No Doubt

by Nestor on Jan 25, 2008 4:33 AM PST in Basketball Comment 19 comments

I will be frank. Heading into last night’s game, I was feeling pretty gloomy about our prospects against Oregon on their home court. We didn’t have Luc. We didn’t have Mata-Real. Those are two of our toughest and most experienced warriors who have been through all the wars. Our backcourt was in a funk and then there was all the mental games that were going around Kevin Love.

So even for someone like me who has completely drunk on Ben Ball kool aid, I was resigned to the idea that the Bruins could lose last night and then look to recover from their first two game slide since the middle of the 05-06 season.

Well, I am a little more than giddy about our warriors once again proving my doubts totally wrong and delivering what Coach Howland is calling the "best" win of his (what will turn out to be a HOF) career to date:

"This was the best win I've ever been part of in my 27 years in this business," UCLA Coach Ben Howland said.

The Bruins came in short-handed because starting forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and backup center Lorenzo Mata-Real were sidelined with concussions suffered in Saturday's loss to USC. Early in the second half, starting forward Alfred Aboya and the new sixth man James Keefe had each four fouls. UCLA also is missing swingman Michael Roll (foot) who would be the sixth man in the rotation.

"Three of our top seven guys are out," Howland said, "and we beat a really good team. It was unbelievable."

Not only did we beat a good team. We beat a team that was undefeated on their home court and was probably looking to last night’s game and all the bruhahahahaha around Love as their statement game of the season. It certainly was a statement game for them last year. And winning last night would have given a boost to their chances of making the tournament.

There is no need for me to wax poetic about who was the man last night. From Brian Dohn on a Bruin performance for the ages:

Love's performance was more impressive because of its necessity. The Bruins played without starting forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and backup center Lorenzo Mata-Real, both of whom were out with concussions. Both players' status is in question for Saturday's game at Oregon State, and their absence put more pressure on Love to deliver.

"Kevin Love was just dominating," UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "I thought he handled (the crowd) really well. It never affected him at all. Overall, he was very poised. I thought our team was very poised.

"I knew how good (Love) was. This doesn't surprise me at all what he's doing. It's unbelievable. He's the best freshman I've ever coached and you look at what he's doing right now, it's incredible."

What was even more special about that performance was how Love took charge when things really got bleak. Once we got down by 7 in the middle of first half, it was pretty much Love who was keeping us in the game by getting down and dirty down low and getting to the line.

And for all that nonsense and stupid tricks the PC idiots were throwing at him. Well, here is Mr. Love’s reaction (in Dohn’s article):

"I had a lot of friends and family here, and a lot of people that hate me for not going to Oregon were here as well," Love said. "It was a fun game and a fun atmosphere. I'm not going to lie. It's pretty nice. It's pretty nice."

A freshman who is always poised both on and off the court:

Photo Credit:Jonathan Ferrey / Getty Images (via LA Times)

Speaking of "pretty nice," let’s talk a little about DC. Following the disappointing game against Southern Cal, DC comes up with his best game of the season. He scored a career high 22 points, with a huge chunk of them coming when the Bruins needed him most. He was poised, calm and kept his team under control. And guess who brought out the best in him? From Dohn again:

"I feel a lot better without the injuries nagging me," said Collison, who has dealt with hip and knee injuries this season. "Coach Howland had a meeting with me, and he told me the things I really needed to hear. He told me he needed me to start controlling the tempo more and just be more of a leader out there."

Somehow we had a feeling Coach Howland was going to find a way to refocus his warriors after the Southern Cal game. DC’s comments about Howland are not surprising. However, it is still refreshing to hear from our guys directly how their coach communicates with them to get the best out of them.

Now, if you didn’t see the game, there were two key sequences that really turned the tide for our warriors. From the OC Register:

The Bruins (17-2, 5-1 in the Pac-10) were down by seven points in the second half, but crept closer behind some big baskets by Darren Collison. They then took over the game with a closing flurry that started with an improbable 3-point shot from Nikola Dragovic, who had not played in three of the Bruins' five Pac-10 games.

Down 71-67, Dragovic hit the 3-pointer from the right to bring the Bruins to a one-point deficit. Oregon (12-7, 304) had a chance to build that lead again, but Russell Westbrook came from behind to knock the ball away from Maarty Leunen, the ball bouncing out to midcourt where the Bruins' guard gathered it in and took it the rest of the way for a layup that gave UCLA a lead with 2:38 to play.

"They'd been doing the same play the whole game. It was just a point of rotating over. I saw it there so I just took the steal," Westbrook said of the play. "The shot clock was running down, time was running out, so I knew he had to shoot pretty soon. I was just waiting on it."

I will post the highlights of those two plays (a mega thanks to Grok451) in a few minutes. But, yeah, I’d say Dragovic’s bomb was huge. And I am hoping and praying this will give him the confidence for rest of the season (and his career at UCLA). It was also good to see Westbrook going back to being Westbrook, playing AA like defense and generating his offense off it.

As our guys move on from last night, we still have a few kinks to work out.

It might be a good idea to rest up Luc and Mata-Real even more to get them totally ready for next week. I think the Oregon State game presents a great opportunity for Keefe to step up. He played ok in spurts last night. He had a key 3 pointer. However, he needs to play in a little more control. And speaking of playing in control, COMEON AA2. Comeon man. I love that kid’s hustle, heart, and desire. But he just needs to control himself just a little bit.

Our defense also needs to improve heading into Saturday’s game. I thought our on ball defense was very poor early. Those guys were getting many good looks from the paint. They were scoring at will early on with a lot of layups. I think we caught a break when Malik went out with the injury. We had no answer for that guy, as our forwards looked helpless matching up against him.

We really need to tighten up our perimeter D and can’t let their guards go right around us. We are not going to go very far this season if we don’t lock up perimeter defense.

However, those are issues that I think are correctable. And we have a coach who will be working away relentlessly with his players to correct those issues and improve as a team every day. We will sit back and enjoy the ride.

And, in my case, I should never doubt our Ben Ball warriors.

GO BRUINS.

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Most dominant player: Love

Most dominant fan: Grok (how does he do those in-game highlight shots?)

The BN denizens had two MVP's last night.

by Fox 71 on Jan 25, 2008 5:28 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

What we saw last night

I am still in total awe of what I witnessed last night. There are many kudos to go around, but people let me tell you, that was a LEGENDARY performance by Mr. Kevin Love.

A true freshman in what will certainly be one of the toughest road games of the year, in very difficult circumstances given the injuries and the anti-Love crowd. And what does he do? Put up 26 pts and 18 rebs against a team that is denying him the ball everywhere he goes, and double and tripling him down low when he does get it. I am just in awe.

That's one of the best college performances I have ever seen, and definitely the best overall performance I have witnessed out of a freshman. Nestor and I talk privately a lot, and he chastized me a bit this morning for dreaming huge, but can you imagine if this kid by some huge miracle stayed a Bruin for four years? He would end up being one of the greatest college players of all-time. It doesn't hurt to dream a little.

GO BRUINS!

by paulucla on Jan 25, 2008 5:48 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Some Times We Forget

We Are A Very Young Team

Five of OU's players are seniors who have already graduated. They have experience, maturity, and a light class load.

We tend to forget how truly young our team is. Many playing last night have played very few minutes in their entire careers when compared to OU's players.

At tournament time, we see lesser known teams with senior starters pulling great upsets. Why? Poise and maturity, experience and physical development.

That makes what we are doing even more incredible.

We have a freshman who, in the great cosmos of college playing time, has played very little. He plays like a senior.

Drago, Keefe, Stanback -- almost no playing time. Our steady as a rock experienced players -- DC, JS and RW -- not a senior there, either.

It is a tribute to the quality of our players AND to the quality of our coaching that we play "older".

Think of this team if we had JF and AA, too.

Yes, we will have our moments and lapses -- but we forget that that's natural with young players.

This is a great group of YOUNG players who are bringing honor to our school.

sjh

by Class of 66 on Jan 25, 2008 7:16 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Huge Thanks/ Hat Tip/ Hallelujah Talk...

... to Grok. Thanks for giving us moving pictures to match our thousands of words!

"In this program your passion bucket must be full to play SC." -- CRN, to Dan Patrick, 1/2008

by Meriones on Jan 25, 2008 7:51 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Wow.

In a game we had 100 excuses to lose, somehow we got the victory. It was almost too much to ask the team to win--but we didn't have to ask--they just got the job done.

Forget Roll, Mata, and Mbah a Moute being out. Forget that we were on a supremely hostile court. And Forget that Oregon started out on a 7-0 run. No, I thought we were doomed by the fact that we accumulated so many fouls and DID NOT GET A SINGLE BALL to bounce our way in the first 35 mintues of action. How many times were we just a step away from getting a clean steal, only to see the ball tipped out of bounds to Oregon. How many times did a loose ball find its way like a magnet to an Oregon player alone under the hoop. Too many. How could we win the game under that kind of scenario?

Well, I'll tell you--and the posted highlights bear this out--we are simply resilient and tough. Congrats to our team--it was an amazing performance.

I simply cannot write this post without recognizing the absolute turning point in the game. Dragovic's three from the semi-corner. Down four, time ticking away, this kid comes of the bench when we HAD TO HAVE HIM and hits a HUGE three. I said yesterday, my favorite part about Drago is his fearlessness shooting the ball. Well, you got to give that kid credit. 2 minutes left, UCLA clawing to stay in the game, and he doesn't hesitate shooting a three pointer from the same spot he had just missed from minutes earlier. That is confidence, and it was just what the doctor ordered. 71-70 Oregon, UCLA now only down one.

And then, after enduring a game of near steals and magnetic balls finding Oregon players, we got a magical block-and-steal from Westbrook, who then rammed the ball down the court and into the hoop to give UCLA the one-point lead. 72-71, UCLA. Amazing.

This game reminded me of Gonzaga from two years ago. Not as dramatic, and not the NCAA tournament. But given the circumstances, almost as improbable. Our team is gutty, and while they might not be the best in the nation right now, I wouldn't trade their heart and desire for any other team in the nation.

Go Bruins.

by rfirpo on Jan 25, 2008 9:35 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Another eerie similarity with Gonzaga

Both games were won with an 11-0 run that began after our opponent scored its 70th and 71st points on two free throws from its star player. In 2006, Adam Morrison hit 2 FTs to make it 71-62, and our 11-0 run to finish the game made it 73-71. Last night, Maaaaaaarty Leunen hit two FTs to give the Ducks a 71-67 lead, and BOOM, we respond with an 11-0 run to make it 78-71 and put the game out of reach.

Maybe Leunen should have missed that 2nd free throw and avoided the dreaded 71-point jinx.

by BruinsRule on Jan 25, 2008 3:54 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

As great as Love was...

and as good as it was to see Drago and Keefe contributing, DC deserves some major kudos. Last night was the first time this season where he looked like DC from last year. He stayed with Porter defensively, which is extremely hard to do, and his dribble penetration was outstanding, as was his pull-up jumper. 22 points was very nice, but six assists to only one turnover was excellent. He controlled the pace of the game especially in the 2nd half, and made good decisions with the ball. Great game for DC.

by ucladj89 on Jan 25, 2008 9:49 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Keefe is a disappointment

I sure hope that we have more than Keefe holding down the front line next year when Love is gone. Maybe I am too spoiled with Love's solid play, but he plays lousy defense and always makes flailing fouls. He looks out of control to me. I am not feeling good about the future that if Keefe is a major part of.

by Dodger Hater on Jan 25, 2008 12:20 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

You are spoiled

Keefe is a sophomore who came in after recovering from injured shoulder. And you are comparing him to once in a generational talent.

That is Spoiled with capitial S.

by Nestor on Jan 25, 2008 12:51 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I don't see what you're seeing about Keefe

I thought Keefe did his job. Granted, he only scored 3 points and fouled out and didn't get rebounds, but he sure looked like he was doing his job setting screens up top and playing defense. Don't make him out as Kwame Brown. James Keefe had a role and played it well enough for UCLA. He should get better as the season continues and he gets healthier and more confident in his skill set.

by UCLA4Life on Jan 25, 2008 2:48 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Yes, I am spoiled

Since I've followed the Bruins since the Wooden years, it is hard not to have unrealistic expectations!

But...

I just think we are going to be very disappointed when James Keefe is done with his UCLA career. Of course he is a sophomore and is thrust into the mix of a year he should have been redshirting, but I can't help but think he will end up being nothing more than a hacker on defense, getting burned time and time again.

Here is what I saw:

Since I don't see our guys play very often up here in Norcal, I still have a little trouble telling them apart in a split second on the tube.

EVERY time I saw a big white guy near the ball I think it is Love until I see Keefe make an overly agressive, reaching, flailing foul or near foul.

Hopefully you are right and I am an idiot with high expectations, but I think Howland has his work cut out for him making this guy a better- than-decent post player.

by Dodger Hater on Jan 25, 2008 3:39 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

471 Comments on the game thread

I think that number itself tells you a bit about how big this game was.

by jaffa on Jan 25, 2008 10:14 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Best win? How about Gonzaga? n/t

by Chandler on Jan 25, 2008 11:02 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Is Keefe a dissapointment?

Keefe was one of 24 players named to the 2006 All American team.

Of those 24 players, 8 went to the NBA after their prerequisite year in college.

The returning players are averaging 13 points and 4 rebounds per game. Keefe is averaging 2 points and 2 rebounds in 11 minutes a game which is the lowest of any of those guys.

I would call that a dissapointment.

Boisebruin

by boisebruin on Jan 25, 2008 1:58 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

In his defense.

(1) Keefe is only a sophomore.

(2) Keefe has been injured the entire year, and just recently decided to even play this year because Howland asked him to sacrifice for the team.

(3) Keefe has actually been playing pretty good of late.

Keefe is a four-year player at UCLA. He won't be leaving earlier. Given that, I think its better to judge him after fours years, not now. He just made a huge sacrafice for our team, and he hit a big three last night baby!

by rfirpo on Jan 25, 2008 2:06 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

Keefe will be around 4 years and, given our needs for size in the next couple of years, will have ample opportunity to contribute. I will withhold judgement until then.

For every one and done stud like Kevin Love, a program needs a solid but not spectacular player like Keefe, who'll stick around, embody the system, and provide the experience and leadership as a 4 year player (a la Ced Bozeman and Ryan Hollins)

by godblesstyus95 on Jan 25, 2008 3:43 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Uhm

How many of those players were backing up the player of the caliber of Luc Richard. To call Keefe a disappointment is exhibiting zero sense of perspective.

by Nestor on Jan 25, 2008 2:36 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

AA2

It seems he's getting some bad fouls based on his reputation. His third and fourth fouls were very questionable. That said, he needs to control himself just a little bit and not draw whistles.

by UCLA4Life on Jan 25, 2008 2:50 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Absolutely correct!

We definitely see reputational calls. Keefe is beginning to fall into the same category as Alfred. Every time James goes to set a screen or hedge a screen, the refs are ready to blow their whistle. Both need to slightly adjust the way they play hedges and set screens, and Aboya needs to not guard players as closely 25 feet from the basket. If they do that for several games, their reputations will change.

We also get the benefit of reputation. Love has already establised a reputation for playing good positional defense (not reaching in and not blocking), and officials seem unprepared to blow their whistles when he does.

by BruinsRule on Jan 25, 2008 4:00 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs