CBH and his team continue to disappoint (updated with look back)
by bruinponcho on Nov 30, 2009 4:16 AM PST
50 comments
Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N
After the disappointing loss to Portland this week, I promised not to make any judgments about CBH's team until the end of the tournament. I had hoped that there would be encouraging developments in the next two games, unfortunately, it has just been more frustration (sandwiched between the gut punch that was the $C football game).
- The biggest problem plaguing this team is JA. I know what apologists will say: he is only a sophomore, he has been injured, he didn't get to play much last year (which is untrue). The fact of the matter is he is absolutely destroying this program. On offense, he dribbles far too much, then will pick up his dribble in a position where he has no angle to shoot or pass. Making matters worse, he never looks to get the ball inside effectively taking whoever our post player is out of the game. However, his lack of offensive ability pales in comparison to his defensive shortcomings. He has terrible footspeed and has been burned all season so far by inferior players. Finally, I'll take heat for this, but JA has no heart and doesn't hold himself accountable. Anytime he gets burned or something goes bad, he looks at his teammates as if they did something wrong instead of getting mad with himself and doing a better job the next time. What JA should realize is that his teammates really should be looking at him every time their guy scores because they had to slide over to stop the penetration that JA allowed, leaving their guy open. The thing that scares me the most about JA is that we could be forced to watch his dissapointing play for the next three years.
- JK is an 8th man at best. I have been a big supporter of JK because I know that he has talent because I have seen it. Sadly, whether its from early injuries or CBH getting in his head, he has not improved at all since he was a freshman. He plays way too passively and with him on the court with JA, its impossible for MR and ML to ever get easy shots since the opposing defenses are playing 5 on 3. JK would be fine for 10 minutes a game backing up DG, RN, BL, and ND, but he can not continue to be a starter if this team is going to be respectable.
- RN and BL should be starters. As mentioned, JK is not a starter. I've also never been sold on DG who plays incredibly dumb on the court. DG commits way too many unnecessary fouls, gambles for steals and blocks instead of playing solid position defense, and has a highly inflated ego compared to what he actually has proven. Conversely, RN and BL have been solid contributors in the minutes they have been given. Sure they have made their fair share of mistakes, but RN has shown more heart than anyone on this team and BL is already the most skilled of the bigmen on this team.
Well Bruins, its been a rough weekend. We all knew that there would be ups and downs this year and I think its important that we approach things rationally rather than through emotional rants (hence why I never partake in the home of ignorant comments: game threads). However, I don't think even the most pessimistic of us thought we would be looking at a 2-4 team that seems to take 3 steps back for every step forward. The one encouraging thing about this weekend was the Bulter game which made me think that this could be a team that plays up to or down to its opponent. I guess we will find out about that against Kansas.
Update: After the Fullerton loss, I posted that everyone needed to calm down about being chicken littles. I thought it would be worthwhile to look at the points I outlined in that post and see how they stood five games later.
1. We played as bad as can be -- Hmmm, this is a tough one. I don't think we have played worse than we did in the Fullerton game, but they have tried very hard to do so. We've played against better competition and despite the many problems with this team, I think even the long beach state UCLA team is far better than the team that lost to Fullerton.
2. ND is in a slump -- Yup, still in a slump....
3. RN is fools gold -- My point with this comment was that RN was not the savior of the team that some knee jerk commentators were proclaiming him to be. However, he has far surpassed my expectations and is definitely deserving of more and more playing time. I am happy I was off on this one.
4. ML needs to be our point, not JA -- I will stand by this one all year.
5. I’m viewing this season like a locomotive, slow start but should get going pretty well -- I still have this same view and think that by the end of the season, this will be a solid basketball team. Unfortunately, we cant fastforward to that point and are going to have to experience all the painful steps getting there. You have to learn to walk before you can run, and you are going to fall down a lot getting there.
6. This was the first of approximately 35 games, its a looooooooong season -- So now we are 6 games into the season, about one sixth of the way through. Sure we would all like to be 6-0 right now, but we almost beat a top 10 team in Butler and Portland is no slouche. Losing to Fullerton and Long Beach is something that no Bruin team ever should do, but it happened. We can either dwell on the past or move forward.
All in all, I still think that CBH can get his team going and have a succesful season. Right now the main task is figuring out who can actually play and getting people comfortable with their roles and allocating playing time accordingly. Thankfully, each game it appears that the cream is rising to the crop (RN, BL) while those not stepping up are having their time reduced accordingly (JK). Sadly, the player having the most (negative) impact on the team, JA, continues to get and waste significant playing time. There really are three options: (1) JA dramatically improves and everyone is happy; (2) JA continues to struggle and the team follows suit; (3) CBH moves JA to the bench and puts ML at point and we see what happens. I think we all know what option I'm rooting for.
Go Bruins!
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.
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Nice job, poncho
I appreciate your patience after that first game, and I think this is a very fair evaluation, and not just a knee-jerk reaction. We’d all agree there are major problems, well beyond “We are young”.
How to fix them…well, I’m too burned from this weekend to figure it out. But I’d start with ML at point and go from there. I think you have good suggestions for the rest.
btw, 5. The starting *frontcourt should be…
greg in denver - UCLA guy for life
Good catch, I'll edit it.
I agree, I’m totally burned out too. I just wanted to get all of this out of my head so hopefully I can have an enjoyable evening tonight.
I think I am in full agreement
"when you've seen how big the world is, how can you make due with this?"
by silverlakebruin on Nov 29, 2009 3:55 PM PST reply actions
Totally agree with everything
except ND. Seeing as how I have had the pleasure (if you can call it that) of watching him courtside all weekend, he needs to be benched. All last year I was in the corner of “he’s improving and playing hard, let’s stick with him” like you, but he has been pitiful this tournament. And I’m not even talking about the gagillion 3s he jacks up with complete disregard. He might be in a slump, but that is no excuse for his lazy defense, refusal to crash the boards half the time, and inability to work within this offense.
If you are ever at a game, just follow him because the camera misses a lot. For every good hustle play he makes he will blow 3 defensive assignments or get out-rebounded by a guy half his size, or something else ridiculous.
Sorry, I know that this was a huge rant, but I just got back from the LBSU game and needed to vent. Everything else that you said is completely on point though
Pretty much agree
I’ve been to all the games at Pauley so far, but had to watch the Anaheim games on tv. From what I saw in the last few games was ND doing a better job of rotating over to stop JA’s man thus leaving his man open for a pass off or offensive rebound. That said, he obviously doesn’t have a defensive mindset that he is going to shut someone down. If DC was out there instead of JA and other teams werent penetrating at will, I don’t think ND would be as big of a defensive liability this year as he has been in the past. Alas, JA is out there, so this whole team is going to struggle defensively, and weaker defenders like ND are exposed even more.
ND
I’ve probably been the most outspoken ND hater but I want everyone to know my issues with ND are purely basketball related.
I absolutely agree with Sideout11 whole heartedly. Nic simply doesn’t know where to go when he does not have the ball on offense. If the play breaks down he usually tries to go to the front of the rim. On multiple occasions during the 76 Classic this move put him right in the path of the ball handler; essentially making him the 6th defender.
During the last 10 minutes of the Long Beach St game they were not guarding him on the parimeter. Daring him to shoot.
Check out my article about the Dodger Dugout Club.
I would add a number 8
View every recruit from Orange County with a very critical eye….
"when you've seen how big the world is, how can you make due with this?"
by silverlakebruin on Nov 29, 2009 4:01 PM PST reply actions
Roll is from the OC and he is by far the best player on this team
Although I think it has less to do with him being from the OC and more to do with the fact that he spent four years along side DC, PAA, and JS and knows what success is like.
Roll is not very mentally tough
Note the missed one-and-one that cost us Fullerton, the choke-job against Butler.
being the best player on this team
is not a huge accomplishment, I am sorry to say. He’s a fine role player, but his being the best player on this team shows you how much trouble we are in.
Keefe
Roll
Anderson
are all OC players. Roll was about right in the talent assessment. Keefe and Anderson were greatly overrated.
"when you've seen how big the world is, how can you make due with this?"
by silverlakebruin on Nov 29, 2009 4:37 PM PST up reply actions
I completely agree with 1, 3 and 4
I have followed this blog for several months now and after witnessing what i witnessed this past weekend, i just have to chime in.
First, I love basketball, especially bruin basketball. But, this past weekend was as Charles Barkley would say “terrrible.” JA blows, like seriously, this is sad how much he blows. I know it wasn’t in the gameplan for him to be starting but for Jrue leaving us we’re left with no option.
Second, our best players are ML and DG. JK, MR, and DG should be coming off the bench. They can’t stop dribble penatration worth shit. Imagine playing Washington or Cal during Pac 10 play, we’re gonna get killed.
Therefore, our starting lineup should be
1ML JA
2MM MR
3BL Honeycutt when he gets back
4RN ND
5DG JK
we should roll with this even if it hurts at first, in the long run we’ll get better. We know what we’re gonna get from MR, JK, ND. They are who we thought they were.
honestly, i have faith in CBH, but i don’t know why he has a man crush on ND. he’s not reggie miller, so please actin like it. We should just cut JA and start over with a new recruit. I can’t stand watching him for the next three years.
i love bruin basketball, but our program looks really really bad right now!
At the top of CBH's priority list
Start recruiting for a PG. Now. I cannot take another 2+ years of this.
formerly godblesstyus95
Or rather continue
Hopefully Ray McCallum watches this season and is drawn by the obvious available PT.
This is more like it.....
A more realistic viewpoint using five+ games of data. It is fairly evident since game #1 that we have these issues. It is now magnified considering the level of competition.
Totally agree on CBH
As I know that all of us here are greatful to CBH for the work he has done for UCLA, a question has to be asked:
Has CBH truly brought back UCLA back to bball prominence. And if he has, what should the standard of maintenance be?
IMHO, I think he has. However, I believe because of our horrific dark era of the lavin years(which I will refer to as the dark ages), we may have been somewhat apathetic to what’s happening to the bball program. What is a rebuilding year for UCLA like? It’s bound to happen from time to time, like it is now, but does that mean we have to be as bad as we are just because we had some players go to the NBA and we had 3 consecutive Final Fours? Is a rebuilding year always going to leave us out of the top 25?Has our standards drop? Does this happen to Duke, NC, etc…?
I can’t help notice that a common point of our miserable play is that we do not have the talent? And why is that? At this juncture, after the success CBH has had with at UCLA, why is this an issue? And if he has talent (whether or not he has less or more, he still has some talent) that isn’t playing up to it’s potential, CBH should allow his players to play according to the skill they were recruited for, instead of forcing them to play a style that they simply cannot. If a player is right handed, you can’t force him to become ambidextrous and shoot with his left. You can improve his left, but you can’t make him a left handed player. So if you don’t have the talent to play man-to-man, then play zone.
Ultimately, is it about his philosophy or is it about UCLA? UCLA is and always should be what comes first. Establishing and maintaining UCLA as a winning and respected institution is always priority #1.
Sorry for this ramble, but the last 3-4 days have been emotionally taxing. And it’s especially hard, when you’ve gone a whole weekend standing up up for your school with all the Bruin pride you can muster, not to mention a few near-physical altercations. Despite whether anyone agrees with me or not, I am greatful that there is BN and those that make up BN. To have brothers and sisters in arms that feel like you do, whether you agree or disagree, makes the struggle and fight in difficult times that much easier to take.
God bless all things UCLA…
About the defense
While the players may be able to play a zone better right now, it’s still a young team and I think it’s clear Howland wants them to eventually be able play his (more effective) style of defense. While we may not have much to aim for this year, clearly he believes his own philosophy is the best hope for the future. I don’t think the issue on defense is as much talent as experience and discipline.
Overall, the problem really seems to come down to relying on a recruiting class that hasn’t come anywhere near expectations plus a ridiculous lack of depth at guard. Obviously playing 3 games in 4 days didn’t help with that.
by SuperBruinMan on Nov 29, 2009 9:08 PM PST up reply actions
UC academic standards may be higher than Duke, NC etc
Just a thought but can alot of highly regarded high school ball players make the grade academically at UCLA? Way back when there used to be something called an academic waiver, but I don’t think that exists anymore. Meaning, a kid coming out of hs has to have at least what? a 3.5 gpa. And that’s regardless of whether he can hit the three.
Yes, and no
Academic waivers do still exist, but UCLA rarely uses them (Cal, at least for football, uses them more liberally).
The main bar to athlete admissions is the systemwide UC minimum admission standards, and not the more stringent UCLA-specific standard. My recollection (from several years ago) is that the GPA range is 2.8-3.5, depending on an applicant’s SAT score; not as bad as could be, but still one of the tougher standards among D-1 programs. Again, waivers of this set of requirements are available, but rarely given (discretion resting with the admissions dept, and not with the athletics dept.).
Coach K and Duke
UC standards higher than Duke’s? You’ve got to be kidding me. The advantage Coach K has is that he can cherry-pick the top student-athletes in the country. Laettner’s become a multimillionaire. Grant Hill is an art collector. K’s program is filled with smart, articulate guys, which is why so many of them turn up as analysts.
BUT any Duke fan—and I have a close friend who’s a fanatic—will tell you that Coach K is one of the most intransigent coaches in college basketball. He has a system and sticks to it. You never see a Duke zone. At tournament time, he never plays more than eight players. When Redick was the hot hand a few years ago, he had him shoot so much and so often that by the end of the season, his legs were gone.
Coack K’s strength is recruiting. Think of those championship teams and the talent on them. Moreover, they rarely leave school. These are guys who want that Duke degree as badly as they want to win on the court. Like our legendary Coach, it’s not unusual for K to have ten high school all-Americans on his bench.
Think of this: three years ago KL and Singler were co-players of the year in the state of Oregon. One of them is still playing college ball and has a shot at POY this year.
I’m not saying the Duke program is better than ours in any way. This is a down year for us, brought on by 6 first-round NBA picks in 4 years, only one a senior. But to imply that Duke has lax admission standards is just wrong. And to suggest that K is a coach who adjusts to fit his players is equally so.
Dukes' basketball "academics"
Uh … I wouldn’t be all that impressed. You should check how many of those Duke basketball players were “sociology” majors in recent years. Also Coach K is not a saintly figure as Dukee V makes him out to be. I still find it funny he had to retire for medical reasons for that one year when it was clear that Duke wasn’t going to make the Big Dance. Yeah, whatever. Eff Duke.
Duke may be an exception.
My original question re academics and its affect on the athletic program only used Duke and NC (in the title) as possible examples. Perhaps Duke is the exception that proves the rule. I don’t know. Nestor (below) seems not to think too highly of their academic regime. Putting Duke aside I still believe that overall and nationwide, UCLA goes into the recruiting process at a slight disadvantage. I say slight because I also believe that there is a benefit to having intelligent kids who know what it takes to succeed academically.
Most Agreed
I’m a bigger fan of DG than you because I think he plays hard and is a great athlete. How often he gambles can be coached down. But lets also not forget that he does indeed get a lot of blocks and steals. Biggest issue for him right now is staying out of foul trouble, because we have done much better +/- wise when he is in the game.
My starting five:
1 ML
2 MR
3 MM until TH returns
4 Drago or RV
5. DG
I’m also a big fan of Brendan Lane, he seems to understand game flow well, similar to MR.
UCLA '08
Reeves Nelson is a backup 5 this year
Tho I expect him to move to 4 next year with Smith coming in. He’s in an unfortunate position of not being big enough or quick enough to hold his own against elite talent either up top or down low — he needs to be a Barkley type of player (Charles, not Matt) but Barkley was very athletic.
Really like his nose for the ball and basket though.
Backup 5 is absurd
RN can play the wing. Starting ML, MR, and RN would work fine as the three starters imo, and if there are any problems you have JA and MM coming off the bench. Anybody MR can guard at the wing (SF), RN can guard. And MR should be able to stay with the smaller, quicker wings (SG).
RN is a beast and ready for the starting lineup, unlike MM. But getting MM minutes as a backup at the wing would also help the cause and he’ll play better as he gets more experience.
Having RN as a backup 5 to DG is a direct result of starting JA along with ML and MR, and trying to find minutes for the most floor-ready freshman. But it’s a mistake. And kind of a dumb one at that. If anything, it’s something that should be resolved after this latest disaster.
by citizen zhiv on Nov 30, 2009 12:16 PM PST up reply actions
RN is absolutely not a wing
Way too slow, and his offensive game is exclusively postal. Don’t know what you’re watching.
Couldn't agree more with the original post! well put!
But I don’t see Howland benching JA. It’s really weird that our roster is down to one dynamic player in ML.
If this season is lost, Howland needs to switch to preparing for next year over trying to win games this year. I’m not sure what the details of that are, but he definitely needs to switch to the ‘youth movement’ . I’m not sure that playing zone this year would help long term, so as much as I would like to see it tried, it may be short sighted.
Great job, great post
Appreciate the roll back on RN. And the recommendation of BL as a potential starter and getting bigger minutes is a nice addition.
I didn’t see the Long Beach game, and I’m glad. It’s hard to watch the Bruins when they’re this weak, and the Kansas game is going to be a tough one.
I see from the boxscore that Bobo played 7 minutes. This must have been because of DG’s foul trouble, although he might have turned up at the end of the game with the Bruins headed for a resounding defeat.
The key to your excellent analysis is starting ML and MR in the backcourt, with JA a backup, perhaps even seldom used. After these four losses the guys who are severely underperforming and hurting the squad (JA and ND) need to serve some serious pine penance to taste any minutes, and they should have to perform quickly and very well, playing their very best, if they get back on the floor. The team has a lot of guys who can play and who can make good use of the minutes and experience. JK is almost on this list, but I like poncho’s sense that we just need to lower our expectations for excellent play from JK, that he is what he is and won’t step up to be more. It’s going to be hard enough to get MR to play at a decently high level.
I’ve said before that I’d like to get a look at Stover and possibly add him to the list of big men, perhaps putting him ahead of Bobo. Against certain teams with big slow centers Bobo might do better. Stover looks to me like a much better athlete than Bobo, but again we only had the shortest of glimpses of him, and he’s probably headed towards redshirting. It seemed that there were plenty of bigs, with JK, DG, ND, BL, RN and Bobo all playing ahead of him. But when you remove ND from consideration and severely limit JK, and if you use RN properly and start him at the wing, then there’s a thin line between Bobo and Stover and it would be nice to know if Stover has any defensive and rebounding skills and athleticism.
The critique of CBH seems right on the money, and now we’ll get to see him coach. I have to say that I’m surprised that he hasn’t recruited more shooters, after the Bruins had so much trouble shooting the 3 when he first came in. My guess is that CBH is going to be stubborn and stick with the flawed players and plans and assumptions that he started with at the beginning of the season. It will take a lot for him to bench JA, and I don’t think he’s going to do it. That’s the domino that would get things moving, as he could start RN at a wing and make real changes in the lineup and rotation. Perhaps JA should get one more start against Kansas and the Bruins will be embarassed and then CBH will think it’s the right time to make the move. With a full week off after the latest debacle perhaps the changes might come sooner.
Ya
It seems benching JA would have two positive effects:
1) It would remove a player doing nothing and really hurting us defensively.
2) It would allow us to better use our roster.We are very limited on guards, and heavy on bigs. If we only start 2 of our scholarship guards instead of all 3, we can better get minutes for all these high star bigs. This would allow us to dominate boards and be a physical tough team.
UCLA '08
by BruinTrouble on Nov 30, 2009 11:15 AM PST up reply actions
CBH Deserves Some Criticism
I, like all Bruins fans, am incredibly thankful for what Howland has done to bring the UCLA program back to prominence. No amount of losses this season will diminish his accomplishments the past seven seasons.
However, he has to share a great deal of the blame for this team’s failures. It feels awkard to criticise the Master like this but losses to CSUF and Long Beach St. are the last straw. These are his players. He’s the one who has compiled a roster of unathletic players who lack the lateral quickness to play his brand of in-four-face man-to-man defense.
I agree with the post that Anderson is simply not getting it done. He’s been an diaster on defense and not very productive offensively. Keefe, despite being a McDonald’s AA, is nothing more than a bench player.
I think it’s a little early to start making wholesale lineup changes (although I would reduce Anderson’s minutes and start bringing him off the bench), but the time may come real soon where it would be best for Howland to start building toward next season and give Nelson and Lane more minutes.
When it’s all said and done, I think the Bruins will develop into a physical team that will be able to grind out victories and make the tournament. I just have to convince myself that will be good enough for me.
richramus
JMM played a lot of minutes yesterday
I wish everyone who’s pining for him saw the game, and saw how he looked. It was painful to watch.
Boxscore
Unless I’m wrong and not remembering, I thought the boxscore said 7 minutes. Not a lot, but enough time for him to look mediocre and ineffective. Again, I’d like to take a similar look at Stover just to see if he can play. I think he might be much more athletic than Bobo. Probably not, but the times call for drastic measures and looking at every option.
I think you’re right on the main point though—Bobo isn’t going to help.
by citizen zhiv on Nov 30, 2009 12:11 PM PST up reply actions
Tough call about Stover
I completely agree with you that Stover has far more upside and athleticism than Bobo. The problem is that I don’t think CBH wants to waste his redshirt for only a few spot minutes this season. He is playing behind DG, JK, ND, RN, and BL as well as Bobo, so its tough to imagine him getting any meaningful minutes this season. With JK and ND gone next year and Josh Smith coming in, I think he can be a very good defensive minded backup power forward / center. I think we are going to have to wait until then to see it though.
Yes, a tough call
It shouldn’t have gone this way, and it’s a good test of CBH’s adaptability to circumstances.
Should they be just a few spot minutes? Or should Stover get a meaningful tryout for a role as DG’s backup?
I guess I’m not ready to go with your approach of choosing two bigs out of the four possibilities of RN, BL, ND and DG. I want to move RN to the wing, and put ND in the doghouse and let him shoot his way out of it. So that leaves BL and DG as starters (along with RN), and at 2-4 I’d be very happy to see the lineup of ML-MR-RN-BL-DG and take our chances and lumps. JK, MM and JA would come off the bench, along with ND, but like you I think it’s just not okay for JA and ND to play empty and ineffective minutes.
If JK is your only big off the bench, backing up a questionable BL, you’re looking at Stover and Bobo. And it appears to both of us that Stover has more upside and athleticism than Bobo. Drastic times call for drastic measures. And who knows—perhaps a frontline of Stover and DG would be more effective than starting DG and BL. It would be nice to see some surprises, some radical approaches. We’ve soured on JK and want to keep our expectations low, and CBH can wait around as long as he wants for JA and ND, and they’ll play better or worse at times, and they’ll continue to frustrate us. But the best thing for the Bruins in this situation is to exploit the young talent that they’ve got and to see if something gels. They don’t have much to lose at this point, and CBH should be getting his best and most promising players experience.
by citizen zhiv on Nov 30, 2009 2:32 PM PST up reply actions
I just worry about our outside shooting with your lineup
Believe me, thinking about the ML, MR, RN, BL, and DG is one of the only things keeping me enthusiastic about this season. However, RN really hasn’t shown much of a game outside of 5 feet, which would leave MR as the only real outside threat in the starting lineup. BL has shown an ability to shoot from outside, so maybe it could work with BL playing 3 on offense and 4 on defense and RN playing 4 on offense and 3 on defense. Of course, ND hasn’t exactly been shooting well, so maybe it isn’t that big of a loss.
As for Stover, I just worry about a situation like that of Richard Brehaut on our football team. He got his redshirt burned early and then when Craft emerged as a capable backup, never got much time the rest of the year. Neuheisel gave away of Brehaut’s eligibility for pretty much nothing. I doubt that CBH is drawing the same comparison, but I would assume the thinking for Stover’s prospective playing time is the same. The one difference is that basketball is a much simplier game than football and basketball players who don’t necessarily perform great in practice can end up playing well in games and vice versa whereas in football practice and game performance are arguably more linked.
Lineup and redshirt
It’s good to try different things, to practice trial and error, especially in a situation like this. Yes, RN hasn’t shown us that he can shoot from the perimeter, but shouldn’t he be put out there now, just to see what happens. He seems to be a scorer, a guy with good intuition about how to get the ball in the basket and how to make plays, and I think he’ll figure it out. And he may be a better shooter than we know, or he might have the ability to develop into that, and we have to wait it out. But he’s a scorer, and he’s the right size to put out on the wing. I get a sense that if you tell the guy just to shoot John Wooden bank shots he would start doing it. And you’re right, he and BL can move in and out a bit. Any traditional approach with a 3-4/SF-PF set would work. These are very talented freshmen, and with the team losing they should get a chance to see if their play and effort is better than the experienced guys.
Your redshirt argument is a good one. Maybe football and basketball are different. Maybe it’s obvious in practice that Stover isn’t ready, that he can’t do what we think he might be able to do. The redshirt policy is safe and there’s little reason to doubt that it isn’t wise. It would be nice to see some sign that CBH, with little to lose, is gambling a bit and pulling out the stops. If things keep up, eventually we’ll see some sort of changes. Discussion of Stover is in part a form of ending the speculation about Bobo. Maybe I’m trying to make him the new Bobo, an even rarer chance that any of us would guess that we’re never going to see.
by citizen zhiv on Nov 30, 2009 4:56 PM PST up reply actions
Well, he(JMM) has a grand total
of 13 minutes playing time so far. It probably just seems longer. Jerime Anderson, the object of a lot of criticism, has played 180 minutes, compared to Malcolm Lee’s 205. Their performance stats favor Lee, though he has 20 personal fouls, exceeded only by Gordon’s 21. Lee does have 21 defensive rebounds, though, and is second in scoring average at 12.3 to Roll’s 13.2. Anderson leads in turnovers with 19, partially balanced by 10 steals. Gordon is our leading rebounder — something to think about. Keefe is second, followed by Nelson, tied with Drago. But both JK and ND have significantly more minutes than RN. While it is fun to move players around and decide who plays and who sits (and I understand that these are serious, reasoned suggestions I’ve been reading here), the biggest practical improvement we could make is probably to improve our FT shooting. Nobody is at 70%, though ND is shooting .692. I heard today that CBH said we might play some zone. With our length, we might be able to close the passing lanes, but it certainly won’t improve our lateral quickness, and we are already rebounding only passably. Still, we might get some fastbreaks off the zone. But mostly, I’m not sure it will help us a lot. Learning to play an effective zone takes time, too. And how much time do we want to devote to that? Well, all that is up to CBH.
yes, yes, and yes
echo the sentiments putting the oc players on the bench. even roll, ya he has played well compared to the rest, but his ft shooting is a joke. how are you a reputed sharp shooter and be such a mediocre free throw shooter, missing front ends of 1-and-1’s consistently? keefe is a nice backup, period. and JA, well…
and ND too. he’s a streaky offensive player and defensive liability to begin with and is on a bad one, a really bad one. i have some sympathy for him because whatever happened in hollywood has to be on his mind abd must be wearing on him. we all had outside stuff going on during school and it affects performance. but if that’s the case, bring him off the bench coach.
RS i really appreciate your counterpoint, free throw shooting is the most fundamental and probably fixable thing right now. it’s so embarrassing that we can’t hit ft’s. you can’t blame that on coaching, at some point a certain level of individual accountability must appear. when the im all-stars in wooden shoot better at the line than the big boys, we have a problem. ugh
and guilty as charged with regards to JMM. not so much that we pine for him, i’m just rooting for him given the tough time he has had with injuries and weight and the effort he has shown. plus when the guys in front of him are lousy, why not try something new?
nonetheless, i knew things were bad when i caught myself wondering about chace stanback =o
all in all, i still have faith in this team. if cbh can be a tad less rigid, good things can still happen in this very young season.
Across The Face
But the guys ahead him of are fine
Gordon and Nelson are ahead of him at the 5. Both have been the only encouraging points of the season so far — Gordon with his improved offensive game, and Nelson with his savvy post-play.
Nobody’s less patient with Gordon’s hothead stupidities than I am, but JMM is no corrective. And it’s nice to see that ONE player from last year’s class has actually improved. That player is Gordon.
Has the influence of Jrue Holliday on his peers been more destructive than any of us ever imagined?
you're absolutely correct about dg and rvn
in my mind i was only thinking of keefe.
Across The Face
Not a bad idea
Put Farnham out there with Tracy Murray and Don MacLean and at least we might have some players who could put the ball in the basket. :)
The worst part of Sunday and the lesson I draw.
Great post and great commentary.
Improved free throws would have given us 2 wins absolutely (CSUF and Butler) and might have led to a whole different Sunday if we had won on Friday.
I expected we would not be a Final Four team this year. There were going to be losses. I was not too worried after Fullerton, but having gome to every game so far this year and having sat in Anahiem Arena for 3 games this weekend it appears to be much worse than my worst case.
We do not have the guard speed to compete. JA is a problem but he is the second fastest player out there. ML has shown flashes but seems to be rushing everything…maybe he is putting too much pressure on himself. MR is our most steady player (not counting critical free throws) but “steady” does not win. I might even play MR more at the point because he appears to be the only one that can pass it into the post!
In terms of the big men, DG has shown flashes of brillance but he almost seems to sulk if it does not go his way. JK is, at best, a good utility player. ND will come out of his shoting slump but will never be consistent on the other side of the court. BL and NR are showing some potential. JMM showed why he has been riding the bench (even if I was chanting for him to play).
To me the bottomline is not about any of the individuals…we have a starting rotation right now of 5 guys that can be solid contributors but no stars. We do not seem to have any hidden gems on the bench. RN and BL deserve more minutes or deserve to start but it would not change the dynamics of the team. There are 10, maybe 12 players, that are mostly interchangeable.
To win, we have to play hard, play smart and do all the little things. This weekend we played one half like that: the second half of the Butler game. We played gritty defense. We fought and clawed our way to a victory. Against Long Beach State, I had deja vu all over again…we had become Humboldt State. I sat in the stands of that game and watched the Bruins outhustle Humboldt State. I watched us execute. I watched Humboldt stand around, eventually tire and then give up. That is what it seemed like on Sunday. We were out hustled, out executed and we eventually tired and gave up. Understandable maybe, but maddening.
I care less about which guys start and which guys get the minutes. I would play people based on their willingness to work, scrap and fight.
by Bruin Dad and Grad on Nov 30, 2009 4:19 PM PST reply actions
Sorry typo (even after reading it as a preview)
Obviously we did not get the victory against Butler…
Should have said:
We fought and clawed our way to back and almost to victory.
by Bruin Dad and Grad on Nov 30, 2009 4:21 PM PST reply actions
A couple of thoughts about CBH
He has done great things in rebuilding the program. We may have a tough year ahead but he has my complete support.
But 2 issues:
1) His style is well known.
I think he needs to think about adding some options on defense and offense. Notice what LB State said in the Daily News:
“When you try to run your half-court sets against UCLA, it’s tough because they are so physical and pound you so much,” Long Beach State coach Dan Monson said. “So we tried to spread the floor, create some space and let our athleticism take over.”
Link here: http://www.dailynews.com/ucla/ci_13891830
Probably the same game plan that Memphis had, and others. This is one of the best ways to counter act his tough defense and everyone knows it. Zone and softer man defenses would have one key advantage: they would be something new and different.
2) We dont have the personnel for his system this year.
We can’t man up and beat people. We need to shake things up. I was therefore happy to hear him say he was thinking about some zone.
Still need to fight and hustle to win….
2 posts and I still want to say that I think we can still win our fair share of games! Go Bruins.
And finally, thanks BN for allowing me to rant.
by Bruin Dad and Grad on Nov 30, 2009 5:21 PM PST reply actions
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