Golden State Bruins

by Nestor on May 3, 2007 4:19 AM PDT in Basketball

Sam Allen from the Daily Bruin has a pretty interesting read on the Golden State Bruins:

In an era when the ties between NCAA universities and NBA teams have been all but severed by early entries to the draft, it's rare to hear any school mentioned during the playoffs.

But the Golden State Warriors are breaking a lot of trends this postseason, and they're waving a UCLA banner as they do it.

The Warriors are facing the Dallas Mavericks, defending Western Conference champions and owners of the league's best record, and they have them on the ropes with a 3-2 series lead. Golden State was minutes away from the ultimate upset last night, squandering a nine-point fourth quarter lead. The team will have another shot Thursday night at home in Oakland.

Dallas looked invincible entering the series with a 67-15 record and a chip on its shoulder from last year's loss in the finals. Yet the young Warriors have made them look entirely human, taking game 1 in Dallas and then 2 in Oakland. All of a sudden, the NBA could see a top seed fall in the first round for the first time in 8 years.

The Warriors are led by a former Bruin, Baron Davis. The point guard has had the best statistical season of his career and started in 60 games for the first time since '03-'04. Davis has averaged over 25 points a game in the series.

When Davis went down at the beginning of his sophomore season (his last at UCLA) with an injury, he was replaced by sophomore Matt Barnes. Barnes went on to enjoy a solid four-year career at UCLA while Davis became a star in the pro league. Barnes bounced around the NBA after being selected in the 2002 Draft, playing for the Clippers, Sixers, Kings, and Knicks.

Davis and Barnes were reunited at the beginning of this season, and Barnes has finally found some stability alongside his former UCLA teammate. He has finally cracked an NBA starting lineup after four seasons and has been a valuable addition to Golden State's rotation.

During broadcasts, the bond between Davis and Barnes has been an obvious topic of discussion because two UCLA greats have been announcing the games; Reggie Miller on TNT and Bill Walton on ESPN. Miller has emphasized the Westwood link in his thoughtful, articulate style. The eccentric Walton, always proud of his glorious college career, has been sure to characterize the journeyman Barnes as a "UCLA great."

The matchups resonate with longtime Bruin fans, too. Mavericks point guard Jason Terry starred at Arizona while Davis and Barnes were at UCLA. Davis beat the Wildcats just once in his two years at UCLA. But he has gotten the best of Terry almost a decade later, dominating the Arizona alum on the grand stage of the NBA playoffs.

I am really happy to see Baron and Matt doing so well in the NBA. I think everyone kind of expected Baron to have a great career in the NBA. Matt on the other hand snuck up on lot of folks who are not closely alligned with UCLA. To me Matt's emergence as NBA star has been nothing short of awesome. I always liked this kid's game in Westwood. Despite being saddled with a joke of a basketball "coach," he kept chipping away. He kept working away and developed his game year by year. And now he has found himself the perfect fit. One can only imagine what this kid would have done at UCLA if he had the opportunity to play for a coach like Howland.

In any event that's all water under the bridge. I am not really following the NBA playoffs that closely anymore (I don't follow pro sports on a day to day basis as I do with UCLA athletics. I used to back in the day when professional sports actually meant ... well that's for whole another post some day). Lakers are a joke and the whole league is boring. But it would be very cool to see Baron and Matt keep the Bruin show going. For more on the Warriors check out our SBN colleagues over at Golden State of Mind. Just like Baron and Matt that place is blowing up.

GO BRUINS.

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Farmar should have played more

By the end of the season, he had established himself as the best and most consistent point guard on the roster. The way I feel about the Lakers now after Kupchak's bumbling ways is very similar to the way I feel about our football program. This humbling playoff exit should convince management that they are truly wasting Kobe Bryant's career. It's time for Kupchak to sack up and make the tough decisions that will get him some help. Feels pretty much the same as after four humbling years of Karl Dorrell football. I hope that the powers that be in both situations realize that the status quo is simply unacceptable.

by Tydides on May 3, 2007 11:07 AM PDT reply actions

I dunno...

Farmar played strong defense, but some of his offensive shot decisions were just atrocious at times.

'Course, he's a rookie, and he's clearly the future of the Lakers at the point, but how many more years is Kobe going to be surrounded by young kids with 'potential', as opposed to realy players that can contribute to a championship team now?

Regardless, for a rook, Farmar played well in the playoffs. He averaged 1 turnover throughout the series with the Suns. That's solid. And while his shot selection was at times curious, he still shot 43% from the floor during the entire series, and averaged 6.4 ppg.

by CAJason80 on May 3, 2007 12:03 PM PDT up reply actions

that sounds like his college playing

solid, good defender, hard worker, takes ill advised shots some times.

"when you've seen how big the world is, how can you make due with this?"

by silverlakebruin on May 3, 2007 2:12 PM PDT up reply actions

Atrocious shot selection?

If you Googled that, the first hit would be Smush Parker. I didn't say Farmar was a world beater this year, but he was clearly the best point on the roster.

by Tydides on May 3, 2007 5:30 PM PDT up reply actions

Bruins in the NBA

I think Farmar has a bright future in the NBA whether its with the lakers or some other team, I hope he remains with the Lakers he has a promising career and what a better way to start a career than to start it under a coach like Phil Jackson

I'm glad to see Matt Barnes doing well he showed promise during his teunure with the Clippers, At UCLA he showed signs of promoise but due to the inabilty of the Coach he never found his rythum

Baron Davis was smart he got going before you know who could do anymore damage to his career

by Bruin10 on May 3, 2007 1:02 PM PDT reply actions

Farmar will have a chance to succeed

if the lakers trade him or Kobe. Several times Jordan was wide-open and Kobe failed to pass it to him, instead taking on 2 or 3 defenders. No wonder Kobe took 33 shots and had 6 TOs for 33 or 34 points. Quite simply Kobe has two modes: 1)try and score no matter what the defense does, 2) act like he's a team player and pass the ball all the time (like his 15 shot performance in game 2. He doesn't improvise, he needs a dominant player like Shaq, Kidd or Nash so he can play off them and be relagated to the scorer role.

Farmar has talent, he can definitely start in the NBA, just not sure the triangle or Kobe is the right fit for him and his confidence.

by stephons on May 3, 2007 1:42 PM PDT reply actions

Yeah

It's amazing how there is no middle ground with him.

by SuperBruinMan on May 3, 2007 3:33 PM PDT up reply actions

If only...

...they had a decent coach while at UCLA.

by Westwood Wizard on May 3, 2007 2:43 PM PDT reply actions

IIRC, Quagmire had the following NBAers...

... play for him at one time or another in his six years at UCLA:

Charles O'Bannon
Toby Bailey
JR Henderson
Jelani McCoy
Baron Davis
Earl Watson
Matt Barnes
Jerome Moiso
Dan Gadzuric
Jason Kapono
Trevor Ariza
Cedric Bozeman
Ryan Hollins...

and the best we ever got was an Elite 8?

Man...

MIM

And we will have our vengeance, in this game and the next.

by Meriones on May 3, 2007 4:17 PM PDT reply actions

One correction

He didn't have Ariza. Ariza played his freshman year under Howland.

He did have Patterson (who was decent) and Dijon Thompson. But had no idea how to coach them.

by Nestor on May 3, 2007 6:30 PM PDT up reply actions

I sit corrected.

Thing is, did Dijon actually suit up and play in the Association, or did he not make an opening day roster?

And we will have our vengeance, in this game and the next.

by Meriones on May 4, 2007 4:04 PM PDT up reply actions

He played a little

for Phoenix and Atlanta

by SuperBruinMan on May 4, 2007 4:25 PM PDT up reply actions

MB showing his potential

I said it the whole time Matt Barnes was at UCLA -He could have been one of our best ever. You could see glimpses of mad talent and potential. It was his lack of development during his UCLA years that sealed the deal on Lavin for me. He recruited some great players, but those players just never got much better under his coaching, and I think Matt Barnes suffered to a greater extent than anyone else. In general, the NBA is not about developing raw talent, so lots of players with rough edges take several years to come around, it they ever do at all (look at how many high school phenoms never make it - now if they would all spend a few years with Howland...). So it's great to see Barnes beginning to realize some of that potential, and I think Baron Davis should get some of that credit, too.

greg in denver

by gbruin on May 3, 2007 10:09 PM PDT reply actions