Hoops Roundup: Honeycutt's Leadership, Defensive Flexibility & Mindset For Seattle
by Nestor on Feb 19, 2010 5:11 AM PST
in Basketball
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PrintLet's start this Friday (and the weekend) with some good news. I was dreading the possibility of having to deal with Steve Lavin as the in game commentator for tomorrow night's game against Washington (6:00 pm PST) on tWWL. Thankfully I am hearing we will not have to deal with Lavin tomorrow night (at least during the game) and instead will get Jay Bilas doing color commentary for tWWL. This doesn't of course mean that the Bruins chances of pulling off an upset improves tomorrow night, but hey this might make the night a little less unpleasant.
Considering Ben Howland could not win in Seattle even with classic Ben Ball warriors, it will be too much to expect this group of Bruins to pull of the upset. Then again it only means Bruins can play with the mindset of nothing to lose in Seattle. Bruins can certainly help themselves tomorrow night if they can replicate the focus and effort from yesterday's complete performance against Washington State. As we have been saying all along this season the key for this year's team on offense is patience. Interestingly it was a freshman who set the tone of being unselfish and patient (emphasis added):
With 15:12 left in the second half and the Bruins sporting a 17-point lead, Honeycutt found himself on an island on the top left of the arc but moved the ball to senior forward Nikola Dragovic for a 3-pointer and 20-point cushion.
"I was wide open, but coach always preaches extra pass and I like to pass," Honeycutt said. "Everybody's saying I have this good first half, but there wasn't any need for more shots. Klay Thompson was over-guarding me, and I was trying to get my teammates open. There's no need for that. I'm not trying to go up there and jack up shots.
"I can hear (head coach Ben Howland's) voice in my head; 'Hey, patience ... patience.' "
Honeycutt is starting to sound like the ultimate Ben Ball warrior (who I hear had a pretty good game last night against King James) who is buying into Howland's principles and also showing dedication and work ethic it requires to develop into a great ball player:
Honeycutt, meanwhile, has taken "gym rat" to new levels.
"I had to get on him because he sneaks into Pauley Pavilion at 11 p.m., after intramurals, and he'll shoot until 1 a.m.," Howland said. "He was just doing that Tuesday. I love the willingness to work, but . . . "
The time seems well spent. Honeycutt was five of five from the field, finishing with 14 points.
Hard work and dedication usually leads to improve play on the court. It sounds simple but often is difficult to grasp for lot of kids who often expect success to be handed on a silver platter. I think it is way to early but I really like what I hear and see from Honeycutt. He seems like one of those kids who is relentless and who just keeps chipping away.
If you notice even when we are going through adversity, Tyler never really hangs his head or complain to the SPTRs. He just keeps balling. I think if he stays with it, he will most likely emerge as the next natural leader of this program, while his team-mates Reeves Nelson will provide the emotional energy on the court.
The Bruins used their 2-3 zone for most of the game but switched to a man-to-man defense for a couple of possessions in the first half. The switch seemed to work.
Washington State (15-11, 5-9) hit on four of its first five field-goal attempts in the first half but the Cougars' shooting declined as the game went on.
"It was real important because they were hot," Lee said. "Every time they came down, they were scoring on their outside shots.
"We tried to throw a little man-to-man out there just to throw a little wrench in their system, just to throw them off. We ended up getting a stop and went right back to the 2-3. I think that (2-3 zone) has really evolved since the last time we played them."
Well the zone certainly looked improved with Lane and Bobo downlow. I really hope Coach Howland takes a close look at the improvement his team made in playing zone and keep it as an option in his defensive arsenal heading into next season.
I think the ability to play both zone and man-to-man will make UCLA more dynamic and potent defensively with more young talent coming into Westwood. Players like Lane and Bobo certainly look more comfortable in this scheme. Not to mention their height and wingspan make them more physically suited to play zone. Same goes for Mike Moser who didn't get any minutes off the bench last night.
So the Bruins are off to Seattle where they will take on a Washington team which will be angry after suffering a letdown loss against Southern Cal. Again keep in mind that the Bruins will be playing 5 on 8 tomorrow night as the SPTRs as usual will not bother to call anything on the Huskies allowing them to play like a pack of rabid dogs. The crowd is going to be in a frenzy and the Bruins are not going to get any kind of breaks.
Our guys should not feel any kind of pressure at this point of the season. They need to focus on playing their best basketball and play defense with effort and focus for 40 minutes. I also hope Howland keeps trusting his freshmen (and underclassmen) by giving them minutes even when things get a little tough. The way the youngsters and the team responded last night was really fun to watch. If they can build on that on Saturday night and give everything they have, the game could be fun to watch even if it is being broadcast on tWWL.
GO BRUINS.
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Bobo
Now that we’ve seen that Bobo can pass (in addition to the defensive length he brings to the zone), that opens up the possibility of using what Bilas always calls the UCLA set, with the big man at the high post, pulling their 5 out of the key and making room for cuts to the hoop. That can only help RN, and it gives the Bruins another weapon.
I’m not an “if only” guy, but I sure would have loved to see Bobo play enough this year to enable him to grow and improve. Like you, I hope CBH saw how well Bobo and Lane played, though I’m sure Rago will continue to steal minutes from them.
BTW, even though he missed it, I loved Bobo’s thunderdunk!
Bobo, if only..
I think if we had started the season knowing Gordon was going to be gone and that we were going to be playing zone, development path of Bobo’s time would have been different. But when you look at the number of changes from the gameplan with which we entered the season, it is not so surprising that Bobo time wasn’t a high priority. First, dealing with the DG mess involved turning RN into a starting center; then, dealing with JA’s incompetence involved turning ML into a starting point guard; simultaneously, dealing with our athletic inability to play man-to-man involoved trying to learn to play zone on the fly. Aside from anything else, the (necessary) chopping and changing probably made it difficult for Bobo and BL to work out their role and adapt their play. They both looked significantly better (to me, if not to everyone) in the last game than in their fleeting minutes elsewhere, and look like they are getting to know where they are supposed to be on both ends of the court – fewer mistakes in positioning defensively, and better awareness in the offense.
by britishbruin on Feb 19, 2010 7:58 AM PST up reply actions
The changes have indeed
thrown a wrench into things, I agree. However, I think your last point is the most important – and it reflects what many have said here on BN: for Bobo and BL, more time=better play. All together now: “We told you so!”
(and please don’t flame me, people; I’m not claiming to be a better coach than CBH, just happy to see this particular change worked)
and the only people who might think to disagree
might point out that your equation is logically equivalent to
“for Bobo and BL, better play=more time”
with JK and RN both down, you might have expected ND to play almost the whole game at PF with BL and Bobo splitting minutes at center. Instead the “better play” of Bobo/BL gave them “more time” in crunch time, with ND only reaching 32 minutes after playing the whole garbage time period when the game was beyond reach. Would have been even more minutes for BL/fewer for ND if BL hadn’t had to sit with two fouls midway through the first half.
The “better play → more time” idea might also explain why MM didn’t get more than a minute despite the game being beyond doubt relatively early, if CBH doesn’t think MM is performing well in practice. But that is obviously speculative.
by britishbruin on Feb 19, 2010 8:53 AM PST up reply actions
Think I should have used
the arrow to show “more time → better play”, as that’s the idea I wanted to get across but didn’t communicate well. The cause and effect of real game time leading to productiveness was my take on things. Following this reasoning, though, it is strange that MM didn’t get off the bench, though he has in some recent games. Some increased time for Bobo and/or BL seemed a given with JK being gone, but I was glad to see both make something of it.
KSBruin, Howland sometimes can be
in the words of Las Vegas mayor when he rebuked POTUS for the latter’s comments, " a real slow learner ".
Just about everyone here on BN, since the get go , complained about the lack of playing time for some of the freshman players to develop their game. It doesn’t take an ophalmologist and his diagnostic lens to see Howland’s inexplicable stubbornness by clingng to the mad bomber from Belgrade.
I am glad Nestor found out about the color commentator for Saturday’s game.
Bilas is bearable. I do think the presence of Miles Simon at the Washington State game had something to do with curtailing Steve Physioc’s tendency to suddenly let loose his repulsively psychotic outbursts whenever some player scored a basketball, particularly if it was against Bruins. He simply nauseated me the other night when we played at Galen Center. As closet Trojans, Physioc and Marques Johnson’s commentary both depressed and infuriated me at the same time. I wonder if Marques ever broke out in cold sweats late at night, then sobbed uncontrollably, wondering why he ever had such adorations for those Trojans, especially when the onslaught was on against his own alma mater.
If he didn’t, he should.
I was pleasently surprised by Simon
He really was well prepared. He did all his homework on our team. He knew about how well we did on Thursdays. There was another stat (that I am completely blanking out on as I type this) he shared that showed that he read lot more than just the toplines getting ready for this game.
Not bad at all for an Arizona grad.
I agree that Simon did a nice job as color commentator
He had some nice stories about players
He had real facts.
He provided some good insights into both teams.
by Bruin Dad and Grad on Feb 19, 2010 11:06 AM PST up reply actions
Even though FSN does set very low standards
Simon is one of the best they have.
For everything UCLA baseball, visit my UCLA baseball twitter.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Feb 19, 2010 11:42 AM PST up reply actions
And you know what, Nestor
Miles Simon’s playing style, when he was on that Wildcats’ team that won it all by beating Rick Pitino’s Kentucky Wildcats, really resembled Honeycutt’s too.
Simon was a fluid ball handler, rebounded much like the Prince did. It enabled him to score so many baskets with opposing players least expected him. Most of all, he knew his way in the paint and blocked shots too. He did all that with a body frame of no taller than 6’7", just like Honeycutt is.
That year, we swept them in regular season games even, only to see Simon leading the charge on a team with no players taller than 6’8". They busted their way through the tournament. By championship game night, I must admit that, much as I hated Lute Olson and that disgusting McKale crowds, Simon’s performance transfixed me with full blown envy .
That team had no legitimate center nor point guard either. The way our Honeycutt develops and refines his game as we speak, right before our eys, I am just so cautiously opitimistic that he, too, will lead us out of this wilderness.
Not to nitpick
but I couldn’t help but take note of his comment that Collison was a 4yr starter. Like I said – nitpicky. Other than that I do have to agree he covered the bases and had a solid demeanor both last night and in the game he did last weekend.
by Nocal Bruin on Feb 19, 2010 12:59 PM PST up reply actions
The one you are blanking on might have been..
The comment on how Roll had verballed to Santa Barbara, but Keating saw him score the last 16 points to carrry his high school team in a game and knew he had a player worthy of CBH to offer.
by 84 on Feb 19, 2010 1:20 PM PST up reply actions
At least his kids went to UCLA
Unlike Jamaal Wilkes and Henry Bibby and even Bill Walton.
Marques bends over backwards to try not to let his Blue and Gold show, but he’s shown where his heart lies when it’s important.
And let’s face it—SC played a terrific game against the Bruins, especially on defense,. which was and is supposed to be our calling card.
He may go too far for us to handle in his efforts not to seem biased. I know most of you weren’t even born when he was playing, so you’ll have to take my word for it, but Marques was and is a great Bruin— the first winner, appropriately and proudly, of the John Wooden Award.
meh
Marques seems to get all excited when the Trogans do something – like foul a guy hard when he is going up for a dunk.
by britishbruin on Feb 19, 2010 12:01 PM PST up reply actions
HI Herodotus
I saw Marques at the San Diego Sports Arena that night. He and Richard Washington, I swear, played such a magnificent game that for the longest time, I considered Johnson, Washington & Dave Meyers the most incredible trio of collegiate players we would ever see this side of the Great Continental Divide.
That said, I just have problems with marques swooning over those Trojan players. He never leveled the same kind of over the top outbursts for us, even when we scored spectacularly. I said this before, he sealed it for me with his " Meow Mayo " mutterings.
Walton didn’t want Lavin to ruin his kids. I had to grudgingly give him credit. Imagine Luke Walton plyed under Lavin. Luke would now be a journeyman in the Continental League.
Wilkes I don’t know. But I always thought Big Bill Walton elevated Wilkes game too.
Wasn't that a game?
Imagine winning a championship with Ralph Drollinger at center. Don’t forget Pete Trgovich, an amazing defensive player, was on that team, too.
UCLA insiders while Wilkes was at Westwood thought he was the best forward ever to play at UCLA. I was partial to Sidney Wicks, and a case could have been made later for Dave Meyers. In any case, the 74-75 succession was going from one magical team to another. I’d love to hear Coach’s thoughts on that. In fact, I’ll go hit one of his books to get his comments.
Dukies think Bilas does the same thing to them that Marques does to us. Hard to believe.
At least we never have to listen to Dickie V.
Glad (?) to hear about Bilas as well
as long as it’s not the Dick or the Lizard, it’s hard to complain. I watch most of the KU games now that I live here, and nearly all of them are on some part of the BSPN family. I always dread finding out who the commentator will be. Lately more often than not it’s been Bobby Knight. I’m actually surprised to find that he’s pretty good – his insights tend to outweigh the “they need to score and get a stop” comments that my two-year-old would probably say “well, no sh!t, Bobby” to if he was awake to watch.
I was impressed by Miles Simon.
Bobby Knight is really good
I watch lot of the Big-12 games to take in his observations. I feel like I learn a lot from listening to him (he actually focuses on the game instead of talking about unrelated BS ala Lavin, Vitale or Phelps).
Now that Knight is out of the arena, so to speak
his sharp, insightful basketball mind is shining ever so brightly.
Here is a guy that, despite his years of winning ways at Bloomington and dominance within the Big Ten Conference, somehow let his own demons, gripes overcome him, and negate, in one broad brush stroke, all his stellar accomplishments others could only dream about.
I wish that old Dick learn from him to never, ever do his baby this, baby that babbles, and consciously refrain from gesturing his Parkinson’s like hand before the camera. The one that can benefit the most from Knight would be, I know we all agree here, Lavin the Great Pretender. For all his smooth, delivery skills, this guy needs to, much like elementary school kids, sit cross legged before Knight, and listen both intently and humbly to the do’s and don’ts from Knight. Until Knight touched his head papal style and gave him the blessing to go do his job, I really don’t want this guy anywhere on the air commenting about our game.
I've always liked Knight
And was very happy to see him take the booth, knowing he’d talk real substance about hoops. Quite frankly, I prefer a genuine, accomplished person whose indiscretions sometimes get the better of him to a slick greaser. I remember praying during the Lavin years to have Knight coach our team, even for a week, just to teach them a fear of God.
In that case.....
we would have witnessed a mass exodus of Bruin players out of Westwood because most of Lavin recruits, in my opinion, belonged to the category of skilled freelancers with flashy talents. They were so different in substance than the midwestern, tough bodybangers Knight coached. Look how Knight’s team manhandled, on national television, our defending national champions both in that preseason game at St. Louis and then the Final Four game in Philadelphia .
Gene Bartow never recovered from those two losses.
The zone next season
I feel like we’re gonna have to use the zone again next year to maximize our potential. I
The personnel may dictate that
As of right now, Josh Smith isn’t going to fit into our man to man concept.
oops, posted on accident
to complete that thought. I feel that if we are going to get the most out of our squad next year we’ll have to take advantage of our size and balance (a true PG, SG, SF, PF, C). In order to achieve both size and balance we’ll need to get starter minutes from JS2 and meaningful minutes from Bobo. If one of those two is gonna be on the floor at pretty much all times then CBH will most likely have to pepper in some zone.
zone-man-zone
I noted it in the game thread – almost too quick to see, snadwiched between timeouts. They ran a pick at the elbow to get Klay Thompson matched up against ND, who contested him going to the basket and led to a missed shot… and then we quickly went back to zone…
one other thing on TH
I’m not sure if anyone else noticed this, but it looked like WSU came out from the start looking to attack TH’s part of the zone rather than the more traditional attacking ND’s part of the zone. My thought at the time was that they were trying to get some fouls on our most important player early, but he managed to avoid that.
quick question?
AA is the ultimate over DC? I might be biased toward DC because he stayed four years.
The best of both worlds?
Lorenzo Mata-Real, epitomizing CBH’s tough defensive mindset, warrior through and through, stayed for four years of both re-establishing the program and taking it to three Final Fours…
AND he showed the world the respect that comes as standard for even the least flashy of athletes if they are associated with the four letters (which is helpful for recruiting):
Lorenzo Mata-Real – cool under pressure, even when left outnumbered by his teammates.
by britishbruin on Feb 19, 2010 8:40 AM PST up reply actions
I think he had come to the conclusion
that anyone wearing such an item would typically be met with a chant of
“Take off that reeeeeeeeed shirt, take of that reeeeeeeeeed shirt”…
by britishbruin on Feb 19, 2010 10:10 AM PST up reply actions
AA is the face of the revitalization of the program for me
That we’re seeing some of the same mindset and work ethic out of TH as we did from AA can only be a good thing for the program.
DC was and is a great player, and will always be loved and honored here... BUT...
…when it comes down to tough, tenacious, physical play… from someone with an almost maniacal approach to practice (and who, like CBH, was sometimes TOO intense), there can only be one.
AA — the Fist of the Bruins.
M
"In this program your passion bucket must be full to play SC." -- CRN, to Dan Patrick, 1/2008
Do we have a chance to win tomorrow?
Realistically no; however, if we have the mindset that we have nothing to lose and just play the best we can, I think we have an outside chance to win. I would even start Bobo just to clog up the middle and protect the inside. I don’t know how much of an impact the injury would affect RN, coach Howland should make the decision how long RN should play. TH should definitely start and practice 1,000 free throws prior to the game (that goes for ML on jump shots). I like JA and MR start as guards. I would let ND start. But, if he is not productive, I will pull him out for Lane or Moser.
Manana at Seattle
Of course, I am hoping for a win, but I worry that TH wears down after lots of minutes on a Thursday night. I think he led the team in minutes last night. But maybe RN will be back and en fuego manana. Go Bruins.
by Arturo del Mundo on Feb 19, 2010 10:28 AM PST up reply actions
put Honeycutt on Pondexter
If it wasn’t going to happen anyways, it definitely needs to happen. TH is the only player on our roster who has the speed, length and poise to keep up with that sneaky SOB. He does need to watch the fouls though, which will be tough considering practically all important calls will go the Huskies’ way tomorrow. I have no doubt that at any time during a close game tomorrow, 90% of the calls will go their way. If it’s a blowout one way or the other, we may get a few calls during garbage time, but that’s it. That’s just the way it works.
+1 on fouls
TH’s foul situation will be crucial. We don’t have anyone to replace his overall production if he has to sit.
by britishbruin on Feb 19, 2010 2:51 PM PST up reply actions
Not to be a wet blanket
I was encouraged by the game last night. I thought everyone played within themselves and the sum of that was pretty effective.
However, there are two things that temper my excitement. First, it was a Thursday game and CBH always does better on Thursday than Saturday. I am almost wonder that if the games were switched if we could have beaten UW yesterday but then lost to the same WSU team on Saturday. The real test for CBH’s team will be tomorrow against a far superior opponent than WSU.
This leads to the second reminder: WSU has only one 6’8" player and they quit yesterday. If JMM and BL couldn’t dominate inside against WSU, they never would be able to. Now they played better than they did at the beginning of the season when they got playing time against out of conference opponents, some of which we lost. But again, WSU gave up in the second half. Their entire second half defense constituted 10 seconds of pressure to try and get JA to turn it over, and if we broke that (which JA actually did a good job of passing instead of dribbling for the first time this season), we usually got an uncontested layup. Two teams played in the game last night. When one of them plays pathetically, the other is going to look a lot better. If you don’t believe me, check out cougcenter.
All that said, with JK gone for the season and whatever the future of RN is for saturday, I look forward to seeing JMM and BL get more playing time. Ever since we went to the zone I wished JMM would get more time since a zone is much more effective when you have an actual center who can block shots in the middle rather than an undersized 4. JMM’s passing was also a revelation. BL wasn’t fantastic and made some freshmen mistakes, but he showed some flashes of his high school days and hopefully he will continue to make the most of his minutes. I’ll be very interested to see how they perform against what should be a much more intense UW team tomorrow.
Bruins can certainly help themselves tomorrow night if they can replicate the focus and effort from yesterday's complete performance against Washington State.
Spot on Nestor. COMPLETE performance, last night everything was working. From coaching to defense to bench play to execution on offense (except for Rago’s missed dunk) for 40 solid mins
The Biggest Difference
There were a number of differences last night in the way the team played and was coached which have been mentioned above. But for me the biggest difference by far was Rago not launching 3s. I know Nestor mentioned this in his post after the game but I just wanted to reiterate. What a difference it makes to get more of the team involved in the offense and decrease the chances for a long rebound and fast break by the opposing team. There was still plenty for me to wince at with this team but we looked way more energetic and focused and team-oriented last night and I think this is the primary reason.
By the way, I want to give Drago props for his work defeating WSU’s full-court press. He’s a good passer and is calm in those situations. With him throwing the ball in and then often getting it right back, he was able to pick apart the press with a good pass. So good also on the coaching staff in making this change.
Bruins Forever
The coaching staff
must have gotten directly into his brain to turn off (at least for that game) the “must shoot within half a second” gene.
2 comments
1) Drago was a sign of a bigger trend from last night. It was a real TEAM win. N and others have mentioned TH giving up one open shot for another. I loved MAH’s pass into the paint. And solid team defense. It appeared that Bobo was out their directing and talking.
2) Did you see CBH in the first 2 timeouts. He was screaming at his team. About defense. About poor shots. And then he went to man on man to change things up. The team tightened up on defense. They seemed to respond to him.
So yes, to me it was everyone contributing.
by Bruin Dad and Grad on Feb 19, 2010 11:11 AM PST up reply actions
I lamented the fact I never got a "Moute Kicks Boute" shirt in the heyday...
… but if TH keeps showing the maturtiy, poise, and court-sense that he is now, I will be anxiously awaiting the days when #23 jerseys are once again filling the racks at the UCLA Store.
It’ll be like getting jerseys for 2 great players for the already inflated price of one.
M
"In this program your passion bucket must be full to play SC." -- CRN, to Dan Patrick, 1/2008
The hubs has one which I got when Luc was there
I love it. It’s for Luc, now for Tyler, and the main reason he wanted it was for Michael Jordan, but I’ll think of the Bruins that wore it before him. And Matt Barnes!
I have a number 1 (why can’t they have more numbers in the kid sizes?!) so it’s for Jordan Farmar. Hopefully Mike Moser lives up to it.
Who was that team last night and what did you do with the REAL UCLA team?!!!
It amazes me that it takes an injury (Keefe) in order for Howland to play highly recruited underclassmen, like Lane and Bobo. He should have been playing them a lot earlier rather than going on the Rag. I hope that he lets Moser into the game more often as well.
JA better build off that performance, but I have a feeling it will be short-lived. He dribbles the ball way too high for a PG and I’m not looking forward to Overton or Thomas picking him off all night long tomorrow.
Yes, Anderson's dribbling style is hard to watch
That one sequence when he sort of slipped on his own, then landed on his rear with no defenders in the proximity simply pained me. Then he dribbled into two awaiting Cougars and expectedly turned over the ball made Howland, by now flushed in the face with bulging neck veins, virtually a basket case stricken with skyrocketing blood pressure.
Well, he made his own bed. Now sleep on it. Howland made the mistake of sticking with Anderson and the Belgrade mad bomber far tooooooo loooooooong !
I'm afraid last night was a mirage.
Bad teams make you look good. Good teams make you look bad. WSU was a really poor defensive team last night. Even JA was an offensive force. Bobo looked great. I actually missed his inside presence when he was taken out. He did a great job of changing shots at the defensive end. He also sees the floor on offense. I still doubt that he can play when the game speeds up. All that being said, I have moved over to the bench Drago camp. (I still can’t stand all of our bigs standing straight legged in the key on defense. They are resting, instead of being ready to shift quickly. Drago and RN are the worst of the offenders in this regard.) I want to see more of Bobo and BL, and see how they develop. Can we beat Washington at home? Of course we can. Any team in the Pac10 can beat any other. Will we? Of course, because I am a die hard Bruin (but for no other reason.) Go Bruins!
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