We Will Be Back

I am a bit disappointed in how it ended, but it was a great season, and let's hope for some positive announcements from everyone that they are coming back to bring home banner number 12.

Memphis makes you rub your eyes and wonder if what you're seeing is real. Just a tough, tough team.

We also didn't figure out a way to get the ball to Love on the block. I am shocked by that.

RW played great--perhaps too great not to test the NBA draft.

Tough day. Mourning period has begun over a great season that ended two days and two victories too soon.

 Explain how this works please.

Hopefully everyone returns and we'll have some senior leadership.

Why do we always have to lose so bad in the Final Four?

I just never saw Kevin Love getting shut down like he did the second half....  :-(

a great season.

But the most important thing is that Coach Ben Howland WILL be back. This is NOT the end, but just the start of something really special. Even during this 3+ year Final Four run, recruits were still hesitant to commit to UCLA that would have really helped the Bruins. I don't think recruiting will be much of a problem any longer. Ben is loading up the wing positions for next season, and the post players will come in the following season. I don't know about you, but I would rather have a consistent run of deep tournament runs with the right players that Howland is trying to develop than a 2-year "dynasty" and then a flame-out. Eventually the right mix of players will be there for number 12, 13, etc...

despite all that, i've been lucky to see the boys get there three times - although reminiscing about the florida games only makes it worse...

Westbrook played a good game, 10/19 (although a few of the points came in the very end).  At this point in time, I would say his performance increased his draft pick--he was really able to run with the Memphis team.

Love played a great first half, but ended up shooting 4/12.  I was not so happy when he went to take open 3s.  Although he is able to hit them, when he steps out we lose all our rebounding advantage.  You have to give some credit to Dorsey for playing a great defensive second half, but I think overall we didn't get Love the ball inside as much as we needed to.  I am a little bit suprised this wasn't addressed early in the second half (or if it was, that the players didn't make the plays) after Dorsey got 3 fouls.

Luc did well with rebounding (13), and had quite a few good drives to the basket (ending in 12 points).  However he also took some outside jumpers which were unnecessary.

Shipp started out draining 2 threes, which was great.  Later he started driving to the basket, which is also what we needed more than him hitting 3s.  Overall, I think he should spend the offseason working very hard on his shot consistency and his lateral movement.

Collison, ... he's been a great point guard all year except in 3 games (Washington, WKU, and Memphis).  I understand that Rose is a very possible 1st round pick that made DJ Augustin look average.  However, DJ Augustin was still able to draw a few fouls.  I understand that the Memphis team is tall and atheletic, but to score only 2 points on 1/9 shooting is way below his potential.  Collison had 28 points driving in a Stanford zone and shooting over two 7 footers, and I just feel that for whatever reason he was off tonight.

I think the style Memphis plays suprised our players.  I think our backcourt and other teams felt that they had to "match" Memphis's backcourt, and as a result made some uncharacteristically poor decisions under uncharacteristic pressure (with the exception of Westbrook).  Therefore, overall we too many perimeter shots and didn't get the ball to Love (who was clearly tired by the end of the game) enough.

On Memphis's end, I just have to say "wow" on CDR and Rose, who drew the fouls (13 and 12) and then made them (87%).  In comparison, the rest of their team had 0 fouls.  The two players combined for 53 of 78 total Memphis points on 48% shooting.

I have to say that I am disappointed that it wasn't even a close game.  We had a couple runs, but they were VERY short because we couldn't stop Memphis; they had dribble penetration seemingly at will (hard to play man against dribble-drive offense).  

Nevertheless, we had a great season and I look forward to next year.

My thoughts:  I'm with the majority here, the Bruins let Memphis control the tempo.  There wasn't enough getting the ball inside to Love.  We'll need to see how things shake out in the off season, who stays and who goes.  It'd be great to have KL for one more year.

I still like our Coach and our guys, and would rather have them lined than anyone else to win one if my life were at stake.

Thanks team, and thanks BN for being a great family this season.  

We have some unfinished business before football season (e.g., bu$hgate and the White Nation), and then it will be time to get behind Coach Neuheisel.

Shoot, Kansas isn't just nailing it, they're nailing UNC to the wall, kicking them in the gut three times with cleats on, and then locking the door right before they set the whole freaking house on fire.

This isn't a pummeling.  Kansas is dropping frogs and locusts on the Heels.

God bless 'em.

M

It has been a beautiful year to remember forever.  

Now, what about next year?!  Bruin78, what kind of incoming class can we expect?  If Love stays, could he be another Bill Walton?  Who else will join us?

Anyone?

Awesome year, we have nothing to hang our heads for or be sad about.  

And for the first time in a long time, we can look forward to football.  Who knows what Rick Neuheisel will bring.  We don't have to worry about Dorrell anymore.  (Although Karl is a fellow Bruin) I was a Phi Gamma Delta at the same time Neuheisel was a Sigma Nu.  I hope he has matured since then.

BillM85Legacy  

I am honored to have witnessed Kevin Love and the rest of these fantastic players for a tremendous season.

As for our warriors, I hope all of them come back next year, as we still have some unfinished business....Having said that however, if Love, Westbrook and Collison opt to go pro ( and really, who can blame them if they did?), thank you for making this another exciting season and continuing the tradition of UCLA basketball.

GO BRUINS!!!

Biggest question: who's coming back?  Watching KL at the end, I could see the desire in his eyes.  I'm going on a limb and saying he's coming back.  Shipp's stock has dropped so much that he's no longer a lottery pick - he should come back.  I'm split on DC and RW...I think one will come back and the other will leave.  Luc could go as well...

Hard loss for our Bruins today, but we'll be back next year.  Great season guys!

Memphis played a great game. But part of the reason they looked so good was because we were completely outplayed and outcoached. You cannot say that the reason other teams have played poorly against us in the past is because of our tough D and then not say the same thing when we play poorly. Memphis looked good because we played like crap.

Memphis might have beaten us regardless of how we played tonight. And that's fine. I would have been sad but not disappointed and angry like I am now if we had showed up and lost a tough game.

What's not OK with me is getting to the Final Four just to lay down the way we did. And again, I think Coach deserves some of the blame for that. Why in the world was DC matched up on Rose when it was so clear that he was much too big for him? Even the tool Packer saw it.

What happened to our game plan? What happened to playing our game? Almost from the beginning we tried to play Memphis' game. For awhile it worked because we were hitting more shots than usual. I kept waiting for us to turn up the D and slow down on offense, pounding the ball into Love. When their two big men had 3 fouls each, we didn't even try. Why not?

And it was clear to me that Memphis wanted it more than us. Every bounce went their way. The same thing happened in each of our losses this year, especially against SC. That isn't just about luck. That's about not being ready--mentally ready.

And one last thing--what happened to our fans? It sounded like maybe there were 12 UCLA fans in that cavernous place. I will take some personal responsibility for this one because I was not there. The guys really could have used the energy boost they got from us in Anaheim and Phoenix and maybe that hurt us a bit.

Bump me if you want, Nestor--this is not a democracy where free speech is allowed--it is your and your buddies' website and I really appreciate all you have done here for all of us true blue Bruin fans. But in my perspective it is not anti-UCLA to have negative views about how our team performed in a game. That is like the tired old story the Republicans love to throw out that if you say the war in Iraq is a travesty that means that you don't support the troops. What a joke!

If I cannot say this here, where can I say it? I am more than happy to have people disagree with me. I'd love to hear a smart response that helps me change my mind about our performance in this game and why things will be different next time. But at this point, this is how I feel. If we make it to the Final Four again next year I will be happy like I am this year that we've made it this far. But I will have trouble believing we will win it all.

That doesn't mean I don't love my team or that they are not good. And it does not mean that CBH isn't a great coach--he is one of the best. It just means that he still has to prove he can win it all.

I have no idea at this point exactly what next year will bring. But I fully expect another outstanding season. What I won't expect is banner #12, and maybe that is a good thing.

So, what would you do to deal with those issues? Surely CBH knew what he was up against. Do you think he was just hoping that DC could handle Rose and then when he couldn't he had no Plan B? I'm no Coach Howland so this is armchair quarterbacking but at very least I would think it would make sense to try a different matchup, don't you?

Can't wait for the fall and our new administration at the Rose Bowl followed up by an amazing hoops season with JH, RW, JK, LRMAM, and hopefully KL and DC.

Thank you LMR for all of the awesome memories.

See you all in September.

This year we had an inside game, but piss-poor outside shooting.

With Love gone, so goes the inside game.  This is frustrating, because next year we won't have all the pieces yet again.

On the other hand, North Carolina seems to have all the piece, yet they got blown away by Kansas.

Just goes to show, it is so, so tough to win in all.  Coach Wooden did it 10 times!  Disappointed in today's outcome, be very fortunate to be able to say that UCLA is a dynasty with no end in sight.

I am a huge CBH fan and while tonight doesn't erase a great season, at a minimum it leaves it with a VERY bad taste in it's mouth.  Hopefully it will motivate Love to return.

I have to think that one of these times we'll get #12 up in Pauley.  How can you not think that we will with CBH at the helm?

I love our guys and our coach.  GO BRUINS!

While comparing UCLA to the other Final 4 teams. I realize that we really need players in the 6-4 to 6-8 range that can slash and shoot perimeter shots. Dijon Thompson was the last UCLA player that really filled that role. Jrue Holiday is going to be amazing for us next year.

I think KLove was not as effective in the second because he was double teamed the entire second half. Plus, he did look tired. He really has embraced the tradition of UCLA and respected the game. Hope he comes back!

I'm still proud of the guys, I had a blast watching games at Pauley, in the Bay Area, Anaheim, and Phoenix. I hope all of them can say that their experience at UCLA has been enriching and rewarding.

Go Bruins!