Tonight our Bruins extended their undefeated Pac 10 season (thus far) against a talented and well coached Washington team.  And the best part was that we continued our winning with our whatever-it-takes-to-win approach.  By that I mean that we've won in very different ways the past three games.  Shipp had a very hot hand in Palo Alto.  Love was both a stud and a workhorse at Haas.  And tonight featured big points from both Russel and Luc.  And through it all the team was anchored by that tough, frustrating, smothering, and suffocating defense that is the trademark of our great coach and even greater program.  
     What's encouraging about this is that we aren't relying on just one guy for our wins.  And in the unlikely circumstance in which EVERYONE is having an off night, our defense will still be there to keep us in contention for a W.  We are really hitting our stride and I am KEEPING MY FINGERS CROSSED that Darren's ok.  
     I don't think there's much need for player-by-player analysis of tonight's game.  Josh's shot was off a bit.  Alfred fouled WAY too much (couple questionable calls, though).  Everyone looked shitty in the last five minutes (we were tired and the game was over).  
     I will say that I am very pleased with the minutes we've been getting out of James Keefe.  Obviously, he's still shaking the rust the rest of the team got rid of a month ago, but he's doing exactly what's asked of him and bringing major physical intensity on the defensive end.  That's not to say that he doesn't have his share of kinks to work out on both ends, but Christ, two weeks ago the guy thought he'd be in street clothes for the duration of the year.  Keefe's minutes are CRUCIAL for us if we want to play with the defensive intensity that Howland demands of his team.  I will also say that what James is doing is INCREDIBLY unselfish.  All things considered it might be better for James personally to redshirt this year, but like all Howland players, James is a team-first guy.  So a big thank you to JK from me.  And the rest of BN owes him one too.  
     Also, one of my biggest concerns earlier in the season was the quality of Love's defensive play.  In his first couple games, his defense was definitely below Ben Howland caliber.  But Kevin has proved quite how coachable he is by improving MASSIVELY on the defensive end since the season opener.  I was never that concerned with his ability to play defense, it was just that he hadn't figured out our defensive system yet and I personally don't think Kevin realized quite how intense and taxing it is to play defense in our system.  But the guy's got an Einstein-esque bball IQ and it's really showing on the defensive end.  He's now banged with some of the best bigs in the conference and come out on top each time.  I love having this guy.  
     If tonight showed us anything, it's that we need minutes out of our bench guys badly.  The guys looked particularly gassed there at the end.  With Collison out for a lot of the second half and Aboya in foul trouble seemingly from the opening tip, we were asking a lot of minutes from our other starters and Westy also.  And despite our excellent conditioning, we still looked tired as the game wound down.  So here's to hoping that Darren and Luc are both 100% against Wazzu this Saturday because we'll be needing all the minutes we can get.  
     In terms of being at the game, it was great to see Coach Neuheisel there high-fiving with the student section and generally enjoying his life back in Westwood.  My only complaint: why didn't we put the guy up on the Jumbotron?  I was seriously eager to give him a Standing O, but, the opportunity never came.
     Also, the whole BRUIN spellout/unusually slow 8-clap right before the game is starting to really bother me.  It's not particularly intimidating or inspiring.  The student section has a great pregame repertoire as it is and the whole thing just isn't really necessary (just my opinion).  I mean, every time it happens I just find myself asking why we feel the need to do this in THE YANKEE STADIUM OF COLLEGE BASKETBALL.  
     One more thing.  For the first time under Howland, we have an affirmatively good free throw shooting team.  A lot of this is due, again, to the big man, Kevin Love.  Whatever it is, it creates for significantly less stress during the course of a normal game.  And for people like us, that's a HUGE luxury.  
     Biggest game of the year on Saturday.  Who's ready?

GO BRUINS.

=