Wildcats Strike - Beat UCLA 89-69

If you set aside two hours of your day to watch this game, I hope you found something to do after about the first five minutes, because the game was essentially over that early. UCLA’s first six points came from the free throw line, but the story was how they got there. Hard, physically punishing fouls sent a message early on that Villanova was going to bully UCLA all over the floor, and the Bruins never really stepped up to the challenge. After Josh Shipp’s fourth free throw gave UCLA a 6-4 lead, the Wildcats went on a 24-5 run from which the Bruins would never recover.

You could look for someone to blame, but this was just a beat-down, plain and simple. Villanova was stronger, quicker, more athletic, and executed better than the Bruins in every aspect of the game. The Villanova back court routinely took the ball to the basket without much trouble. Dante Cunningham dominated the smaller Bruins inside, finishing with 18 and 10. Six Wildcats finished with double figures in scoring, and another finished with 8 points.

The raw numbers don’t look all that awful. Neither team shot over 50% (UCLA finished at 42.6% while Villanova shot 46.3%). UCLA outscored Villanova at the free throw line and the three point line. But two numbers tell the whole story are rebounds and turnovers. Villanova outrebounded the Bruins 39-26, including 15-7 on the offensive glass. The Bruins turned the ball over 20 times compared to only 11 times for the Wildcats. Those numbers translated into 20 more shots for Villanova, and the team with 20 extra shots is usually going to win.

So the UCLA careers for Josh Shipp, Darren Collison, and Alfred Aboya have come to an end. The trio combined for 11 of the Bruins turnovers and only 10 rebounds. Shockingly, Josh Shipp finished the game without a rebound. It’s their earliest tournament exit since Shipp’s first year loss to Texas Tech. Shipp ends his career with a career record for games started, while Collison and Aboya finish with more games played than other Bruin in team history.

The Bruins will now wait on the decision of freshman J’rue Holiday, who will take over his natural point guard position if he decides to come back. They also add length in a five man freshman class, each of whom stand 6′7″ or taller. But as they learned against Memphis last year, and Villanova this year, talent alone won’t get it done. They need to get tougher and stronger if they’re going to return to national prominence.

UCLA 65; Virginia Commonwealth 64

It was a struggle over the last ten minutes. UCLA fans were probably flashing back to the ASU debacle from earlier in the season as an 11 point lead was slowly whittled down to one, giving VCU's Eric Maynor a chance to win the game in final seconds. But the Bruins forced VCU to use more clock than they probably would have liked, Maynor mishandled the ball a bit before the final shot, and the ball fell off the front end of the rim, giving the Bruins a one point victory as the clock expired.

This was really kind of a strange game for the Bruins. They struggled to pull away early, but finished the first half on a 13-2 run over the final five minutes to take a 10 point lead into the half. The second half was a bit up and down, with teams trading scores until about the six and a half minute mark. What happened then may have been the turning point in the game had the game ended differently. With an 11 point lead, Jrue Holiday made a nice move to get to the basket, but fumbled the ball a bit on the way to the hoop and blew the lay up. A quick strike by VCU the other way turned what should have been a 13 point lead turned into a 9 point lead, and things continued to tighten until the final buzzer.

Contributions came from many hands tonight. Josh Shipp led the Bruins with 16 points and added 8 rebounds. He had two baskets early in the second half when the Bruins were struggling to make field goals. Nikola Dragovic had average offensive numbers, but his 13 rebounds were key. Jrue Holiday played very well in a key second half stretch after Darren Collison picked up his fourth foul. As for Collison, he struggled with fouls, and did not have a very nice line (2 assists, 3 turnovers, 4 fouls), but finished with ten points. Alfred Aboya grabbed seven boards, but his key numbers were his four steals and 5 free throws made in 5 attempts, including the Bruins' final two points. The surprising number for me was 0. That's the comined number of minutes played by Drew Gordon and Malcolm Lee. With Collison's foul trouble, and the size up front for VCU (mainly Larry Sanders) I expected each of those guys to see the floor, but Ben Howland really shortened the bench. [update: Per Brian Dohn, Drew Gordon did not play because of a concussion he suffered earlier in the week].

As for the Rams, Sanders had 10 points and 11 rebounds to go along with floor blocks. It seemed like altered at least 10 shots, and he was a force inside. Eric Maynor led all scorers with 21 points, 15 of them in the second half. And pardon my subjectivity, but for a good stretch in the second half, it seemed like if a Bruin looked at Maynor, he was going to the line. He only made five of fifteen shots, and that tenth miss was the difference in the game.

UCLA has to get ready for Villanova, who will basically have the home court advantage that the Bruins have enjoyed for the last few years. They struggled mightily against the Eagles from American University until simply dominating the end of the game. It's not an insurmountable task for a team with as much talent as UCLA. They'll play the first game of the day, tipping it off at 10:05 Pacific time. As much as the late start may have benefitted the Bruins tonight, they'll need to be ready for the early tip on Saturday.

UCLA 64; Wazzu 53

On February 21st, Washington State torched the UCLA defense, shooting 59% and scoring 82 points in an 82-81 victory at Pauley Pavilion. Their return trip to L.A. didn't go so well. The Cougars found the going much more difficult tonight, scoring almost 30 fewer points, and shooting only 30% from the field. The Bruins weren't excellent by any means, but they made 43% of their long range shots, and took advantage of poor shooting by the Cougars to avenge last months loss. They will move on to face USC in the tournament semi-final tonight.

The Bruins did the bulk of their damage with an early 21-0 run that turned a 5-4 deficit into a 25-5 advantage. Washington State never got closer than nine points the rest of the way, failing to take advantage of plenty of open looks in the first half, and repeatedly failing to convert offensive rebounds into points. Aron Baynes muscled his way to 22 points, but the trio of Caleb Forest, Taylor Rochestie, and Klay Thompson, who combined for 60 points at Pauley, combined for only 20 in this game.

I'll be honest. I hesitate to give the Bruins a ton of credit for their defense tonight. They didn't force a ton of turnovers, they allowed 12 offensive rebounds to the Cougs, and it generally looked like Wazzu just failed to take advantage of early opportunities before getting into a whole from which they could not extricate themselves. But I do give the Bruins credit for taking advantage of Wazzu mistakes early, going on that early run, and responding to every threat the rest of the way.

Darren Collison had 15 points to lead the Bruins, doing the bulk of that damage from the line (8-10). Josh Shipp (10), Jrue Holiday (10), and Nikola Dragovic (12) also finished in double figures for UCLA. Dragovic may responsible for the night's most surprising line. His 12 points came without a three pointer, and he had eight points in the paint (he was also 4-4 from the line). Holiday in particular rebounded from a horrid defensive effort last month to put the clamps on Klay Thompson. The box score may not tell the whole tale, but Michael Roll deserves some credit as well. He had only four points, both layups, one very tough. But his first bucket ended a 7-0 WSU run at a time when the Bruins were struggling to score, and his second basket ended a 6-0 run. He didn't score a lot, but he picked important moments.

The Bruins will have to find a way to play better defense in the post against USC. Taj Gibson doesn't have Baynes' size, but his athleticism could pose problems for Alfred Aboya, who didn't play his best game tonight.

The teams will tip it off at about 8:30 Pacific Time.

UCLA 72; Berkeley 68

I mentioned it the other day following the Stanford game, but there's a reason I think these two wins were better than the four straight routs that UCLA put together a few weeks ago. That reason is heart. For two straight games, the Bruins showed the courage to come back from a second half deficit and pull out a road victory. I'm not convinced that UCLA will put together another long tournament run, but if they do, look no further than the way they rebounded from a very poor performance against Washington State.

The key today was senior leadership. The three senior starters combined for 46 points. Josh Shipp and Alfred Aboya had 12 each, and Darren Collison finished with 22, including 16 in the second half. He was awesome down the stretch, and his finish in the lane with under a minute to play turned out to be a back breaker. Berkeley, choosing not to foul while trailing by four with under a minute left, decided to let the possession play out. They let the Bruins run 30 seconds off the clock and end up with two points after another typically great Collison drive to the hoop. Collison also finished with six assists and one turnover.

Neither Aboya nor Shipp had terrific shooting games, but they both made big shots at big times. Aboya made another clutch free throw, canning the front end of a one and one that made it a full two possession lead with 1:11 to go. Shipp did most of his damage in the first 35 minutes, but he kept the Bruins in the game up to the point where Collison decided to take over. Nikola Dragovic fought off the effects of illnes to finish with 12 points, while Jrue Holliday poured in eight points. Michael Roll rounded out the scoring for the Bruins with six.

Strange play in the first half, which turned out to be key, when Dragovic drove to the basket for a layup. He was held from behind, and the referees ruled that the foul was intentional. UCLA got the two points, two free throws, and the ball. Dragovic made both field goals, and Michael Roll hit a three pointer from the corner for what turned out to be a seven point play. It turned a five point deficit into a two point lead. Honestly, I think it was the right call. Theo Robertson was not attempting to make a play on the ball. He was beat, and he tried to grab Dragovic to prevent the basket. It wasn't flagrant, but it was clearly intentional. That said, I agree with Bobby Knight and Jay Bilas that the rule is poorly worded. Evey foul at the end of the game is intentional, but not called intentional. How about a rule that penalizes intentional fouls so long as they aren't strategic? There's a strategic aspect to fouls at the end of a game. There's nothing strategic about getting beat and pouting by grabbing your opponent.

This keeps the Bruins' hopes for a shot at a fourth straight Pac 10 title (albeit shared) alive. Wazzu needs to beat Washington, a distinct possibility with as well as the Cougars have been playing. UCLA gets the Oregon schools at home, and they should both be fairly easy victories, but you never really know with this team. But I am encouraged by their courage. This was not an easy trip, especially coming off a bad loss, and they responded to the adversity, walking out of Maples and Haas with two victories. Let's hope it's a sign of things to come.

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.  

UCLA regroups and beats Washington

I missed the first half of this one. I was on a plane heading to L.A. for part, and was waiting for In-N-Out on the way home for part. But I was mostly impressed with the Bruins in the second half, despite some minor brain cramps.

The Bruins have, at times this year, shown either an inability or an unwillingness to fight through tough times. Twice in the second half they let Washington make runs to either tie the game, or come very close. Both times they regrouped, got baskets, and extended their lead. They haven't responded to a test like that in a while, alternating frustrating losses with blowout wins. They needed a game like this.

All five starters finished in double figures. But special recognition has to go to Alfred Aboya, who scored 13 points, 11 rebounds, and 1 hole in his arm for an IV after the game. He was apparently still suffering from the flu, but played like a warrior. His big 17 foot jumper down the stretch was a huge basket that helped seal the victory. Josh Shipp added 20 points, giving him 45 in two games against the Huskies. Jrue Holliday showed signs of breaking out of his slump with 10 points. The Bruins stayed hot from long range, making 8-17 three pointers.

Nice win for the Bruins that should lead them into Saturday's tilt with WSU. I'll have to record that one, since I'll be riding in a car in the Temple City Camellia parade (my mom is in charge of it this year).

New Concept in UCLA Blogging

I'm going to put as much effort into writing about yesterday's game against Arizona as UCLA put into playing it.

Post over.

Why even show up?

Once again, the Pac 10 officials embarrass themselves. If I was as incompetent as the pricks who called the UCLA-ASU game tonight and still cashed a paycheck, I'd be arrested for stealing. Why not just give James Harden a whistle and let him call the game?

First half, Harden gets the ball in the lane, makes a move passes the ball to the wing, stays in the lane...

and stays there...

and stays there...

and stays there...

Five seconds later (confirmed via replay) he gets the ball back and scores. Apparently three seconds isn't a rule for the home team in Tempe.

In the second half, Harden gets the ball at the top of the key, throws down Jrue Holliday, barrels over Alfred Aboya, who was set and motionless for at least a half second. No foul up top, no charge, and the Devils get an easy basket after Harden dishes off, primarily because the guy who would have defended the shot was laying on the ground after having been run over.

And the play at the end was so awful that it almost defies description. In the first half, Aboya was called for an offensive foul on a screen when he leaned about five inches to pick Harden, and a Michael Roll 3-pointer was called off. At the end of the game, Darren Collison drove, laid the ball up as he ran into Jeff Pendergraph, who leaned about a foot and a half into Collison's path. Offensive foul. No basket. A five point swing, and that was the game.

Makes you wish they had just stayed home. Why risk the injury? Why risk Collison's health coming off the flu? Maybe the Pac 10 can just let everyone know when they've decided a game's outcome beforehand and save us all a lot of time. I could have spent the evening watching Illinois' thrilling comeback and last second victory over Northwestern (nice job, Trent and McCamey!).

Pac 10 refs have, for the last five or six years at least, been a complete embarrassment to the game, the conference, and themselves. They ought to be ashamed.

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:

Michigan 51; Illinois 66

A week ago, the Illini had Michigan down for much of the game in Ann Arbor, but couldn't hold on in the last five minutes, and they let the Wolverines pull away.  Tonight the Illini let the Wolverines hang around for much of the evening, but used a 17-4 run in a ten minute second half stretch to blow the game open, taking the 24th ranked Michigan down for the 12th straight time in Champaign.  

He looks like he'll blow over in a strong wind, and his 7,000 calorie per day diet doesn't appear to be working just yet, but Mike Tisdale is a skilled big man, and he used an excellent shooting touch to score 24 points.  He scored the Illini's first nine points of the second half, turning a 31-30 halftime deficit into a 39-34 Illini advantage, and the Illini never trailed again.  He made 10 of his 12 shots from the field, and finished with more blocks (3) than rebounds (2).  He let Mike Davis take care of the rebounding.  Davis finished with seven boards, though only two points.

Demetri McCamey showed a bit of a 'too cool' attitude in much of the first half, but still found a way to score 15 first half points on his way to 17 for the game, to go along with 5 assists and 3 boards.  Trent Meacham once again struggled from the field against Michigan, making only 2 of 9 shots, but finished as the third Illini in double figures with 11 points.

Michigan can be a very good team, but they showed tonight that they still have some work to do.  Unlike in Ann Arbor, they didn't shoot the ball well, and made only 27% of their three pointers.  I said last week that if they shoot 40% from long range, they win, and if they shoot 30% they lose.  They made me look smart tonight.  Still, they're a tough team to play.  They take so many threes that they end up with a lot of offensive boards on long rebounds, and those can be deflating after 25-30 seconds of tough defense.  Both of these teams figure to be resting on the first day of the Big Ten tournament, and are young enough that they still have time to make big strides.

Next up for the Illini is Michigan State in East Lansing.  The Spartans didn't look great tonight against Penn State, but that was in State College, and I expect them to be ready to roll on Saturday, which is too bad, because a loss this weekend probably means another failure to break into the top 25, even though the Illini have been deserving for weeks.  Then again, an upset would really put the Illini into good position in the conference race, having already beat Purdue at Mackey.  I have a feeling that Mike Tisdale is going to get a little beat up, though.  Michigan doesn't play the physical style that the Spartans bring, and that could mean a much tougher evening for the thin big man than he saw tonight.  The Illini will have to counter with tough on-ball defense, and the athleticism of Mike Davis.  If they're going to win, I think the Illini will need a big contribution from Calvin Brock.  He's the best athlete on the team, and if he can come out and score 8-10 first half points, he could give Illinios a big lift.

Still, a 3-1 conferece start is something to be excited about, and pretty much every Illinois fan should be very encouraged by the 15 wins the Illini have put up so far.  

UCLA 64; U$C 60

U$C may play their home games there, but for now, the Galen Center is UCLA's gym.  The Bruins won there for the third time, and they have yet to drop a game in that building.  But it wasn't for lack of trying.

I thought UCLA did a poor job supporting the ball carrier.  U$C played very good defense around the basket.  UCLA penetrated the lane a number of times only to find themselves among several defenders.  That's gonna happen, and it's not the end of the world, but you need your teammates to get into position to help out in that situation, and I think the Bruins did a very good job of that tonight.  

The defense was a little hit or miss.  They allowed the Trojans to shoot almost 50% from the field.  But the Bruins really turned up the intensity down the stretch.  They held U$C to nine points over the last 10+ minutes of the game, and that was the difference.  

In the battle of top freshman, Demar Derozan scored 15 points and added 6 rebounds, compared to Jrue Holliday's 13 points.  Both shot the ball well.  Derozan made six of his eight shots, while Holliday made 5 of 9, including 3 of 4 from long range.  UCLA continues to be unaffected by the deeper three this year.  They shot 40% from the arc in tonight's game.  U$C did an excellent job containing Mike Roll.  He missed both of his three point attempts.  But Nikola Dragovic was a weapon for UCLA tonight.  He scored a career high 14 points and grabbed four rebounds.  He was only 3 for 9 from three, but he just seems to look more relaxed and confident on the floor this year, and he looks more prepared to shoot when he gets the ball.  Darren Collison was, as expected, UCLA's best player.  He finished with 18 points on 6 for 9 shooting, and added 7 assists.  

This wasn't UCLA's best effort, but the bottom line is that UCLA is now 3-0 in the Pac 10, and they have yet to play a home game.  They're in a good position to go something like 14-4, which should be good enough to once again win the conference championship.  

Indiana 46; Illinois 75

There's really not a lot to write about.  This was the true definition of a slaughter.  The Illini led by 19 points less than seven minutes into the game.  They made shot after shot after shot, and....well, let's face it folks.  Indiana is about as godawful as any team in America.  And you know what?  They deserve it.  They sold their soul to the Devil for one year of Eric Gordon.  They hired the scummiest coach since the demise of Clem Haskins, and in exchange, they got a disappointing tournament run, and probation.  

HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!

Honestly, I feel kinda bad for some of the kids on the team.  It's not their fault.  But the only way that this game could have been better is if it had been played in the other Assembly Hall.  It's very nice watching Indiana totally suck this year.  

Anyway, this was never really a contest.  The Illini scored early and often.  Trent Meacham, who struggled against Michigan, lit up the Hoosiers from outside, converting seven of his nine three point attempts and finished with 21 points.  Dominique Keller, not noted as a long range gunner, made three of four three pointers and finished with 15 points of his own (which I assume is career best).  The Illini shot 51% from the field, 52% from long range, while holding Indiana below 40% shooting.

Four Illini finished the game in double figures, with Demetri McCamey and Mike Davis adding 12 point performances to the 21 and 15 poured in by Keller and Meacham.  The Illini knocked down 26 shots, and recorded assists on 17 of them.  For the season, Illinois is assisting on almost 75% of its field goals (301/415).  For reference, UCLA, with one of the country's best backcourst, is averaging an assist on just more than 50% of its field goals (220/403).  North Carolina is around 60% (308/513).  That's an impressive statistic for the Illini, and it tells me that after the last couple years of a stagnant offense, often due to the black whole that was Shawn Pruitt, the Illini are back to executing Bruce Weber's offense the way it's supposed to be executed.  Excellent ball movement.  Dribble penetration when available.  Kick it back out if you don't have a good look.  If there's a reason to be excited about Illinois basketball season this year, that's it.

The road gets tougher from here.  Michigan is in Champaign on Wednesday night.  Michigan State is up after that, followed by Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.  That's a tough stretch.  If they can win three of those games, it will be a VERY successful stretch, and will give the Illini some good early buzz, which goes a long way toward making the tournament.  

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.

UCLA Wins, Illinois Loses

Illinois 64; Michigan 74

The Illini gave it a good effort, but they appeared to wear down a little bit in the end, failing to execute their offense, failing to keep Michigan from executing theirs. The overtime victory at Purdue may have taken a little too much out of them. But they got a split in their first two conference teams, both on the road against teams that will end up the Big Ten's top half. That's a tough row to hoe, but the road victory at Mackey gives them a nice leg up early.

Michigan is clearly much improved, but I thought the Illini attacked their 1-3-1 pretty well. Much better than UCLA did when they played Michigan earlier in the season. The problem came on the defensive end. Give Michigan credit for creating a lot of confusion on the Illini defensive end. That led to a lot of open looks, and Michigan knocked them down, connecting on over 40% of their three pointers. That's Beilein's offense. Michigan will win when they shoot 40% or better from three. They'll lose when they shoot 30% or worse. And they will have nights like that.

Calvin Brock was the Illini's best player, in my opinion. He's very active. He's their most athletic player. And if he shoots the ball like he did today, he can be real impact player. Tisdale and Davis were solid offensively, but Tisdale really needs to learn to defend. Despite being a perimeter oriented team, Michigan got too many easy baskets when they took the ball to the rim.

Four of their next six games are against ranked opponents, including a rematch with Michigan at the Assembly Hall in 10 days. The good news is that four of those six games are at home.

UCLA 83; Oregon 74

This one was closer than it should have been, but Oregon was fired up after a terrible performance against U$C on Friday. The crowd really gave Oregon a lift, and decent shooting kept the Bruins from pulling away and making it easy. The Bruins led the game wire to wire, but it was never comfortable.

The Bruins built their lead on impressive shooting, going 8-10 from long range in the first half. They finished a blazing 13-22, thanks mostly to Josh Shipp's unconcious 5-6. In fact, the only Bruin who shot less than 50% from the arc was Michael Roll, one of the nation's best long range gunners (he was 1-3). Nikola Dragovic took advantage of open looks to make four deep balls, and scored a career high 12 points. Darren Collison led the Bruins with 22, but did most of his damage from inside the arc and from the free throw line, where he was 9-9. He's shooting better than 97% from the line, and has made something like 40 in a row. But it was really Shipp who made the difference. He made four threes in the second half, all with under 15 to play. Two followed Oregon baskets, squelching their momentum. They all came with the game within six or fewer points. He was clutch tonight. He raised his three point percentage from 21.6% to just over 30%. If he's regained his touch, then this becomes an outstanding long range team, and that means fewer zone defenses, or more open shots.

The Bruins defense was not up to its usual standards. Part of that was due to the way the game was officiated. In the first half, the game was called very tight on the Bruins defensive end, and that may have contributed to some tentative play in the second half. The Ducks got too many good looks, and had too many easy baskets in the lane.

Still, the only player who really disappointed tonight for the Bruins was Jrue Holliday. Turnover numbers aren't on ESPN's box score yet, but he seemed to struggle for much of the game, and showed occasionaly happy feet that led to traveling calls.

We'll see what the future holds for Oregon, but something tells me they're closer to the team that played Friday than the team that played tonight. But UCLA has won the conference three straight years, and they can expect this kind of shot when they go on the road. The bottom line is that there are 16 Pac 10 games left, and more than half will be at Pauley Pavilion. For the 2-0 Bruins, that's a nice position to be in.

Bruin Hoops - Starting to come together

It's becoming increasingly clear that Ben Howland is going to rotate about eight or nine guys once conference season rolls around.  He's got his starting five, then Roll, Dragovic, a freshman guard, and a freshman front court player.  The minutes are there for someone to step up, but Lee, Anderson, Gordon, and Morgan will have to earn them, and the team will be better because of it.

Today's game was a nice tune up for next month.  DePaul is not very good.  Their coach sucks.  Their best scorer has a serious attitude problem.  They are simply not major players for the best recruits in Chicago (who are now heading south to Champaign, as nature intended).  And it's kind of too bad, because I live about 200 feet from their campus (though 25 minutes or so from All-State Arena).  But there is no buzz whatsoever in this town about DePaul basketball.

One thing I've finally realized about Ben Howland basketball is that UCLA is almost always going to look bad against a zone defense for the first 10 minutes of the game.  That used to frustrate me, but I've finally come to the realization that it's really a feeling out period for the Bruin offense, and they're taking the first ten minutes to figure out what they're going to do over the last 30 minutes.  Roughly ten minutes into this game, the Bruins led by five points.  With roughly 11 or 12 minutes to go, they were up by 20.  The Bruins are patient on the offensive end, and as a fan, you need to patient watching them.

One player who had a nice game for the Bruins on the offensive end was Nikola Dragovic.  He was 5-7 for the game, but 5-5 inside the arc.  He seems to be adding another dimension to his offensive game, no longer content to just wait on the perimeter for jump shots.  That's a big addition for a team that needs interior scoring.  He still needs to step it up on the defensive end, though.  I also noticed a concerted effort by Darren Collison to take more jump shots.  On the negative side, Josh Shipp missed all of his three point attempts.

Tonight's game was not a test for the Bruins.  It was a high profile scrimmage, and I think Ben Howland knew as much.  Things are progressing for this young team, though, and they'll be ready for conference season next month.  Special appreciation goes to Coach Howland for getting Tyler Trapani into the game.  It had to be special for both him, and his great grandfather, to play in the Wooden Classic.  The man is a national treasure, and I'm thankful for the opportunitiy to have seen him speak last summer.

A few more cupcakes await before conference season.  Plenty of time to keep moving forward.

Bruins Get Slaughtered

No surprises here.  Although, for a moment there, when the Bruins took a roughing the kicker penalty on fourth and 17, I thought I was watching an Illinois game.  Those types of penalties pretty much killed the Illini season this year.

The UCLA season basically comes down to the offensive line.  I don't care how good your skill players are.  If you can't block anyone, you're not going to be successful.  The Bruins could have had John Elway, Jerry Rice, and Eric Dickerson in their prime, and it wouldn't have made a difference.  They simply could not block anyone all season.  That's an issue that will take maybe another season or two before it's really top notch, though I expect the line to be better next season.  Still, it's disappointing.  UCLA is not going to be competitive week to week until they have a decent offensive line.  We all knew that was an issue going into the season, and we can't be surprised with the way thing turned out.

Speaking of the Illini, they kicked the living crap out of Georgia today at the UC (which I watched at a bar, but didn't see in person for reasons I won't go into here). They finished the game on a 22-0 run.  This U of I basketball team actually may be fun to watch this year. It's looking more and more like Sean Pruitt and Brian Randle were more trouble than they were worth.  Demtri McCamey is playing well most of the time.  Mike Tisdale and Mike Davis are really helping with the scoring inside, as is Dominique Keller.  And Alex Legion is available in a couple weeks.  These guys could actually make the tournament.  It's fun to be an Illini fan again!

Well, at least it's still early - Updated

He's seen it year after year after year, and Ben Howland still hasn't figured out how to prepare a team for a 1-3-1 zone.  The Bruins dropped an early season game to an inferior opponent primarily because they simply can't beat John Beilein.  On a neutral floor, with even teams, Beilein will win every time.  UCLA only wins when they have far superior players, like last year.

*Update* - When I originally wrote this, I figured Howland teams had played Beilein teams quite often when they were in the Big East, but I was too lazy to look it up.  As it turns out, they've faced off more since Howland left.  While at Pitt, Howland faced Beilein only twice, and won both matchups, albeit with a top 10 team against a coach in his first year at West Virginia.  I don't think it changes the analysis (such as it is) very much.  

Part of it is a testament to Howland's stubbornness, which is a reason he's successful.  It's the second week of the season, and he's got a fairly young team, and there's no reason to spend a week preparing for a defense you won't see the rest of the year.  That's why I'm not overly disappointed.  In fact, it's a sign that he knows what's important is not what you do in November, but what you do in March.  

But what this game did show us is that UCLA is in, well, I won't say a long season.  The Pac 10 sucks this year, so the Bruins should have a very successful regular season.  But the post-season will be short by UCLA standards.  Unless one of their freshmen big men really figure out how to play, or unless James Keefe takes the next step, they will be forced to play on the perimeter all year.  They have absolutely no interior offense.  They have no one they can give the ball to when they absolutely need a basket.  Or more accurately, they have no one on the inside who can keep the defense honest, allowing them to get the ball to Collison for a needed basket.  And with the extension of the three point line, it will be much harder to win on the perimeter this year.  

In a way this might be a good thing.  If they can't beat Michigan, they would have been slaughtered by Duke.  I'm not sure they'll beat SIU quite frankly, and it doesn't help that the guy who sits in the office next to me is an SIU grad.  And we saw why college basketball is occasionally a joke.  A Michigan player throws the ball away about three seconds before running into Aboya, and Al is called for a block.  Josh Shipp barely makes contact with an elbow, which causes his defender to leap backwards about five seconds after it happens, and the official completey across the floor decides to make the call.  College basketball is consistently the worst officiated sport that still maintains a large following.  But that's not why the Bruins lost.  

But it's a long season.  They have a lot of time to grow.  Hopefully this is a learning experience.

New UCLA Post

I have a new post up at the SoCal Sports Hub on the decisions of Love, Westbrook, Mbah A Moute, and possibly Collison and Shipp to declare for the draft. Here's an excerpt:

Yesterday, freshman Kevin Love and sophomore Russel Westbrook declared their intentions to enter the NBA draft. Both have been projected to go anywhere from the lottery to the late first round. It has been widely rumored that juniors Darren Collison and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute will do the same. Word is that Josh Shipp is also considering going this route. When the season started, it was generally assumed that Love was one and done, and Collison was also probably gone after this year. Both had their ups and downs, and we can all look for faults in their game, but at the end of the day, nothing has really changed since those pre-season assessments. In the meantime, Westbrook showed the athleticism and scoring ability in starter minutes that had us all salivating after watching him in limited minutes last year. In doing so, he turned himself into a likely first rounder, and possibly lottery pick. Shipp and Mbah A Moute didn’t have tremendous seasons. Shipp likely regressed a bit. But their decisions, should they decide to enter the draft, don’t surprise me one bit.

These decisions have prompted a number of critical comments from UCLA fans. They generally fall into a few categories. I’m going to attempt to categorize those complaints and deal with them in this post.

Click here for the rest. I'm going to be do some more occasional posting over there in addition my stuff here.

UPDATED: On The Plus Side, UCLA Will Get Younger

UPDATE: Apparently the reports are false, for now. Love and Collison both say they haven't even talked to their families about their decisions yet, and as such, no decisions have been made. Either someone has made something up, or was bamboozled. Still, I'll leave this up in the event that a week from now, this information becomes relevant again.

Kevin Love? Gone
Darren Collison? Gone
Russel Westbrook? Leaning towards going.

And that's just the beginning.

According to both the L.A. Times and Brian Dohn, UCLA will likely take the floor next year without their three best players, which really isn't a surprise to anyone who's been following the team for the past few months. Love and Collison were expected to go before the season even started, and Westbrook's draft status has been on the rise all season.

As Nestor pointed out, there is a scenario in which up to eight players on this year's roster could be gone. Lorenzo Mata-Real is graduating. LRMAM will likely put his name into the draft and get evaluated before making a decision to hire an agent. Alfred Aboya has hinted that he may not return after earning his degree this year. Nikola Dragovic, hurting for playing time, may head back to Europe. And finally, Josh Shipp may decide that four years and the exit of the rest of his draft class is a sign that he's been around long enough.

So what happens if all of this comes to pass? Well, Ben Howland picked a good year to bring in a number one recruiting class, and he may not be done. There are some big man prospects that could fill out the class. It means that Jrue Holiday, Malcolm Lee, and Jerime Anderson are going to see a ton of playing time in their first year, which will be good for Lee and Anderson, since they're the only two likely to be back in 2009-2010. Sucks for Holiday, who will be around in a rebuilding year, then gone.

So next year's team will be interesting to watch, and great to root for, but I wouldn't expect too much. It took the Farmar, Afflalo, Shipp, Mata class two years to reach the championship game. UCLA will be down, but not out. Best of luck to all of those Bruins, whatever they decide.

I Remember How the Darkness Tripled: UCLA Bows Out Again

I've gotta say, I took this loss surprisingly well, probably because I was sober (unlike last year), and because even though the Bruins made a run or two, I never really felt like they were in the game. In all of their big comebacks this season, there was a sense of 'what the hell is going on' when the opponent was building it's lead. Those were games in which the opponents didn't look that great, but the Bruins clearly were simply not playing well. I didn't get that feeling on Saturday. I got the feeling that the Bruins were playing poorly because Memphis was forcing them to play poorly, and subsequently, I never really expected the big run that would make the game close.

For the third straight year, the Bruins fell victim to matchup problems. Derrick Rose was simply too big and strong for Darren Collison, and Rose was their smallest guy most of the time. Memphis drove to the basket very well, and created a lot of help situations that led to offensive rebounds and easy put backs. They torched the Bruins in transition. The Tigers' superior athleticism and ability to finish was really the Bruins' undoing on the defensive end.

When they had the ball, UCLA had a hard time holding onto it. They turned it over 12 times, often with sloppy plays or lapses in concentration. James Keefe dropped a rebound out of bounds with no Tiger within 50 feet. Russel Westbrook dropped on in bounds pass off his foot. Darren Collison stepped out of bounds on what could have been a fast break, one of his five turnovers in a game he'd really just like to forget. He made only one of nine shots, a floater at the end of the first half that pulled the Bruins to within three, giving us all hope at halftime. Only Russell Westbrook, with 22 points on 10-19 shooting made more than half his shots, and he did nothing to lower his NBA stock.

In the end, Memphis was simply more athletic and longer. I won't say they're more talented, because UCLA is very talented, but the matchups were simply not in their favor, and they had to play a top notch game to beat Memphis. As it turns out, they played one of their worst. But with a couple of days to reflect, I'd like to put a couple of myths to rest:

1. Ben Howland does not need to do anything different. He's reached the final four for the third straight year. From 1981 to his hiring in 2003, UCLA reached two final fours. He's doing something right, and in a one and done tournament, too much emphasis is placed on one game. He doesn't need to teach a zone. He doesn't need to run a different offense. He doesn't need to manage time outs differently. He just needs to keep doing what he's doing. And you can argue that he needs better athletes, but can really argue with the guy who's bringing in the top recruiting class in the country next season?
   
2. Kevin Love and Darren Collison are no more or less ready for the NBA than they were before the Memphis game. If you're draft expert, and you had these guys in your lottery/top 20 before the game, and have now dropped them, you're a really crappy draft expert. I'm not trying to argue that they are or aren't lottery picks. But you've had an entire season to evaluate them, and you've essentially boiled it down to one game. You're either wrong now, or you weren't doing your job back then, but either way, just stop it. You're embarrassing yourself. That goes for the all of the amateur draft experts on message boards across the country. Alex Rodriguez doesn't stop being a hall of famer after a bad week. These guys are the same players everyone was drooling over a week ago.
   

And so ends another season of Bruin basketball. We'll all wait with anxiety for the decisions from Love, Collison, and Westbrook. We'll all look forward to welcoming Jrue Holiday, Jerime Anderson, Malcolm Lee, and Drew Gordon. We'll all hope for an off season of improvement from Chace Stanback, and for the return to health of Mike Roll. But it was fun five month ride. Congratulations to UCLA on another successful season.