Bruins Pick Up An Important Win By Destroying Cougars In Pullman
by Nestor on Feb 18, 2010 7:52 PM PST
in Basketball
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PrintWell I thought for sure our Bruins were going to melt under pressure and then go through the motions when they showed up in Pullman tonight. The atmosphere around the team was certainly gloomy after another tough loss and tougher news around James Keefe. So when the Bruins took a 24-15 lead with about 10:36 left in the first half, I was just waiting for that run from the Cougars and subsequent el foldo from the Bruins (like the ones we saw in South Bend and in Eugene).
Well the Cougars did make that run to close within 2 points. Only this time Coach Ben Howland was forced to go to his bench with Brendan Lane and Bobo Morgan and he saw his young Bruins hold it together and put together a huge 14-2 run to end the first half. That run gave the entire team a huge shot of confidence and they never looked back as they came out and dominated the Cougars for rest of the second half. The final score was a 71-51 blowout which was accomplished not only without JK but also with out Reeves Nelson, who had to leave the game with a huge cut (after throwing down a dunk) in the first half. Here is the box score.
It was Tyler Honeycutt who got the party started by getting hot from outside early. He finished with 14 points, 4 assists and 4 boards, while Michael Roll did his part to bring senior leadership with 15 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.We shot 66% from the floor but only took 12 3s (making 5 of them). So much for the nonsense that we can only win when Nikola Dragovic gets hot. We were smart and patient on offense while air tight on D (limiting the Cougars to 36% shooting). As smooth as TH and MR were the story for tonight's game was the Bruin bench and reserves who finally got to play actual minutes without having to be worried about getting pulled by Howland.
Bobo Morgan perhaps had his best day as a Bruin making his presence felt all over the court. It was Bobo who really set the defensive tone in second half with block shots and altering the Cougars shots in general by standing tall down low. He finished with 3 blocks, 3 rebounds and 2 points, playing 21 solid minutes. Meanwhile, Brendan Lane did his part holding his own in the zone defense. He was active in his rotation and with his presence our defense was lot tighter and crisper down low. He did make couple of freshmen mistakes but overall had a solid 14 minutes in which he contributed with 3 rebounds, 1 steal and 2 points.
Speaking of contribution Jerime Anderson got a little boost to his shattered psyche as he pitched in with 10 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds and 4 steals. Now only if he can build on it through rest of this season and the entire freaking off-season. Oh Rago had 14 points but gave us the moment of night when he missed the dunk in garbage time.
It is going to be very interesting to see how Howland manages his rotation from hereon out. I thought our zone defense looked a little tighter without Nelson (and of course Rago). However, we need Nelson's aggressiveness and warrior spirit down low. I think Lane and Bobo clearly made convincing cases for more mins rest of the season. Hopefully Howland will find a way to trust them by keeping them in during crunch time like he did tonight even when the Cougars made their run.
I think this was a very important win for the Bruins notwithstanding what takes place in Seattle on Saturday night. By winning tonight's game the Bruins maintain a realistic shot of finishing the season at least at .500. If they can hold serve at home next week and then can pull out 2 more wins (by either stealing one against Arizona schools) or scraping and clawing to win 2 at Staples, I think the season will end on an uplifting note.
The key for our guys will be to play with composure and with no sense of fear or pressure when they play 5 on 8 against the Huskies in Seattle. The entire arena is going to be rocking, tWWL is going to be pouring on the UCLA hate, and the Huskies will be playing like a pack of rabid dogs since they never have to worry about getting foul calls from the SPTRs at home. If the Bruins just come in there and play with the mindset of nothing to lose but everything to gain just by playing 40 mins of all out hard fought, focused and intense defense, they could make it fun.
For now though I think we should enjoy this win. The Bruins played their best game of the season. That is saying something because they could have been very tempted to pack it in and give up on rest of the season. The fact that they played with composure and so much tenacity gives me hope - not necessarily for Saturday - but for a good finish and set up for a productive off-season.
Enjoy the post game thread.
GO BRUINS.
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If other guys are stepping up
then I think we miss RN’s scoring a lot less. In highly limited minutes he had two nice buckets but three turnovers , no assists, one steal and two fouls.
If other guys are lighting it up from outside (MR and TH tonight) and/or moving well without the ball (TH, ML, JA tonight), then we don’t need to rely so much on RN playing one-on-one or one-on-two down low. While RN definitely seems to be a better scoring option than Bobo, Bobo made some nice passes tonight and did more to create than RN typically does.
In RN’s defense, he did look more inclined to pass out of double teams than in previous games, even though resulting open shots for others were missed. I’m just not sure we looked that much worse offensively with Bobo in for RN.
Bobo
was hitting the cutters in second half. Pretty good looks. RN is just so much more confident (to the point that sometimes he turns it over a little too much). If both of them can work to reach that happy medium – Bobo finding a little more aggression and Nelson playing with more control – it would be really good.
I also keep forgetting we are getting Stover off his redshirt season next year.
One of Bobo's advantages with his size
is that he can protect the ball more easily, see the court better, and not worry so much about getting trapped in the double team. Gives him the time and space to look for the pass.
It seems like RN at the 4 is a potentially great running mate for TH finishing close to the basket; and potentially using his post moves against defenders if JS2/JMM/AS can pull their man away from the basket. He doesn’t seem to be a guy who will be happy just handling garbage, so I’ll be interested to see how CBH uses him if he plays the 4.
by britishbruin on Feb 18, 2010 8:30 PM PST up reply actions
A frontline of RN, TH and (JMM or AS or JS2) would be a rebounding juggernaut
RN would need to improve his D though
by 84 on Feb 18, 2010 8:33 PM PST up reply actions
He does look like a project in progress
IF Bobo works on his game during the off season, participates in summer league games with other players and improves his skills, he’ll be like George Sidek by his senior year. But then it also depends on who his teammates wil be the next three years too.
Agree about RN being missed less when the other step up especially on D
Still think he can be a black hole on offense sometimes with the mentality that he will get to the basket at all costs when the ball goes into him. The injury dunk was sweet though in the fact that he went up strong and left no doubt. That toughness has to pass on to his teamates at some point.
Not sure getting to .500 is a simple as two wins at home and either one in Arizona or two in Staples. If we lose to UW, ASU and Arizona we would be 14-16 heading to Staples. Two wins there means 16-17 overall. By picking up one additional conference win we could be 15-15 heading to the tourney where one win gets us to the .500 mark. So the easiest way to a .500 season is to hold court and win one either at UW, ASU or UA. Still would need a first round win in tourney though.
by 84 on Feb 18, 2010 8:31 PM PST up reply actions
Bobo
Had 3 assists today. Not to pile on RN, but that’s what… half of what RN’s assist totals for the year are? Obviously that’s not entirely RN’s fault, but that’s an interesting thing to look at…
3 blocked shots for Bobo too. He really fits well with that zone it seems – just being huge + having a knack at blocking shots forced WSU to take a bunch of altered-shots during the game it seems.
We’ll see how this works against UW, but I’d think that having a big guy in the paint against their small guards would be nice
It is actually
Nelson has 7 assists on the season. Bobo now has … 3.
by SuperBruinMan on Feb 19, 2010 3:28 AM PST up reply actions
Quickie thoughts
Bobo can be a nice passer. He had a couple of nice passes tonight.
There are only three players on this time that do not play scared – Reeves, Roll, and Tyler. I see Bobo, and I think of that scene from Glory Road, when Coach Haskins is telling his big man (I think it was Shed) he had to go home because he’s a big man that’s afraid to play and Shed gets his act together.
Reeves cut looked so bad. I knew when he came up bleeding he hit his eyebrow bone place area on the floor and the blood would come forth. That’s what I get for watching so much UFC with the hubs.
It reminded a lot of the last time we played WSU – never let them get back into it.
Good point about saturday
Whatever happens, happens. Of course we all want a win, but the chances are slim to none (even more so than when they were here in Pauley). I just hope they come out to play, make the most of it and play like they have nothing to lose. The media, the arena, the refs and everyone else will be against our Bruins on saturday. As young as they are, they just need to dig deep, work as a unit, and ignore drago when he wants to fire up an off-balanced 3.
Hopefully the doctors can make sure that RN didn’t sustain any sort of concussion because that was truly scary. He’s going to look like a seasoned prison inmate by the end of his four years here: tattoos, scars all over his face, a vicious attitude that will scare any opponent half to death…
As for the rest of the season, I no longer have any precise expectations. Just play hard and don’t give up. Ever. That’s all.
I think part of tonight's recipe for success
was the fact that, for the most part, everyone played within themselves. Throughout the season, we have been at our worst when individuals try to do more than they are capable of (as in when ND thinks he’s Dirk Nowitski, ML thinks he’s Ben Gordon and JA thinks he’s D Rose). What I really liked about Bobo and JA’s games tonight, was that neither of them really tried to do too much. Bobo got the ball on the inside and knew that of his available options, finding a cutter had the best potential for success. Likewise, JA made the easy passes and found the bigger holes in the defense rather than trying to fit into the tiny cracks. If only Rags had realized that his real purpose on this team was to pose as a deep threat whilst never actually shooting a three, this team might have been alright.
That is exactly Rago's role. A deep threat who doesn't actually shoot from 3. Like it.
by 84 on Feb 18, 2010 8:35 PM PST up reply actions
Well the Lucky Lady wasn't there
but I heard the game went pretty well!!!!!!
I’ll dissect the game more once I see the game on the DVR.
GO BRUINS!!!!!!!!!!!
"I can't believe I ate the whole thing" Homer Simpson
LAte game watch
Stanford defeated Oregon, 72-65
Beavers are taken a 57-47 lead over Cal midway through the 2nd half
the $c’sters are pulling an OJ on Washington, 52-36 with 9 minutes remaining
formerly bruinhoo
My Huskies just need...
To through the ball in somebody’s face, really hard. Break a nose. It’s HEC-ED, doesn’t matter.
Geezer in training.
We played our young players
And not only did the team not collapse and fail, we actually played one of our best games all year… hmm!
Cal is getting annihilated in Corvallis
Beavers have gone on a 2nd half tear, and have an 80(!!!)-61 lead with a minute left
formerly bruinhoo
After it's all said and done
I wanna do the numbers and see when was the last time the top three or four teams in a major conference had such a poor conference W/L record.
Is it just me, or does it seem like CBH's teams do better with injuries?
I mean, if we have no JK, we don’t play Bobo or Lane, who both played admirably today. I certainly am sad about JK’s injury, but this feels similar to the JF / AA year when we were pockmarked with injuries yet soared all the way to the title game.
first time posting..
I only saw some parts of the first half and I saw Reeves take that nasty fall that cut his face. Hope he’s ok to play on saturday though!
I was glad to see some good shooting percentages out of Honeycutt and Roll, when I checked the stats online. I’m also really glad to see Brendan Lane get some minutes. What surprised me from the online stats were some of the numbers JA was putting out, points, assists, and steals. Hopefully I’ll be able to catch a replay of the game to see his performance, can anyone comment on that?
Probably his best game of the year
He made some very solid drives, made his shots, didn’t make dumb turnovers, and played good D.
BOBO!!!
He looked pretty good last night! I like that dunk he tried that fired off the back of the rim…I would love to see him get super aggressive…
"Success is never final, Failure is never fatal. It's Courage that count's"
John Wooden.....
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