Our Wonderland

by Nestor on Mar 26, 2008 4:01 AM PDT in Basketball Comment 26 comments

So apparently I have missed a lot of the same old doubting and questioning in the local (and national MSM) about in last few days. Larry Brown Sports has a poignant post about all the whining over UCLA non calls and our Rhapsode put up a great diary here on BN laying out while we might have gotten lucky, we wouldn’t be 33-3 if not for the fact that Coach Howland always has our boys prepared that allows them to win this close games time after time.

In addition being prepared going into every game our guys have also shown a remarkable ability to maintain their poise off the court dealing with the vultures in the local/national MSM. They have been rock steady while facing the constant barrage of questioning, whining, nagging, and doubting by being self effusive and maintaining an uncanny sense of humor. From the OC Register:

"I don't think anybody's playing with anything but confidence right now," Love said. "I think Luc's going to get going. Russell's going to get going. Josh, he's fine. He's all smiles."

Smiles don't work for the media, not when there are so many obvious crises in the air. Stressed ligaments, busted jumpers, luck running on empty. Oh, the madness.

Now here come the Hilltoppers, who are trying to become the Mountaintoppers. A No. 1 losing at this point to a No. 12? The Bruins wouldn't just be picked apart, they'd be autopsied.

At one point Tuesday, in the semicircle around Love, a radio reporter tripped and clung to a sports writer, balancing himself against his startled colleague.

"Now that's a foul," Love said. "But we probably would have gotten away with that one."

The Bruins' senses of humor remain intact. And that's a good thing for a team that later Tuesday was scheduled to travel to Phoenix.

Of course it goes way beyond their sense of humor. The steadiness among our warriors come from a head coach who have fully installed a sense of commitment to the collective among all our players, which I earnestly believe is unparalleled in today’s world of major college athletics. Bob Keisser wrote a beautiful column that ran in the San Bernardino Sun on how Coach Howland’s commitment to defense and hard work has created a wonderland in Westwood:

UCLA is all about players who have fully bought into Howland's system. They know practices are going to be physical. They will not get on the court if they don't play good defense. They must be willing to give up their bodies for the collective.

They've done that often. I doubt if any team in the nation has lost more players to injuries than UCLA in Howland's five years. Cedric Bozeman missed all of 2004-05 after tearing his ACL in practice. Lorenzo Mata-Real has played through concussions and injuries to just about every appendage. Josh Shipp needed hip surgery. Alfred Aboya suffered a knee injury. James Keefe and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute have been this season's MASH unit.

This isn't to say Howland's system begets injuries, just a reminder of what can happen when young men throw their bodies around a basketball court and play with intensity. He gives no quarter.

When he was asked about Josh Shipp's poor game against Texas A&M, he noted that Shipp had strep throat. Howland's cure: Shipp spent 75 minutes at practice Tuesday taking shots, 325 of them, 200 of them game shots, and with free throws in-between.

When he was asked about Luc's ankle, he said it looked like he was suffering from elephantitis. He then said Luc would practice.

When he was asked about Kevin Love's progress as a true freshman, he glowingly talked about Love's seven blocked shots versus A&M, indicative of the manchild's growth in the facet of basketball that pleases Howland.

Now every single young man who dreams of playing for UCLA realizes that he will be asked to bleed on his jersey if necessary, and not just wear it.

Having watched too many UCLA teams over the years back down from tough games, shrink versus bigger teams, and not get the most out of their ability, watching Howland's body of work is, as John Mayer sang it, a "Wonderland."

Thank heavens for audacious men.

And that is why I am thankful for the program we are blessed to have Coach Howland every freaking day no matter what I read from the professional cynics in the local press.

I will say it again I don’t really care whether or not we win the banner number 12 this year. All I know if it doesn’t happen this year, it will happen eventually. It’s just a matter of time with the incoming infusion of more future Ben Ball warriors in the coming years. We have kids like Holiday, Lee, Gordon, Anderson, Nelson and more all lined up for Ben Ball'a wonderland. It's a pretty good bet they will give us the same kind of all out effort on the court, committing themselves to the collective team, while maintaining that Howlandian humor and poise off the court.

So let’s all take a deep breath and take all of this in a game by game basis. Let’s sit back and just soak in the experience of following (and obsessing over) an incredible program and team, which I believe is going to give us everything it has (battling through any incoming adversity, bumps and bruises) going into tomorrow night’s game.

Let the vultures who get paid to engage in their cynicism so they can rip off a few cheap articles driving up hits on their websites. Over here we are going to stick with LRMAM, AA2, KL et al and our coaches as they march into every game:

Photo Credit: Phillip Cha

We are going to stay right here with our head coach and out team through every step of the way, while enjoying every moment of this wonderland.

I encourage all of you to be in a state of mind knowing full well no matter what happens this year and beyond it is all good in the new world of UCLA basketball as long as Coach Howland is guiding our ship. And once you have that peace of mind it will be that much easier to take this all in one game at a time. On to the Hilltoppers.

GO BRUINS.

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National Championship Or No, Ben's the Man

Unless you have a complete dominator, like Kareem or the Redhead, winning a national championship takes so much luck and skill, that no one should be dissappointed soley because they don't win it all. Having a team that plays hard, with intelligence, and tremendous heart and one that will never quit, is such a tremendous pleasure, that I will feel worse about them not playing another game together, than I will if they don't win the whole thing. Ben has put together a team, taught and led them to a position where they can fight for the national championship, which is more than anyone can ask. Luc and Josh want to win so badly and want to play so badly that I am sure it is their choice to practice and play despite injury and illness. I am also sure that both will get well once the championship is over, and feel the need to contribute now. The team is a total pleasure. Go Bruins.

by 75NatChamps on Mar 26, 2008 10:04 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Hard to focus on WKU when the MSM won't let me

Comment I sent to Pat Forde of ESPN.com after he went off on the UCLA/Texas A&M game:

Andy (Fountain Valley, CA): Pat, I have to say with all due respect, that I am sick of the crying going on with the no-call against UCLA. Texas A&M put themselves in that position to lose after being up by as many as 10 in the second half. If you watched the entire game, it was a horribly officiated game on both sides.

SportsNation Pat Forde: (1:26 PM ET ) Andy: I'd say Donald Sloan was in great position to tie the game -- about five feet from the hoop -- when he was hacked across both arms by two different players. That isn't crying, that's an officiating outrage. Combine it with the horrible call in the Stanford game and the non-calls in the Cal game and you have a trend. Not saying it's purposeful, but please. UCLA has led a charmed life.

I think it's probably my fault for allowing the MSM to keep getting me up about the Texas A&M game, which in case some of you didn't know, WAS 4 DAYS AGO!!!

I've been trying to focus on WKU and what our Bruins have to do to beat them, but every time I bring up a conversation about the Bruins, someone has to repeat something ESPN or Fox Sports or whoever said about the Texas A&M game. I wish I was as good as some of you at blocking out the MSM. I just want to look ahead and stop being bothered about games in the past.

by SmrtGuy82 on Mar 26, 2008 10:36 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I Know What You Mean

I dismiss the East Coast bias as nothing but ignorance, however, outright sloppy reporting is inexcusable. Yesterday morning I choked on my breakfast when WWL's "analyst" Hubert Davis boldy predicted that WKU will pull the upset. He reasoned that UCLA's role players are slumping, citing Shipp and Luc. While he may be correct about Josh, as to Luc he commented that he is averaging 3 points a game in his last whatever amount of games. Anybody who holds himself out to be a network analyst would know that Luc's scoring (or lack thereof) is trivial as he contributes mightily in other ways. Had he mentioned Luc's 6 turnovers in the TAM game, he might have some credibility. He then went on to mention WKU's superlative guards without uttering the names of UCLA's guards as if WKU had a tremendous advantage at the guard position. Not once did he provide any analysis of how WKU would defend KL. What horseshit!!!

I know he has a very short segment and cannot give full analysis each time. I also know these guys make a living on predicting upsets but at least give some well-reasoned analysis as to why the upset may be likely.

It really pissed me off. I have no problem with someone predicting a loss for my Bruins. But to do so without any factual analysis is deplorable.

by 78Bruin on Mar 26, 2008 10:55 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed...

The MSM has gotten into my head a little as well... Like when Andy Glockner on the WWL (on a podcast) said that he "feels sorry" for UCLA because if they do happen to win the title, it would be "tainted." To even suggest that going 37-3 with a win against one of the top fields in quite some time (at least 6 or more legitimate contenders) is tainted based on a single non-call made me cringe. Like so many of you mentioned, championship or not, nothing about this season is tainted and quite to the contrary, the grit and poise of these Bruins through the last several weeks of last second adversity has made me a proud member of the Bruin community.

Perhaps I need to step away from all things basketball until Thursday night - though I must admit it's hard to do that when I'm this pumped for what looks to be a potential 3rd straight final four. I also agree that at this point, the articles on the sweet sixteen matchups are tired and contrived and the actual games couldn't come any sooner.

by inline00 on Mar 26, 2008 11:08 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

"tainted" my A$$

There are two other teams in the sweet 16, WSU and Stanford, and we beat them 5 times out of 5.

by bluegold on Mar 26, 2008 11:32 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

don't forget...

...about Michigan State. (but you can forget Texas if you want)

by inline00 on Mar 26, 2008 11:39 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

A & M Game

These MSM experts seem to forget that:

There is no way to know if the shot would go in if it wasn't blocked.
If it wnt in, it would have only tied the game, not won it.
If the foul was called that he would make both free throws.

Sheesh, they piss me off!

I don't mind them questioning the sequence but it needs to be put in the proper perspective.

by artybruin on Mar 26, 2008 3:17 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Arty...

wanna be pissed even more, check this out. Monkey (MSM) see, monkey (naysayers) do. http://www.sportsline.com/mcc/messages/chrono/7327208/0/1/7362174#ID7362174

by Rich1996UCLA on Mar 26, 2008 4:17 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Your right

That crap would piss off the Good Humor Man

by artybruin on Mar 26, 2008 6:04 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Would that be

the movie with Jorge from Lost? He was in my dorm at UCLA...we used to call him Hair Bear!

by tasser10 on Mar 27, 2008 9:03 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wonder if they're...

watching the games.

I had both Urcle and Blossom in some classes back in the 90's. Always wanted to talk to Blossom, but she always looked like she wanted to be left alone. So I did.

I know Urcle's a fan, but I wonder if Blossom watches the games.

by Rich1996UCLA on Mar 27, 2008 11:29 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Who cares?

Let MSM say what they want at this point. Winning the title seals our legacy. Anyone who wants to say "yeah, but..." comes across as an envious loser. Also, history is on our side:

No one has ever said Michigan's 1989 title was tainted, even though Rumeal Robinson got sent to the foul line with less than 3 seconds left on a bad call. Instead, they remember that Michigan won the title (its only title) and Rumeal was clutch, hitting both to give them a 1-point lead when he was not a good FT shooter.

UConn won in 2004 with the fishy officiating in the semis vs. Duke that allowed them to come back and send the game into OT. Today, we remember Okafor and Gordon rolled in the championship against Georgia Tech.

Let's not get caught up in what media says. For the most part media consists of low-paid paper pushers who do nothing but follow the herd.

by BruinsRule on Mar 26, 2008 3:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Media addendum

My last comment about the media was inappropriate, and I apologize to any of you who are in the media for the comment. I do think that some members of the media are lazy and make a lot of factual errors and tend to repeat what others say and make stories out of things that nobody cares about (like fouls at the end of a game). However, there are many members of the media, most likely the vast majority of them, who do their job well, and I shouldn't have generalized like I did--a few bad apples don't spoil the bunch. Also, whether or not a particular member of the media makes little money (as some do) or a lot of money (as some do) was a completely gratuitous comment, and I'd like to strike it from the record.

by BruinsRule on Mar 26, 2008 3:17 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Dohn just posted he is going to start

banning people from commenting on his blog that have negative things to say about his reporting.

The media echo chamber just loves to repeat its conventional wisdom to each other over and over again. It hates to be challenged.

"when you've seen how big the world is, how can you make due with this?"

by silverlakebruin on Mar 26, 2008 11:11 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

This doesn't surprise

me one bit. Free speech is always the first right to go in a faltering system. Crooked CEO's ban internal memo's, Dictators ban protests, Doh! bans online posts... way to fulfill the stereotype Brian...

It is truly nauseating to read their blog. I stopped a while back after "reading between the lines" so to speak... it is quite obvious to anyone that this is a team of reporters that do not promote neither UCLA sports nor the UCLA image to the national media. It's a crying shame that we do not just ice them out and give them NOTHING to write about. I hope that media-savvy Neu will do something about that.

I really don't get why this Doh! character has to be such an outright jerk. Go cover your likeminded thugs across town.

by bruin007 on Mar 26, 2008 11:45 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Who's He Gonna Ban.

Everybody who's probably anybody's already left, on their own choosing.

by Rich1996UCLA on Mar 27, 2008 12:17 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Offtopic...

Great article on CBH on WWL

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=3312457&sportCa t=ncb

by LYC on Mar 26, 2008 11:45 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

You beat me to it

I just read the article and came to BN to post. Great find! :)

by uclabruin07 on Mar 26, 2008 12:30 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

In that list of injured players

we left out mikey roll...we can't forget the impact that has. Imagine how good a mike roll type player would be right now with shipp going through a little slump. Not only would he more likely be hitting a little more consistently than josh, but he would take loads of pressure off of him...too bad mikey, get well soon.

O.A.

by Ollie on Mar 26, 2008 12:56 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Michael Roll

Is it just me but when I see him at the games in his suit I could have sworn he looked like Matt Damon. I keep thinking Jason Bourne is going to open a can of whoop-ass on the opposing teams.

by mark the bruin on Mar 26, 2008 1:15 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

If anyone's nickname

on the team was "hollywood" i think it would be michael..I've noticed he slowly started becoming more stylish and stylish...a nice watch, a blazer, dress shoes instead of sneakers..I think the longer he stays on the bench the more fashion savy he'll become haha...

and yea he does look a lot like bourne, especially when hes got the suit goin'

O.A.

by Ollie on Mar 26, 2008 2:18 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Keisser's comment also ran in the daily news

it was nice to see a positive story about the program in their sports page for once.

"when you've seen how big the world is, how can you make due with this?"

by silverlakebruin on Mar 26, 2008 1:14 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

As a point of reference . ..

Cal finally fired Ben Braun.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3313928

by charnaw on Mar 26, 2008 1:52 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I'm sure Lavin will say it's an intriguing

opportunity, because someone is bound to ask if he is interested.

I dare him to go back into coaching.

by bluegold on Mar 26, 2008 2:04 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

At least we're still huge in France

I'm sure a lot of you remember the music video I had posted last year. Well, the guy is at it again, it's pretty hilarious. It's basically "talk to the hand", but in French.