Ben Ball News & Notes

by Nestor on Feb 25, 2008 4:43 AM PST in Basketball Comment 41 comments

As the Bruins get ready for their final (true) road trip of the season LRMAM is still playing through pain. From Dohn:

UCLA power forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute lifted his pants leg slightly to reveal his left ankle, still swollen below the bone and sore from the sprain he suffered three weeks ago.

He played 33 minutes, scored nine points and added seven rebounds as No. 6 UCLA beat Oregon 75-65 Saturday at Pauley Pavilion, but he is far from healthy.

"It feels bad," Mbah a Moute said. "I can't explode as well as I want to explode. It's the one I push off with, and every time I try to push off, I'm kind of slow."

Mbah a Moute rolled the ankle in the second half of a blowout win Feb. 2 against Arizona, and missed the next two games.

Even now, in his third game back, he said he takes Celebrex to ease the pain before games, gets it re-taped at halftime and ices it plenty afterward.

"I can play. That's the main thing," Mbah a Moute said. "I get a chance to be out there and help my team, and that's really good for me."

Per Pucin’s report Celebrex is a pain medicine that is prescribed fro arthritis sufferers. Again it is absolutely amazing how our kids play through pain and never make any excuses. More from Pucin’s report on what was going through the Prince’s mindset as he was playing through pain and taking on a speedster like Porter:

On one second-half possession, Mbah a Moute stayed in front of Porter for at least 20 seconds. Porter probed for a weakness with his dribble, back and forth. Porter tried to go around Mbah a Moute and tried to back him off with a pump fake. Mbah a Moute had none of it. Finally, Porter tried to drive the sideline and fumbled the ball. Bruins point guard Darren Collison recovered.

"I was just trying to stay focused," Mbah a Moute said. "I didn't try to reach or anything. He's very quick, and I was focusing on getting low, staying in front of the ball. No way he's going to beat me. I knew exactly what he was trying to do. There was no need for me to switch off him, especially at that time of game when the crowd was into it and everything."

It’s not coincidence. Howland coaches up his players in such a mindset that enables them to focus like a laser and they are so well prepared (defensively) they always have a pretty good idea on exactly what their opponents are going to do. Dohn’s report also mentioned how Love has been playing through even though he has been "really sick" for last two weeks. And then there was another kid who shook off an injury to make a statement to his team-mates, home crowd and the opponent:

Russell Westbrook tweaked his left ankle and jogged on it gingerly for about a minute during the second half. He didn't feel 100 percent afterward. He wasn't tentative on it, judging by the monster jam.
``After that (dunk), I figured it was all right,'' he said.
Westbrook iced the ankle after the game and was walking without a limp.

Let’s hope RW got some rest yesterday. As Dohn mention both him and DC are expected to log heavy mins from hereon out, as Howland loves to work his backcourt.

Now coming out of this weekend lot of folks are concerned about Shipp. KS Wong from Bruin Basketball Report offers up some poignant commentary on what Josh needs to keep doing: he needs to keep shooting:

The Bruins are a talented bunch. Freshman Kevin Love is a beast inside and tough to stop, Russell Westbrook has NBA-crazy athleticism to get to the basket, and Darren Collison is the quickest in the land, but without Shipp's outside shooting, the Bruins are vulnerable to teams packing it inside on them.

The good news about Shipp's shooting slump is that it is old news too. It has happened before, a matter of fact it did just last season.

Shipp went through a similar slump last season, going 2 of 17 over a seven game span, but he regrouped and found his shot at the end of the season and tournament time. As a result, Shipp was a major factor in UCLA's Final Four run last season.

No doubt Shipp is mired in a horrific shooting slump, but the only way he'll break out of it is by shooting himself out of it.

He needs to regain his swagger.

With four regular season games remaining, there is still time.

Look I totally understand why lot of folks are worried about our outside shooting. I think the concern is legit. But on the other hand I think we all need to relax a little bit and let this work out on its own and not put any extra pressure on the team.

Honestly right now I am not really all that worried about what is going to happen in the tournament. We have a brutal road game coming up on Thursday night against a very good ASU team, that will give us their best effort as they will be fighting for their NCAA lives. We need to figure out right now how we can pull out a win that night to make sure we are in position to get at least a split in this difficult road trip (I am not even thinking about Sunday’s game at this point). Let’s see what happens this Thursday night. And if things don’t go our way Thursday night, hopefully we will come out and battle away on Sunday, and then get ready to make a run as we will be in position to control our destiny be having our last two games at home and then the tourney at Staples Center.

So let’s all take a deep breath and get ready for Thursday night. Once again what we need to do is come out and play that lockdown defense we have been playing in the closing mins of our last two ball games. If we can come out with that kind of defensive ferocity right out of the gate on Thursday night and sustain it for the entire 40 mins, we are going to be in decent shape. One game at a time.

GO BRUINS.

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Just wondering...

So I haven't had a chance to comment on Saturday's game yet. I agree with Coach Howland that Oregon is a very talented team. They no doubt have some really good players. Just looks like the coaching has let them down a bit. Anyway, it was a great win. Ugly (again), but great. I couldn't help to notice K-love looked a little despondent during the game though. It kinda looked like he was sick or hung-over or something. He had the ol'circle under the eyes deal going on. Anyone know what the deal was?
GO BRUINS

by bruinmo on Feb 25, 2008 7:45 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Love has been sick for last two weeks

That info was in the papers/posts here following Sat. afternoon's game.

by bluestreet on Feb 25, 2008 7:48 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Love

He didn't look like himself, especially when on the fast break in the second half where he laid the ball in instead of dunking it. I mentioned to my friend that perhaps he is battling through a leg injury. Now we all know why. It also explains alot of his missed lay ups and his abysmal free throw shooting. Still, if this is Kevin Love sick, I can't wait till he gets healthy again!

by bruin8uclap on Feb 25, 2008 6:19 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

recruitibg

i just discovered that renardo sidney has been coming to UCLA football games for recruiing. UCLA is one of his top choices, but SUC is too.

by ryancua on Feb 25, 2008 5:18 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Shipp vs ASU

With ASU's zone D, I would think (hope?) Shipp should get better looks than he has the past few weeks and that might be all Josh needs to get it going. He just needs to hit one to get the confidence rolling.

by Raisin on Feb 25, 2008 9:12 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

I also wonder if Shipp will be given a green light

From Coach Howland since zones tend to give up more offensive rebounds. It will of course depend on the flow of things and how well they play on Thursday, but with a 10+ lead (but no more than 20 cause they aren't a-holes) he might be given some slack to shoot himself out of the funk. Maybe. Or I'm just full of crap.

by isodore on Feb 25, 2008 10:19 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Shipp

..has been playing differently. He looks for other ways to contribute than just shooting. He drives in a little to see if the defense would breakdown before kicking it out or dishing it to someone inside. His defense has also been improving and makes amazing fast breaks. Did you see that dunk from one step after the free throw line? wow.

by LYC on Feb 25, 2008 10:23 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Luc Richard Mbah Moute is a warrior

I have to wonder if his ankle is still swollen however, that maybe he and we might be better off taking the next couple of weeks off in preparation for the Big Dance.

We have been saying that we need to find more Playing Time for Keefe and Stanback.

Maybe I'm just not as worried about the Zona Schools as others. And, if we really have to, we can bring him in a little in the Stanford game. if we have to.

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

by MexiBruin on Feb 25, 2008 10:13 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Expectations Leaving a Cloud Over My Head

24-3. What a record, and what a great season so far. Boy are we lucky.

However, I have to admit, the last 5 games have left a little cloud over my head. There is no doubt we are a good team, but over the last 5 games we have not been a Great team, and that is bugging me.

Of course, it doesn't really matter if we are great right now, so long as we play great in the tournament. Still, I don't think our team right now is worthy of a # 1 seed--we just don't seem like a top 4 kind of team to me. Too many offensive and defensive lapses, too many close calls.

Some of it is injuries, and some of it is Shipp's slump. But where is the team that destroyed the Arizona schools earlier this month? That team was worthy of greatness.

Anyway, I recognize that my expectations are high, and I do appreciate 24-4. But I just don't see that extra something special right now. Plenty of time to find it to be sure, but hopefully it happens soon. I loved the win against Oregon, but it was truly uninspiring until the end. And I'm starting to expect more than the Just Win Baby attitude I've had in the past. For the tourney that's ok, but for now--I want to see us get better.

Big Upps to Mata-Real for some terrific play recently. He is an addition.

by rfirpo on Feb 25, 2008 11:01 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Dude...a bit ungrateful?

First of all, don't jinx us. We're 24-3, not 24-4.

Second of all, at least you realize that your expectations are high. It's not enough to win anymore, we have to win pretty? Come on man! Oregon is a VERY good and talented team. They just have a mediocre coach.

You're thinking of what "makes" a #1 seed, but you should think of how UCLA compares to the other top teams. We just got ranked 4th in the coaches' poll. There are no "Great" teams this year, every single one of them has flaws. The most complete ones are Kansas and Tennessee, with Texas almost there. We beat Kansas last year. Tennessee is good but I think we are better inside. We barely lost to Texas without a healthy DC.

Have you watched every single game that the other top teams have played? Do you think that they haven't had close calls and bad games? It happens. Experience, heart and coaching will work for us in the tournament. We are banged up and it is tiring to stay at the top and play intense Ben Ball every game. Yes, it would be great to be a #1 seed, but we went to two Final Fours as a #2 seed and would probably have won one of them had it not been for Florida. So relax and enjoy this team, you never know what the future holds.

by tasser10 on Feb 25, 2008 11:19 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

and don't forget

KU lost a crappy team over the weekend.

Tennessee lost to Kentucky this year.

I have no complaints about our team. They are 24-3. They are in position to win the 3rd straight Pac-10 title. They may end up stumbling in the Big Dance. So what. To date despite all the injuries they have put together a great season.

by bluestreet on Feb 25, 2008 11:44 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I dfeinately wouldn't say I'm ungrateful

I had enough qualifying references in my post I think to dispel the idea that I am ungreatful. But you are right, my expectations are high. But like I said, i recognize that.

I think I am itching to see the team playing on all cylindars right now, but I haven't seen it lately.

And you are also right about this, other teams are playing close games as well.

by rfirpo on Feb 25, 2008 1:50 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I also wish

that our team could play like during that Oregon stretch and the Arizona homestand. Man, that was a SCARY team! As in scary good. But there are so many factors that we don't know, small injuries, midterms, the @#$% flu, whatever. It's also about matchups. This team will be ready and motivated for March Madness. Kevin Love is going to blow up in the tournament.

by tasser10 on Feb 25, 2008 1:55 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Well, I hope it's not all midterm related

The tournament starts during finals week!

by jaffa on Feb 25, 2008 5:09 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Then stop watching us

And start rooting for some team that scores 85+ pts a game, looks pretty, and ends up losing to a team like - uh UCLA - in the Elite Eight.

by bluestreet on Feb 25, 2008 11:41 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Boy do you have one of the worst attitudes around

I don't know where your anger comes from, but it's in most of your posts.

And no, I won't stop watching us just because you don't like people who post things you disagree with.

Like I said in my original post, this is a great season, "boy are we lucky." [maybe you didn't read it]. Since you got so angry at my post, though, I suppose you disagree with some of my other opinions.

I don't think we've played like a great team over the last 5 games. Maybe you disagree. Fine.

I don't think our team is playing like a # 1 seed right now. Maybe you disagree. Fine.

I don't think the Oregon win was inpiring until the end. Maybe you disagree. Fine.

All of your disagreements are fine. But why are you getting so angry??

I actually don't care myself, but you do it on such a consistent basis that I feel like I need to say something. Sorry, but I'd hate for people to shy away from posting because of stuff like this. It's not the norm folks.

And having been at the last two UCLA Elite 8 games, I can say that I enjoyed them both.

by rfirpo on Feb 25, 2008 2:09 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

"Lucky"?

rfirpo ... street was not only one who had a WTF reaction to your comment. I hope you didn't imply our team is "lucky" to be 24-3.

by Nestor on Feb 25, 2008 2:17 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Well,

I appreciate your actually verbalizing that you didn't like the "lucky" part. And your confusion actually brings up a valid point.

I definately meant, Boy are we lucky that we get to watch such a solid team deliver so many wins. Given the preceding sentence, I think my intended meaning got across to most, and it makes the most sense in context. However, I see your point about the word lucky--though I have to admit, it seems that only one looking to criticize would read my comment negatively. Anyway, point taken.

Still, I wouldn't have called street out on that point (had he made it) anyway. Mine was a larger message about his response, and my criticism to him stands firm.

by rfirpo on Feb 25, 2008 4:20 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I don't know

Judging from this exchange it seems like its your response that came across as a little "angry." And street wasn't the only one calling you out. tasser did as well.

You may not see our team is doing "great." But given the kind of adversity we have battling through with the health of Luc, DC, Keefe and absence of a crucial piece to the puzzle such as Roll, I thought your post came across more than just nitpicking. To me it kind of made me think of those fans Steve Lavin always refer to as "pathology" of UCLA basketball fans.

by Nestor on Feb 25, 2008 4:25 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Flame war

I am not going to get into a flame war that will downgrade the accomplishment of a 24-3 basketball team.

I am glad you cleared up the "lucky" comment in your top sentence. I wasn't the only one who responded negatively to it.

by bluestreet on Feb 25, 2008 4:27 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Defensive lapses?

I think we are all forgeting that every defense has a weakness. We all feel -- or at least I do -- that the other team should never score if our defense plays right.

But the PAC10 coaches know the Bruins defense and know how to break it down. For example, if you feed it to one of our big guys, we will double down. That leaves the potential of another big being open IF we don't rotate over. That will happen sometimes.

Look how many of the open shots were related to guys switching and back filling and Oregon got to the 3rd man.

I am not too worried.

And least we forget, maybe the Bruins simply can not maintain their laser focus against the lower echelon of the PAC 10, during midterms, and knowing the real tests are coming.

To me, the trip to AZ is loaded with trouble and Stanford will be for the conference championships.

Go Team Go!

by bruins grad and dad on Feb 25, 2008 11:47 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Last 5 games

Remember, we are playing all these teams a second time... that makes a big difference IMO except for OSU which is in disarray. An opposing coach has less of a challenge getting his players attention after they have been spanked by UCLA once... I expect all the games left in conference to be as tough as a first or second round NCAA tournament game, due to the familiarity factor and them trying to knock off the "top dog".
Bill

BillSouthBay

by Mensgym on Feb 25, 2008 2:29 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Shipp

I like that hes looking to get to the rack, drive and kick, and still playing sound D...my problem is that Shipp is supposed to be our go to shotmaker from the outside. Not only was he looking to drive more, he seemed scared to shoot. My only concern is that if we get in a hole like that in march we're going to need someone to close the gap with a three.

Unless Josh is passing the torch to DC or even Russ to make those 3's...I think Josh needs to shoot through this slump even more. I hope Howland greenlights Shipp this week

I think getting the old Josh back is just as important as winning out.

O.A.

by Ollie on Feb 25, 2008 11:10 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Shipp left out

An interesting quote from Jay Bilas's blog. He says, "With Kevin Love, Darren Collison, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Westbrook, UCLA has four legit pros." Sounds like he is intentionally leaving JS out as a "legit pro", whatever that means.

by turs12 on Feb 25, 2008 6:30 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe

because Josh has already said he's for sure coming back...or maybe Jay just doesn't think Josh can make it at the next level, I dunno.

O.A.

by Ollie on Feb 25, 2008 6:39 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Legit pro

I take "legit pro" to mean probable (or possible) first rounder. As of now, I doubt Shipp has a chance at being a first rounder. His shooting drought hasn't helped.

by Raisin on Feb 25, 2008 6:46 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

yea

and I dunno if his speed ever fully recovered from the knee injury.

O.A.

by Ollie on Feb 25, 2008 7:05 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Hip

Hip injury.

by Raisin on Feb 25, 2008 7:14 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

oops

yes sorry hip injury. I think I'm going to change my signature at the bottom from my initials to "sorry about the typos" lol. I need to work on my editing.

O.A.

by Ollie on Feb 25, 2008 9:19 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Shipp gets more people

"in his head" than any player I've ever seen. When it comes to Josh, suddenly everyone is playing amateur psychologist. First it's "Josh resents KLove" because of perceived difficulties in getting him the ball even though the rest of the team was struggling with it as well. Then it's "Josh is hamming it up for scouts" when he was taking 3's earlier this season. Now we're actually getting what we wanted earlier, as he's driving, cutting, distributing, finding ways to make plays, and what does amateur psychologist say? "Josh is scared to shoot 3's". It's unbelievable. Get out of the guys head.

by Tydides on Feb 25, 2008 11:54 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Honestly

It comes with the territory. When your a veteran leader of one of the best college basketball teams in the country...your gunna go under the micro scope...Josh is mature, I don't think he sitting here getting psyched out by our opinions. That is what a blog essentially is, "amateur analysts" and "amateur psychologists" offering their opinions on team and player performance.

I still love what josh is and has been doing for us, I like josh as a warrior and a competitor, fact of the matter is that he's in a slump, and In my "amateur opinion" I hope he shoots through it, not backs away from his shot.

O.A.

by Ollie on Feb 25, 2008 5:48 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

No, it doesn't

My point is that he is subjected to the kind of nonsense psychoanalysis way more than any other player on the team, and it's unfair. Part of the problem is that everyone has their own perception of what Josh should be to this team because he has the ability to do so many things. If the point here is that he is struggling shooting 3's, that's beyond question. The numbers bear this out. The line is crossed when we start talking about what he's thinking about when he has given no such indication that any of the psychobabble is even close to accurate. People were upset when he took quick 3's earlier in the year. He no longer does this but he takes the flak anyway despite adjusting his game to help out the team. He's got to shoot better, but give the psychoanalysis a rest, because it's all speculative BS anyway.

by Tydides on Feb 25, 2008 5:58 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Yea

I'll definitely agree Josh takes a lot of the blame and all this essentially BS psycho analysis, Its not my place to coach him, or say whats going through his head

Heres my opinion, We're gunna need the three ball, I mean I just feel unless you can physically dominate throughout the whole tournament which by matter of luck/off nights doesn't happen. We'll need a three ball to bail us out, pick us up, etc. His ability to hit a big shot from outside can pick us up close deficits.

I just want josh to keep shooting thats all, If he goes to the rack more than earlier in the season thats great, thats what we want, but at the same time I believe he still has to be our outside threat, I think its pretty essential he gets confidence in his shot back

O.A.

by Ollie on Feb 25, 2008 6:15 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

We're going to need it, but I don't think the pace he was putting them up earlier is going to be the answer. I'm fine with 2-3 of them per game from Shipp, which is about what he has been trying recently. I feel that he's a matchup nightmare that we should exploit and shouldn't typecast as a 3 point shooter.

by Tydides on Feb 25, 2008 7:14 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Texas over UCLA...

What the heck. Someone explain how Joe Lunardi has Texas (22-4) leapfrog over the Bruins (23-3)in the West bracket. I'll never comprehend ESPN's train of thought....

by RScal on Feb 25, 2008 12:50 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

It's fair

Texas beat us at Pauley. They also beat Tenn.

To me it doesn't matter as long as UCLA is out West. And in that bracket we are out West.

by bluestreet on Feb 25, 2008 12:50 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Also

We tend to do well in nonconference rematches.

by melliott2 on Feb 25, 2008 1:20 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

And

Texas beat Kansas. Between Kansas, Tennessee and us, there is no better trio of wins. If you take a look at the resumes, Texas deserves to be ahead of us so don't blame Lunardi, especially when he's said all year that we'll win the title.

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Feb 25, 2008 2:26 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Some good wins, but some bad losses

Texas lost by 1 to Wisconsin and by 6 to Michigan State. But they got beat by 13 by Missouri (?!) and they got destroyed by 23 by Texas A&M. I don't know about Missouri, but the other teams are pretty good. But how can the team that beat us at Pauley lose by 23 to anyone?

We have some bad losses, sure. Actually, all of our losses qualify as "bad," because we really shouldn't have lost any of them.

I have no scientific theory here, and no formula. But my non-scientific mind says the one bad loss and the one really really bad loss means that Texas should not be ranked over us.

OK, I know. That is the least fact-based argument I've made here. So in that respect I probably qualify for the Bill and Ted Award.

by Fox 71 on Feb 25, 2008 8:00 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Also

If you listen to his full video commentary - he believes that UCLA will still get a number #1 seed (He thinks that Tenn may still fall to a #2). He creates his Bracketology not by what he projects but by a snapshot of now.

by gorams77 on Feb 26, 2008 10:14 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

#4 ranking

Gotta keep movin' up. I like our 1 1st place vote. It's funny, I think most people do not actually believe that Tenn and Mem are the top 2 teams in the country, but the way voting works it's all about where you were last week in the rankings, and if you lost this week.

by jjreicher on Feb 25, 2008 1:38 PM PST reply actions 0 recs