it was our 3’s that kept us in the game offensively. It way the only way we kept up with Abrams. And I like that it’s been a couple of guys taking these shots-DC, JK, ND, JS, MR. We definitely struggled in that area last year.

The team fought really well tonight. We were really close to getting it done. I think If Jrue Holiday had even an average night scoring and playing his game we would have won this game. He will get better as his confidence grows. He is just too good.

Last year, I slept out all night only to watch Texas come in and beat us in a very close game at Pauley. After the game, I remembered wondering how the team could possibly improve. Sure, Kevin Love could have been a bit more in shape, and yes, DC had just gotten his knee brace off. But those were the only two areas in which we stood to improve.

This year, I just watched a team which can barely execute at all on offense go into Texas and nearly come out with a win. At times, even our defense looked lost and confused. We’re making silly turnovers and leaving men wide open under the basket and at the 3pt line. And we still hung right with Texas the entire game. It’s not about there being room for improvement. It’s that we will improve. I have no doubt in my mind. Obviously the five freshmen will be part of that improvement. But so will Keefe, Roll and Dragovic, who are getting serious minutes in big games for the first time (with the exception of Roll, who’s getting big minutes for the first time in over a year). And then there’s Aboya, who appears to be getting better and better offensively.

So call me crazy, but I’m feeling far more optimistic about our season after this game than I was before it. Every loss hurts, especially to Texas. I remember sleeping out in the cold, only to watch Texas make a game winning shot and then rub it in by screaming at all of the Bruin fans, in the middle of the court. It hurts, a lot. I wish we could have done the same to them this year (in a more classy way, of course). But the fact is, after watching this game, I’m convinced that we’ll be in prime position for a run at our fourth straight Final Four come March. GO BRUINS!!!

I have to agree with deepdish. I know that we were the lower ranked team playing on the road, and I know that we are a young team that will improve as the season goes on, but this one was still painful to watch at the end. We had so many chances . . .

I can only hope history repeats and we draw Texas in the Tourney and do the same thing to them that we did to Memphis a couple of years ago.

A good effort. Bruins showed plenty of heart and toughness. Roll needs more minutes; young players need a little more time.

I must admit I did not see the first half. From what I saw in the second half, I must say that I was rather impressed with the team’s effort tonight. I just love Aboya, he brings it every game and like an earlier post mentioned, his offense is improving and I think the team will ultimately be very strong upfront. What’s going on with the freshman bigs? they didn’t play at all in the second half.

Abrams was playing out of his mind and it’s hard to win with that. At the same time, Collison was taking over when the team needed it… unfortunately, that’s not quite enough. All in all, however, it was a good effort and a good game. We’re still young and I think this was an incredible lesson for our bruins. We need to learn how to finish games, without relying entirely on DC. Our freshmen will develop and contribute more points down the stretch. We will win close games against good opponents like this.

First of all I wanna introduce myself cause this is my first post on BN. I’m Patrick 29 years old and living in Switzerland.

On to tonights game. I got up at 3 in the morning just to watch the game and like all of you I was hoping to get a win. Sure a loss always hurts but not so much like the one against Michigan. First half wasn’t that good. Starting with some early turnovers and having problems to create something down the stretch. It was all on DC’s shoulders till second half when finalley JS stepped up and took some shots. What keeps me positive is that we got a lot of room to improve. JH wasn’t a factor tonight as none of the other freshman. As the season goes on I’m sure they will be. The team showed a lot of heart in the second half getting back in the game from down 9 and hanging in there with the chance to even win this thing. Looking forward to see this team getting better from game to game.

CBH has 2 things that he can rely on at this point in the season. He knows what he’ll get from DC and he knows that AA2 will battle like the warrior that he is. Otherwise, he is rolling the dice on any given night.

Shipp is still struggling to find his shot, JK is in a new role starting, Roll missed an entire season and is trying to find his way, Drago is seeing his first extensive playing time and we have 5 FR that we are trying to develop. Add on the fact that each guy is trying to find their roles, sprinkle in some Motion, learn how to play Ben Ball D and jell into a cohesive unit. We have only played 6 games thus far. I repeat, 6 games.

Talent alone does not equal success. You need real life game experience coupled with it. The team will become a cohesive and formidable unit come March. I don’t even question it. CBH has proven to me what he can do with a group of individuals when tourney time rolls around. We’ll get better rebounding the ball, rotating on defense, hitting our throws, moving without the ball. etc. This isn’t college football where early losses can doom your season.

Just going to touch on Jrue since expectations are sky high for him by Bruins. Jrue has a lot of talent which we can all see. Having said that, he is not at the level of a Rose/Beasley/Love/etc. from the prior class. This entire class is nowhere at their level. This isn’t to say he cannot achieve a lot this season. I just think that people need to show some patience and allow the kid to find himself on this team. Jrue is a humble kid and I’m pretty darn sure that he is deferring to DC/Shipp/Aboya because he is the freshman. His situation reminds me of Rudy Gay at UCONN. When Gay arrived as a FR, he had established players like Armstrong/Boone/Williams/Villanueva/Brown/Anderson/etc. and was focused more on fitting in as one of the guys. This used to drive Calhoun nuts because he was the most talented guy on that team. In 04-05, UCONN ended up going 23-8 getting beat in the 2nd round. The following season UCONN went 30-4, earned a #1 seed but lost to George Mason in the Regional Final in OT. This was achieved because Gay started to assert himself. I think Jrue is in the same situation. He is getting adjusted to major D1 ball and trying to figure out where he fits on this team. What is CBH expecting from him, what are his teammates expecting from him, when & how should he assert himself, how do I get open without the ball, etc. Besides DC, Jrue is the only other guy on our team that can get their shot off at will and/or create open/easy looks for others IMO. It may take some prodding from CBH and our leaders but I’m confident he’ll realize this sooner rather than later.

The progress/development of players/teams throughout the season is what makes college ball so interesting. And lets not hand UNC the title just yet. Yes, they are the team to beat but remember NC State v Houston or GTown v Nova or even George Mason taking down the Gay led UCONN team?