UCLA Beats Up Pepperdine 71-52, Takes Another Step Forward

Sitting next to Mychal Thompson and his youngest son, Trayce. Mychal was the #1 draft pick in the 1978 draft, and a backup to Kareem Abdul Jabbar for the Lakers, which I did not know until I did a quick wikipedia search on my phone. I spoke with Trayce briefly, who was supposed to be part of the UCLA baseball team, but was drafted by the Chicago White Sox and will be a center fielder for them next season. Mychal’s oldest son, Mychel, was playing for the Pepperdine basketball team tonight; we should also be familiar with Mychal’s middle son, Klay Thompson of the Washington Huskies. Pretty cool!

B/c I thought for the most part that he still looked lost out there. When he first entered the game, he immediately turned the ball over and found himself right back on the bench. The second half was a little better, but he still looked confused to me on the offensive end and had another bad turnover. And that three pointer that he attempted- while it was an open look, it sure was an ugly shot.

On the positive side, he did have that really nice steal where he got into the passing lane and used his length to intercept the pass. That play definitely showcased his potential as a defensive stopper down the road. But it looks to me like he’s still a long way away from being a significant contributor to the team.

The Bruins certainly did improve last night. They shot better and was able to exert they will on the Waves in the second half. But I do remain concerned. This has to be the least athletic team in Howland’s tenure and the situation at point guard is a little troubling. Not only does Anderson need to improve, he needs to get his stamina up because he’s going to have to play a lot of minutes.

I am anxious to see how Tyler Honeycutt works out. I hope he’s as good as advertise; the Bruins need more athleticism and creativity on the wing.

I think when it all said and done, the Bruins will be a strong defensive team that will grind out most of their victories. It might not be pretty but I am confident it will be effective.

Why isn’t Mustafa getting more love? I thought the team played with more chemistry and purpose with MA. Jerime’s ball-handling has a lot left to be desired. He exposes the ball too much, reacts poorly to pressure. Add the poor FT shooting, missed lay-ups.. and now apparently poor physical conditioning – I just don’t see the benefit of playing JA more than 20 min until he corrects these issues.

OTH Mustafa dribbles well, has good shot selection and moves well without the ball. And he doesn’t seem to be a defensive liability. The majority of Pepperdine’s offense runs through their backcourt and they shot 41% as a team with JA out most the game.

To me JA is the basketball equivalent of Terrance Austin. Highly touted, skilled but squanders it with poor instincts, indecisiveness, and second-guessing.

I wouldn’t read too much in Bobo not getting minutes right now. He is still regaining confidence in this knee. The working hard at practice mantra is Howland’s way of maintaining a competitive atmosphere. As far as JA goes, he showed some flashes, but IMO the team looked more cohesive with Lee at point. I like Moser and Lane – when Honeycutt returns the team will be a lot more potent on offense. I now the BN loves Nelson, but he’s very raw offensively and is just a garbage man at this time. Team is growing, going to be a beast come February.

I hope ND gets his life together, the team will eventually need his ability to stretch defenses. All that said, his absence does free up more minutes for Moser, Lane and Nelson. Going into this weekend’s tournament the Bruins will need all that depth.

On your points ReineSeite. Team is, obviously, a work in progress. I know that some followers don’t see a lot of athleticism in this years club, but I feel differently. This team is longer, and very athletic. Honeycutt is a true baller. I’ve seen most of these guys play at the prep level, and JA is very skilled at the point – he’s not playing confidently, I believe a lot of that is due to his being injured. Honeycutt is the best small forward prospect UCLA has secured in the Howland era. Give the team another month – hope the record is decent (given the level of opponents they’ll face the RPI will be okay).

Two things developed during the course of the game, and IMO will dictate our success this season.
1. The defense stepped up in a major way. It seems pretty apparent that, since the opening game loss, our young team is really starting to embrace CBH’s defensive approach. Mike Roll was hot tonight, and that was incredible! But when he goes cold, we’ll be able to slow the game down and control the tempo with our team defense. It still takes us a while to get comfortable in the first half, but we’re definitely improving. Unfortunately, we lack the leader who will take on the opponent’s best player and take it personally. We were gashed again and again by their one guy who went off for 22 pts. Hopefully Lee can develop that role. Maybe he should call up Afflalo for advice. Regardless, we are definitely headed in the right direction.

2. THE POST! Most of the first half, we still passed around the perimeter a lot and fired up numerous threes, most of which didn’t go in at that point. The threes that went in later in the game were almost always a result of our player learning to drive into the lane and dish it out to a wide open Mike Roll. In the first half, we rarely went to the post. Late in the first half, and throughout the second, nobody could stop Drew Gordon. Nobody. As much as we will need our guards this year, I still believe that our offensive dominance will come in the post. That is where we hold an edge over most other Pac-10 teams this year, not in the backcourt. I was screaming during the game for us to feed the post, and fortunately, CBH convinced our guys to do just that.

This year is going to be so much fun watching our young team grow. We will be miles ahead by the end of the season from where we were opening night.

Will never question Howland’s in game adjustments, the way he has elevated the program or the type of recruits he regularly bring to Westwood – BUT – it seems this version of Ben Ball would be best served to play in the open court.

The freshman would be more equipped to display their ability playing at faster tempo. Also wish the team would mix in some zone so Bobo could see more time on the floor. Granted he’s a liabilty right now the way UCLA want so defend the high pick and roll, but he is a space eater and shot blocker that the team will need when they face the better front lines – Kansas, Mississippi St., Washington. You cannot coach size. If Gordon ever gets in foul trouble how is this team ever going to secure a rebound?

No one is bashing CBH instead trying to understand some of the rationale behind the way he utilizes his size. If the Bruins never intend to play Morgan then why’d they ever recruit him or offer him a scholarship? Obviously they saw his defensive liabilities when he was in high school. It’s more than injuries. He played effectively at times last year. Bobo can score. I believe a little flexibility is required to work him for meaningful minutes soon. UCLA could really use his scoring and ability to rebound. I would agree that a front court of Morgan, Gordan, Keefe/Moser/Dragovic, Honeycutt would allow Roll to play some SG and let Lee slide to PG. Strengthening our bench and putting JA against players he should be able to not only handle, but dominate. I can see the upside of Lane and Nelson too , but both of those guys would be great off the bench. This team is extremely deep up front, sliding Roll to SG only adds to our weak guard rotation,

Portland will be a tough opponent for UCLA, hopefully, selfishly, I’d love to see the Bruins match up with Butler. Stylistically Portland is a tougher game IMO than either Butler or Minnesota. The Pilots might not have a better roster than BU or UM but they will run and pressure the basketball – given our shaky guard play that’s scary.