High Comedy

Nothing gets a Friday started like hearing a hilarious joke first thing in the morning. According to this morning's LA Times, the Red Sox are apparently working on sceduling a gig at the Laff Shack if their recent offer of Manny Ramirez to the Angels is any indication. Get this. The Angels would get Manny AND ALL of his $57MM salary in exchange for the paltry sum of Ervin Santana, Chone Figgins, and two or three of the Angels top four prospects, which includes Brandon Wood, Howie Kendrick, and I'm guessing Kendry Morales and another one of the middle infield guys, or maybe Jeff Mathis.

That is fucking HI-larious. Apparently Theo spent his pouting period working on his stand up act.

The Angels are also interested in Jeff Weaver if he'll sign a one or two year deal. I could live with that. Put Carrasco back in the pen. Not a bad replacement for Paul Byrd. Gotta be kind of weird though when the team says "we don't want to sign you to a long term deal, because we need that spot for your younger brother."

Winning Ugly - ASU 60; UCLA 69

If you recorded this one with plans to watch it again, erase it. It was not pretty. It felt like the Bruins scored about half of their final total despite shooting almost 50%. It was just a very ragged game against an opponent that they should have beaten by about 20. But every time they had a chance to really close the door, they'd give up a three, turn the ball over, foul a guy, and the next thing you knew, it was back down to four. The only statistical category of any consequence that the Bruins didn't have the advantage was rebounding. Each team finished with 23. But still, the game was in a little bit of doubt with a minute to go until Jordan Farmar found Ced Bozeman for a three pointer from the baseline as the shot clock expired.

Farmar was unquestionably the Bruins' best player tonight, throwing in 18 points on 7-12 shooting. But he only had three assists, negated by three turnovers. LRMAM did not have what I consider to be one of his better nights, netting 8 points and grabbing 9 rebounds. He either needs to start hitting a three every now and then, or he needs to stop taking them when there's time on the shot clock. Aboya and Wright really didn't contribute very much, just two points and 2 rebounds between them. Aboya fouled out after only 8 minutes. Of course, those guys are freshmen, and they're going to have their ups and downs. Mike Roll also hit a couple of three pointers. Ryan Hollins added 6 and 4 while playing only 15 minutes, and Michael Fey got into the game for a couple minutes, scoring on a put back of an offensive rebound.

The slack was made up by Aaron Afflalo and Ced Bozeman, who were both terrific on the defensive end. Afflalo finally showed signs of emerging from his slump, hitting a nice jumper in the lane on a broken play, and draining a late three, followed by a turn-around jumper from the baseline. Bozeman added 10 points of his own, including the aforementioned three pointer. He did it on 4-5 shooting, and added three assists.

This was a bit of a trap game with Arizona upcoming (which is turning into a bit of trap game itself the way Arizona is playing). While there were bursts of energy at times, from what I saw, the Bruins never really got into a good flow. But another win is another win. The Bruins are now 8-2 in the conference, and 18-4 overall. They travel to Washington next week, which makes the Arizona game that much more important. Drop that one, and they could see the beginning of a three game skid. Let's hope the game is a little more attractive than tonight's. But if they need to get ugly to get another W, I can live with that too.

A quick answer

I was going to write a brief post about this in relation to the Kings game tonight, but Anonymous asked the question, so I might as well answer it here. A asks:

where is the coverage of the anaheim angels of los angeles and orange county in california angels trial?

My answer? Check the LA Times and OC Register.

I'm sorry, that's snarky, but honestly, that's where it is. I'm not attending the trial, so really anything I write would be just commenting on what they're writing, which isn't very exciting. My position is pretty clear. I'm on Arte's side. I've talked about in a few different places, and I'm not sure I've done a post on it here, but the lease says what it says. I honestly don't think that legally Anaheim has much of a case. I know the judge is allowing evidence of intent, but the key will be the jury instructions. He can instruct the jury that the lease isn't sufficiently vague and that they should give no weight to that testimony or something thereabouts. We'll see, I guess. I'll probably write up some personal thoughts on the matter when the whole thing is over, depending on what happense.

That leads me to tonight's Kings game. I won't be posting a recap because it's not on TV for some reason. I don't really feel like I can comment on what I can't see. I'll listen to some of it while watching the UCLA game, but I can't really come up with any personal commentary on something I can't witness. This happened during the baseball season as well. Hell, I can't see EVERY game, unless someone wants to start paying me. So I watch what I can, and I write about it most of the time.

Anyway, that covers that.

Illinois 66; Wisconsin 51

They might as well just call the place Assembly Hall North. After breaking Wisconsin's 38 game Kohl Center win streak last season, the Illini returned to the scene of the crime and did it all over again, this time with a stifling defense, timely shooting, and excellent rebounding. The numbers don't lie. A plus 14 rebounding edge, a plus five turnover edge, and a shooting percentage six points better than their hosts. Those numbers are a recipe for success, and you don't seem a team put those numbers up very often on the road.

Balance was a key for the Illini, as four player finished the game in double figures with Dee and McBride leading the way (16 each). In case any potential guard recruits out there are wondering if if they can flourish in Bruce Weber's offense (as if last year wasn't enough), take note that Jamar Smith threw in 12 points as well, six coming on clutch three pointers, one near the end of the first half which pushed the Illini lead to five points, and the second of which pushed the lead back to seven points not long after the Badgers had cut it down to two. Wisconsin was really never in the game after that.

Shortly thereafter, the teams exchanged free throws, and the Illini shut the door for good. Following an offensive rebound on a missed free throw, Dee fed James Augustine for crowd deflating (at least, whatever air was left) dunk, followed by a McBride three that stretched advantage to 12. Wisconsin would not get closer than nine the rest of the way. About that dunk, note to Bo Ryan, you got your sh** worked on that Augustine slip screen TWICE last year in your gym. You really ought to have been prepared for it this time. It wasn't quite as perfectly exceuted as the Deron to Augie play that sunk Wiscy last year, but that's mostly because Krabbenhoft wasn't as dog tired as Wilkinson was last sesaon when Bruce Weber unveiled it. But it's still a thing of beauty when done correctly.

Speaking of Bruce Weber, how good is he? I mean, seriously. He simply outcoached Bo Ryan in this game. Illinois ran the right sets at the right time, and Weber subbed beautifully considering the foul situation. He got Augie back in the game when the Illini were struggling, and protected him well enough to keep him out of heavy foul trouble the rest of the way. No lllinois player fouled out, which is kind of surprising at Wisconsin. Give some credit to the officials as well. I thought they were way too quick to call fouls on anyone within breathing room of Alando Tucker in the first half, but they let the teams play in the second half. When an out of control Jason Chappell bulled his way into Augustine three times early in the second half as Wisconsin tried to pick up that third foul, the refs swallowed their whistles and recognized the ploy for what it was.

A couple of other quick points: 1) Does Bo Ryan ever look happy? I mean, EVER? It must be awful being that guy. Bo, you're coaching at a major university in one of the best conferences in the country. You have a good team. Lighten the hell up. 2) Hey, did any of you know that today was Super Bowl Media Day? I was a little unclear after the first 78 promos, but around promo number 83, it started to sink in.

The good things from tonight? Dee continues to be a major factor even when he's not shooting well, as he added seven assists, grabbed four rebounds, and had two steals. The shooters (McBride and Smith) shot the ball very well, especially Smith (4-4), which is rare on the road. I liked that McBride took 10 shots, as he continues to assert himself. Brian Randle was a monster on the glass with 13 rebounds and three tip in baskets in the first half. More importantly, he continued to attack the basket on numerous occasions. McBride, Smith, and Randle are the weapons for next year's offense, so to see them take steps and make major contributions this year is very important and very encouraging.

The bad? Well, the free throw shooting is still awful. They missed their first five, and although they made nine of their next eleven, six of those came after the game was out of reach, with four coming from Smith and McBride, who don't shoot them all that often. At some point, that's going to be a big problem, and I don't know if they have the time to really do the volume shooting that they need to make some improvement in that area. They've already lost one game thanks in no small part to bad free throw shooting, so keep on eye on that area.

Aside from that, this was a near perfect performance from this team. This would not have been near perfect for last year's team, but this team plays better defense, so they can afford to be a little more ragged on the offensive end. It makes the Illini the true front runner for another conference championship, but there are still pitfalls along the way. Hold serve at home, steal another big road win, and they'll be hanging another banner in the Assembly Hall. Or rather, Assembly Hall South.

Sucks 4; Kings 3 (OT)

I've really lost the heart to write anything about this team until they start winning again. Lest I be considered a bandwagoner, keep in mind that I still watch virtually every minute of every game. It's just so disappointing to see them play so poorly night after night. When you know that almost every penalty is going to inevitably lead to a goal by the opposition, it's very frustrating.

In the last two weeks they've been outplayed in every facet of the game. They're being outshot, they're being outworked, they're being outskilled, and it looks like they're skating uphill on every single shift. I fear that we're seeing yet another late season decline in which a team in good position plays its way right out of the playoffs, and it's worse this year with the unbalanced schedule. There is very little scoreboard watching. When you're losing, it's almost always against a team chasing you or that you're chasing.

Of course, I'll be back in front of the TV for the next game, suffering yet again. This was easier when it was the Angels. They play every day. It's tougher when every game means twice as much, and there's a longer period in between opportunities to rebound.

Thought for an off day

My favorite commenter, Anonymous, asks "Do you think the Illini can make a legitimate run in the tourney this year?" I might as well cover UCLA here, too.

For the Illini, the answer, I think, depends on what you mean by legitimate. Do I think they have a shot at the title? Sure, insofar as any team that's probably a four seed or better has a shot, albeit an outside one. In the tournament, the teams that usually win are the teams that really have a lot of talent, and I'm not sure that across the board, the Illini have enough talent to take it all the way this year. I do think that they can get to the elite 8, and maybe even the final four, but they're going to have to have some guys make big improvements (Pruitt, Randle offensively, Chet Frazier), or they're going to need a couple of guys get really hot during the tourney, and that pretty much means Dee. He's been hot and cold this season, and if he can stay hot over a couple of weeks (not necessarily Michigan State hot, but 45% from three hot), he and Augustine can carry the offense. The defense is going to remain extremely solid, I think, and assuming they don't run into the foul trouble that has doomed them in the past (like against Arizona, Duke, and UNC), I think the defense might be enough to get them through a bad shooting game. The deeper you get into the tourney, though, the more likely you are to run into teams that are too talented to be completely shut down by good defense. Eventually, the great players are going to get theirs, no matter how good the defense is.

I think anything short of sweet 16 will be a disappointment, an elite 8 would be a good accomplishment, and final four would be fantastic. From there, anything more would be gravy. I put them at about 70% to reach the sweet 16, 30% to reach the elite 8, and 10% to reach the final four.

As for the Bruins, I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but their window is next year. They remind me a great deal (in terms of talent if not style) of the 2003-2004 Illini, who reached the sweet sixteen before losing to Chris Duhon's magic rib. The Bruins are young, talented, and maybe a little untested, and probably still need those few rounds of tournament experience before they're ready to go really deep into the tournament.

UCLA also needs an inside presence, and while they're getting production from a resurgent Ryan Hollins, he's not someone who will be the focus of an opposing defense. Hollins' problem is that he doesn't play strong. He doesn't hold the ball tight, and he can't catch well. The latter problem leads to obvious results, but the former is just as damaging in that he gets stripped, A LOT, when taking the ball to the basket. That's something he needs to work on, but they're running out of time. Ryan Wright, Alfred Aboya, and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute can all be effective inside, but not for long stretches. They lack the post moves and confidence right now to really draw more than one defender, and that means that teams can focus their efforts on Farmar and Afflalo. It's taking its toll on Afflalo, who has struggled a bit at the offensive end during conference season. Some of that is due to the tremendous defense he's played at the other end of the floor. A real key for them will probably be the health and effectiveness of Ced Bozeman. If he can give them big minutes and be a force around the basket at the small forward spot, that could free up some room for the guards. But to do that, he needs to produce offensively, and for the next couple of weeks, that means he'll have to step up and take advantage of the extra room created by the attention being paid to the guards. I think they're sweet sixteen team this year, but they'll struggle to get any farther, which wouldn't be inconsistent with the path that Ben Howland teams have taken under his watch.

What both of these teams have in their favor is depth. The Illini go five deep at the first two spots (Augie, Pruitt, Arnold, Carter, and Randle), and Randle's versatility allows him to play the small forward, while Jamar Smith and Rich Mcbride can operate at the two, or go small at the three, leaving Dee Brown and Chet Frazier to handle the point (Dee can also slide to the off-guard spot when Frazier is in the game). Randle also possesses the athletic ability to play shut down defense on either a power forward, small forward, or shooting guard as the situation dictates. That's nine guys who can give them significant minutes, with five of those at the big man spots in case of foul trouble.

UCLA on the other hand, has found something of a silver lining to their dark cloud of injuries, as coach Howland has had ample opportunity to give playing time to his five impressive freshmen. Farmar and Afflalo are entrenched at the guard spots, but Afflalo has the size and strength to play small forward, while Farmar has the scoring ability to contribute at the two guard when Darren Collison is in the game. Mike roll can play the three in a three guard scheme, or play the off guard when giving Afflalo a breather. Aboya, Wright, and Hollins will all spend time at center, with Aboya sliding to power forward when LRMAM is on the bench. LRMAM will spend most of his time at the four, but some time at the three in a big lineup. Ced Bozeman also provides some versatility, with the ability to play anywhere from point guard to power forward if called upon. So like the Illini, they can go nine deep, and they can mix and match as the matchup dictates. And if they're able to get Michael Fey back to any semblance of himself, that makes 10. They could also have Lorenzo Mata back for a tournament run depending on how quickly he heals.

So I see both teams acquitting themselves pretty well in March. The Illini have a little more experience, and that could make the difference in a longer run. But there's still a month and a half to go before tournament time, and both clubs still have room for improvement. I'd be content with both teams in the sweet 16, and I'd be thrilled if they each made the elite 8, but that's asking for a lot.

Purdue 58; Illinois 76

Well, the home/road Jekyll and Hyde routine continues as the Illini looked very good once again on their home floor, save for the first few minutes when they trailed by as many as nine. As I've mentioned before, it's just something I'm going to have to get used to, as last year, the Illini seemed to execute to perfection regardless of where they were playing, except maybe Ann Arbor and the last few minutes in Columbus.

Today saw the (let's hope) arrival of Richard McBride, who didn't seem content to hang out on the perimiter and launch threes. He finished the game with 19 points on six fied goals, only three of which were from beyond the arc. I'm not gonna pour through the box scores, but this is the first time I can ever remember McBride getting more points from non-three point areas on the floor than from long range. He even went 4-4 from the free throw line. Really! Four free throws! From McBride!! Just let that sink in for a minute.

Dee played OK, throwing in 12 points, and struggling from the field a bit. But he did put together about a 15 second hilight reel during which he made a terrific move and scored on a circus shot, followed that up with a rebound at the other end, which he proceeded to took down the floor before lobbing a perfect pass to Randle for yet another alley-oop. That wasn't the only monster jam of the afternoon, as Randle added another, and Augustine made a steal up top that he turned into one of his patented break away jams. Dee also added nine assists against only two turnovers, while Augie grabbed 12 more boards, extending his record as Illinois' all time leading rebounder.

So this closes the soft part of the schedule, and the Illini took care of business. The next stetch gets a little tougher, starting with Tuesday night's tilt at Wisconsin. Win that game, and the Illini ove into the driver's seat for the conference championship. But not everyone can be North Dakota State. Wins at the Kohl center don't come easy (they come easier than wins at the Hall for road teams, but still...). Coming off of two fine performances at home against teams that aren't very good, Illini Nation will be fired up for Tuesday night.

Sucks 6; Kings 2

For now, I'm going to stop caring abou this train wreck of team. Lord knows the players have stopped caring.

UCLA 63; OSU 54

For the second time this season, the Bruins went on the road and swept their Pac 10 opponents. That's something that you might expect to do once in a season, but twice out of four opportunities, let alone your first two trips, well, that's pretty special. I'll grant you, only one of those sweeps came while playing a very good team (Arizona, who admittedly is down a bit this year), and I'd be shocked if they swept the Bay Area schools and/or the Washington Schools. But they've beaten teams who have generally held their own at home (OSU beat U of A by 10 at home).

The key word for today's game was 'balance'. Four Bruins scored in double figures, and none of those four had more than 14 points (LRMAM). Three Bruins had seven or more rebounds, Aaron Afflalo leading the way with 10 as LRMAM failed to lead the team in boards for only the second time this season. And once again, the Bruins completey took their opponent out of their offense, holding the Beavers to only 24 points in the second half. Chris Stephens and Nick Dewitz, who normally combine for about 26-27 points combined for only 8 this afternoon. And although Sasha Cuic, who quite frankly acted like a little bitch after fouling Ryan Hollins, had 24 points, he was pretty much their only offense.

The second half of the Pac 10 season gets a lot harder for the Bruins. They travel to the Bay and to Washington in what will be their toughest road trips of the season. It's not outside the realm of possibility that they could lose all four games, though I think a split is more likely. Also, they play in the dark jerseys against U$C, which I hesitate to call a road game. They're 7-2 in the conference, and I think the team that wins the regular season will have to be 14-4, or possibly 13-5 at worse. That's a tall order, but these guys are road warriors, and with Bozeman working his way back in, they're certainly capable. Perhaps the biggest key will be Ryan Hollins, who had 11 and 7 today. He's had three straight games now where he has made significant contributions, which I think matches his entire Bruin career to this point. If he keeps it going, they will be tough to beat.

Oilers 5; Kings 3

It's frustrating watching a team that looks like they just don't feel like playing hard sometimes. I don't know what it is. I mean, I'm sure they are playing hard, but the Kings were completely outworked tonight, save for a short stretch in the second period when they popped in two goals to take a brief one goal lead.

They were playing a team who was on their second of back to back nights, both games on the road, and they failed to come out with any jump, taking a penalty on the first shift, and giving up, what else, another power play goal just seconds later. Other than that, there was really not much to say about this one. They were outplayed in virtually every aspect of the game. They now sit five points back of Dallas, who has three games in hand, and this recent slump is bringing them back to the Pacific Division pack. Not a good time to go into a slump.

Honestly, I have no idea how to read this team. But like I said the other day, when they win, it's a struggle, and when they lose, they go down without much of a fight. That doesn't bode well for the rest of the season.

UCLA 56; Oregon 49

The old adage says that the way to win the Pac 10 is to win all of your home games and split on the road. The Bruins have already lost two home games, so that means to make up for it, they need to sweep at least twice on the road. Mission accomplished in Arizona a few weeks ago. After tonight, the Bruins have a chance to sweep in Oregon.

This is the second time I've actually watched Oregon play this year, and I've come to a conclusion: Oregon is awful. This game would have been very embarrassing were the Bruins to lose. Their streaky shooters, they don't run a very attractive offense, and quite frankly, they look like a Lavin coached team minus the talent. Still, they were able to hang around with the help of about 15 extra seconds on the shot clock, officials who can only see jersey pulls when the jersey is yellow, and an obscure rule that says if you breathe on Ivan Watson, you get whistled. But ultimately, the Bruins began to attack the basket in the late stages of the game, they got to the free throw line, and they pulled out the victory, thanks in no small part to shutting the Ducks down completely in the last ten minutes of the game. Brandon Lincoln hit a three pointer with just under eight minutes to play, and that was the last field goal that the Ducks would make. Their last seven points came from the free throw line. I'd be remiss if I failed to mention that although Ryan Wright and Darren Collison took tiny steps backward, LRMAM continued to show that he is the best freshmen in this class as he contributed 15 points and 10 rebounds (leading the team yet again).

Let's just be fortunate that this one is out of the way and get prepared for Oregon State. Mac Court is a tough place to play, and although they didn't play that well, the Bruins were able to grab the victory. At 6-2, they lead the Pac 10 by a half game over Arizona, and full game over Washington, who lost to Cal. With a win at OSU, they can really take the reins in the conference race.

Gophers 53; Fighting Illini 77

Late this afternoon, my boss walked by my desk and struck up a quick conversation about the Illini with me and a colleague. They more or less agreed that the Illini are somewhat overrated in the middle of the top ten. It sounded about right at first, mostly because I think we're all still comparing this team with last year's team, and let's face it, we're not used to losing hardly ever. But just look at their resume. They're 18-2, with both losses coming on the road against teams who are either entrenched in or have sniffed the top 25. They have wins over Michigan State, at Oregon, Georgetown, at North Carolina, and Xavier. They have 10 wins of 19 points or more, and a few over 30. Sure, some of those came against no name opponents, but give them credit for taking care of business (ya listening, Wisconsin?).

So are they really overrated at #7? I think we see them play ugly games like at Iowa, and at Northwestern. We remember the one point win against Wichita State. We see them trying to force the offense a little too much, and we see them waiting for Dee to take bad shots at the end of the shot clock, and we can't fathom why they're rated so close to last year's near perfect team. Honestly, we might never see an Illinois team run an offense as smoothly as the they ran it last year. But the defense, by all accounts, may very well be better, as Bruce Weber believes. They're deeper, and Brian Randle is a true shut down small forward who can guard bigger players as well as smaller, quicker players, without missing a beat.

Tonight, especially in the second half, we saw just why they're ranked in the top ten. The moved the ball on offense. They passed out of the double team in the post. They worked for and hit open threes, and individually, they started playing like we've wanted to see them play. Sean Pruitt was more active in the post than his numbers indicate. Brian Randle, who finished with 10 points and five rebounds, attacked the basket on numerous occasions, including a high flying alley-oop dunk on a great lob by Jamar Smith. Smith was on fire himself, hitting 5 three pointers on 8 attempts and finishing with sixteen points. And like they must be for the Illini to win, Augie and Dee were solid yet again, Augie finishing with 13 and 9, while Dee added a team high 17 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists. The hilight for me was the lazer beam Dee threw to Augustine in the post from the top of key for an easy dunk. Now granted, Minnesota is not a great team by any means, and the Illini were at the Hall, where, for opponents, stealing a victory has become tougher than scaling Everest (I believe that's 32 straight).

This conference is going to be filled with battles night in and night out, as Iowa showed Indiana and Michigan showed Michigan State (who blew a 10 point lead in Ann Arbor). There's no shame in losing on the road. But tonight, the Illini showed that the pollsters are getting right so far.

Kings 1; Sharks 4

Let's face it. The Sharks just have the Kings' number this year. This game was truly painful to watch, as the Kings generated virtually no offense, and took penalty after penalty in the second period, including a roughing call on Avery which negated a break by Corvo, and resulted in a power play goal that more or less put the game out of reach. It's weird that some nights they can look like an offensive juggernaut, while on others, they look like they really need Demitra back in the lineup as soon as possible.

Corvo had the lone goal, a power play goal that he scored with a rocket shot from just inside the left face of circle, giving him 11 on the year. The production from the blue line has been a nice surprise, but their inability to stop their opponents power play has really killed them lately.

One thing I've been noticing recently, the Boston game notwithstanding, is that when the Kings win, they seem to be doing it in close contests, either coming from behind, or barely hanging on. When they lose, they've generally lost pretty handily. I haven't checked the recent scores or anything, so I'm just making this up as I go along, but it's my perception anyway. Hopefully that will change and they'll get to previous solid play when they get some guys, most notably Miller and Demitra, back from injury, which is looking more and more like it will be after the Olympic break.

By the way, is it just me, or is "Beat L.A." just about the most unoriginal chant ever? Of course, this was coming from arguably the stupidest fanbase in the NHL (per my experience), so it's to be expected.

Kings 3; Sucks 2 (F-SO)

Another night of Mr. Magoo meant another night of worn out paths to the penalty box. Although this game wasn't as penalty riddled as others, it had enough to kill a fair amount of the flow, and as a result, the game seemed disjointed at times. Alexander Frolov returned to the lineup for the Kings and made his presence felt with a second period short handed goal, which I believe gives the Kings 10 for the season. They've needed them, because they can't stop anyone on the power play, and last night was no exception, as the Ducks got the goal right back shortly thereafter, still on the double minor.

Undaunted, the Kings fought back to tie the score in the third period. Lubomir Visnovsky, just recently back in the lineup himself, made a great play to shrug off a check at the right point, got the puck to Derek Armstong who wheeled around to the right wing and fired a pass to Luc Robitaille, who had been charging right down the slot. Robitaille scored a classis Luc goal, re-directing home a perfect pass from Armstrong right from the door-step. Most of his best work has been at a range of about two feet.

The Kings wasted a power play opportunity at the beginning of the overtime, and from that point on, the teams seemed content to take it to the shoot out. After Garon stopped Chris Kunitz, Alexander Frolov rifled one through J.S. Giguere to put the Kings up one. Andy McDonald responded with a backhander to even it up, before Robitaille ripped one over Giguere's shoulder to retake the lead. Teemu Selanne evened it up yet again, while Michael Cammalleri fired one wide to send the shootout to extra rounds. Garon would come up with saves on Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf, with Giguere shutting down Craig Conroy before Joe Corvo stepped up. 14 stickhandles later, Corvo slid the puck past the prove Giguere, and the Kings beat the Ducks in a shootout for the second time this season.

That's three points in the first two games of this very important stretch of seven which continues with San Jose tonight, and includes games with Phoenix, Edmonton, and two more with Anaheim. If they could come up with ten of a possible fourteen points, that would be a nice way to go into the soft spot (Minnesota, Columbus, and Chicago) of the schedule before matching up with Dallas right before the Olympic break.

Ilinois 58; Northwestern 47

I'll be honest, because of the UCLA game and the Kings game, I didn't see a whole lot of this one, but I did notice a couple of things. First, the Illini aren't really going to be bothered by zone defenses. We have too many shooters, and they really move the ball well enough to get open shots. Second, man, that defense is awesome. When you hold the conference's leading score to one field goal, well, that's pretty good.

The box score will tell you that this was a step back for Pruitt and Randle, but don't let the numbers fool you. This was a zone defense team, and the big men just aren't going to get big points against those types of teams. Pay more attention to Vukusic's numbers, or lack thereof, where Randle is concerned. Remember, defense is going to be this team's calling card, and they did nothing to disprove that tonight.

This game opened up the soft spot in the Illini schedule, and they took care of business. Can't ask for much more.

West Virginia 60; UCLA 56

A tale of two halves. The Mountaineers shut down the Bruins offense, and pretty much had their way at the other end in the first half and for about the first five minutes of the second half as they built a 20 point lead. For the last 15 minutes of the game, Jordan Farmar took matters into his own hands, while Ryan Hollins actually showed up, and the Bruins cut into the lead, and had an opportunity to tie the game, down by three with six seconds to play, before Mike Gansey stole the ball from Jordan Farmar and salted the game away.

As awful as the Bruins played for the first 25 minutes, there were some positives to take from this game:

1. Aaron Afflalo and Mike Roll were a combined 1-17 in this game, and that's not going to happen again. Credit the Mountaineer defense for some of that, credit that pathetic Pac 10 officials for at least one of those, but that's not going to happen again. Sometimes you just don't have it, and today, they didn't have it.
2. The Bruins made a tremendous effort in the second half to get the game back to a point where they had a chance to win. It's possible, though perhaps unlikely, that these teams could meet in the NCAA tournament, and if that happens, the Bruins know that for a big stretch of this game, they dominated. Mentally, that's important. I could tell you why I think so, but you'd probably laugh, and and it would take a longer post.
3. Jordan Farmar is starting to shake his offensive slump.
   
4. I'm going to talk about this all year, but this team's window is next year. What we saw was a bunch of freshman and sophomores (and Ryan Hollins) playing a bunch of well coached seniors. This season presents the rare opportunity for the Bruins to compete while also learning a lot. This is just one more learning experience.
5. Finally, this isn't a conference game. Sure, it's national TV. It's important. But they lost to a higher ranked team, and they acquitted themselves pretty well. And ultimately, they still lead the Pac 10.

Once again, the Pac 10 officials show that they're just flat out incompetent. Not biased, mind you, just incompetent. A WVU guard slams into Ryan Hollins, not foul. Aaron Afflalo nailed from behind on a layup attempt, no foul. And the coup de gras, Ryan Hollins hammers Pittsnogle at the three point line, no foul; Darren Collison hammered on a drive, no call; Jordan Farmar breathes on Mike Gansey, foul. The lack of consistency, the lack of recognition of the flow of the game, and the flat out lack of competence. The Pac 10 is the worst officiated conference in college basketball (and yes, these were Pac 10 officials).

Finally, I need to make the following point. I really think this game is going to be valuable for the Bruins. It's not going to do a thing to their NCAA resume. It helps their strength of schedule. It doesn't affect their position in the conference. It provides a great learning experience and some valuable exposure. But let's remember, these are the types of games that Ben Howland, God love him, wants to eliminate. The extra game during U$C week. The intersectional battles against good teams. He didn't schedule these games at Pitt, and he's been reluctant to schedule them at UCLA.

So to sum up, a very poor first half, a solid second half, and a good learning experience at essentially no cost. There are reasons to be optimistic.

Thrashers 6; Kings 8

In the fall of 1986, the Kings next superstar, the heir apparent to Marcel Dionne, made his debut. Selected with the second pick in the 1986 entry draft, Jimmy Carson was the player that would lead the Kings into the '90s, the star around whom the team would be built.

Also making his debut that night was a left wing with gaudy numbers in the QMJHL, but who surely couldn't skate well enough to stick in the NHL. Despite scoring 85 points in 70 games as a 17 year old, Luc Robitaille wasn't drafted by the Kings until the 171st pick, the ninth round, five rounds after the Kings selected future Cy Young Award winner Tom Glavine. Robitaille responded with 339 points over his next two seasons with the Hull Olympiques before opening the 1986-1987 season in purple and gold. The kid who couldn't skate well enough to make an impact in the NHL scored 45 goals and added 39 assists in his rookie season and skated off with the Calder trophy. To his credit, Carson added 37 and 42 that season, and would score over 50 the next season. But the prodigy who was traded for Wayne Gretzky disappeared somewhere around 1994, while the slow kid kept scoring, and scoring, and scoring.

Almost 20 years later, Luc Robitaille has amassed 663 goals and 723 assists. He's the highest scoring left wing in the history of the NHL. He put together the greatest offensive season by a left wing in NHL history in 1992-1993 when he scored 63 goals and 62 assists for 125 points. He did that in a season where Wayne Gretzky missed a boatload of games with a back injury. Later that season, he helped lead the Kings to within three games of the Stanley Cup.

Tonight, currently in his third stint with the Kings after stops in Pittsburgh, New York, and Detroit, Robitaille scored the 550th, 551st, and 552nd goals of his career in a Kings uniform, passing Marcel Dionne, becoming the greatest goal scorer in the history of the Los Angeles Kings. They needed all three to hold off an immensely talented Atlanta team. In the first period, he laid a huge hit on Andy Sutton, and followed it up seconds later with a nifty move in front of the net to open the scoring, tying Dionne in the process. Seconds after that, Dustin Brown ripped home a rebound to put the Kings two goals in front. The lead was short lived, however, as the Thrashers took advantage of favorable bounces to tie the score. Jeff Giuliano put the Kings back on top late in the period. The second period was all Thrashers, as they scored three times to take a 5-3 lead before Tom Kostopolous redirected home a Matty Norstrom centering pass to cut the lead to one.

Nortstom continued to contribute offensively (he would finish with a goal and 4 assists) in the third with a rifle shot for a shorthanded goal that tied the score. A few minutes later, Mike Weaver made a perfect pass to spring Robitaille on a break away where he netted his second of the game, giving the Kings the lead, and making him the greatest goal scorer in Kings history. After a second Marian Hossa goal tied the score at six, Giuliano added his second of the night to retake the lead at 7-6, where it would stay until Robitaille capped the evening with a 140 foot shot at the empty net. For the 15th time in his NHL career, Robitaille completed the hat trick.

The win stops a two game slide where the Kings have looked fairly listless, and although they went through stretches tonight where Atlanta pretty much owned them, they fought back time and time again, and got contributions from some unlikely sources to turn back a Thrashers team that was on a roll. With five of the next six games against San Jose and Anaslime, the Kings needed to gather a little momentum. Garon will be back in goal on Saturday, and hopefully Visnovsky will have knocked off a little rust. They need to start skating a little better, and lordy do they need to cut down on the turnovers. But if they can win four of the next six, they'll be in fairly decent shape. The schedule softens up a bit before the Olympic break, when hopefully they'll get some of the wounded warriors back.

Luc made his debut when I was 13 years old, and over that time, he's been as close to a constant in the Kings lineup as anyone, save for his two forays into other uniforms. L.A.'s siren song has always called him home, and soon enough, his jersey will reside in Staples Center's rafters with Rogie Vachon's, Wayne Gretzky's, Dave Taylor's, and that of his mentor, Marcel Dionne. He's been a Kings since he made his debut, and every time he left, you always got the sense that it wouldn't be long before he was back in the Southland. Congratulations on a wonderful Kings career, Luc. Now if you can just play like that kid who wore the purple and gold again over the next 30 games or so, I think everyone will be very happy.

U$C 45; UCLA 66

This one was over early, as the Bruins raced out to an 18-2 lead in roughly the first ten minutes and never looked back. It's not often that you say a game wasn't as close as a 21 point spread makes it appear, but honestly, that's the truth. It was complete and utter domination on both sides of the floor for the Bruins. Stout defense that frustrated the women of troy at every turn, and a very well run half court offense that created a lot of easy baskets. Good interior passing by the guards on penetration, and big men who could actually catch.

Farmar got the scoring rolling with three early three pointers, and although he struggled somewhat after that, it really didn't matter. Aaron Afflalo added a very quiet 11 points. LRMAM, who is cementing his status as the jewel of this freshman class, led the team again with seven rebounds to go along with his ten points, two coming on a very impressive tip jam of a Alfred Aboya miss (who drove to the basket on the play, which led me to realize that when he drives from the perimeter, he gets to the hoop in a hurry). By far the relative best line of the night, however, belonged to Ryan Hollins, who added 9 points and 3 rebounds in 21 minutes. He was active, and at least two of those rebounds were on the offensive end. He also had a big blocked shot and a couple of dunks. He still has awful hands, but if he can contribute, that's a huge lift considering all of the injuries.

Pac-10 official watch: They blew at least 2 blatant out of bounds call, the first coming in the opening minutes when it was pretty clear to everyone who has ever watched basketball that it went out off of a U$C guy. Also, apparently there's a new rule that when you're down by 25, you get an extra two seconds in the lane, as the trojans twice scored points only after the shooter had enjoyed some smores, put out the fire, taken down the tent, packed up the truck, and left the campsite. Not that it mattered. I just marvel at how incompetent Pac 10 officiating has been this year (and seemingly every year, as the Chronicler will point out).

Big tilt with West Virginia this weekend. It would really help in the tournament seeding process, and serve notice to those on the East Coast that they still play basketball in Westwood.

Quick Hits

Lightning - 4; Kings - 1

This is starting to get very frustrating. I understand the team is suffering from injuries, but in the last two games, they've had almost no one show up. The PK has been downright awful now for a couple of months, and they don't seem to be doing anything about it. Now Garon may be hurt, but then again, after the goal he gave up in the first period, I'm not sure how much that's going to hurt. Avery failed to convert a penalty shot, and their power play was downright pathetic. Just like last season, this team can weather injuries to some guys, even stars like Demitra and solid defensmen like Miller. But this team cannot survive without Lubo. If he misses significant time, the Kings might be done.

Illinois - 60; Indiana - 62

Valiant effort against a good team on the road. Once again they were undone by poor shooting and ultimately foul trouble, as Dee and Brian Randle fouled out. But Indiana is good. The whole Big Ten this year is very strong, and there's no shame in losing to the #11 team in the country on their home court. And there were some silver linings. For starters, Sean Pruitt had 17 points and 7 rebounds, both tops on the team. Randle added 15 as he attacked the basket a lot more in the second half. Chester Frazier looked pretty strong as well on the defensive end. The Illini really need Randle and Pruitt to provide offense, because teams have been keying on Dee and James Augustine. Not only do those the team need someone else to put points on the board, they need someone to take the defensive pressure off of the seniors.

Remember that Bruce Weber was 3-3 in his first six conference games with the 2003-2004 team before they took off and won their last ten conference games. I don't think they'll make a run like that again, mostly due to the strength of the conference, but if this team can make it click, and I think that what we saw out of Pruitt and Randle is an indication that they can, this team can be very good this year.

And not to Indiana fans, when you're the favorite, and you beat a team who's barely ranked ahead of you, on your own floor, by two after almost blowing a 15 point lead, after two of their best players have fouled out, well, rushing the floor makes you look like something less than a team with a storied tradition and 5 national championships.

The NFL Playoffs

I suppose this probably isn't the right time to say this, lest I be called a front-runner. I don't talk much about the NFL, mostly because I don't follow it that closely relative to other sports I like (baseball, hockey, etc.), which is to say, I still follow it more closely than 85% of the population, just not as closely as I follow baseball and hockey.

Anyway, truth be told, I'm a Broncos fan. Yes, I watched the game the other day, and yes, I'll be watching this weekend, and no, I didn't just become a Broncos fan last week. As it happened, one of Montana cousins moved to Denver around 1983 or so, which is the same time they got Elway. Shortly thereafter, we went to Montana for a cousin's wedding, and I stayed around an extra couple of weeks because they needed a little kid for another cousin's wedding. I drove down to Denver with the cousin who had just moved there and stayed for a couple of days before going home. Something about that confluence of events turned me into a Broncos fan, to the point of even rooting against the Rams when the Broncos came to town (full disclosure, I like the Pats as a kid, too, but that wore off - oh, and I stopped liking and started hating the Rams when they left LA).

So anyway, if you see me gloating after the Broncos hopefully win on Sunday, keep in mind it's not coming out of left field. I've actually been a Broncos fan for over 20 years.