Why? Because back in like my 2nd year at UCLA, Larry Brown took our FAB 4, Michael Holton, Rod Foster, Cliff Pruitt, and Darrin Daye, PLUS Kiki V. to the FINALS. Brown made HELLA use outta the athleticism of those guys. Back in like 1979, is was not yet “normal” for the game to be played ABOVE THE RIM. It was for our crew.

Once the Centers took center court for the Opening Jump Ball, and the lights dimmed in Pauley, and the Student Section was already hoarse from IS THIS A BASKETBALL, IS THAT THE LOOOOOOOOOSING TEAM..etc. etc. from like the FIRST POSESSION, it was press, press, press… man-up, man-up, man-up,… force turn-overs… get an early lead, figuratively bloody a nose or two… and game was on!

C’mon guys, it’s Pauley Pavillion. I’m sorry, but as far as I’m concerned, our HOME GAMES should be punishing to opposing schools. Punishing. And our HOME record should look like a star little-leaguers batting average. I really only expect this at HOME.
Ok, ok, i give in for the sake of many of you… I DESIRE this at home – not expect it.

On the road, hey, a win is a win.

But, man-o-man, I don’t want mid-major opponents commin into Pauley, then going home feeling like they could personally play with us. If you’re name is not UNC, DUKE, KENTUCKY, INDIANA, ARIZONA, or USC (i include the trojans because all the kids know each other too well), if you’re not from a MAJOR program, you’re commin to Pauley for one reason: To Get Your A** Beat! Stop lowering our PAULEY standards. We got NBA’ers!

Oh, last point…
I don’t understand why we fought, fought, fought for J’Mision (sp), then didn’t give him a few videos of “how we do it at UCLA”, and a couple of homework pages of physical standards, and told him very nicely with a lot of love: “Son, we’re gonna love to have you in Westwood. By the way, here’s a video and a physical regime we’re gonna be expecting you to be ready for when you come to us for First Practice. If you’re not runnin the floor in 3.79 seconds (made up stat), flat, you’re gonna be woefully behind. When kids start behind, it’s takes too long to catch up, you don’t get the playin time I wanna give you, and NBA scouts won’t see you. Manhood starts now, son. See ya in the fall – IN THE BEST SHAPE OF YOUR LIFE! We luv ya! Make us proud!”

From watching the game on TV (may have been different in person), Michael Roll was solid last night. Hit some clutch 3’s and was very steady influence on the team. We will need him to come up big this season. He will also be a marked man, as teams will rightfully worry more about our outside game than our was less convincing inside game.

It would be really nice also if the team did not wait until crunch time to hit FT’s. We had a chance to put some space between us and Miami with a 4 point swing, but JK missed two FT’s (not even close on either one) after an intentional foul call, and then came up empty on ensuing possession. Arrgh.

N- IMO, Keefe didn’t look slow; he looked tentative, much as he did in his first two years before his modest surge at the end of last season.

Collison looked quicker, faster and bigger. I was way down on Shipp after last season, but he looked faster, more energetic and better. Roll can stroke it now and moves much better defensively.

I saw the game live, and while Jrue had 2 early fouls that did take him out, I felt like Coach Howland definitely needs to get Jrue more involved in the offense. I don’t know if its confidence or unselfishness, but Jrue has way too many skills not to be taking more shots / going to the rim more often. When its clear that we aren’t going to get much if any offense from the front line, we need Jrue to be utilized more often! I know he sat a lot also because CBH has a tendency to pull a player for making stupid mistakes, but how else is a player going to learn?

this team has some amazingly talented guys, but they need time to gel. you can see that they still haven’t figured out who the scorers are, who the slashers are, who the ballhandlers are, etc. when it counted, DC and Shipp stepped in and polished off the game, but it will take more than those two guys to reach the levels UCLA has achieved the last few years.

Notes:
Bobo is out of shape, and it shows on the defensive end. He will improve.
Dragovic, I feel, is not worth this team’s time.
Roll needs to play a greater role. And I think he naturally will.
The other 4 of the Fab Five Frosh just need time. They all look like pretty stellar talents.

We miss Love. Badly. DC drives and there’s no one in the middle to hand the ball off to. I don’t know if we’ll just shoot 3s or if aboya/keefe/morgan will get involved offensively, but I hope it’s the latter.

Next week will be very interesting. Go Bruins!!

cause i have tix for friday at msg. hopefully we’re in the second game that day!

only caught 2nd half. we didn’t look that good

i believe in jrue holiday. i don’t think he’s much of a project type player. think he will bounce back soon from this one.

this team is much deeper, and howland seems to be comfortable changing the people on the floor until the right combo works. last night the right combo was the older kids.
there’ll be some matchups and games where lee and holiday and gordon might be in more.

its early, this team has potential, looks good for a few minutes, looks much worse than last year the next couple.

we looked awful barely winning over this team, i’m not sold that miami ohio is going to be in the tourney, but next week has two new games, michigan will be tough. but let’s be a little supportive and optimistic, howland, collison, shipp – they’ve earned it.

My thoughts from watching the game at Pauley last night:

- Keefe was a liability most of the game. Very tentative and seems to be thinking rather than doing. Though his defense at the end was great and the 3 was huge.

- DC and Shipp are starting off much better than last year. DC looks solid (especially down the stretch when he took over) and Shipp looks like a different player to me with his mid-range fadeaways and a much quicker first step.

- Roll looks surprisingly good. He has his movement, his shot and confidence.

- JH and the other frosh have huge potential. We just need to give them time, especially JM. DG and ML look to me like they will be key contributors by the tourney if not before. And JH seems like he has some learning on where to go on set plays. Once he gets that down his athletic ability will take him to another level.

- Dragovic is a positive surprise for me. I think his defense has improved a lot and his shots are falling. I saw some negative posts here and I don’t get it. I’d like to see some data—what is he doing badly?

- AA2—yeah, I love him but I agree. I don’t see him becoming a dominant starter unfortunately. Something is missing. He’s got the body, athleticism, brains, but maybe not quite the skills. Forget KL, I miss Mata’s finishes around the basket. AA2 has a ways to go. But we’ll see, maybe he will put it together.

- CBH: I saw him tinkering a lot last night looking at different combos. It’s very early in the season and I can’t imagine anyone I’d trust more to get this team ready for the conference and then the tourney.

- SPTRs: Just unbelievable. Are we the only team in America that does not get the majority of calls our way when we play at home? Pauley is not such a difficult place to play in part because the refs often seem to help the other team (other than the occasional bad make-up call). Is this because our fans are so quiet? I’m sitting up in the rafters because I can’t afford the $$$ for donor seats and we are pretty noisy. Meanwhile, only half of the fat cats with great seats bother showing up and those who do sit on their hands and say hi to their buddies all night. I wish we could do better in this department but I don’t have any solutions to offer beyond letting the students sit in the lower level all around the court and renovating Pauley so we are all closer.

Well, I’ll be there yelling with all of you no matter what. Here’s to a good game against Michigan and a season of learning and improvement.