Notes On The Reeling (But Dangerous) Dawgs

by Nestor on Feb 9, 2008 11:24 AM PST in Basketball

Bruins have the day off today. They are getting ready to take on a Washington Husky squad, which is going through its toughest season since Lorenzo Romar taking over that program in Seattle. Sportsline.com has update on the reeling Dawg loser of three straight at home:

The Huskies are nearing the point of no return on the season, falling to 12-11 overall and 3-7 in Pac-10 play after a 73-59 loss to USC on Feb. 7 at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.

It was UW's fourth straight loss overall and has them in danger of their first losing season since 2002-03, Romar's first.

The Huskies have lost three of the games in this stretch by 15, 14 and 14 points and have lost five of their seven conference games by 14 points or more, indicating there's quite a gap between UW and the best of the best in the Pac-10.

Other than junior forward Jon Brockman, who is averaging 18.4 points per game, UW has no consistent offensive threat. The next leading scorer is senior guard Ryan Appleby who is at 10.5 per game but is at 9.0 in Pac-10 games.

Nathan Ware who writes on the DawgBlog (hosted by the Seattle Press Intelligence) sounds demoralized:

The Huskies are lacking in many areas. They lack scorers from the outside. Someone has stolen their mojo from the free throw line. They don't have a steady presence at point guard. They don't have a small forward that can put the ball on the floor and drive it to the hoop with any regularity. Their confidence is shot. They don't bring any intensity on defense.

A great example of the frustrating aspect of this team is shooting guard Ryan Appleby. He can only get a shot in a catch-and-shoot situation. He can't create a shot off the dribble. You'll watch him weave his way through the defense to get an open look off of a screen but opposing teams can easily dedicate a defender to him and shut him down. Maddening.

It's a mess. Forward Jon Brockman is the only player you can count on from game to game. Coach Romar has to be wondering what has happened to his once-promising program.

Well Coach Romar himself seems a little lost particularly after an ugly loss against the Gap Closers from South Central. The loss was even more disheartening considering the fact that they got stomped in a 19-0 run after scraping and clawing their way to even the score at 38 early in the second half. From Bob Condotta in the Seattle Times:

"When they went on the 19-0 run we missed some shots and I just thought we were negligent,'' said UW coach Lorenzo Romar. "We didn't rotate defensively and we weren't able to sustain a solid effort on the defensive end for the entire shot clock. We turned the ball over and it just began to unravel at that point. I probably waited too long to call time outs in that situation. I thought we could've called a couple.''

Romar had made a rare admission before the game, going with a 2-3 zone to start sticking with it for most of the night.

"I didn't feel we matched up very well in the beginning with the five that we had,'' Romar said.

But like everything else UW has tried of late, it did little good. USC isn't a great three-point shooting team, another reason to go with a zone, but the Trojans hit 5-13 and were able to get a lot of penetration to set up other shots.

Asked how USC got such good penetration, Romar said "because we weren't doing a good job (defensively). I wish I could give you some complex answer, but we just didn't do a good job of keeping them in front of us.''

I imagine we are going to see lot of that 2-3 zone tomorrow, which will mean we are going to need DC, RW, and Shipp to attack the rim again to create options for themselves or their team-mates. Also it will be imperative for our guys to be patient and execute on offense, while making sure we run our offense through Love.

I am not sure Bruins can afford to feel comfortable while the Huskies are doing soul searching in Seattle. Knowing Coach Romar well he is not going to quit on his team. And he is going to work away to figure out some answers no matter how dire the circumstances are in his program:

"Our players are really good kids and they try to do what we ask,'' Romar said. "If they were a rebellious group that didn't want to try to do what we ask, I wouldn't mind blaming them. But they try to do what we ask so I can't put it on them. I've got to do a better job.'' (I should point out he laughed slightly as he said the comment about "blaming them'' if they were a rebellious group. I don't think he meant he'd literally go around bad-mouthing his players).

In general, Romar said he's had a hard time getting a read on the right buttons to push for this team, both schematically on the floor and in terms of handling the players off of it.

"There are some things how we maybe have managed the players individually to where maybe I would have done it differently,'' Romar said.

I know you're probably wondering who he's talking about there but this wasn't the day or the setting where Romar was going to offer a lot of specifics with practice in the offing.

And Romar said the team would practice for the UCLA game as it has every other in this season and seasons past.

"We are going to come to practice today and we are approaching it to go out and win the game on Sunday,'' he said. "So we are still trying to get things resolved.''

I am fully expecting a fired up Husky team that will come out tomorrow treating their game against UCLA as their championship game of the season. Anyone who wants to discount the Huskies' chances against our Ben Ball warriors should look up what happened last time we played them in Seattle in a game we didn't come out with a lot of focus and intensity.

They still have a talent like Jon Brockman who is leading the league in rebounds and top-5 in scoring (18.4 pts/11.3 rebs pg, See Pac-10 stats). I am sure Brockman is going to be a little fired up trying to prove himself against Kevin Love. Brockman and his teammates lead the league in offensive rebounds.

What the Bruins cannot do tomorrow is to let the Huskies have any kind of edge in terms of intensity and hustle on the court. Statistically Bruins lead the Huskies in all categories and they do have matchup advantages on both sides of the court (to see our notes on Huskies before our first game go here). What we must do is it come out strong on defense and make sure that Appleby, Morris and rest of the Husky guards are not getting any opportunities for dribble penetration or any open look from the perimeter.

Without Luc one of our key factors is going to be Shipp's play in the backcourt. Some interesting notes from the LAT today on Shipp. Coach Howland must have read Telemachus's post noting how Shipp had 8, not 6 points against the Cougars. But more importantly Coach Howland as pleased with Shipp's over all game against the Cougars:

"Josh played really good defense on a great player, Kyle Weaver," Howland said. "He had four assists, he created some really big baskets at key junctures, he doesn't turn the ball over much. You can do so many things to help your team win and with Josh, the No. 1 thing, the only thing, is winning. He has really exemplified that with his play. He's just a winner, everywhere he's been, he's a winner."

During UCLA's current five-game winning streak, Shipp is averaging 12 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, two steals and 1.2 turnovers.

Speaking of winning Dohn has a write up on how the Ben Ball warriors have been playing at a different level since their last loss against the Gap Closers. Let's hope Shipp and his teammates continue their heady play tomorrow.

Again they can't afford to relax against the reeling Huskies. Because if they do they will find themselves looking for the reset button once again after what should be an inspired effort by the Husky team tomorrow afternoon in Seattle. They need to come out focused and intense to keep intact what they have been building since the afternoon of January 19.

GO BRUINS.

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Comments

Thoughts on Romar...

Romar is a horrible coach. Yes, I know, he was an assistant on the 95 team, and thus always holds a place in Bruins' hearts, but come on. He's awful.

In fact, he reminds me a lot of Lavin. When he had exceptional talent (Roy, Robinson, Conroy, Jones, etc.) he under achieved. They were a #1 seed, and got knocked out in the Sweet Sixteen. The next year they were a #5, had UCONN on the ropes, and choked the game away in overtime.

Now that he doesn't have anything near exceptional talent, his teams are awful. Not just below what they were, but flat out terrible. They missed the NIT last year, and will almost certainly do the same this year.

When a coach underachieves with exceptional talent, and can't coach up marginal talent at all, he is clearly a terrible coach.

Not to defend Ty's record at UW, but it's amazing that UW wants to run Willingham out of town, and yet tolerates Romar keeping his job. That's craziness to me.

All that being said, I hope the Bruins come out focused tomorrow, not over looking the Huskies, and pound them. We owe them that.

Just thought I'd throw that out there, for no particular reason.

by Quickhands on Feb 9, 2008 12:00 PM PST reply actions

Washington

was an abysmal program with absolutely no tradition when Romar took over.

UCLA was 2 years removed from a National Championship when Lavin took over.

The Huskies may be struggling and underachieving, but comparing Romar to Lavin's collossal ineptitude is way off.

"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 9, 2008 1:39 PM PST up reply actions

Don't Disagree

The magnitude of the failure is obviously much greater for Lavin that it is for Romar, given what the UCLA program was and is.

But my point about the quality, or lack thereof, of there coaching is independent of the quality of the program before they took over. Look at Romar's teams, watch them play, and it is obvious the guy has no clue what he is doing. Like Lavin, he could win a little with exceptional talent, and can't win anything with anything less. That's a valid comparison, in my book.

Not to mention the LONG held belief that on his way out of the Pac 10, Romar ratted out both Jim Harrick and Todd Bozeman to the NCAA. I know this is widely accepted as truth among multiple Pac 10 schools.

by Quickhands on Feb 9, 2008 3:02 PM PST up reply actions

Oops

*THEIR coaching.

Oops.

by Quickhands on Feb 9, 2008 3:03 PM PST up reply actions

What Time Is Our Game, Tomorrow?

And, who's broadcasting it?

Thanks.

sjh

by Class of 66 on Feb 9, 2008 12:39 PM PST reply actions

1:30pm pacific (3:30 in the land of exile)

FSN national broadcast.

by bruinhoo on Feb 9, 2008 12:58 PM PST up reply actions

Game Time

66, The game starts at 1:30pm PDT on FSN Prime Ticket.

by BruinFanBaby on Feb 9, 2008 12:58 PM PST reply actions

FSN Prime is showing UCLA-USC Volleyball!!!

What channel is the game on? I searched my whole lineup and can't find UCLA vs. Washington Basketball!!

by mark the bruin on Feb 9, 2008 1:42 PM PST up reply actions

Tune in tomorrow, same time

"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 9, 2008 1:44 PM PST up reply actions

Wait, what?? I planned my whole weekend

around this game! Since when does college ball play on Sundays? Thursday & Saturday is the common schedule.

by mark the bruin on Feb 9, 2008 1:47 PM PST up reply actions

TIMMEH

Blows a gasket and gets thrown out of the game.

What the hell makes him think he can walk all the way to the other side of the court? This guy is a dumbass of epic proportions.

by Tydides on Feb 9, 2008 2:28 PM PST reply actions

What an ass

I'd be so embarrassed if he were coaching my school... too bad he'll be gone next year after he skips town for LSU.

by swc89 on Feb 9, 2008 2:47 PM PST up reply actions

Always fun to watch USC get smacked

And Tim Floyd's idiocy is just icing on the cake.

by SuperBruinMan on Feb 9, 2008 2:42 PM PST reply actions

And Doh!n looks like a monkey again

It was he who ridiculously placed SUC above WSU in his weekly poll despite virtually no one else in the polls thinking that SUC deserved to be ranked at all.

by Tydides on Feb 9, 2008 2:47 PM PST up reply actions

74-50 WSU final

Sad I didn't get to see Timmeh being Timmeh.

by bruinhoo on Feb 9, 2008 2:48 PM PST up reply actions

Sunday's Game

Does anyone know if there are going to be any watch parties in OC?

by BruinFanBaby on Feb 9, 2008 2:53 PM PST reply actions

Something I just found out about

that may show the game -

www.channelsurfing.net

I found out about it yesterday and was able to watch an NBA game I wanted to see. They seem to show lots of sports, and tomorrow's game may be on there.

by melliott2 on Feb 9, 2008 2:59 PM PST reply actions

How Did We Lose to sc?

I really mean it. How?

Fortunately, I didn't get to see the game -- one time when living in Exile paid off.

They are the antithesis of Bruin ball. Totally selfish and poorly coached.

Today, when the game was within reach:

OJ makes a nice steal and tries to do a showboat dunk on the other end -- misses and opportunity lost.

OJ and others jack up shots like no one else is on the team.

They play weak D. They are so much quicker than WSU but get beat to the ball and on drives.

And, then Timmeh melts down and takes the game out of reach. Double technical at a time that his team is pressing and causing some turnovers. That's the kind of thing a coach has to understand -- no matter how angry, if the game is in reach, and this one still was, don't hurt your players to satisfy yourself.

I know that sc will be up for us again, and the answer to my original question may be they beat us the same way 13-9 happened -- desire overcomes coaching and the talent differential.

Way back in the days when we were trying to get rid of Lavin, Floyd was on many people's wish lists. Some times its better not to get what you want, but as the Stones say, to get what you need.

sjh

by Class of 66 on Feb 9, 2008 3:01 PM PST reply actions

Desire yes, but mainly matchups

IIRC Davon Jefferson completely outplayed Aboya, dropping something like 25 points on 10 for 15 shooting. They shot 61% to our 33%, getting mostly dunks and layups all damn game. We outrebounded them significantly, and the turnover margin was heavily in our favor (which is what kept it close), so I'd say we had the desire as well.

Even though we haven't lost since, I'm still pretty pissed about that game ;-)

I have faith BH will make the necessary adjustments and we'll take care of business next weekend (not looking past the Huskies, of course)

"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 9, 2008 4:35 PM PST up reply actions