Ben Ball News & Notes

by Nestor on Mar 26, 2008 4:00 AM PDT in Basketball

I don’t know about you but the Wednesday before Sweet-16 is always the toughest hump day of the year. The Pac-10 season with its slate of Thursday/Fri-Sat games gets us in rhythm for the tournament season. However, around this time of the season when Wednesday rolls around, I feel like I have had enough of my share of stories, articles, analysis etc, and just want to get started with the game. And with that note let’s start with today’s roundup. The most important item on our plate is LRMAM’s health. According to Coach Howland an MRI on Luc’s left ankle this week showed ‘no damage’:

>> Howland said that the MRI on Luc Richard Mbah A Moute’s left ankle came back showing no damage. "It’s normal as far as I know," he said. "He has swelling that you can see through the MRI, there’s no fracture of any type. He actually in a final right now; it was put back until today. Alfred [Aboya] won’t be here because Luc forgot to pay for his parking pass for the quarter and he got a ticket for that, so he’s running over to the parking ticket office, wherever that is, and paying for his quarterly parking pass.

"Luc’s [final] was extended, it’s a hard class and the professor was nice because we were playing last week. Everybody else is done with the exception of that final today. I saw Luc yesterday; he was studying all day yesterday. He did go get his MRI, the MRI came back fine or I would have heard of otherwise by now. That was precautionary as we stated, we want to make that there’s nothing going on that potentially could be a problem. He had less swelling yesterday; he had severe swelling on Sunday. I looked at his ankle and said, ‘Wow.’ That thing was elephantitis. It was fat.

"I don’t know how [trainer] Carrie [Rubertino] would characterize it, but he can play. I think it’s important for him to practice these next two days and we do run the risk of him re-injuring it because are going to be full contact, we’re not going to be just an easy practice. We have a lot to prepare for in Western Kentucky, a lot of different presses, a lot of pressure, so we have a lot to do. I still have to finish my practice plan upstairs, because I really want to have a good practice today."

Well that certainly helps calming my nerves heading into tomorrow night. With Coach Howland in charge this program will always remain steady and not to mention prepared as well as any team can be heading into this type of game.

Speaking of preparation Coach Howland spent some time with JS on Monday and JS as usual sounds unflappable. From the Daily News:

So Howland took Shipp back to the gym Monday, this time for 325 shots, of which Howland approximated half to be 3-pointers.

"When he has any time where he's starting to miss more than one in a row - it's usually because it's a little flat," Howland said. "He just needs more arc on his shot. It's juts being on balance, and not fading one way or another, and shooting the ball with confidence, and that's where repetition comes in."

Shipp, to his credit, is neither short nor unpleasant in answering different variations of the same questions - has he lost his confidence? What is wrong mechanically? How maddening is this?

Asked if he is weary of all the questions, Shipp didn't bat an eye.

"I'm know I'm going to hear it, so it really doesn't matter," he said. "It is what it is. There's only one way to stop the talk.

That's all on me. I have to keep shooting the ball and knock some shots down."

JS’s team-mates are not worried either. From the same article:

"Josh knows exactly what he has to do," Collison said. "Most players, when they're in the predicament, they don't know what to do, they don't know how to handle it. They actually lose confidence, and they show signs of losing confidence. Josh hasn't shown signs of losing confidence.

"I think it's only a matter of time, and mark my words, Josh will hit the shots when we really need it the most."

I think tomorrow could be a good night for Josh. Again IIRC last year it was AA’s "slump" that was talk around this part of the world (continually being ginned up by the beat reporters and worrywarts) heading into the big dance. Well AA worked through that time by driving to the hoop and getting himself the FT line (within the flow of the game) to get his points. Hopefully we will get to see some of the same controlled aggression from JS tomorrow. And WKU’s style of play may lead to that scenario. From the OC Register:

"They're not trying to let you play in the half court, they're trying to speed the game up and turn it into a game where they're creating turnovers and causing havoc with their pressure."

And how happy are the Bruins about that?

"It should help us out," Josh Shipp said. "Me and Russell (Westbrook) like to get out and play in a transition game, so that should be fun for us. The half-court game, it's a lot of slow down and we get stagnant at times. It's definitely going to be good for us."

Well again the trick for JS and RW is going to be to not get sucked into a playground basketball mode. Even when they are on transition they will have to make sure they complete the play instead of worrying about putting together spectacular finishes. Over the year we have botched few fast breaks (ASU game in Tempe comes to mind right away) whenever we have tried to get a little to fancy on these offensive transitions. JS, RW and everyone else need to go for the easy points and forego the degree of difficulty when they find themselves in these situations.

We are not going to get away with being sloppy tomorrow given the fact we are going to be taking on a very experienced, senior led team. From PE.com’s Jim Alexander:

[W]hen San Diego was making a run Sunday, the three senior starters [Tyrone Brazelton, Ty Rogers, and Courtney Lee, Ed.] settled Western Kentucky down.

"It definitely helped us a lot," Lee said. "In the huddle we had every senior speaking and being vocal out there, leading the team along the way. The younger guys, they listened and just followed."

That helps explain why mid-majors, low seeds and under-the-radar teams have their one shining moment at this time of year, and sometimes more.

"They've got an advantage in that those guys have been through a lot," Howland said. "They're older, more mature, and that definitely helps. Seniors have that light that goes on sometimes in their last year in college.

"That's one of the keys to why you see so many mid-major teams advance. The high majors lose guys to the NBA. That's our situation for the second straight year. Last year we had none. This year we have one whopping senior, Lorenzo (Mata-Real)."

We know the cliché about how talent always trumps experience. But still our guys will have to come out focused and stay patient on offense (in the face of expected pressure from WKU) while exert the same clamp down mentality on D, they showed during the second half against A&M If we come out poised hopefully it will allow us to gain some separation and take control of the game early setting us up well for a good Thursday night. Lastly, a tip on traveling from Coach Howland:

>> Howland also noted how helpful it is to be playing close to home, first in Anaheim and now in Phoenix. "We’re just glad we’re close to home. Is it the same time zone now? . . . because they don’t change the clocks in Arizona; I lived there for five years. The main thing is the same time zone. Our Chancellor Gene Block, he’s a scientist, his whole area of research is on time zones and how it affects you and it really does affect you, going especially west to east. It’s much easier going east to west. I went to lunch with him one day and he was telling me how they were putting mice on planes and doing all these studies and mice would actually die going from west to east on these three to four-hour trips in certain cases and there’s some definite things you should look to do. It’s much easier coming the other way. So for that factor, we’re really happy to be close and then also, family of our players and fans that are able to purchase tickets, are able to drive to Phoenix. It’s going to be nice; I think we’re looking at 84 or 85 degrees each day. I’m laughing, I talked to some friends in Pittsburgh and it’s freezing back there right now and we can walk outside in shorts and a T-shirt, it’s nice.

Mice dying on planes?

Now I know why I feel a little lethargic today.

GO BRUINS.

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Luc's final

Once again the contrast with the thugs across town is so refreshing. Luc studying all day for a hard final- it is probably safe to say that Timmeh's crew did not go through that experience.

Again it is also nice to see the depth of involvement that Coach Howland has with the team on and off the court.

by islandbruin on Mar 26, 2008 8:19 AM PDT reply actions

Howland's press conferences are great...

he always cracks me up with something he says. Mice dying on plains. LOL! And I can relate to the parking jitters from my undergrad days.

by bizzybruin05 on Mar 26, 2008 9:22 AM PDT reply actions

Heh heh heh

Bill Marr said that geeks make the best politicians. I'd say that this is true of any vocation. I love our geeky defensive minded coach.

by bruin8uclap on Mar 26, 2008 9:53 PM PDT up reply actions

UCLA Parking Passes

Thank goodness Cade McNown didn't advise Luc on the parking pass issue . . . but should Luc be "running over to [PTO]" on his bad ankle?

by charnaw on Mar 26, 2008 9:35 AM PDT reply actions

Travel, Knight and other comments

One thing I found "interesting" in watching the 4 letter network was the fact that Knight kept saying the focus on travel and location was overblown. It occurred to me that Knight did not realize that being in the middle of the country makes Indiana's travel less of an issue than for teams from either coast. Howland is dead on about West to East being worse.

I have actually wondered whether one small element of the Bruins' BB tournament success is actually tied to finals. We are one of the few teams that always have finals in the midst of the tournament. While one might argue that it defocuses the team, that might be a good thing. The Bruins don't get overwrought and come out to play. Don't know but I have wondered.

And finally, Nestor you are dead on about JS and RW needing to score rather than trying for SportsCenter highlight dunks. While I love to see them and admitting the fact they rev up the fan base, the points are more likely to matter more as we advanceA

Go Team Go!

by bruins grad and dad on Mar 26, 2008 9:55 AM PDT reply actions

Indiana's Final Four travel:

Kansas City, MO (467 miles)
Philadelphia, PA (693 miles)
Philadelphia, PA (693 miles)
New Orleans, LA (804 miles)
Minneapolis, MN (639 miles)
Atlanta, GA (515 miles)

In all cases, the Final Four site was no more than one time zone's variance from Bloomington.

by bruinhoo on Mar 26, 2008 10:45 AM PDT up reply actions

And our 1995 run...

... went to Boise, ID (Mountain Time Zone), Oakland, CA (Pacific) and Seattle, WA (Pacific).

"In this program your passion bucket must be full to play SC." -- CRN, to Dan Patrick, 1/2008

by Meriones on Mar 26, 2008 11:00 AM PDT up reply actions

UCLA's Final Four travel

1962, 1967, 1969: Louisville, KY (2,104 miles)

Kansas City, MO (1,635 miles)
Portland, OR (960 miles)

1968, 1972: Los Angeles, CA (15 miles - LA Sports Arena)

College Park, MD (2,675 miles)
Houston, TX (1,564 miles)
St. Louis, MO (1,846 miles)
Greensboro, NC (2,486 miles)
San Diego, CA (134 miles)
Seattle, WA (1,132 miles)
Indianapolis, IN (2,087 miles)
Atlanta, GA (2,197 miles)

by bruinhoo on Mar 26, 2008 11:00 AM PDT up reply actions

I don't want to see ANYONE calculating...

... the distance to San Antonio, folks. NOT A SINGLE PERSON.

FIRST THINGS FIRST.

The only city we should worry about is Phoenix, because that' where we play the Hilltoppers.

"In this program your passion bucket must be full to play SC." -- CRN, to Dan Patrick, 1/2008

by Meriones on Mar 26, 2008 11:07 AM PDT up reply actions

Don't be so touchy

The distance to San Antonio is one win, then one win.

by Fox 71 on Mar 27, 2008 3:31 AM PDT up reply actions

15 miles...

That's nice!

by Rich1996UCLA on Mar 27, 2008 12:10 AM PDT up reply actions

Good Point

on studying might focus the team.

I remember studying for law school finals. There was nothing I looked forward to more than a nice exercise break. When your mind goes from work to play. The play becomes just that much more stress free than if you were playing the whole time.

by Rich1996UCLA on Mar 27, 2008 11:36 AM PDT up reply actions

Why is the Final 4 NEVER in the West?

When we won in 1995 we played in the old Seattle KingDome, which later fell apart and was soon thereafter demolished. The West has never hosted a Final 4 since then. Why not?

by charnaw on Mar 26, 2008 11:04 AM PDT reply actions

Consider the size of the arenas...

... where the Final 4s are played.

Now count how many galactic-sized stadiums there are west of the Rockies.

Until we start playing these games at the Rose Bowl or Dodger Stadium, I think we're going to be SOL.

"In this program your passion bucket must be full to play SC." -- CRN, to Dan Patrick, 1/2008

by Meriones on Mar 26, 2008 11:09 AM PDT up reply actions

40,000+ capacity

is the NCAA's current benchmark. At this point, the AZ Cardinals new stadium outside of Phoenix is the only covered stadium/dome in the western half of the country that fits. I believe that it is slated to host a regional at some point in the future, and at least a rumor that it will eventually enter the championship site location.

by bruinhoo on Mar 26, 2008 11:28 AM PDT up reply actions

Off Topic

Chancellor Block gave a seminar earlier in the year for my department (Molecular and Medical Pharmacology) and it was one of the most interesting talks I've been to. Not just the subject material, but the way he presented it. Afterwards I had the privilege to have lunch with him with other students we had a great conversation about UCLA, athletics, personal lives, you name it. It was before the hiring of CRN, so I was tempted to ask his thoughts of the then football team, but I refrained. If any of you have the chance to meet him, I definitely recommend it. Just another amazing individual who's part of the Bruin family.

What would John Wooden do?

by JKNaka on Mar 26, 2008 11:14 AM PDT reply actions