UCLA vs. UC Davis Basketball Preview

BYU possibly being our last chance at a quality win and the rest being potentially bad losses. CBH should be of the mindset that his job is on the line in the here and now, because further setbacks in this not-young-anymore season will derail it and make it a failure, whether you define it as making the tournament or a set amount of wins. The time is now to start playing with consistency, and rachet up the defensive intensity that was lacking in the first half of the Cal Poly game.

dinged up?

I just checked the DVR and found that one of the times when Howland went small (Jones, Anderson, Lee) was to counter a Cal Poly lineup that went 6’3", 6’4", 6’5", 6’5", 6’8". I think CBH was just trying to get some ball pressure on the defensive end and given the size of the Cal Poly lineup, he was afforded the opportunity to go small.

to one of his assistant coaches… Howland has enough on his plate during the game to be trying to make sure every kid is happy with their PT. Let a coach take note, and point it out once or twice to CBH during a timeout.

In all seriousness, balancing minutes is not just about coddling the kids, it’s about making sure that the team stays fresh and that all player gets the playing time because this team will have injuries, and thus every player needs to be sharp and ready to make an immediate contribution.

Story here

UCLA Coach Ben Howland was mildly distressed Sunday after freshmen Tyler Lamb and Anthony Stover contracted food poisoning from some late-night chili chicken cheese fries.

One certain late night eatery on Gayley immediately came to mind…

JS is a beast and he will definitely improve as the season progresses. If he improves to the extent that KL did (not meaning that he will become as good as KL, but that he improves by an equal percentage,) he will be a very dominant player.
TH is one of the most talented players in the Pac10, and plays like it most of the time.
RN actually showed some desire to play defense against Cal Poly. (I don’t understand why his shot is being blocked so many more times this year than last, considering that he is stronger and lighter.) CBH may be able to get him to play better D.
ML is a decent defender and rebounder, with very limited offensive skills. He’s a decent puzzle piece.
JA has shown some improvement, and may add some valuable depth and even a little shooting.
ZJ is not as good as I’d hoped, but not as bad as I feared. If he will back off point guards and not allow dribble penetration, he may improve. He is a fearless shooter and has a lot of self confidence.
BL is a very willing and hard working player, who may improve as he gets more experience.
TL looks like a basketball player with proper instincts. He may improve dramatically as time goes on.
Stover can block a few shots and has 5 fouls to give when we need a banger.

We’ve played below our potential, but the talent that we have may improve over time. Turnovers should go down as the team learns to play together and realizes how devastating turnovers are.

I’d be very happy with either the Pac-10 title or the conference championship, because if they are different, I’d put a lot of money on the conference winner getting into the tournament. It would also mean that the team was on a roll, which would have a huge influence on the selection committee. As my grandmother would say “We should be so lucky.”

I know you will be sorry you asked.

Zeke has shown flashes of the ability to break pressure, and frequently makes a good entry pass. Inconsistency is his problem. ZJ needs to dribble faster to force the defender to back off. He dribbles at about 75% speed, and I think he has capacity to go a bit faster. He must do it with his head up and be ready to pass when a double team is coming. He is still adjusting to the speed of the Division 1 game. My sense is that he does very well in practice and believes he can play at this level. Still it is hard to say what his upside will be.

Watching Zeke play makes us realize how awesome DC was at the point. Look at DC thrive in the pros. He was truly exceptional.

JA was consistently horrible breaking pressure last year, resulting in ML being moved to the point. Zeke is 50% better than JA was, and JA is about 25% better on ballhandling than he was last year. I’d like to see JA learn to turn his body 90% when dribbling to prevent reach in steals. Zeke has a bad habit of forcing a drive between two dribblers that he needs to fix. Both are fixable, but I imagine CBH has mentioned this, with mixed results.

ZJ has shown the ability to drive to the basket and score, and has a decent midrange jumper. He just needs to cut down on the negatives and he may not be our weakest starter. (ML is such a horrible shooter that he may take the mantle of worst starter before its over. ZJ is competing with RN for that title right now.)

As far as initiating the offense, this isn’t just the passer, its the whole offense. If the cutter waits for the proper pick, and the picker sets a good pick, an entry pass should be easy. The passer should “fake a pass to make a pass” to prevent the passer’s defender to get a hand in the way and make a steal. These are basketball basics that can be learned by anyone. My feeling is that there are so many fundamental mistakes being made by every player, that CBH is trying to fix a hundred things at once, with a very young team who all think they already know how to play the game. Its hilarious, but I think if I had an afternoon just to work on these things, I could help them a great deal, and I don’t know 1/100th of what CBH and his assistants know.

Failure to push it – this relates to where we get rebounds and whether the other team gets back. You push it when its there, and that means the other team has to shoot a low percentage, and the rebound has to come out clean, an outlet pass is made, and we have an advantage in players getting down the court – either 3 on 2, or at wost 3 on 3. When JS is in the game, we are one player down in filling the lane, if someone other than JS gets the rebound so that’s a factor.

We have a rebounding advantage against most team, but we aren’t the quickest team getting out on the break, so that limits the number of fast break opportunities. RN gets a lot of charges also, so he should only get the ball on the break with a clear path to the basket.

Fast break perfection is so down on the list of what needs to be fixed that it doesn’t concern me at all.

Number one is man to man defense. We have to stop dribble penetration and make teams take contested jumpshots. Help defense is secondary, because it requires double teaming, which leaves players open and causes defensive confusion. Teams that can shoot the three get open looks with help defense, unless its perfect. We don’t have AA and LRMAM who were incredibly intelligent defenders who could make the necessary rotations.

I’d have the players back off on defense, and slide laterally or even give ground on the drive, and make the opponent shoot jumpshots.

The next thing that needs work is running the offense, setting picks at the right time in the right location, and making cuts using the picks. This takes pressure off both the passer and the receiver, and ultimately allows us to get the ball into the post.

JS, TH or RN should touch the ball in the low post on every possession. This is the strength of our team and we must learn how to shield the defender and make the entry to the right spot. JA and BL actually did it perfectly one time in the last game. They are obviously working on this.

Lamb and Stover are both warming up and look fine