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.  

Got: A follow up post

So back in mid July, I wrote this post about a roller trainer that I was pretty well obsessed with for a while. I'd been riding the cheap mag trainer I got at Costco for about five months at that time as part of a diet and exercise regimen. I was a little leery of the price, and I wanted to make sure that indoor training was going to be something I was going to stick with, and not something I'd do for three weeks and quit. After putting nearly 1,000 miles on the old trainer, I seriously started to consider picking up a new trainer.

Well, in December, I finally broke down and shelled out the $800 for the Inside Ride E-Motion Rollers. I have not been disappointed. My pre-purchase research consisted of reading a bunch of reviews. I found one particular site with reader reviews that was very helpful. You know how when you read reviews on Amazon for a really great product, there's always about 5% of the reviewers who like to be contrarian and rate something a 1 out of 5? Well, I could not for the life of me find a negative review of these rollers. The only cons I came across were 1) price, and 2) portability (they don't fold up).

Some background on rollers for those who didn't click the wikipedia link: Bicycle trainers essentially consist of two types. The first are mag, fluid, or wind trainers, all which provide a different resistance mechanism, but are similar in that they lock a wheel in place, basically turning a regular bike into a stationary bike. The second type are rollers. Rollers consist of a frame surrounding three drums. The back wheel sits between two drums, and the front wheel rests on one (see image). A belt connects the front drum to one of the back drums, so when you pedal, the front wheel spins as well. The catch is that there's nothing holding you up except your balance and the forces that hold you up when riding on the road. What makes rollers difficult is the lack of visual cues that you have on the road. You have to retrain your brain to know that you'll stay upright even when things aren't zooming past you.

Inside Ride's E-Motion rollers differ from regular rollers in that they are "free-floating". The drums are attached to a frame that sits within a second frame (see video - note: that is not me). The frames are attached by rubber bands, which allow the frame with the drums to surge back and forth, simulating the feel of riding on the rode, and making them much easier to manage. In addition, they have bumpers in back and front of the back wheel, which keep you from jumping off the drums when pedaling hard, and they have in-line skate wheels that sit horizontal to the ground on either side of the front wheel. These serve to kick you back on to the drum if you drift to the edge. It's very hard to fall off of these rollers once you get the feel for them, which happens quickly. I've only really fallen once, and that was because the Kings were on, and Raitis Ivanans got in a fight, and I drifted a little too far while I was focused on the game.

But there was a dilemma. My old trainer was set to a very low resistance level. I was going for a spin workout, to get the heart pumping and to burn calories, but I wasn't building leg strength or stamina. When the E-Motion rollers showed up, I couldn't pedal for more than about a minute without being totally gassed. Every stroke feels like the third or fourth stroke you take on the road. A lot of resistance with no momentum. I just didn't have the leg strength. I was afraid I'd just dropped 800 bones on a product I wasn't going to be able to use effectively. Fortunately, within a few weeks, I was building leg strength and stamina, and now I can ride a good 30 minutes+, but I'm doing it in a low gear. In a few weeks, I'll be riding that long in larger gears, but for now, I'm getting a better workout than before, and I'm building leg strength, which will really help when golf season comes around. I stop for occasional breaks, not because my legs dictate it, but because I'm still not comfortable toweling off and drinking water while riding (you can't really coast very long).

So I'd add my review to the ones I read before. This is a great product if you like to train indoors. In the winter, that's almost mandatory here, and in the summer, I like the option because I can watch baseball while working out. And the trails around where I live, particularly the Lakeshore trail, gets very, very busy. But these rollers are awesome.

New Song of the Day

Just posted at the appropriately named "Song of the Day" blog, which is really turning into more of a "song of the every couple of weeks or so". It's Neon Beanbag, by Stereolab, and I think I've finally pegged their sound in my own words. But even I couldn't come up with a better description than "Space Age Batchelor Pad Music".

Here's some bonus Stereolab

Scheduling

It may be too late to shift things around, but could the Kings just please not play anymore games at home?  Pretty please?  

Last 10 road games: 8-2; 16 /20 points

Last 10 home games: 3-5-2; 8/20 poins

Don't come home, guys.  Seriously.

Money Well Spent

Long time readers know that I don't really "do" political here very often, mostly because I like writing about other stuff, and there are a ton of people who do the political thing much better than I do. But I just read the text of Governor Jindal's response to President Obama's speech, and a few things stood out, both from this paragraph:

But Democratic leaders in Congress rejected this approach. Instead of trusting us to make wise decisions with our own money, they passed the largest government spending bill in history - with a price tag of more than $1 trillion with interest. While some of the projects in the bill make sense, their legislation is larded with wasteful spending. It includes $300 million to buy new cars for the government, $8 billion for high-speed rail projects, such as a ‘magnetic levitation’ line from Las Vegas to Disneyland, and $140 million for something called ‘volcano monitoring.’ Instead of monitoring volcanoes, what Congress should be monitoring is the eruption of spending in Washington, DC.

First, high speed rail is actually a really good idea. About five years ago, I worked on a project around Des Moines, and drove back and forth once a week for five straight weeks. I did that because flying was kind of a pain. Driving took five hours, door to door. Flying took nearly as long, and I only live a half hour from O'Hare. But I had to leave about two hours before my flight, the flight was around an hour, and it took a half hour to get to the hotel, which was near the city center. A high speed rail line going from Chicago to Des Moines would have actually gotten me there quicker, all things considered, and been a heck of a lot cheaper. I'll freely admit that the car provided other advantages, like being on my own schedule, not needing to rent in Des Moines, and being able to stop in Cedar Rapids to catch the Kernels. But a network that linked Des Moines, Chicago, St. Louis, Springfield, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Detroit, Cleveland, Columbus, and parts east would be really useful. And I'm not sure why they demagogue Vegas to LA. Maybe the Republicans in congress don't know this, but there are a lot of people in LA. I mean a whole lot. And a lot of them like to go to Vegas. There's a very large segment of the population that a line between those two cities would serve.  

Second, seeing as how governments need cars for all sorts of reasons, and seeing as how most government units tend to buy their cars in fleets from American auto companies, companies who are in a bit of trouble if you haven't heard, that actually seems like a good thing to spend money on. 

Finally, Volcano monitoring? Are they serious? The western United States kinda has a lot of Volcanoes. There's a whole range of them called the Cascades. One of them is pretty close to Seattle, a metro area of about 3.25 million people. Another has been in the news a lot lately, near Anchorage, a metro area of about 275,000 people. That's about three and a half million people potentially in the path of Volcanoes.  This is the result of some quick googling via wikipedia:

Mount Rainier is an ACTIVE^[7] stratovolcano

 According to Geoff Clayton, a geologist with RH2, a repeat of the Osceola mudflow would destroy Enumclaw, Kent, Auburn, and most or all of Renton.^[13] Such a mudflow might also reach down the Duwamish estuary and destroy parts of downtown Seattle, and cause tsunamis in Puget Sound and Lake Washington. According to USGS, about 150,000 people live on top of old lahar deposits of Rainier.^[7] Rainier is also capable of producing pyroclastic flows as well as lava.

That seems like kind of a big deal.  A quick back of the envelope calculation tells me that's well over 800 times the number of soldiers we've lost in Iraq, and over 1,000 times the number of people we lost on 9/11. The stimulus bill contains $140 million dollars to monitor and study those volcanoes. Considering we've spent about $600 billion on "Iraq monitoring" a country that hadn't killed any Americans before we invaded, $140 million seems like a small price to pay to monitor volcanoes that potentially threaten 3.5 million people. Honestly, if those are the three most "pork laden" proposals they could find in the bill, it's probably a bill that doesn't contain much pork. 

And what's with the "something called Volcano monitoring" crap? Umm, yeah, that's what it's called. Do these guys go around talking about "something called neurosurgery" or "something called the auto industry". I mean, it's not like it's some sort of Orwellian doublespeak for a project they're trying to keep secret. It's "something called" volcano monitoring because it consists of monitoring volcanoes. It's not to hard to understand.

I can only conclude that Republicans are either really, really stupid, or they think you are really, really stupid.

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:

The Halosphere

First, I want to thank the Rev for the kind words he threw my way on Jeff Biggs' radio show last night.  It was a nice moment for me, and a heck of a leap forward for the Halosphere in general (his whole appearance, I mean), which has really grown over the past few years.  

The community at HH has really expanded, and that's a credit not only to Mat, but to the SportsNation brand, which has created go-to communities for tons of teams, both college and pro.  Halos Heaven has become the watering hole the Angels community much the way Bruins Nation has done the same for the UCLA community.  And the great thing is that they've filled voids without disrupting other great communities.  Inside Illini is still the place for Illini fans (or the Illiniboard, depending upon what side of that divide you're on).  GoAZCats still seems to be the place to discuss Arizona Basketball.  I can't ever see a Los Angeles Kings community that will outdo LetsGoKings.com.  But Sportsnation has created a place on the web for fans of teams that didn't have that community before.  

When I jumped into the Halosphere, there weren't too many of us.  The Rev had his live journal blog.  The various Sean Smiths were doing their thing(s).  The crew at Pearly Gates were active, and Purgatory Online was still around (read his history of the Halosphere right here).  Rob was covering Angels and Dodgers, while the Chronicler was chiming in occasionally.  Every so often Matt would pitch in with an Angels post.  Everyone kind of had their own schtick, and there was a lot of cross-participation, at least via comment.  

Now the sphere has expanded, with a couple of notable retractions.  My Angels stuff is less frequent (alright, my everything is less frequent).  The Chronicler doesn't post too much anymore.  Purgatory and Pearly Gates are gone.   But Rob is still at it.  The guys at 3 Days of Cryin' update as many times in a week as I do in six months.  Both of those sites are great for up the minute news and links, with some great commentary.  Gilbert moved his stuff to Bugs and Cranks.  Chone Smith is updating frequently, as well as doing some great stuff at the Hardball Times.  The list goes on.

In some ways, I think the overall expansion of the community, especially Halos Heaven, has probably led me to dial it back a bit.  Don't get me wrong, a lot of it's due to my own laziness.  But when I was posting game recaps religiously, I used to try to look for some insight.  What could I see a game that didn't get talked about in the local papers?  A good example of this is John Lackey and his propensity for turning 0-2 counts into 3-2 counts.  It was something that always bugged me, and when a friend of mine, Nate Silver, wrote a post at Baseball Prospectus about how underrated Lackey was, it started a conversation that led to a subsequent post, showing that Lackey has nasty habit of starting guys 0-2, then walking them more often than most other pitchers.  I thought it was an interesting discussion, and it was cool to be a part of it.

The thing now is that the community is so large, there's always someone else who's seen the same thing, and probably written about it.  I don't sense I provide the same value anymore (if I ever did).  It's a great thing overall, because the larger the community gets, the more interesting the discussions can become.  More viewpoints, so long as they're valid, is never a bad thing.  And I think the Rev deserves a ton of credit for building the site up and making it a real home for Angels fans.  

Anyway, this whole post is mostly just a thought piece on where we are as a community, and my place in that community.  If you don't see as much from me, it's not because I don't have an opinion, it's probably because some has already expressed it, and judging by my traffic, the people coming here for Angels commentary have probably already read it (or will read it).  Trust me, my loss (such as it is) is definitely your gain.  I'd much prefer to chime in occasionally as I've done the last year or so than be beholden to a nightly recap, though I may still do a couple days a week at SoCal Sports Hub if asked again.  And everything I've said above holds mostly true for my UCLA stuff as well, which has definitely become less frequent.  

So I'm not announcing a major shift or anything.  This blog will remain essentially what it's been for the last year or so going forward.  No one is turning out the lights.  I'm just having more fun over at other people's sites.  

Classics

Rob already posted this, but a bunch of us got this press release from Fox Sports today.  Anyone want to burn these to DVD for me, since I live in a city that doesn't get FSN West?  Also, Chuck from Angels win noted that it's not actually 2008 anymore.

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 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                            

Wednesday, January 21, 2008                                                                                                                                                          

 

MONDAY NIGHT IS ANGELS NIGHT ON FOX SPORTS WEST

 

Angels “Red Monday” Classic Games Prep Angels Fans for the 2009 Season

 

 

LOS ANGELES – Beginning Tuesday, February 2, Fox Sports WEST prepares Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim fans for the upcoming 2009 MLB season with “Red Monday”. Throughout February and March, the destination for the most comprehensive local Angels coverage in Southern California invites Halo fans to tune-in Monday nights for three full hours of an Angels classic game.

 

Five classic games make up “Red Mondays” and will celebrate notable moments in Angels franchise history. The first classic game on Fox Sports WEST begins Monday, February 2 at 7PM and features the 2002 Angels in their first playoff series victory.

 

“Red Monday” programming line-up on Fox Sports WEST is as follows:

 

DATE                TIME     CLASSIC GAME                                                CLASSIC DESCRIPTION                       

Mon., Feb. 2      7PM     10/5/02 – ALDS, Gm. 4: Angels at Yankees         The Angels’ first playoff series win

                                                                                                                                                             

Mon., Feb. 9      7PM     10/13/02- ALCS, Gm. 5: Twins at Angels             The Angels score 10 runs in the 7th inning and win their first AL Pennant. Adam Kennedy hits 3 HRs to become the 5th player in postseason history to hit 3 HR’s in a single game.

                                                                                   

Mon., Feb. 23    7PM     10/26/02- World Series, Gm. 6: Giants at Angels  Facing elimination and down 5-0 in the 7th, the Angels storm back to score 3 runs in each the 7th and 8th innings to win the game and force Game 7.

 

Mon., Mar. 2      7PM     10/27/02- World Series, Gm. 7: Giants at Angels The Angels win their first MLB Championship ever. Rookie John Lackey pitches a strong game and Troy Glaus is selected World Series MVP.        

 

Mon., Mar. 30    7PM     10/10/05-ALDS, Gm. 5: Angels at Yankees         The Angels win the ALDS 3 games to 2

 

           

About Fox Sports WEST

            In addition to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Fox Sports WEST is the telecast destination for the most comprehensive coverage of the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Kings and Los Angeles Galaxy.  Together, Fox Sports WEST and sister network PRIME TICKET present more live, local sports programming than any other network or broadcast system in Southern California, Nevada and Hawaii.  For complete national and regional sports news, provocative opinions, telecast schedules and updated statistics, log-on to www.foxsports.com.  

 

-- Fox Sports WEST --

Heck of a day

It's 85 degrees outside here in L.A.  The Kings score a week's worth of goals.  The Illini run roughshod over Ohio State.  And the nation's biggest d-bag gets on a plane back to Texas, this time for good.  

It was a good day.

How do you define pathetic?

One field goal in 13 minutes is a pretty good start.  Failing to get a shot off on the final possession might do it as well.

Complete and utter meltdown.  I think we're seeing why the final four run ends this year.  No leadership in crunch time.  No one willing to take over the offense.  Three seniors on the floor, and all of them played afraid.  More about this later if I get around to caring.  

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.  

The Kings Get Interesting

It's taken a couple of years, but the Los Angeles Kings are finally putting a team on the ice that can compete every night.  What's even better is that you can see the flashes of excellence that should make them a playoff contender next year, and with luck, a cup contender in two or three years.  

The Kings largest problem since their inception as a franchise has been the inability to develop a first class goaltender.  They've had good goalies in the past, but not too many game stealers, and none of them came from the Kings' scouting and development.  Kelly Hrudey led them to a Cup final.  Rogie Vachon has his jersey retired.  Felix Potvin played arguably better than any other Kings goalie had ever played, but it was for a short period of time, and his star faded rather quickly.  They thought they had a franchise goalie in Jamie Storr, but he never fulfilled his potential.  They let future hall of famer Billy Smith get away in the expansion draft in 1972.  All he did was win four Stanley Cups on Long Island.  

And it wasn't for lack of trying.  The regime that let Smith get away was long gone, but determined to keep it from happening again, the Kings traded away future all-star defenseman Kimmo Timonen to Nashville.  In exchange, Nashville agreed to refrain from selecting Gary Galley, which allowed the Kings to protect such luminaries as Stephane Fiset, the aforementioned Jamie Storr, and Freddi Chabot.  Guess who won that deal?

But finally, it appears that the Kings have some direction in net.  A sign of competent management, they actually traded their worst goaltender to Vancouver when they dealt Jason Labarbera, who suffered through some bad luck, but never really put it together in L.A.  By the end of his run at Staples, he was average on a good night, and before he was dealt, he looked like he'd never stop another shoot-out attempt.  That has left the Kings with Erik Ersberg and rookie Jonathan Quick, who has been a revelation.  Quick's only played seven games this season, but his 1.59 goals against and .943 save percentage would easily lead the league if he qualified.  It's something to be excited about, even if that enthusiam has to be tempered by the small sample size.  He's given up ten goals in those seven games (six starts), and five came in one game against arguably the league's best team, the Detroit Red Wings.  Ersberg has been solid as well.  Through 18 games he sports a 2.38 GAA and .903 save percentage.  He plays a quiet style that instills confidence in his teammates, and he's excellent at controlling rebounds.  

The best news is that is that neither may be the Kings' real goaltender of the future.  First round draft pick Jonathan Bernier has been on fire in Manchester, where he's being backed up one of last year's top college keepers, Jeff Zatkoff, who also happens to be an ECHL all-star selection.  He put up 2.31 GAA and .931 save percentage in Ontario (the one in California).  

After this year's draft, I talked about how Dean Lombardi wants to build from the net out.  Well, there are eight defensemen in the mix for the foreseeable future (Jack Johnson, Drew Doughty, Matt Green, Kyle Quincey, Alec Martinez, Colton Tuebert, Thomas Hickey, and Slava Voinov), and four goalies (Quick, Ersberg, Bernier, and Zatkoff).  That kind of depth gives them the opportunity to trade for scoring, and to draft offense going forward.  They may only be hovering around .500 this year, but this team is building a true foundation, and it's nice to be able to watch it happen.

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.