Bruins End Out Of Conference Season On A Winning Note, Take Care Of Delaware State
by Nestor on Dec 27, 2009 7:06 PM PST
in Basketball
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PrintJust landed in DC a little while ago and logged on here to check out the scoreboard. Well from the scoreboard it looks like the Bruins ended the non-conference season on a winning note by handling Delaware State by a score of 66-49. Here is the box score.
As mentioned I was somewhere above Arizona when Bruins were playing defense inside Pauley. Looks like (again going by the box score here) the Bruins held the Hornets to 35.8% shooting and got on them early to end the first half with a score of 38-19. Also, from the boxscore (hey if you watched the game in person you should pipe in with your own notes) looks like Reeves Nelson was the player of the game, having himself a career high with 21 points, scoring 7 on his 8 FG attempts, while also making 7 of his 10 FT attempts (very nice).
Also, some of the other notes that jump out to me:
- Bruins once again had a good night from the FT line going 11 for 15
- Looks like Dragovic either bricked or airballed (you guys can tell me which) all his 3 point attempts, while turning the ball over 4 times. Lane interestingly though made a 3 pointer in what looks like early in the second half. He had 5 points, 2 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks in 14 points. Looks very nice to me at least in the statlines.
- Also looking good on the statlines is Tyler Honeycutt who had 11 points (5 for 7) and 4 boards in 27 mins.
- Looks like Michael Roll had an off night shooting, while Jerime Anderson had another average night with 6 assists and 6 TOs.
I am not sure how much we can take out of a victory against Delaware State. Then again this season it is somewhat meaningful given the start we have had that we are on 2 game winning streak and have won 3 out of our last 4 games.
If we can somehow play inspired defense this coming week, and hold serve at Pauley, against the Arizona schools to start of the Pac-10 season, things could get very interesting. It's encouraging from the box scores to see the mins given to Lane and Honeycutt. I hope we see more of that from hereon out.
Would really love to hear thoughts from those who were at the game either in the comment thread or even better extended thoughts via the Fanpost. BTW snow is all but melted in DC and it's not really that cold (in the 40s).
GO BRUINS.
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Hate to say it, but it might have been a lot closer if
Delaware had pressured our backcourt the entire game. When they did that in the second half, we looked very shaky – though possibly (I hope so!) it was made worse by the substitution of less experienced players that are supposed to help relieve pressure on the guards.
Another bad sign was Drago missing on all of his 3’s.
Obviously, we’ll learn a lot more from this coming Thursday’s game than from today’s mis-match. Although the nice game tonight by Honeycutt is something I CAN believe in!
JA did really well in the first half.
I went to the game today and, in the first half, JA was really solid. He was making great passes and, for the most part, was able to take care of the ball. All 6 turnovers came in the 2nd half with 3 TOs in 5 possessions within the final 5 minutes of the game when Delaware St. was running a full court press. So, yes, his stats indicate an average night; however, for that first half, he looked really good running the floor on offense, we just need for him to do this sort of thing all game long.
by TrueBlueAndGold on Dec 27, 2009 9:08 PM PST reply actions
Man, I hate to point this out...
… but I think he was never pressured in the first half.
I’ve seen “talk” going back to his HS days that he just doesn’t repsond well to ball pressure.
And that pressure is only going to get much tougher as we go into league.
Also at the game today
Since that seemed the only way I could actually see it – I wasn’t going to trust that lousy feed again (and pay $10 for it!). This was our last cupcake of the season and if we lost it, the team should have just hung it up right then and there. We took care of business in the first half, but JA looked awfully sloppy in the second half, Bobo missed some shots no one in their right mind should ever miss in college ball, and Drago continued to miss his three’s. However, REEVES NELSON IS A TOUGH MOTHAF****R!!!!! and I really enjoy watching him play. Now, if we could get everyone else to be on board the way he is…
Dragobrick
This guy has completely lost his 3-point shot.
His last miss was as wide-open as you can get. He must have had three full seconds between the time he caught the pass and the time the ball left his hands, and he still bricked it.
Remind you a little of Josh Shipp that one year?
He completely lost his shot and never truly regained it for that season. He did have some great moments that season, but even JS is significantly more talented and useful to this team than ND.
I wouldn’t bet on ND “regaining” his shooting touch (if he ever really had one to begin with).
Yeah
Dragovic’s mere 46.5% three point percentage in Pac-10 play last year does make one question whether he ever could shoot.
by SuperBruinMan on Dec 28, 2009 4:54 PM PST up reply actions
I was impressed with Lane
He showed lots of heart out on the court and played great. The Bruins were able to get many fast break opportunities due to great defense. They need more of that if they want to win some conference games. Reeves Nelson is amazing and played tough, hard-nosed basketball. He has a bright future ahead of him. Great job by him today. Dragovic once again had a tough day. He tried to do unnecessary fancy passes in traffic and missed WIDE OPEN threes. I hope he can improve but as long as he is putting in these mediocre performances, he shouldn’t start.
Delaware St. is a really bad team
And our performance was par for the course.
Anderson and Dragovic: awful (those Anderson turnovers were not regular, forced turnovers — they were the kind of plays only a basketball retard would make).
Nelson: very solid.
Lee: good, improving.
Lane: better, but impossible to gauge against the level of competition. For a while they were playing a guy at power forward who was 6’2 and straight off a football line of scrimmage.
Bottom line: our weaknesses don’t look any better, and we still don’t know how to play for 40 minutes. The good news is that our potential strengths — Nelson, Lee, Honeycutt — are improving as hoped for.
Give some credit to Jerime Anderson-
He had 6 steals, and I thought that was a pretty big deal.
by all hail westwood on Dec 28, 2009 5:43 AM PST reply actions
TH Should Start and Other Thoughts
JA could not handle the press, big problem. ND is now so bad from three point land that he could not hit the ocean if he fell out of a boat. BUT, he is showing some ability as a post up man. RN is a bit like Kevin Love, no he is not a great passer nor can he shoot outside like Love, but he is creative in the low post and a true scorer. I did not see the same Lane as everyone else. Lane made a bad turnover and then hustled with back to back block shots. He also got beat inside by the 6’3" inch PF of DS. He made a wide open three then hit the side of the backboard the next time he had the same shot. I like his attitude but I am not sure he is ready for prime time. ML and MR weren’t part of the game plan as this was pound it inside game. TH was fun to watch. Yes, he took advantage of lesser competition but unlike Lane he did it consistently. He needs more minutes, should start, etc.
Couple of other thoughts
I was at the game. Still it is really hard to decide what to make of this game.
We played almost turnover free basketball in the first half (3 is what they said on the radio) and built a big lead. We consistently scored from the paint as we got the ball to the bigs. Seemed like most of the points were scored on called plays, so there seems to be a real focus change on our part.
ND was awful from the outside but is scoring a lot by driving and being around the basket. I think this is a marked change that could bode well for the rest of the season.
Defense intensity was there in the first half. Could see it all around.
The second half was not as efficient or graceful. More turnovers. More sloppy play. Was that because they went into a pressure defense, maybe. Or maybe we lost our intensity when we went up by 27 points. No way to know. Likely a combination of both. Which is why I would say it is hard to draw any conclusions.
The only conclusion I would come to is that we are showing signs of playing like a team. We are showing signs of improvement. We beat 2 cupcakes in a row, which is progress from earlier in the season.
PAC 10 is coming up. Wish we had a few more tune up games more to get more improvement in.
by Bruin Dad and Grad on Dec 28, 2009 9:41 AM PST reply actions
Went to the game...
Delaware State was impossibly mismatched by our interior, but thier quickness gave us fits in the 2nd half. I particulary wasn’t impressed with our guard play in the second stanza.
It was a great sign to see Lane and Honeycutt play with cohesion and confidence. Their roles figure to only expand in conference play. Bobo just doesn’t have the explosion he did last year – he’s having a real tough time finishing around the rim. Nelson was, again, rock solid and played a really nice floor game. Dragovic missed some good looks, but wasn’t forcing many shots. He did contribute in other areas – for the most part the game was disjointed and didn’t have a lot of flow to it.
I would agree with other posters that it is difficult to pinpoint the reasons for the lack of intensity for most of the second half. Some of it was Howland experimenting with different combinations, perhaps the big lead, likely the press Delaware put on.
Bottom line is the team is growing and developing an identity. ASU will give us fits with that amoeba zone defense and the way they spread the floor and shoot the three. Bruins really need to get Roll and Dragovic going or it will be a long afternoon on Thursday.
Life is what happens when you're busy making plans.
good point about asu's zone
i think glasser will give JA fits on both ends.. hopefully we see some defense leading to transition offense and malcolm lee at the point more.. but with this team who knows
by realfabfive on Dec 28, 2009 11:56 AM PST up reply actions
Funny thing about the Lane 3-pointer
Somewhere after Drago missed the really wide-open 3, I said to my friend, “I have more confidence in Brendan Lane making a 3 then Nikola Dragovic.”
15 seconds later, Lane drained a three.
Also, Anderson looked like a Pac-10 PG in the first half, but DSU’s defense left a lot of openings for our team to make great passes to the interior. We’re not getting that many open layups/dunks in Pac-10 play. The second half was sloppier, although I honestly think the game wasn’t as close as the final score.
Outta town
I was on the road during the game and missed everything. But I think Nestor’s point that it’s hard to take anything away from the game except we have won 3 of your last 4 has substance. I have no idea why Dragovich gets to play or whether Anderson should start or whether he will next year. The practices are closed and Coach Howland is not really talking. But the wins and losses speak volumes and we are playing better than we did say against Fullerton, Portland, and Long Beach. And that is progress.
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