Thuggery 101

by Telemachus on Feb 18, 2008 6:36 PM PST in Basketball

Nestor brought my attention to this. At 3:40 left in the first half of Sunday's win over SC, Taj blocks Love's shot. Love falls to a crouching position and starts to get up. Taj then throws his elbow down, pushing Love to his knees. The following video has the sequence at normal speed followed by half-speed and zoomed.

So, anyone know how to get this to the Pac-10 as Nestor suggests?

How does Love not lose his temper. He's been getting this type of play all season.

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Tele

Great stuff. You should put the video in the top fold. Again this video should be blasted to everyone in the Pac-10 office.

by Nestor on Feb 18, 2008 6:47 PM PST reply actions

is there any way

that we can actually get officials to just be more wary of whats going on with him under the basket...its flat out embarrassing sometimes

O.A.

by Ollie on Feb 18, 2008 6:49 PM PST reply actions

Definitely a shove

But for some reason the Pac-10 director of officiating will rule that it was Love's fault just like with Aboya.

by UCLA4Life on Feb 18, 2008 6:51 PM PST reply actions

SuC won't ever win a championship

with a team comprised of thugs like that. NO.J. is the king thug, and he just embarrassed many of his supporters with his post-game whining. This is what happens when academic standards are set too low; SuC can only get UC's leftover rejects who don't have sportsmanship and class. I truly believe that.

by LoyalAlum94 on Feb 18, 2008 6:56 PM PST reply actions

Love is very composed

Even on the last rebound it looked like a trojan was still trying to hack at him.

by UCLA4Life on Feb 18, 2008 7:03 PM PST reply actions

Love can't lose his temper

he's our best player. Cheap, classless programs like SC will try and take him out mentally and physically. He and guys like Aboya just have to get them back with physical play while beating them on the boards. The coaches need to stay on top of the refs and watch for cheap plays like that and then stay on top of them and the Pac-10. I knew skinny little Taj was going to lose it at some point. Love was just overwhelming him with his size and athleticism.

by bruin95 on Feb 18, 2008 7:13 PM PST reply actions

I dont think OJ is as bad as the rest

OJ and Hackett are pretty good and I must say, OJ may suck at times, but I wouldn't say he's a thug. I've never seen him whine at the refs and usually if he commits a foul, he raises his hand to take the blame. He doesn't have that thug attitude and I actually think he's trying to help his team the best he can.

So far, i'm actually impressed he's been so composed with so much bad publicity that surrounds him. I would say Jefferson and Taj are the real thugs of that program, along with their bench comprised of 30 year olds.

by chourobin on Feb 18, 2008 7:16 PM PST reply actions

Agreed

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Feb 18, 2008 7:17 PM PST up reply actions

Good point about Mayo,

but a pretty good guy doesn't laugh and sneer when he concusses Lorenzo Mata-Real. And I won't call him out specifically, because he's injured and deserves (slight) sympathy, but his name rhymes with Spaniel Racket. And he was the Prince of Whining to Refs last night to Nick Young's King.

by yarrrp on Feb 18, 2008 7:46 PM PST up reply actions

Sorry, meant last year

by yarrrp on Feb 18, 2008 7:46 PM PST up reply actions

If a Kid Named OJ . . .

elects to go to USC (which had not recruited him) and wear #32, who are we to tell him he's not a thug?

by vanaaron on Feb 18, 2008 9:20 PM PST up reply actions

Oh jeez...

I didn't know that OJ Simpson also wore 32... what the heck was mayo thinking?

by bruinbunz on Feb 18, 2008 10:47 PM PST up reply actions

yea id agree too

OJ is great to pick on but not a real thug...Davon "the genius" Jefferson (greatest nickname ever btw) defines they're thug style bball.

O.A.

by Ollie on Feb 18, 2008 7:30 PM PST reply actions

Should've been a foul

but that play doesn't anger me half as much as the Tim Morris-Alfred Aboya situation. That was probably the most outrageous "non-call" I've ever seen.

You could probably find about a half dozen fouls that weren't called on every game tape. Yeah Gibson is a classless thug, but please don't waste any energy dwelling on this one. If the Pac 10 ignored the Morris play, they won't look at this one more than a millisecond.

"I just think, at the end of the day, UCLA is not a great job." Brian D'Oh!n, 12/07

by godblesstyus95 on Feb 18, 2008 7:44 PM PST reply actions

it's up to the Athletic Administration

to bring it to the Pac 10's notice. I would imagine they send in video all the time as do all the other schools.

GodBlessTyus is right, though. If they didn't do anything about the Tim Morriss non call they will do nothing about this one either.

A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment. John Wooden

by MexiBruin on Feb 18, 2008 7:48 PM PST reply actions

is it just me

or does that ref on the bottom (closest to camera) look like he was staring right at them too. this kind of thing bothers me to no end, i just hate to think that a player can act like that with no repercussions whatsoever.

by shipphappens on Feb 18, 2008 7:49 PM PST reply actions

yeah... i didn't notice that before

The ref looks like he's staring straight at Gibson throw Love to the floor. I'm pretty pissed off... major respect to our boys for keeping their cool so well, I would have blown a fuse or two by this play and the one against AA2.

I also agree that OJ2 keeps himself fairly well composed, IIRC he was the one who had to lead timmeh off the floor in the WSU meltdown.

by bruinbunz on Feb 18, 2008 8:09 PM PST up reply actions

Timmeh

It all starts at the top with those guys...Floyd is a total jackass.

by chaphill1 on Feb 18, 2008 8:22 PM PST reply actions

Are we just being crybabies? Just man it up.

I mean, come on. I completely understand the Washington dodgeball-to-the-face incident, but this? Just man it up, keep your composure, and keep on playing. How can be be the "Mighty" Bruins if we keep whining about every little bump and shove that comes our way. Teams always look to knock down the #1 team - rough play comes with being on top.

by mark the bruin on Feb 18, 2008 8:41 PM PST reply actions

You are exactly right.

We have a coach that watches a lot of film. If he has a problem with the officiating he will take the appropriate measures.

by mr havercamp on Feb 18, 2008 10:17 PM PST up reply actions

It's not about man'ing up

I could almost give Morris a pass on the Aboya incident. He could have just panicked. But Taj's hit was senseless. Love had already gone down and was just trying to get back up, only to be elbowed back down. That's a cheap shot in the back on an irrelevant play (the ball was nowhere near the play), while at least Morris was trying to get the ball in-bounded on Aboya's aggressive defense. No excuse for hitting him in the face, and he should have been T'd up, but at least it was in the context of a basketball play. Meanwhile, Taj had just blocked Love's basket - what's Taj pissed at to give a chickensh*t hit to a player from behind, who's in a helpless position? Look at Taj's follow thru, that wasn't a simple push.

And, by the way, our team has shown that they do man up. They don't complain and go about their business, but even the most composed player has his limits and if the refs don't reasonably control the cheap shots, something bad is going to happen. So us fans are just trying to bring some attention to it.

previously known as Grok451

by Telemachus on Feb 19, 2008 12:24 AM PST up reply actions

He didn't mean the players.

He meant the posters who whine every time something looks like it doesn't go our way need to man up!

The team and the coaches have shown over the years that they can keep their composure.

by mr havercamp on Feb 19, 2008 7:57 AM PST up reply actions

excuses

A few thoughts from the crowd, as I sat just a few rows IN FRONT of Mark Sanchez (yeah I let him know that the Bruins were gonna get him this year) at the Failen Center on Saturday.

First, that place isn't all it is cracked up to be. After the first level, which is real nice for all the big donors, the rest is a concrete jungle with no history or anything remotely nice. Junk is the right word. In fact, I kept asking the grumpy U$C fans behind me where all the National Championship Basketball banners were.....and why the rafters were so empty.....and a funny thing happened, they had no response.

Second, I felt like I was at at NBA game. I hope UCLA never goes to the crappy, hip-hop mentality that U. OF SOUTH CENTRAL has gone to. I felt like I was at a Clippers game, just with less talent for the home team.

Also, even the U$C fans next to me were commenting on how poorly coached that Trojan team was. I swear, the next time Timmeh's team sets a screen it'll be a moment to behold. They are literally a "spread it out, beat your man off the dribble for a layup" type of team. They had absolutey no clue how to set a screen or even run a play for that matter. I, for one, hope that Mrs. Floyd never leaves for LSU cause he is a pile of **. I hope he stays forever.

Another interesting question. Why wasn't Cheaty Petey wearing black for "black out the bruins" night? Kinda interesting that he wore a white shirt and didn't get into the spirit. To me, that speaks wonders. Hell, even Bruce Pearl at Tennessee painted his whole body orange and slapped a kiss on Pat Summitt. Could it be a case of Cheaty Petey, AKA Mr. Selfish, making a statement? Just a thought.

by jbcoach on Feb 18, 2008 8:42 PM PST reply actions

Cheaty Petey's camera shots

made him look like a deer in the headlights. Totally emotionless face like he was zoned out or something. Probably worrying about Coach Rick!

by mark the bruin on Feb 18, 2008 8:45 PM PST up reply actions

Given how Hollywood he's gone...

...he probably can't make any expression, too much botox.

Bob O. (Signholder #3)

by TuneMan7 on Feb 19, 2008 6:34 AM PST up reply actions

Can't blame the guy for

running around the bases. Supposedly his wife threw him out for banging a coed (again, can't blame the guy) and now he is running around campus nailing everything that moves. At least that's what I'd like to think he is doing. The "deer in the headlights" look is probably fatigue from so much effort coming up for air from all that punanny he is hitting. I would be surprised if he even knew a basketball game was going on. Not his fault.

by Koach Karl I on Feb 19, 2008 7:40 AM PST up reply actions

I talked to McCabe about this

and after reviewing the video, there is "no doubt" in his mind that Love's back created the contact with Gibson's elbow. You can kind of see Love's back "jump" into Gibson's elbow on the video.

/sarcasm

by LA Seitz on Feb 18, 2008 9:00 PM PST reply actions

Might have been a "make-up" non call

I was sitting behind the basket where Josh Shipp had his monster follow-up jam, and I was shocked that he didn't get T'd up for the way he stared down Mayo afterwards. Maybe the refs thought SC owed them one.

I dunno, the Pac-10 refs have set the bar so low that by their standards, I actually felt this was a well officiated game. Off hand, I can only think of a few blantantly bad calls- the two non "T"s, the non-call when LRMAM pump faked and the defender landed on him to force a turnover, a foul that gave Love two free throws when it probably should have been a jump ball (tho they missed when Love was fouled earlier in the possession), and the horrible charge call on Shipp's drive to the hoop where the defender was sliding over and undercut Shipp beneath the hoop. For the Pac-10, that's not too bad.

by insomniacslounge on Feb 18, 2008 10:44 PM PST reply actions

refs

I guess you missed Taj's "block" of a shot that had already come off of hitting the backboard by about a foot.

by bornagainbruin on Feb 19, 2008 7:23 AM PST up reply actions

Another piece of comedy

was the moving screen thatt allowed OJ2 to get open for his only points in the first half. The screen setter trips and almost falls down due to his own momentum. Pure comedy.

by bornagainbruin on Feb 19, 2008 7:25 AM PST up reply actions

I trust Howland and co

to take care of this the right way. Howland is OCD (in the best way possible) and there's no way he's going to miss anything. He'll make sure this is handled, either by the conference or in another matchup between us.

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Feb 19, 2008 12:26 AM PST reply actions