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Around SBN: Ellenberger vs. Sanchez Heats Up, Hughes Talks Retirement

Feeling Good: Ben Ball News & Notes

We will start our Monday with a heavy dose of Kevin Love. Things are looking good for our Ben Ball warriors after the Bay Area trip, in which for the first time this season our team played seamlessly with Love. Scout.com’s Tracy Pierson (BRO) made the following observations on Fox Sports about our warriors being in sync:

So far this season, the team hadn't played completely seamlessly with Love. There have been flashes, but it's almost like they've been taking baby steps.

This game was a big step.

The ball went down low to Love consistently. The rest of the team got Love singled up on the block and threw him nice entry passes. Love posted up well against a future NBA player most of the time, caught the ball, stayed in control, waited for space and avoided the double team. He showed more of his post abilities we knew he had in this game than he had in just about all of the 14 previous games this season. In the first half, he sealed, scored off jump hooks and turnarounds, even a three-pointer, and passed out of the block to cutters with precision. He blocked out and rebounded, and played very good defense. In fact, his post defense against Devon Hardin was perhaps better than Lorenzo Mata-Real's, which is a first for Love.

And the rest of the team played well away from and with Love. They played well off him, moving well away from the ball when he had it, and found good, open looks and lanes.

UCLA's offense, now, isn't primarily about swinging the ball around the perimeter and setting multiple screens to get its perimeter shooters open. In this game, it was about swinging the ball around to be ready when Love tried to post-up on either block.

You could see these Bruins starting to realize that the team's offense needs to go inside-outside for it to operate at its optimum, and they look like they feel far more comfortable doing it. UCLA's offense in recent years has never been multi-dimensional and, many times, was disjointed. This was the first you could see UCLA actually getting in a true offensive rhythm.
The question for our team now is whether they are going to be able to stay in that rhythm for the rest of the season. Love is doing his part and, per Diane Pucin, he has been putting in some extra work in practice:
Love, who had 34 points and 21 rebounds on the trip while playing against Stanford's 7-foot twins Brook and Robin Lopez and California's 6-11 DeVon Hardin and 6-10 Ryan Anderson, said he and assistant coach Donny Daniels had done extra work in practice on the shot.

"I had used it this season," Love said, "but I didn't necessarily get the same elevation on it that I'd need. Against the Pac-10 with a lot of big guys in there, I needed to shoot it higher. People say I can't score over bigger defenders. I did that this weekend. I've got to keep doing it."

Daniels said he and Coach Ben Howland talked to Love about developing the hook shot. The message, Daniels said, was simple: "We told him to trust his skill level. He knows how high that level is."
More from Pucin on how Love has been an eager student working to get better:
Daniels said the fun of working with Love was that the freshman comes with built-to-last fundamentals. "It's an absolute joy," Daniels said, "because he wants to get better."

As far as improving Love's hook, Daniels said, "We needed him to get deeper post catches and then work on the nuances of setting himself up. We also wanted him not spinning the ball when he shoots it. That helps him get height on the shot."

Also, Daniels said, against Stanford and Cal, Love began to jump higher with the shot. "He was extending his arm," Daniels said. "He wasn't flipping the ball, he was truly shooting it."
Besides all the serious work at practice, Love and his team-mates have also been having a little fun. From the OC Register:
At the end of UCLA practices on the road they fire at will from half court, a little fun after finishing with their work.

On Friday, Love stepped up and nailed the first shot he took, then moved back and made one from the opposite end of the court.

"From our end, from the end line, down there at the end of the bench, out of bounds, he swished one on a two-handed chest pass all the way to the other basket," Howland said. "I have never seen that in my life. In fact, you know that LeBron James ad? But this was real. That was incredible.

''I was feeling good about him after watching that."
Well, we are all feeling good heading into the Washington games this week. But, as mentioned before, all the good vibes/vibes from this past road trip could be swept away with a bad performance against any of the talented Washington schools this coming week.

One thing I should mention before ending this roundup is so much for all the talk of poor scheduling by Coach Howland. If anything, one can argue that the scheduling Howland set up this season, in which he had our boys take on teams featuring slow, methodical half court offenses, and zone defenses along with difficult games against teams like Michigan State, Michigan and of course Texas, had them well prepared going into their first road trip. Now let’s hope the Ben Ball warriors can maintain the level of intensity they showed against Stanford and Cal this coming week and rest of the season.

GO BRUINS.

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You mean Good Vibrations, right?
instead of "good vibes"

I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Mike Love wearing his yellow UCLA hat, eating popcorn, and watching his nephew dominate.  That hat looked a bit old, wonder if he has been a long time UCLA Fan.  Anyways, I am a huge Beach Boys fan and it is a lot of fun having Mike Love root for us.

In addition to Mike and Stan Love in the stands, I also enjoyed seeing Fox Sports (Comcast Sports in Boston) interview Baron Davis.  Glad Baron Davis is keeping his ties to UCLA...seemed he wanted to distance himself from us when Lavin was our coach.

by bruinliv on Jan 7, 2008 8:12 AM PST reply actions  

Mike Love
Agreed; it's nice seeing him in the stands.  

And it gets Mrs. M geeked up some too.  Back not that long ago, Mrs. M (the far better trial lawyer in the family, by the way) represented Mike in a case in LA.  Not only won at trial, but got an award of attorney's fees.  (Sorry, non-lawyer BN'ers, had to brag about the Mrs.)

by Menelaus on Jan 7, 2008 1:04 PM PST up reply actions  

Speaking of Fox Sports
Who is in charge of keeping the running score accurate during games?  

Seriously, there were times that they didn't update our score until a full minute or more after a basket.  

I don't know if I have seen anyone do it worse during a broadcast than those two games over the weekend.

by Free the 16 on Jan 7, 2008 8:48 AM PST reply actions  

No kidding!
It was awful and utterly frustrating! The Pac-10 needs to wise up and escape from the grips of the mediocre broadcasting from Fox Sports. It's terrible.

by tasser10 on Jan 7, 2008 10:45 AM PST up reply actions  

Yep
That was driving me bananas.  I will literally yelling at the TV.  Pretty nice, though, that this little issue was mostly all I had to get riled up over.

by Menelaus on Jan 7, 2008 1:01 PM PST up reply actions  

Not just that
I've commented on it before, but the floor level shots are extremely annoying.  You have no perspective on the game, and the ref often gets in the way.  They should never be using that during the live shots.
Bob O. (Signholder #3)

by TuneMan7 on Jan 7, 2008 1:03 PM PST up reply actions  

We need to take care of business
And take out Washington, Wazzu and USC at home. 5-0 start will build supreme confidence in the team and open up a possibility of going undefeated in the conference.
Prediction: UCLA wins conference 14-4.

by Howland on Jan 7, 2008 1:13 PM PST reply actions  

And yet
your "prediction" says we win the conference 14-4...

by tasser10 on Jan 7, 2008 1:23 PM PST up reply actions  

I made that before season began...
When Collison went down with injury. Team has played much better then I expected since. They adjusted to losing Aaron Afflalo without losing a step due to Westbrook's emergence. Add to that Kevin Love who has been great out of the gate. Very impressive. I think they can take the conference 18-0 if they keep this up.
Prediction: UCLA wins conference 14-4.

by Howland on Jan 7, 2008 2:18 PM PST up reply actions  

Howland
I mean cardom. I know you want to sound confident. But sometimes you sound like cocky, arrogant Southern Cal football fan, claiming how we should go undefeated or how we should be blowing out teams, without showing any respect to the opposition.

And then if something goes wrong you jump all over our players just like you did with your previous username "cardom."

Please keep that SuC type of mentality out of here. Thanks.

by Nestor on Jan 7, 2008 2:22 PM PST up reply actions  

I was trying to be nice...
the cardom comments during the game threads were tough to swallow...

by tasser10 on Jan 7, 2008 2:27 PM PST up reply actions  

Well everyone has the right to their own opinion.
I happen to respect everyone elses on this board though, even if I disagree. Oh and... I don't single people out.
Prediction: UCLA wins conference 14-4.

by Howland on Jan 7, 2008 2:43 PM PST up reply actions  

If you attack any of our players
Like you did as "cardom" not only we will single you out again, you will be gone. Period.

by Nestor on Jan 7, 2008 2:44 PM PST up reply actions  

You just attcked Josh Shipp about 50 times
Yesterday.... Lets try to be consistent, ok?
Prediction: UCLA wins conference 14-4.

by Howland on Jan 7, 2008 2:45 PM PST up reply actions  

Uhm
I made observations on Shipp's game in what I thought was in a very fair way compared to the abuse he has taken elswhere.

Unlike you I didn't call Shipp a "weak link."

I don't sound like a TrOJan like quitter calling the team "utterly disappointing" at first sign of adversity.

Oh one more rule for you if ever want to come back on BN ... don't insult the people who are regulars or running this Bruin community.

Goodbye.

GO BRUINS.

by Nestor on Jan 7, 2008 2:51 PM PST up reply actions  

I actually like your prediction
I just think the Pac-10 is that tough this year. Aside from Oregon State, every team is capable of beating any other in the conference. I think we'll lose at least one and at most four games in the conference though.

by tasser10 on Jan 7, 2008 2:25 PM PST up reply actions  

I'll stick by the prodiction.
But I do think we can go undefeated. I just think this team happens to be superior to other teams in the conference, and by the looks of it, more and more consistent.
Prediction: UCLA wins conference 14-4.

by Howland on Jan 7, 2008 2:40 PM PST up reply actions  

No Bay Area Loss
Splitting the road games would not be an embarrassment.

We played two very good teams and at least one venue, Maples, is a place in which we've had trouble.

I'm not as worried about losing at home.

So, now we are down to a 3 loss, at most, conference record.

sjh

sjh

by Class of 66 on Jan 7, 2008 4:34 PM PST up reply actions  

Prediction...
UCLA wins conference 16-2...

by RScal on Jan 8, 2008 12:15 PM PST up reply actions  

Poised.
I am a NorCal Bruin and was at the Cal game.  One thing that I had seen on TV all year, and was abundantly clear in person, is that Kevin Love is one of the most poised freshmen I have ever seen.  I sat in the Cal section (wearing my No Mata What t-shirt, no less), and all around me I kept hearing them complain "is that guy really a true freshman?"  Awesome.  They were all completely sour then entire time, except when Hardin threw down those dunks.  That's great except Love pretty much owned him the rest of the time.

The only negative is that Love is clearly shorter than advertised.  I was close enough to the court (right behind Lord Baron) to see that Keefe was a good inch or two taller.  Seriously.

by Larry Flash Jenkins on Jan 7, 2008 3:00 PM PST reply actions  

He Plays Tall
and that's what counts.

I agree, he is incredibly poised. There have been games when he's been pushed, beaten and hacked -- with no calls in his favor.

He's also picked up some very cheap fouls.

He doesn't complain. I love that. He just goes out and plays harder.

I was upset to read the press crap about the split between KL and the "older" players.

It's hard to see how that could be when you see how unselfish he is -- and how much better he is making everyone else.

The adjustment in "chemistry" and playing together has been magnificent.

There is no "bigger" player I'd take in Love's place.

sjh

by Class of 66 on Jan 7, 2008 4:38 PM PST up reply actions  

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