UCLA Plays Vintage Howland Defense In Crunch Time, Comes From Behind To Beat Colorado State
by Nestor on Dec 22, 2009 9:54 PM PST
in Basketball
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PrintFor a while tonight it was looking like same old story for this year's UCLA Bruins. Howland's Bruins were stumbling, bumbling away heading towards what appeared to be another frustrating night at Pauley. With about 11:46 left in the second half, Bruins fell behind by a score of 46-54 (that's right by 8 points) on our own home court. Then all on a sudden our guys locked down on the Rams, figuring out how to play the old school Howland defense (at least that's what I could make out of the atrocious, choppy online feed). Bruins went on a 24-7 run over a period of 8+ mins to take a 71-61 lead with 2:45 left in the game. The final score was 75-63 for UCLA (now with a record of 4-7) over an 8-4 Colorado State team, which to date stands out at the guttiest win of this Howland coached Bruin team.
Can't offer a lot of analysis and commentary on this game tonight considering most of us following it away from Pauley were doing it via a sorry online feed, slow SBN platform (our apologies for all the weirdness but the tech team is working through it), and the game tracker. It looked like we fell behind early on because of extremely sloppy ball handling by our backcourt. Malcolm Lee turned the ball over 6 times while Anderson did it on occasisons, combining for 11 of our team's 19 turnovers. However, we were able to overcome the sloppiness thanks to our defensive aggression and also clutch FT (18 for 23) down the stretch.
The player of the game tonight - you guys ready for this? - I think was Nikola Dragovic. Fresh off his court appearance Dragovic put together probably his most consistent game of the season scoring a team high 17 points, pulling in 7 rebounds, and making all of his freethrows (including 3 straight in clutch situation when he was fouled on a 3 point attempt in second half) tonight. He was also smart in his shot selection tonight picking his spots from the 3 point line. Reeves Nelson had another big game in his young freshman season chipping in with 16 points and 6 rebounds. Some quick additional thoughts after the jump.
I mentioned above how Lee and Anderson were terribly sloppy tonight which played a huge part in our poor start. Lee still finished with 16 points but he had poor shooting night connecting on 4 of his 11 shot attempts. I think Jerime even though picked it later in the second half had another below average performance as our starting point guard looking lost, tentative and frankly not making very good decisions with the ball.
I didn't see much from Honeycutt tonight. Lot of that has to do with not being able to watch the game well because of the online feed. Same way can't really make any conclusions on Bobo even though he looked lost in the only possession I got to watch without the feed freezing up. On the other hand Lane in his 11 mins tonight looked ok making a smart pass, while also looking confident in his FT shooting (finishing with 4 points). Speaking of looking ok, big ups to Michael Roll, who cleared looked a little slowed down because of his flu, but found a way to gut it out and chip in with 11 points, including being able to stay during crucial mins late in the second half despite picking up his 4th foul.
The great thing about the victory tonight is it will give our guys confidence because they now have a legit come from behind win against a decent Rams teams on their resume. At the same time it will give Howland and his coaches more opportunity to teach away and to work on fixing the mistakes being made by our young backcourt.
With that I hope we can hear more from the comment section and perhaps via fanpost from those who were at the game. Christmas eve is almost here. Let's start celebrating it with a gutty win by our Bruins tonight. Fire away.
GO BRUINS.
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Will there be a video replay available?
Would actually like to watch this game in greater than 7 second spurts. The online video feed was terrible,and the radio feed from CO was trailing the video feed by what seemed like 20-30 seconds.
by Give me a B... on Dec 22, 2009 10:09 PM PST reply actions
it reminded me...
of old vhs tapes that got chewed up in your machine. we should call them and let them know about fiber optics… i think they were using dial up for their connection… ugh!
The sad thing is
this was the free online game, which makes me think you’re supposed to be impressed enough by the joys of online viewing to actually pay to watch Saturday’s web-only game. I don’t think anyone from BN would want to pay for it!
Ah, pay; Ah no way
Worst way to introduce your product, ever. Wasn’t arround for the Edsel.
Geezer in training.
OT: Heartbreak for Russell Westbrook
His three pointer is in & out as he tried to tie the Lakers at the end of regulation. Otherwise, he had a very good game with 21 points, 13 dimes & 7 rebounds.
it's all about the defense!
defensively if we can keep opponents in the 50-60 point range, we will always give ourselves a chance to win. but we let the rams take it to the rack too often. CBH needs to work on foot speed and fast twitch muscles to get these guys to guard better on the perimeter. i was also glad when MR and ND picked up their 3rd fouls cause i knew our freshmen would step up. RN, TH and BL all showed competency and the future of this program. and while i’m not a ND lover, i like it when he plays with his back to the basket. if he can become a more physical player, both offensively and defensively, i think i will like him more. but overall, i am happy with the gritty win and accept this as a positive building block for the future.
hope everyone has a happy holiday! peace…
Great Play during the 2nd Part of 2nd Half!
Hi Guys, long time reader of BN (don’t post much but I enjoy reading all your discussions). I just got back from the game and as you mentioned in the post after falling behind by 8, the Bruins finally played lock down Ben Ball Defense and put the game away for sure. The 1st half was an entirely different story… JA looked terrible turning the ball over, not knowing what to do when he got it and getting burned by the CSU guards. The second half he turned it around and looked a little more confident making moves to the basket but his struggles were still disappointing. Our interior defense that half was also pretty bad as we lost a couple easy rebounds and gave up some unchallenged lay-ups.
This was my first time back in Pauley this year and I was glad to feel the house rocking (during those last 11 minutes) and seeing the Bruins pull out a gutsy win which started with the D.
I had a great time but was thoroughly disappointed with the ticketing process. As a current med student (previous den ticket holder during undergrad and camper for bball games) I was hoping to be able to sneak down into the den. But first, calling the CTO and trying to get a “student ticket” was damn near impossible, luckily I was able to get a ticket off a fellow Bruin. I went to ask the ticket scanner if I there was room for students and made my case (as been posted on here many times) as to why they need students to bring the noise and make it a home court advantage. I was denied and sent away with hostility back to my upper level seat. But what do I see when I walk into Pauley… yup… an empty Den (only 1 section entirely full). By the start of the game the upper level student section was pretty full… but did they decide to move students down? Nope. I love the Bruins, but why would UCLA not want its students down in the Den cheering their hearts out for the Team… it makes no sense.
Sorry for the rant…I want to wish all my fellow Bruins a Healthy and Happy Holidays!!!
The upper student section was not students tonight
It was actually a decent number of Colorado State fans, and then other assorted older (not students) fans.
Over the holidays they sell the upper level student seats to whoever
Formerly ryebreadraz
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Dec 22, 2009 10:53 PM PST up reply actions
yeah it was crazy
half the student section floor seats were empty…for what possible reason wouldn’t they let students like you sit there? Nobody would be hurt by that, you (the customer) would have a better experience and the team would benefit via more energy. The UCLA sports marketing department is simply god awful in everything they do. It’s embarassing.
by RealisticBruinFan on Dec 23, 2009 6:50 AM PST up reply actions
I give up
I have refrained form criticizing UCLA game management until now out of loyalty, ignorance, fear of getting a stern warning from Nestor, and lack of any insight. I give up.
The fact a bunch of students were relegated to the upper tiers of Pauley and while maybe 200 kids were on the floor is without excuse.
The AD needs to see immediate resolution of this matter by his staff or fire them in short order. This level of incompetence warrants immediate resolution and its is Dan Guerrero’s responsibility to get it done. We have a coach who can’t even sleep a full night because of the stress and players plagued by self doubt coupled with a fear of letting us down. I have seen guys play with knee braces, a black eye, a dislocated shoulder, the flu, and utterly debilitating cramps. Three times this year, I have seen the team physician walk over to the bench—something I have never seen in decades of game attendance.
And those “responsible” for game management can’t get a crowd of enthusiastic angry, wise guy, taunting, cheering Bruins seated down on the floor. Please. Dan you are the leader of the finest athletic program in America with a tradition unlike any other. Get it done.
Bobo looked horrible tonight
Was really slow on both sides of the court and added nothing to the team tonight.
Also, it was an interesting rotation tonight as Abdul-Hamid and Anderson were both on the floor at the same time at a few different points during the game.
Interesting development
One of the things I noticed watching the game was how often Dragovic was directing the defense. I know, not really what you would expect, but he was doing it consistently.
Real ugly first half. Turnovers. Missed opportunities.
But we came on nicely in the second half.
by Bruin Dad and Grad on Dec 22, 2009 10:52 PM PST reply actions
Drago definitely validated CBH's faith in him tonight
5 of 8 from the floor, 5 of 5 on free throws, and solid effort on both ends of the floor.
Fun game!
Pauley crowd was small again, especially students. I’ve never seen the student section like that, even during holidays. I have to agree, Dragovich was really good tonight – nice to see.
Oh and by the way… Oregon State!? F!
"The entire world that bleeds blue and gold ... they have been dying for this." - Coach Rick Neuheisel
Great game
I really liked what I saw tonight, despite the slow first half. Let’s get one thing straight, this was not the caliber of play we saw against Kansas, but it was very good and they got the job done. Big props to MR for battling illness to have a great showing tonight. Between him and Drago in the second half, I think tonight was the first time I’ve seen our outside shooting get some respect this season, and it was really a magical thing. It opened up some nice easy shots for RN, which is always good.
TH may not have shown up much in the box score, but he didn’t play that many minutes, especially once ND started heating up. When he played though, he was a definite presence on defense, and had his hands in a lot of the turnovers along with (iirc) a very nice blocked shot.
Bobo…well, was Bobo. He had his moments, but it’s clear that he needs to work harder to earn meaningful minutes. He was not expecting a pass or two that came his way, which then ended up out of bounds.
JA…is tough. Despite all the crap I give JA, he actually had a pretty good night tonight. He still has problems with trailing assignments on D and shot selection (you know, select one. ANY one.) on O, but he did pretty well, and was only a turnover machine in the first half. He’s tough for me to evaluate because he clearly has skills (I saw him nail a very pretty 3 from the top of the key and a tough layup under pressure), but he lacks…confidence? I guess. I also saw him throw away a few wide open looks, passing around the perimeter instead. I think I’m beginning to see why CBH gives him so many minutes— if he can fix his confidence issues, I’m predicting his play will drastically improve.
Drago……oh man. All the Drago haters here on BN, there’s no denying that he was clutch tonight in several situations. He had a hand in most of the offensive rallies, and he grabbed some nice defensive boards. Now, he wasn’t like that the entire game. Actually, in the first half, he looked like same old Dragobrick. I don’t know what happened in the locker room, but he came out in the second half a changed man, scoring 12-14 of his 17 (I think) in the second half. I didn’t look up the statistics, but I’m pretty sure he was much more accurate from behind the arc in the second half as well.
Recap:
Very encouraging game, but this was not a very strong team technically. A lot of our problems were masked by the the ineptitude (at times) of CSU (i.e. JA’s aversion to getting in front of his assignments not meaning much because said assignment would then brick the easy layup). After this game though, I see some players in an entirely new light:
- Drago is finally showing the reason CBH has had faith in him, and he looked like a pretty capable shooter tonight. If he can play 40 minutes like he played the second half tonight…
- I still think JA has a lot of work to do, but tonight I saw some offensive skills I had missed previously that change him (in my mind at least) from liability to work-in-progress. He needs to work on his ballhandling, his defensive game (stay in front of your man, damnit!), and most importantly his confidence, BUT I think that should those issues be addressed, he could become a pretty good PG.
- MR is a warrior. Yeah, he may not be right as a full-time guard, but he certainly has earned some PT. He made a few nice shots, and I think the fact that he took some of the heat off of Drago is at least partially responsible for Drago’s success tonight. I remember a play where Drago had an open look and all the time in the world to take it, and I think that was due to the fact that we spread out the outside shooting tonight, so CSU needed to respect multiple shooters instead of staying up in Drago’s face.
- RN is a beast. He might stand to benefit from a little more muscle, and he did botch a few easy plays, but he could be a monster if he keeps improving like he has been this season. I’m looking forward to it.
love you being upbeat
I agree with you…for the last 6 minutes. For the first 34 minutes it was the same old, same old. Team has no energy or passion for most of the game and then—blammo!—all of a sudden started looking good.
by RealisticBruinFan on Dec 23, 2009 6:52 AM PST up reply actions
Still not sold on ND
This is his typical style. He has a few games here and there where he goes off the chain, hitting everything he throws up. But, then, as expected, he reverts to his typical poor-shot-taking, lazy-ass-defense ways. I’ll buy into ND when he can get it done on a consistent basis, rather than having one fluke good game.
Yep - def not sold
And I have heard from few people from now that his stat line was fool’s gold. Let’s see what happens in next few games.
Coach and the public address announcer
Great substitutions by Coach down the strech. Roll had four fouls so when UCLA had the ball Coach would play Roll. But when play stopped and UCLA was on defense, in would come Honeycutt. The thought being Roll was less likely to foul out on offense than on defense. And play always seemed to stop on a possession change or so it seemed.
Great work by and easy work for the public address announcer (does anybody know his name). For the PA announcer, the last six minutes was all, “Into the game for Michael Roll is Ryan Honeycutt,” “Into the game for Ryan Honeycutt is Michael Roll ,” “One minute remaining,” and “Good night and please drive carefully.”
I am the stupidist woman on the face of the whole earth
No, he called him Tyler. I forgot his name. I was so jazzed by the outcome I forgot who was who.
Don't be silly
We all know which team the stupidest women in the world support / cheerlead for:
http://www.snopes.com/photos/sports/rosebowl.asp#photo
by britishbruin on Dec 24, 2009 7:04 AM PST up reply actions
I was thinking about the Dragovich situation
..and I think that the reason that Howland has been playing him so much is that with ND playing well, this season really will be a wash. With the state of the Pac-10 this year, I would still say that a 3rd place finish is not out of the realm of possibility and in the Pac-10 tourney, anything can happen.
ND is a critical part of this team excelling this year. While we may have guys with more potential among the underclassmen, the experience of ND makes him a valuable asset, if he is playing well. Often, the only way to break someone out of a slump is to let them play through it.
I don’t know how long Howland would be will to stick with playing him if he didn’t show improvement, but I would imagine that it would be until he felt the season was a complete loss. I jsut don’t see himas the type to decide early in the season that it is a rebulding year, and build for the future rather than trying to make a run this year.
CSU Reflections
Took my two nephews ages 10 and 12 to their first game at Pauley. They were all giddy and kept me from losing it when we went down by 8 in the 2nd half.
Glad to see the Bruins find their composure and turn up the defense a notch or two to get a big win. Figures the team chalks up a relatively easy victory on Saturday and has five days to prepare for ASU and conference play.
Dragovich played a really heady 2nd half. He wasn’t hesitant to go to the post to score and, like others have posted, his experience was needed last night and will be needed the remainder of the year. The team seems to really be pulling for one another and that was great to see. Pauley was half empty, but it got pretty loud when the Bruins made their inevitable run. Happy Holidays to all my fellow Bruins.
Life is what happens when you're busy making plans.
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