FanPost

Nelson Channels Lavin (In Weak Attempt To Defend Rushing Of Nell & John Wooden Court)

I can appreciate the fact that yesterday's win was uplifting. I appreciate the fact that the team came out and played hard following the embarrassment against Southern Cal. They have done it before this season only to fall flat on their faces in the following game. Still it was great to see a kid like Mustafa Abdul Hamid emerge as a hero at the end of the night.

That said there is no justification for some of UCLA students' attempt to rush the court following a win over mediocre NIT caliber team which still hasn't won a single road game in perhaps the worst Pac-10 conference in decades. Blair Angulo, who is a former reporter for the Daily Bruin posted on ESPNLA:

Perhaps rain, combined with the Bruins' historic loss to the Trojans five days prior, prompted fans to stay home. The announced attendance was a meager 6,503 (Pauley has a basketball capacity of 12,819). Freshman forward Reeves Nelson, who already has somewhat of a cult following amongst students, said he was glad to see the student section full when he walked onto the floor for pregame warm-ups. Some had spent the previous night camped out -- rain and all -- outside of Pauley.

"I’ve always had faith in our student section," Nelson said. "It was fun to see them rush the court after a huge win."

Uh Reeves before making comments like that don't forget where you play basketball. It was a nice win for the team but if Nelson and anyone else associated with UCLA thinks it merited rushing the court that has Nell and John Wooden's name on it, they need to have their collective heads examined.

I understand if some people think a UCLA student section should never rush the court at Pauley. At the same time I think in today's world, there is nothing wrong with rushing the court if it has to do with winning conference championships. We did it at least three times during the early 90s.

However, there is no justification whatsover for the (weak) attempt to rush our court at Pauley. I am glad the student section was rocking (which was appreciated by Howland). That doesn't mean that it's ok to rush the court after a win that still leaves us with a losing record and a .500 one in perhaps the worst college basketball conference in the country. Doing that makes the student section look cheaper than the Trojans who were celebrating their "Pac-10 tourney" championship t-shirts towards the end of last season.

This also has no comparison to "13-9". There was something big at stake during that game:

  • UCLA's 8 game winning streak against Southern Cal
  • Southern Cal's bid for the BCS championship game

So yeah no comparison whatsoever to the situation in last night's game. Justifying rushing the court following last night's game makes people sound cheaper than Steve Lavin. We used to clown Lavin for hyping up Steve-16 appearances after pathetic underachieving seasons. If anyone wants a flashback here is what the poser said after the Bruins got destroyed by Iowa State team in yet another humiliating Steve-16 season:

Iowa State 80, UCLA 56 was hardly the Bruins' worst showing of the season. It was nothing compared to Gonzaga, USC I, Arizona State II and Arizona II, or the last 60 seconds at Washington. But it was enough of a beating that it would not allow them to ease into the off-season while thinking only of gains.

They had earned the right to have the great five-week ride coast to a smooth finish, as if simply running out of gas, because just being in position to get hammered by Iowa State was an accomplishment. They had earned the chance to feel vindicated after being 13-11 and in seventh place in the Pacific 10 Conference with a looming National Invitation Tournament berth. Even Coach Steve Lavin, who had been there as an assistant for a national championship and was in charge for a trip to the Elite Eight, said this "was probably the most rewarding, satisfying season I've been involved in."

So perhaps Nelson or anyone else want to think twice before getting so giddy over last night's win over a bad team that they want to stretch it in justifying silly attempts to rush the court. It makes those people sound more pathetic and disrespectful to the legacy of UCLA basketball than Steve Lavin.

Kind of sad really of what has happened in last few years. It was just four years ago Jordan Farmar talking about only banners mattering at UCLA. Now we have Reeves Nelson losing perspective over a "huge" win in a regular season which will probably not even result in an NIT. Pathetic.

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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