Basketball Preseason News Roundup

by captain mightykite on Nov 8, 2007 12:07 AM PST

Bumped from the diaries. GO BRUINS. -N

As we get prepared for basketball season, here are snippets from various articles on the internets from the last week or so. I just took the parts that pertained to our Bruins.

Jay Bilas on what he's looking forward to this year:

Who will be the nation's best point guard?
Last season, I believed as the season began that Alabama's Ronald Steele could be the nation's top point guard. Steele could not perform up to his capabilities because of injury. This year, I believe UCLA's Darren Collison is the nation's best point guard as the season begins. Collison is the best defensive point guard and is the most efficient point on the offensive end. And, quite significantly, he wins. Could someone outplay Collison and take the mythical crown? Sure. Memphis' Rose is a better NBA prospect; some others are bigger; and still others shoot it better. But, I would take Collison as my point guard any day. In ESPN's "experts" pick the Final Four and National Champion, 4 of 10 pick us to win the NC and 9 of 10 have us in the Final Four. Some reasons why: Andy Katz on UCLA:
OK, bear with me for a minute here. I continue to believe that Memphis should be the preseason No. 1 team in the country because of what the Tigers return (the starting five), and add Derrick Rose. Yet, once the season unfolds, UCLA should have its roles defined, notably the scoring shift to Josh Shipp from Arron Afflalo. Also, the Bruins will have become accustomed to Kevin Love's inside presence. Now, add in the veteran leadership of Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and point guard Darren Collison, as well as having the experience of two previous trips to the Final Four, and the Bruins are in position to win the title. Memphis should have a gaudier record and likely will be the No. 1 overall seed. But UCLA will be tougher come March with the ability to defend and now score on its way to its first title since 1995.

Reggie Rankin on UCLA:
The Bruins have the complete inside/outside package despite the loss of Arron Afflalo, who was the team leader and big shot taker and maker. This season, they should not miss a beat because they might have the best lead guard in the country in Darren Collison. Collison made his own share of big shots coming down the stretch of the season and in the Big Dance in addition to handing out almost six assists a game. Josh Shipp provides consistant scoring on the wing, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute creates match-up problems with the ability to play inside and out. Add great post depth in Alfred Aboya, Lorenzo Mata-Real and the instant low-post production from McDonald's All-American Kevin Love, and Darren Collison has tons of options, whether he is attacking in transition or setting up the halfcourt offense.

Even with all that, the most important factor is that Ben Howland's teams are known for is their physical man-to-man defense. A balanced, talented and defensive-minded team is difficult to keep from an April trip to San Antonio. Fran Fraschilla's NPOY candidates: Some very good candidates to be this season's national player of the year could suffer from the same fate as the Gators: being an excellent player on an outstanding and balanced team. UCLA's Darren Collison and freshman Kevin Love come to mind. Andy Katz searches for the face of college hoops: "I'm a team guy, so I'm going to say the face of the sport is UCLA anyway," Love said. "When I think about college basketball, I think of UCLA." Gary Parrish from CBSSports.com gives us a Pac-10 preview: 1. UCLA
The good: The core of the roster that just went to a second Final Four in two years is back. That means Darren Collison is passing the ball, Josh Shipp is shooting the ball and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is dunking the ball. Add freshman center Kevin Love to the mix, and what Ben Howland has is a team capable of going to yet another Final Four.

The bad: Arron Afflalo left school early, just like former classmate Jordan Farmar. And though there are mixed opinions about whether the Bruins will miss their shooting guard, the reality is he was an All-American who averaged 16.7 points, and don't you have to miss that some?

The bottom line: The Bruins are the favorites out of Las Vegas to win it all, and that makes sense. The great talent is in place. The great coach is in place, too. So now it's just a matter of breaking through, and avoiding Florida in the Final Four, of course.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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Comments

Thanks for pulling all this together

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Nov 8, 2007 12:18 AM PST reply actions

One thing I love

Is that none of these (and many other previews I've seen) mention Westbrook. True, it makes these reports based on bad reporting and therefore slightly questionable to put a huge amount of stock in. However, these pundits seem to think we're the best team, or nearly the best team, without even factoring in one of our biggest weapons, especially on the offensive end. If we take the first exhibition game as a sign for the rest of the season, these guys are leaving out our fifth starter, and they still think we have a good shot at winning it all. That's a pretty good compliment to the rest of the team, if not to Russell.

by jaffa on Nov 8, 2007 3:04 AM PST reply actions

Totally agree

but this time, just for now only, I will give the MSM a break. To them, Westbrook is still largely an unknown. He had some flashy plays, he's a capable guy, etc., but they really do not know him yet.

I think RW will break through this year and people will start to know him soon enough.

by Barnes2JJ on Nov 8, 2007 5:46 AM PST up reply actions

Agreed

To those outside of UCLA and the Pac-10, RW is just known as the backup PG. The MSM probably remembers his deer-in-the-headlights game he had at WV when DC was hurt, but by San Antonio, everyone will know who he is.

So for now, he's UCLA's best kept secret.

by psyberchologist on Nov 8, 2007 10:02 AM PST up reply actions

Bruin Advantage

What makes UCLA so special these days, and is also reminiscent of the Wooden era, is the focus Howland puts on team and on defense. Those are not sexy concepts for the MSM reporters to talk about, but they are the key to what Howland is doing. While it is always nice to read about the abilities of the players that Howland has recruited and see them get recognition for their athletic abilities, it is the way they support each other, not putting one ahead of the other, which may not get attention from the MSM, but makes this alum very proud to be a Bruin. It would be great if there was more focus in the MSM on how well Howland brings these talented players together and gets them to put their egos aside in order to reach a common goal.

by Bruin77 on Nov 8, 2007 8:44 AM PST reply actions

Another Thing

Aside from the fact that no one sees Westbrook coming (and he will get even more minutes with Roll's injury), no one is mentioning Lorenzo and Alfred because they're so focused on Kevin Love. The idea is out there that UCLA has been about guards (Farmar, Affalo, Collison stepping in) but that Love is going to give them a presence in the post for the first time.

Lorenzo (I would say Mata, but Mata-Real is a lot to type, and Lorenzo is a very cool name) is a senior who has made great strides during his career. He reminds me a little bit of George Zidek, who took a long time to develop and worked hard, and then when he was a senior the hook shot looked great and he was hitting from the perimeter, and he was a force to be reckoned with. Love is going to get a lot of attention, and teams will ignore Lorenzo and he will put up numbers like he did against Chico St--13 points and 13 rebounds. He gets easy layups on offensive rebounds, his lefty jump hook looks very good as a post move, and he's even threatening to start hitting little jump shots, which the Bruins won't need when Shipp and Collison are back, but still. Lorenzo is very big and strong and is a force on defense and the boards. And he will probably keep coming off the bench, which means that he will be under the radar even longer.

The same goes for Aboye. When I see that Luc Richard is doing the little things and not putting up big numbers, for some reason I remember that he was a throw-in when UCLA was recruiting Aboye. AA has had injuries and some stumbling blocks, but he is strong, fast, athletic, healthy and ready to play--and you would think that he's not even on the team, because after they finish talking about Kevin Love, they have to talk about Luc. The maturity and strength of both AA and Lorenzo have been overlooked, but they're going to pay nice dividends as part of UCLA's attack this season.

by zhivooden on Nov 8, 2007 11:39 AM PST reply actions