highlanders take the title outright.

Oh, you thought I was talking about the Angels. Alright, so I missed Saturday's game. It happens. I was unavoidably detained, drinking heavily with friends, including one who writes a national baseball column, so at least baseball was on the conversation menu. And Sunday was more or less spent recovering from Saturday's activities.

As has been the case recently, the pitching dominated yet again, and early offense set the tone, with the Angels getting first inning runs in every game. Ervin Santana continued his home goodness allowing one run over six innings to win the opener. Jered Weaver got himself back to .500 with another quality start, pushing his ERA down to 3.46 for the season. And on Sunday, Kelvim rebounded from a rough start to shut out the Dodgers over eight innings on Sunday.

It's been pointed out that Reggie Willits has a knack for getting on base. But one of his most useful tools is his ability to see a lot of pitches in every plate appearance. As mentioned in the Times article, this helps the Angels get to their opponents bullpen earlier. But what's occasionally overlooked is what this does for Orlando Cabrera, and nowhere was this benefit more evident than in game one. Willits drew a walk in a long at bat, seeing (IIRC) about seven pitches before getting the free pass. Not only did Cabrera get a chance to see much of Brad Penny's arsenal from the on-deck circle, but Penny had extra incentive to start the at bat off with a strike to avoid another long at bat. The result was a fastball that Cabrera hammered to left center field for an RBI double, and just like that, the Angels led 1-0. It's another example of Willits' value to the Angels, and it's why Mike Scioscia is going to have a hard time getting him out of the line up when Garret Anderson returns.

So the lead is up to 4.5 games as the Angels hit the road to face the Tigers and Yankees. The good news is that Ervin will start only one game on the trip, and it's in a pitchers' park. They've now won 8 of 10, and we're reaching the point of the season where champions open up ground on their pursuers. A 3-3 trip would be acceptable. A 4-2 trip would be great. Anything else is gravy.

Another Classy Gesture From a UC Riverside Grad

From today's LA Times:

Closer Troy Percival did not throw a pitch for the Tigers in 2006, but the team still awarded the former Angels reliever a full playoff share.

Percival, who is now retired, reciprocated by spending $120,000 to lease an 18-seat luxury suite in Comerica Park for players' wives to use this season.

"I've never heard of anything like it," Detroit closer Todd Jones said. "It's the best gesture I've ever seen."

First he builds a clubhouse for the Highlander baseball team with his own two hands, and now this. Is it any wonder why I sponsor his baseball reference page?

My only quibble is with the Tigers. I didn't throw a pitch for the 2006 Tigers either, and I didn't even get a half share. That sucks.

Dear Stan,

I hear you're looking for a new head coach. Two words: Cameron Dollar.

Sincerely,
Me.

Saturday in Review

Illinois

This game was a lot closer than it should have been for about 25 minutes until the Illini pulled away in the second half. Minnesota is awful, and Illinois only resembles awful on occasion. The usual suspects did the damage for the Illini, with Pruitt, Carter, and McBride all in double figures. Chester Frazier did not play due to injuries.

But the story of the game, by far, was the fact that Jamar Smith didn't totally suck for the first time in a month. After Wednesday's game, his numbers in Big 10 play were:
11/60, 18.3% from the field;
5/49, 10.2% from three point country, and that's only because he was just bad in their first conference game, instead of brutal.

After the Minnesota game, his numbers are now:
16/70 (22.9%) from the field;
8/56 (14.3%) from beyond the arc.

It was actually nice to see a few shots fall for him. Maybe he'll gain some confidence for the stretch. He'll need it, and so will the Illini.

UCLA

This game was over before I even saw any of it. Fox College Sports didn't click over until the U$C-Oregon game ended, and by that point, UCLA already led 15-5, and they didn't look back en route to an 82-35 win. They got 76 minutes and 32 points from their bench, primarily because all of their starters were done by the ten minute mark of the second half. You generally don't see too many all out slaughters like this in conference play, but it provided a nice rest for their starters, and some much needed experience for their bench, especially Nikola Dragovic, who got a later start to the season, and could become a key cog in a game or two when they really need an extra shooter or a few fouls.

Speaking of size for the Bruins, Kevin Love dominated Mater Dei last night down in Santa Ana, scoring 36 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. And this wasn't just a top recruit against another high school. Mater Dei starts about four guys over 6' 7", and brings a seven footer off the bench. Taylor King, who decommitted from UCLA before choosing Duke, did not look good, held without a field goal in the second half. Kevin Love is going to be a very good player at UCLA

Kings

Finally they were on the right side of an ass-kicking. It's useless to speculate on where they could have been with good goaltending all year, but it's fun to watch them play with a decent guy in net.

UC Riverside

Holy crap! They beat Cal State Fullerton! I have no idea how that could have happened, but damn, that's two straight for the Highlanders. And CSUF is no slouch. They were in first place in the Big West, and beat UCR by 40 at Fullerton. Larry Freaking Cunningham scored 34 points in the second half!

According to the article, Bobby Brown, Fullerton's point guard, Cousy award finalist, and arguably the best player in the conference, threw down an alley-oop which tied the game, and got T-ed up for taunting. UCR scored the next six points and never looked back. Word of advice, Bobby. I know you're very good. But dude, you're in the Big West. And you had just dunked a shot that tied Riverside in the second half. That, son, is nothing to get excited about. Let that be a lesson to ya. No one comes into UCR's house and shows the Highlanders up...except pretty much every other team that's been there this year.

First conference win for the Highlanders in 13 months. Then again, they did play UCLA tougher than Oregon State did.