Ben Ball Poodles Look Pretty Early But Predictably Collapse In Pauley
by Nestor on Feb 6, 2010 3:45 PM PST
in Basketball
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PrintWell hello there everyone. Get used to a new addition for our lexicon. Ben Ball Poodles. At least yours truly will be using that to refer to Ben Howland's mentally soft and IQ challenged basketball "team" for rest of this. The final score was not surprising because we all saw this coming. Mike Montgomery's Cal Bears decided to show up the play today instead of taking our BBPs for granted, and as a result predictably ran away with it on our home court at Pauley.
The final score was 72-58. Here is the box score. I hope all those who showed up at Pauley really enjoyed the good vibes and feelings around one of the worst basketball teams in UCLA's history. Yeah, so much for all the false sense of comfort they have been generating after getting by against some horrible Pac-10 teams in recent games. The Bruins came out on "fire." They looked "pretty" early on with some fancy passing during when they actually try to set up each other with open shots.
Ben Ball Poodles looked really "pretty" after Tyler Honeycutt slammed it down to the Bruins up 24-11 with 10 minutes left in the first. I am sure they were people snickering around Pauley at people who have doubting what has been going on with program all season long. Somehow they forgot how these mentally soft BBPs looked "pretty" just like they did on the road against Notre Dame going up 26-20 with 7:48 left in the first half. They looked "pretty" just like they did on the road against Oregon going up by 24-13 with 7:13 left in the first half.
If there is one person who is responsible for another pathetic and embarrassing performance at Pauley, it is none other than Ben Howland. His ineffective rotation and game management once again blew up all over his face (CBS had a telling statistics towards end of the game how Bruins hardly ever come through when the Bruins are down during the crunch time). More on our poodles after the flip.
Let's start with Malcolm Lee. The delusional one who apparently has been hearing all the sweet talk about how he was NBA material, once again looked completely lost and ineffective as a starting point guard. Sure he had couple of nice drives but overwhelming majority of the time he looked unsure, insecure and completely indecisive with the ball. Plus he cannot shoot. He was so bad that at times even Jerime Anderson looked to be a better option at 1 and Jerime didn't even have a good game.
Speaking of not having a good game, really what else I have to say about our Rainbow warrior from Belgrade. Howland's Matt Barkley once again stunk up the joint and played a huge role in the another embarrassing performance at Pauley. The shooter bricklayer went 1 for 8 from the FT line, and also bricked 3 important FTs (after not being able to convert layups) in second half. Of course this doesn't include how he didn't play much defense (yeah I know he took couple of offensive charges) and as usual didn't make much of an effort to box out and get the defensive rebounds down low.
It was a little telling (for the whole world except for Ben Howland) when the Bruins made their second half run to close the gap within 3 points. Most of that run took place when Ragovic was toweling himself on the bench and the defense was actually playing 5 on 5. Yet despite the run, the Bruins just didn't have enough in their tank as they folded looking lost, confused and tired. Wait I forget the real reason they lost was because the way Howland's bench of Lane, Moser and Bobo f*cked it all up for us when he put them in with an 11 point lead in the first half.
Where do the Bruins go from here? No where really. I will tell you where we are headed. We are going to be celebrating a moral victory against Southern Cal next week before most likely getting swept in Washington. We are going to be favored in only two games - Oregon and Oregon State - for rest of the season.
Yeah, I am really holding my breath over the Pac-10 tournament to get us in the Big Dance. We are going to come back next year with an inexperienced team (thanks to all the minutes wasted on the scrubs in this year's team) and deal with the possibility of Tyler Honeycutt high tailing out to the NBA as soon as he gets a little whiff of the first round. Other than that, I will leave it up to pump in all the sunshine and rainbows, you can muster up in this post game thread. How about all that good vibe in Pauley?!
GO BRUINS.
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I shouldn't have watched these poodles either
But can’t help it. Watched all the debacles during Lavin/Dorrell era.
Or Howland's Cory Paus ...
Never understood Bob Toledo’s mancrush on Paus either (I used to facetiously ask if Paus had pictures or some other incriminating stuff on the coach). In some ways, the comparison is more appropriate because Paus also got arrested (for DUI) and still played after the incident.
Fortunately, Drago’s a senior so we don’t have to worry about this playing out much longer.
Bingo
Woochifer … this is something worthy of a fanshot or a fanpost (if you want to elaborate a little more giving folks a reminder what transpired with Cory Paus).
One of the reasons Paus treatment by Toledo poisoned the program for the long term because it was perceived to be a preferential treatment on Toledo’s part, who wasted no time to suspend Foster (even before there was an investigation) while letting Paus play w/o any consequence. There has been lot of chatter and frustration about how Dragovic also has gotten preferential treatment from Howland similarly resulting in a toxic environment around the current program.
where were the big men today?
they should have dominated the undersized cal bears
PLEASE
No "fire Howland’ nonsense here. It is more than all right to offer up criticisms … and I am not going to hold back … but use datas/substantive observations.
However, next 2 years … it is going to be telling. No one is going to need to use the “F” word. The economics of having to raise money for Pauley will put the pressure on. No one is going to pay for a consistently sh!tty product that has been on display this season which has lead to lot of legit questions about how Howland is managing the programs.
Let’s keep asking the questions and demand answers. However, Howland does have some political capital, which he is burning through right now at a rapid rate.
Nestor, how was the walk back? How many feet of snow is DC at?
by inhowlandwetrust on Feb 6, 2010 3:55 PM PST reply actions
3 feet of snow on our street ... but the bar is like a 10 minutes walk
It’s beautiful outside. Going to head back out again and try to forget about hoops in about an hour.
CBS was saying before the game...
there were power outages in DC, We in LA just have the hills slidding down.
Geezer in training.
One request...
It’s bad enough seeing Drago with a Bruin uniform on Thursdays and Saturdays, but do you have to put him on your website???Just asking…
This team is entirely dependent on RN
The take away from this game was how important RN is to this squad’s success. They can survive an off night from one of our shooters (MR/ND) because at least there is hope that one can pick up on the outside shooting if the other is shooting poorly. TH is improving, but he still isn’t much of a scorer. With ML becoming more and more of a non-factor, our only other offensive option is RN.
The difference between when JK is in and RN in on offense is night and day. RN posts up and draws double teams opening up jumpers on the outside. JK runs around setting picks on the perimeter which only serve to 1) allow the defense not to have to guard the post, 2) leave no one down low for offensive rebounding, and 3) bring another defender to whoever JK is trying to set a screen for because his defender sags off of him to guard the pickee.
Its no coincidence that the team fell apart in the second half when RN was pulled for JK and the offense, and with it momentum, fell apart. Then when CBH inserted RN and he picked up a quick second foul, CBH yanked him again and Cal’s run continued. Of all the bad decisions CBH made, this was the worst. You cant take fouls with you. I would much rather have RN with 3 fouls and a 4 point lead going into the second half than RN with 2 fouls and trailing by 7.
Uh yeah ... okay whatever
The team made a f**king run with your boy Drago on the bench. Stop blaming a kid who has given everything for this team.
I don't see him blaming RN in any way
RN had his worst game as a Bruin. I don’t think that can really be debated. I think what poncho is saying is more an indictment on the rest of the team that it’s not good enough to overcome a single bad performance by a freshman. RN is going to have some games like this because he’s a freshman. It’s going to happen. The fact that it’s crippling to this team says a lot more about the team than it does RN.
For everything UCLA baseball, visit my UCLA baseball twitter.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Feb 6, 2010 4:01 PM PST up reply actions
Exactly
And I think that Cal’s defense keyed on stopping Nelson. We’ll need to get used to it because Nelson clearly has the opposing coaches’ attention. There were at least a couple of times when the defense collapsed in on him that I thought he should have passed.
But, aside from Nelson’s bad game (no doubt due at least in part to the apparent concussion that he played with), I thought the other key was Malcolm Lee’s lack of production all the way around. He played 38 minutes but looked lost out there. He’s playing two of the guard spots, yet he only shoots the ball 4 times and gets only 2 assists while turning the ball over 5 times.
yup
glad to see him not launching speculative shots from behind the arc, but we need some production from somewhere. Our point guard needs to be able to do something, whether it is drive and kick, be a threat from the outside, go hard to the hole and get fouled, or whatever.
Not blaming him
JK is what he is. Its up to CBH to use him appropriately. I am just saying that this team will only go as far as RN takes it. If RN has a bad game, we don’t have much hope because we have nothing else inside. I’d rather see JMM in there than JK with the zone just so that we have some sort of offensive balance on the court.
Thank you thank you thank you
I just went through the game thread and saw all the Keefe love. I like the kid too but he is a detriment to the offense and a zero sum guy at best on D. Overall negative impact player not as bad as Drago in that regard but only barely
Like I said, I love the kid
and think that overall he probably has less of a negative effect than Drago but the head to head comparison here was with RN, who actually has a positive effect most of the time.
not this game
he got burnt multiple times when he was on court, JK is the only big guy who know how to hedge when playing man and hold down the fort in the zone
He also covered up Rago's mistake twice
In the second half. Recovered after Rago got burnt again and again in the zone. All this while playing with one shoulder.
are u saying that not putting points on board = no positive effect?
i guess Luc is a negative player according to your logic
Luc was a tremendous and I mean tremendous player on D
and awesome rebounder and a resonable threat on O after cleaning up the glass. But seriously, Luc was one of the best defenders in college ball. He could have been garbage on O and still had a positive impact
Oops, I just realized you were only talking about the offensive end
poncho hit the nail on the head. JK is only good for setting pics on O. He has no post game. No face up game. He’s not an effective passer because defenders get to slack off of him. He can’t put the ball in the hoop himself or draw any attention to help create for others so overall I think he has a negative effect on O.
I remember that too
on teams where he was always the worst offensive player on the court. He got open looks on previous teams because players had to play everyone else honest.
you're going to want to ream me for saying this...
but coach said don’t mistake activity for accomplishment.
jk is out there busting his tail, i get it, but the production isn’t there. he either is non existent or gets in the way on offense. ok, he doesn’t look for the ball, but isn’t that a problem? we play 4on5 then, no wonder cal was able to buckle down on d. but i’ll concede he was 2/3 from the field today. wonderful. he is way below par on defense. we got owned in the paint by a smaller team, and he was in the center of the zone. he’s slow, gets bullied down low, and is a below average rebounder. and then there’s his free throws…
today was not his fault, plenty of blame to go around. but if he is gonna get as many minutes as he is getting and he is not in wku mode, we’re in trouble.
Across The Face
What happened to ML's defense?
Maybe I haven’t been paying as much attention to Malcolm’s defense this season because I’ve been so blinded by Drago’s ineptness on the defensive side of the ball, but… wow. ML just looked absolutely lost on defense. He was repeatedly getting beat on the drive, and his perimeter defense, especially against Randle, was pathetic. Randle barely had to make a move, and Lee would fall for the fake, leaving Randle wide open for a 3. It was ML’s defense that frustrated me more than anything tonight.
And I’m not sure what was wrong with RN today. He looked lost down low on offense. He just kept trying to force up shots or force passes or force drives when he shouldn’t have been making those plays. Just a disappointing game for RN.
Nice to finally see Lane get a minute worth of PT. Nice usage of his talent there.
slow down, look up
Huh?
First of all, Randle had 14 points playing all 40 minutes. He had two threes in transition or in the secondary break. So that means 8 points in the halfcourt offense over 40 points for a very dynamic scorer.
Second of all, we were in zone for most of the game and Randle went at Roll most of the time in the zone. I’m not sure where you got this Randle had ML looking lost defensive thing.
For everything UCLA baseball, visit my UCLA baseball twitter.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Feb 6, 2010 4:05 PM PST up reply actions
em how do u key on ML, we were playing zone not man for most of the game
and ML is never known for his defense, also he’s a sg playing the point, his natural match up is against 2 and 3 not against 1
Lee (these guys don't deserve initials by the way)
Was okaay on defense. But he played like a poodle on the other side of the ball and the only one chaining him was himself in his own head.
Here's the problem in my mind
There are only 5 players on a basketball court at any one time. So, one weak link makes a MASSIVE difference. Our weak link is obviously ND. He takes up huge minutes so we are constantly a full man down on defense. At the D1 level, it only takes one extra pass or 2 for a 5 on 4 advantage to result in an easy bucket. Pac 10 coaches scout well and they ALL know that ND is huge hole for us defensively. His off ball movement has no purpose or precision. His feet are amazingly slow in the man set and he’s late on help defense. More importantly (this year anyway), he’s by far the slowest Bruin to rotate in the zone scheme. Sure, he took charges today but it didn’t make up for all the times he got beat badly. Cal was consistently attacking his side of the zone, making the extra pass (randle had 7 assists in addition to his scoring output) to exploit him.
Every once in a while, ND can bail himself out by going on a shooting spree but i HATE having to rely on that to win. Today, his 1-9 from the field (including 0-4 on rainbows) wasn’t exactly enough to make up for all his defensive deficiencies.
I personally don’t think ND should go from 37 to 0 minutes because he can still be an asset on offense but I’d certainly like to see BL and MM get more time at his expense.
by DoubleTroubleBruin on Feb 6, 2010 4:11 PM PST reply actions
He also plays with effort ONLY 5 percent of the time
Yeah, he took 2 charges. Yet there was so many telling plays.
There was a specific instance when Roll shot a 3 from a set play and it ended up being an airball. The ball was right under the basket where Rago was hanging around. Instead of going right after it, he just flailed at it softball and then basically just watched it go out of bounds. Effing infuriating. Yet he still got 31 minutes today.
i remember that play too
i wish there was a stat line for “beat defensively” so we had more ammo to discuss his real impact on a game other than simply his shooting percentage…
by DoubleTroubleBruin on Feb 6, 2010 4:18 PM PST up reply actions
That was not the only one either
I also counted at least 4 other instances he didn’t bother even going after a rebound under our own freaking basket. If that was a freshman like Lane or Moser or even Bobo, they would have gotten pulled on the spot.
The second charge would have had me fuming if I were Monty
He was right under the basket for that one. If the NCAA was going to institute more leeway for offensive players right underneath the basket, then that should have been a blocking foul.
I'm never pissed at the refs for missing that call
because it is impossible to determine. Every time that call is missed I get pissed at the NCAA for not putting a damn line on the court so the refs know what is going on. Refs are working with imaginary lines. Even for competent refs that’s impossible.
For everything UCLA baseball, visit my UCLA baseball twitter.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Feb 6, 2010 4:26 PM PST up reply actions
You're right in the respect that if there's no line
There’s no basis for complaint. We’ve heard that they’re talking about instituting it (that was during the nonconference season, correct?) but without an actual semicircle They should have just not implemented it at all rather than do a halfass job for part of the season, or at least make the trial on it an entire season and have everyone draw the lines on their courts.
SPTRs will give us that call at home
i agree with you but i’m not complaining. the bigger issue, of course, is his defensive lapses and the strain is places on the other 4 guys on the court
by DoubleTroubleBruin on Feb 6, 2010 4:31 PM PST up reply actions
The under the basket rule is only for help defenders
You can take a charge on your man directly under the basket.
by AllHailMightyBruins on Feb 6, 2010 4:55 PM PST up reply actions
I know that you can
I’m saying that they made it confusing by talking about instituting some version of the NBA rule, where that would be disallowed if in a (completely unmarked) restricted area. I’m not even sure if that’s officially the rule now or not, because my impression was that it was a trial for part of the nonconference season, but I don’t remember it going away.
Something wrong with RN?
I was at the game and it really looked like he was either sick or had gotten poked in the eye or something. It wasn’t just a bad game, he looked without energy. Did the announcers say anything about his health?
Go Bruins!
They didn't mention anything on tv
But I wondered about that too. Whenever he went to the floor, he seemed really slow to get up.
by insomniacslounge on Feb 6, 2010 4:13 PM PST up reply actions
One time during a timeout
RN didn’t even go into the huddle. He stood on the outside while CBH was giving instructions. He seemed incredibly fatigued. Watching him then, I thought he wasn’t going to play anymore. I also thought it was unusual that his minutes came much later in the 1st half. Again, making me wonder if he was okay.
Go Bruins!
He got a concussion on the first touch
He lied to the trainers to stay in the game
Per Jon Gold:
http://www.insidesocal.com/ucla/2010/02/nelson-suffers-concussion-in-l.html
by Bruinmarcher on Feb 6, 2010 4:20 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Thanks
I hope it’s healed soon. Thank goodness there’s a great deal of time for him to recover before suc.
Go Bruins!
if it was serious
then he shouldn’t even have contact practice for a couple of weeks. Time for Bobo to suit up… or the much hoped for James Keefe ‘Senior Ryan Hollins’ moment (beyond unlikely, imho)
Thank you for this update
This certainly explains things.
Let’s hope it’s relatively minor and that the kid will be alright soon. Also, I hope he’s learned his lesson and won’t lie to trainers next time.
by insomniacslounge on Feb 6, 2010 4:25 PM PST up reply actions
I would have preferred that he look after his own health first
Concussions are serious business. That said, playing the rest of the game after suffering one? Instant Ben Ball Warrior status.
I have to agree with insomniac on this one
Sure, he played tough as hell, and that is absolutely commendable. But, in all honestly, he played a fairly poor game, obviously because of the concussion that he suffered. In my opinion, it was dangerous to his own health and unfair to the rest of his teammates to continue playing when he wasn’t 100%. Just my 2 cents.
slow down, look up
by Point Guard 08 on Feb 6, 2010 4:29 PM PST up reply actions
Do you think I'm advocating that what he did was the right thing?
Because I’m not. I thought I was pretty clear on that.
My bad
I glossed over the first half of your comment and focused on the second half.
slow down, look up
by Point Guard 08 on Feb 6, 2010 4:45 PM PST up reply actions
Ouch that explains a lot
Nelson did not have a good game and was nowhere near as effective as he had been in conference play. If he’s playing with a concussion, that’s not to the team’s benefit. Then again, who do we play in his place? Keefe’s not exactly 100% either …
You do gotta love
The CBS story to the right saying “Cal sweeps series with UCLA,” when a) it isn’t true, and b) they ACKNOWLEDGE that it isn’t true two paragraphs into the article. But by all means, leave the false headline up, dumbasses.
Absolutely not, Roll definitely did not hit an amazing clutch shot with 2 secs left in OT
Get your facts straight before you contradict CBS, sir!
Response re: Malcolm's D
For some reason the site isn’t letting me reply to a specific post, but this is in response to Ryan’s comment up top.
I very specifically remember two plays where Malcolm was playing defense on the perimeter and got beat pretty badly by a Cal player, who then shot a wide-open 3. Maybe it wasn’t Randle, and maybe the player missed the shot (I remember Randle making 2, but I could be wrong), but the fact of the matter is that his perimter defense was slow and ineffective. That has nothing to do with them playing zone defense. When a man is in front of you and in your zone, it’s your responsibility to guard him.
The shocking thing is that Malcolm WAS known for his defense last season (IIRC), yet this year it’s fallen off quite a bit.
slow down, look up
I considered looking back at the game that I have taped to see what you were talking about
but then I read your last sentence and realized that I probably shouldn’t spend time to look up something that you’re saying. ML had a stretch where he played great defense on three excellent point guards in Glasser, Randle and Wise earlier this year. Truly tremendous defense. Until mid-January, when we went exclusively zone, ML was our only dependable defender and did an excellent job time and time again. To criticize the defense of possibly the only guy who has played well on that end all year and say he’s fallen off is ridiculous. Offensively…well that’s a whole other story.
For everything UCLA baseball, visit my UCLA baseball twitter.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Feb 6, 2010 4:29 PM PST up reply actions
Whether you think my opinion is valid or not
I stand by my opnion that Malcolm’s defense was very poor tonight. I’m not blaming the loss on him or saying he’s the worst defender out on the court, but his defense was very disappointing tonight. You can pick apart the specifcs of my post if you’d like, but the overall point, IMO, still stands.
Has he played well all year? Sure. But that doesn’t mean he played well defensively tonight.
slow down, look up
by Point Guard 08 on Feb 6, 2010 4:32 PM PST up reply actions
When you throw out crap like his defense has fallen off this year
you lose credibility and when you then go back and contradict yourself by saying that hes played well this year, you lose the sliver of credibility you had left. And FWIW, it was Malcolm’s defense that keyed the little second half run we had and in the second half, Cal was clearly impressed enough with his defense that they made it a point to go to the other side or use screens on him, something they hadn’t done in the first half.
For everything UCLA baseball, visit my UCLA baseball twitter.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Feb 6, 2010 4:47 PM PST up reply actions
ahhhhhhh
turned on the Eagle Bank Bowl… Prince to Rosario made me feel a little better
by inhowlandwetrust on Feb 6, 2010 4:27 PM PST reply actions
I've been watching that game
on my DVR for the last 2 months
"I can't believe I ate the whole thing" Homer Simpson
WBB wins 44-32
No, that’s not a typo. The score could have been mentioned in the game thread, but I really don’t want to relive that one. 27% shooting for the Bruins and 21% for the Bears. All alone in second place in the Pac-10 now.
For everything UCLA baseball, visit my UCLA baseball twitter.
ROFL
“Poetry”? REALLY?
“They said you’re trying to stir stuff up, and I was like, ‘No,’” Lee said Saturday. “That’s just a phrase from the poetry I’ve written called, ‘Muzzle.’ It don’t got nothing to do with basketball. It’s just talking about society as a whole.”
That’s even better. I will definitely stick with the poodle theme then.
Uhm -- I want to cut him some slack and don't care about the Tweet but
why a poem about a muzzle that looks only at his last two years?
sjh
He's just "caught" and should learn to either fess up or shut up.
I may be alone in this, but I would prefer to have him be honest and if this is about CBH admit it.
This kind of denial looks bad. Always has. Right Bill Clinton?
sjh
Pretty much
It took almost 24 hours for them come out with a “poetry” explanation and the poem was named “muzzled”. It just raises even more questions. Malcolm plays like he has very low basketball IQ, when he is playing PG. His IQ seems to be even lower off the court. Seems like the kind of feature Howland likes in his starting rotation these days.
"... and I was like, 'No,'"
That is not the language that a UCLA student should be using. If one is “like, no” does that me one is “maybe.” How can Lee or anyone else be “like No.”
Lee really better hope that his basketball skills take off, because he will not get hired by a grown up for any real job. They will be like, no, and like, whatever, you know.
What exactly is basis for the antipathy to the English language?
"Like" in this context
is quite commonly used as “said,” so
and I was like, ‘no’
would equate in the English you and I speak to
and I said, ‘no’
It’s frustrating and it makes the speaker sound very uneducated, but to his generation (and even mine, and I’m roughly twice his age), that’s not a phrasing intended to create ambiguity, it’s just normal.
I would still like to see a front line of Bobo, RN and TH
I think this was the perfect game in which to try it out because there really was no justification for playing ND — he was simply not good on either end of the court.
Knowing now, that RN had a concussion, explains his game. I thought he had been handcuffed with 3 very stupid fouls. I guess it’s easy to do that when you can’t think straight.
As to JK — I tend to agree with Nestor’s season long analysis that he is a head case — that he really has some mid range jumper skills but has not been able to exploit them for the past few years. When he hit, early in the game, I was hoping for a break out game. Unfortunately, it did not happen.
Back to going young: Some of us have been calling for it most of the season. I guess it’s hard to do that when you are in “first place” — as illusory as that was.
But, I am steadfast in my belief that we will not have a great fall off by playing some of the younger players. How much farther can we fall? And, with the way we made our second half run, we may be pleasantly surprised to do well with them.
sjh
i wonder where he got this... but there's so truth to that
Jordan Farmar and Arron Afflalo both said they felt the system hurt their draft stock when they left school early a few years ago,
Look through our BN archives
It’s been brought up before by their handlers (not themselves). It came out from other players handlers as well
Odd because Phil Jackson praised CBH's prep of JF
We have a lot of guys playing in the NBA whose coaches credit CBH with getting them ready — particularly on the D side of the ball where so many recruits come out weak.
sjh
Farmar
might not be the best example of coming out ready to play defense seeing as how all point guards look like HOFers every time they play the Lakers.
It works for the likes of Afflalo, Luc, etc etc tho!
by NoOceanJustLakers on Feb 6, 2010 5:14 PM PST up reply actions
I don't think there has been much criticism
about how CBH prepares players for the NBA. The criticism is how it hurts players’ draft stock, which could cost someone millions.
For everything UCLA baseball, visit my UCLA baseball twitter.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Feb 6, 2010 5:14 PM PST up reply actions
And those saying those things are fools
JF and AA were drafted pretty much where you’d expect them to be drafted, possibly even a little higher than you’d expect based on their athletic ability compared to others that were on the board at the time. The main reason they were 1st rounders is because of the other aspects of their game that were displayed under Howland’s system — ball control, defensive intensity, mental toughness. Lee would be a bigger fool than Holliday if he were to leave after this season. Then again, I don’t know if I can stomach another season of ineptitude from these players.
All-around bad game
Honeycutt was average at best… made some good passes and plays but also a lot of poor ones. Roll was hot early but then started missing his threes and couldn’t stay consistent. Nelson had his worst game at UCLA (and that’s a good reason to sit down with a concussion instead of trying to “tough it out”). Dragovic was poorer than usual… at least we can say he makes his free throws, but when he missed two in a row, Howland should’ve sat him down for the rest of the game – it’s not as if he does anything else (defense? missing wide open jumpers?). Even his post game was lacking. Lee was terrible.
Not sure what else to say when the entire team has a bad night. Except that it puts it more on Howland to get other guys in the game and try to change it up. Abdul-Hamid was in but got no chance to really do anything – which I think is a BIG mistake, considering he’s the only one our team with a sweet shot. And of course there’s always the feeling we’d like to see Lane, Moser and maybe Morgan just because it can’t get much worse. Yet we keep sticking with the same damn rotations…
Honeycutt had his game go to his head
He has played so well, he tried to play fast and loose. Same with Lee. It worked early, but we paid the price with many turnovers over the last two thirds. The things we have improved on, TO and FT’s fell of the edge after Cal made their run.
thing is i haven't seen much improvement on the O side of our players under CBH
luc didn’t got much better at all offensively in his 3 yrs here
JK regress since freshmen year….. do we like not practice shooting the ball at practice or what?
Luc was a "garbage" scorer for his first years
although he never became a great shooter, he did start to develop a short range jumper.
sjh
Watching sc and furd
We will need mental and physical toughness to stay on the floor with sc — and that makes me sick.
I remember this summer everyone making fun of sc after they lost so many players.
As much as I hate the school, these players are playing the way we used to play.
If we don’t show up for the full 40 minutes, we will be in trouble.
sjh
I will give my two cents, for what it is worth.
I feel like a broken record, because it is the same problem week after week. That is why I am constantly amazed when people start to get excited about this team. They are what they are, they have proven what they are, and they won’t get any better or any worse. They are a .500 team, capable of putting together decent games, but incapable of putting together the consistent play needed to truly be a winner. Only because the Pac-10 is absolutely horrible are they winning any games.
Here is the deal. Any team that “relies” on scoring from Mike Roll is not going to be successful. That is not a cut down to MR. I really like him, and he is doing his best for the team. The problem is, he is incapable of leading a team offensively. What he is, is an incredible role player who is great as the 4th or 5th option. When teams double off of your stars, you want a Mike Roll their, open in the corner, who can hit a critical 3-point shot. That is what he is. That isn’t bad, but he is limited in what he can. Personally, given the fact that we are totally relying on him this year, I think he is doing great.
Reeves is a beast. However, he is just a frosh. The problem with freshman is that they are freshman. He obviously needs to learn to pass the ball back out when he doesn’t have a shot and re-post. He hasn’t learned to do that. However, there is no mistaking the fact that without him, we’d be a complete mess, instead of just a mess. He is a rock, and he is going to only get better. Only two freshman have ever been placed in the position he has, and that is AA and JF……….and that is to be freshman and be counted on to lead the team. They made their share of mistakes, but like AA and JF, RN will improve alot and be a force next year.
Honeycutt is also incredible, but I also feat we’ll get two years of him after he blows up next year. The guy is silky smooth, but the system is not meant for him. He is a flyer. He needs to run, at least on occassion, to be successful. He’ll do great because even if we don’t run or play his style, he is an inside player who will get his just based on being inside and being able to create for himself against players whom he will dominate. The guys is legit, and another frosh leader.
I don’t blame Malcolm Lee for much to be honest. I know that may be left with some disbelief, but I don’t think he is being used correctly, and for that I place the blame on CBH. Part of being a good coach is knowing your players strengths and putting them in the best position to succeed. ML is an incredible slasher and player without the ball. He is not very good at all with the ball, but we are putting the ball in his hands 80% of the time like he is DC or something. DC needed to have the ball and played his whole life at the point. ML doesn’t want the ball and has very rarely played the point his entire career. I actually agree with his tweet last week and don’t hold it against him. The guy is frustrated. Is he ready for the NBA? Hell no. But the guy is lethal as a wing player who can slash and drive to the basket……..IF HE IS ENCOURAGED AND COACHED TO. The offense, the scheme, the lack of playing fullcourt pressure man-man defense, the lack of a half court offense that encourages dribble penetration, and lack of any type of fastbreak offense all contributes to his problems. However, in the right system he would be a beast. He is obviously a young kid who is very confused right now and his game is showing it. He has no confidence.
Anderson and Keefe…….no explanation needed. They are two WAC players playing in the PAC-10. They just aren’t very good, but in shorts spurts they can contribute in certain areas. They are just totally limited and one-dimensional, and the one-dimension isn’t very good either.
As for Dragovic, I freaking hate him, and he is the main reason that now I have no leash whatsoever for CBH like I once did. For every good play he makes, he makes 5 bad one’s. He is a wreck as a player. What is he shooting this year?? I mean, if any other player shot so poorly they would be buried on the bench. Why not him. It seems like every game he is 1 for 8, or 2 for 10, or some stupid number like that. What has he done to deserve such respect? Nothing. He has done nothing but embarrass our program. He has been arrested twice, and when he comes back he steps back into his role. What gives? He plays no defense, he doesn’t box out, he can’t shoot, and he shows no intensity. What does he do I ask you, because I am still trying to find out.
I built up so much respect and admiration for CBH through the years, but his lack of control in this situation has me off the bandwagon. I am not saying he is not the right guy for our program. However, I now have doubts. I have my thoughts on the system, the recruiting, etc. I have made them clear in the past. I can handle all that, and even understand mistakes made and trying to improve. But how do you make the same mistake over and over in regards to playing time for Drag, at the expense of Moser and Lane. We wasted there redshirts as far as I am concerned. Those guys should have a role on the team, if for no other reason than to look ahead to next year and get them ready. I am also tired of the “it was bad coaching” line. He pulls Nelson in a game earlier this year after he plays great and we lose. After the game he says he made a mistake, blame the coach. He goes to the zone only in Pac-10 play, then in the paper the other day says “I should have done it earlier, that was bad coaching”…….even though everyone of BN was telling him to do it earlier in the year when it was painfully obvious we couldn’t cover a freshly painted wall. Another excuse. This has happened repeatedly.
Doesn’t CBH have assistants that he respects and that he can bounce ideas off of? Or have coaches who will voice their opinions? I don’t know.
What I do know is that this team is what it is. I also know that they aren’t going to change. They are what they are, and it ain’t going to change!
Good post
Agree on MR. Respect how is doing the best with what he has got but he should never be a first option. TH is easy to love.
ML I agree and disagree. You are right on his ability but this team needs him to be point. I respect the kid sacrificing his game for the team. I don’t hold the tweet against him. He is young and it could mean a lot of things. On the court he has done what has been asked of him. Yes he is a natural 2 (or 3 in college) not 1. If we have a point next year, he may be better for it.
I keep hoping JA stinks so bad because he is hurting. But then I come back to his bad hands which have nothing to do with his injuries. He is as you say which leads this team to need ML at 1.
I understand the hatred for ND. I was happy when coached pulled him. I thought MAH did okay we he was at 2 and MR was at 3. But I actually think JA may be worse.
I don’t get the love for BL and have said it too much here. I can’t help but believe that if BL or MM are real players they would be playing now. And BL did not look better than MAH (the current 8th man) in the time he has played this year.
CBH needs to finish 500 this year.
Uh ... there you go again
Dear Lord … this is not about love of Brendan Lane. It is about finding out what the heck if we have in these guys and get them ready in games. I don’t understand why some of you are in such denial that you forgot how we had to play LMR, PAA in their first season … they were making mistakes, they were picking up cheap fouls …they were not an offensive threats … but they had freaking chance to grow as Ben Ball warriors.
You need to stop raising the strawman argument that this is all about “love” for Brendan Lane. We want Howland to use the f**king talent he brought into this program. And if he thinks they are not talented then he needs to explain WTH is going on with this program. He is not coaching at Northern Arizona any more.
Right about development of talent
some players are projects and LMR and PAA fit that category.
I think the difference might be that we could win while giving them minutes.
I think CBH fears losing if he plays BL, MM and Bobo.
However, we are losing, anyway. I just have not seen them as being great risks. Or another way, risks well taken.
sjh
Coaching with "fear" of "losing"
That was Karl Dorrell’s downfall in Westwood. Tons and tons and tons of post on that theme. Again I am not comparing Howland to Karl Dorrell … but there are some really troubling questions that are emerging from this season. We can’t be in denial over it.
Think you're off the mark a little, 66
We didn’t play LM(-R) because we had the luxury to do so while winning- in his freshman year we didn’t have many easy wins, particularly in conference. But, we had a very thin roster that year, and LM(-R) was the second big off the bench (with DT and one of MF and RH starting at PF and C); he played through necessity, and got a lot of minutes in games where one of the other bigs wasn’t available, or in games where we were in foul trouble. In crunch games at the end of the season he wasn’t getting minutes.
In PAA’s freshman season, we did have more luxury to give minutes to people in easier victories; but we also had trouble keeping bigs healthy (4th choice center Ryan Wright even got to start some games), and DT had departed leaving us with PF as a position of relative need.
For most of this season, BL has been seen as the third choice power forward behind 2 seniors (ND and JK), who have been (mostly) healthy and collectively foul trouble free; now JK is playing more as a center, TH is occasionally sliding in at PF for ND. For a lot of this season, MM has been seen as third choice small forward (behind a senior MR and a more talented TH), and is now sitting at the end of the bench because we rotate 5 players in three spots at the guards and SF.
We are beyond the point of saying "Why the hell not?"
We are 11-12 in a one-bid conference. Winner of the Pac-10 tournament gets into the dance. The rest of the Pac10 regular season schedule might as well be exhibition games, for all that they are worth.
Why not give these freshmen valuable playing time?
Seems like a no brainer to me.
"I don't forget very much" Rick Neuheisel, 11/28/09
But hey
The Washington game was our “turning point”! Didn’t you know? That’s why we rushed the court.
one small step for Mustafa Abdul-Hamid
one… giant leap for the Den.
time to turn off the lights
Your right, get the frosh in start building on next year the party is over, or are we building so big mo for the NIT coming up
Another meltdown
after a nice start. Cal went on the 26-6 run at 10 minute mark with MR left the game. Hew as 4/5 shooting at that point. Came back in cold after Cal had closed the gap. I don’t understand CBH’s rotations either, but I am waiting for next season before judging his overall place in Bruin history. Keefe showed some promise today (but missed one pass from TH that hurt). Dragobric did not bring his shot, so we were playing 4 on 5 at both ends (yes, I kid – sorry). We were at the game and still can’t believe how we let Cal back in the game, and then watched them run right by us.
RN Concussion makes a big difference in this game
This was going to be a tough game. But him playing and lying about being hurt, was a defining difference. As Ryan said above, he played his worst game of the season, and now we know why. We needed everyone to beat Cal.
Groundhog Day
This Is hilarious. We can use these threads for any of our games, win or lose! It’s the same crap over and over again. I don’t know why we all get worked up against each other.
This team has reached its ceiling under CBH. We all need to stop hoping for the magic turnaround. All that needs to be answered right now is, why aren’t some of our new recruits getting playing time while others get to prance around cluelessly in that uniform. We are being set back another year because guys who will probably need to play next year are not getting utilized at all.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
by tasser10 on Feb 6, 2010 7:06 PM PST via mobile reply actions
i think that's a relevant concern.
but knowing coach he’s a win each game at a time type of guy. that’s why his rotation is so tight
On James Keefe
James Keefe is ok as a backup defensive center. This is actually a better position for him than backup forward, precisely because he can do things like set screens to get people free, but isn’t much of a shooting threat as a forward. If we had ball handlers as guards JK could play a role like LMR did as a backup center – play decent defense and run to the right places on offense.
Today he played a better overall game than the concussed guy, who probably should have given up his minutes to Bobo. Our best spell was the first 5 minutes of the game with JK contributing at both ends. JK is not a great player, but was above average on today’s team, and played his role as well as anyone.
by britishbruin on Feb 6, 2010 7:26 PM PST via mobile reply actions
It seems the reason we all have different opinions on who should be playing is that we really ....
don’t have anyone that deserves it. There is no solution to the puzzle. If you play Rago there is no D, if you play JK there is no O, if you play BL there is no experience, MR is a role player, JA is a WAC player, ML can’t shoot or run the point, RN is a freshman with a concussion, Bobo is slow etc..etc… It all adds up to a lousy team in a lousy conference. BFD if we win the conference tourney and make the big dance. We will just be fodder for a real basketball team seeded 4th at some site east of Boston. I personally don’t want to endure that slaughter. Play for the future Ben, maybe next year we can make the tourney legitimately on the shoulders of some experienced warriors.
you guys are amazing...
CBH will get things right.. he’s earned our respect and patience.. I’ll stick with CBH..
"Success is never final, Failure is never fatal. It's Courage that count's"
John Wooden.....
Do you guys like this lineup?
I have been thinking after the game today about the best rotation we can have. Here is where I want the bulk of the minutes to go
Malcom Lee
Mustafa Abdul-Hamid
Mike Roll
Tyler Honeycutt
Reeves Nelson
They should all get 35+ minutes per game. I’m replacing Dragovic wtih MAH because he is much quicker, smarter, and better defender. This gives us at least a decent, though undersized lineup. But who cares?
The primary backup minutes should go to
Mike Moser- long and maybe he can become a good defender. I’d like to see him get minutes.
I want Keefe, Jerime Andersen and Dragovic to get 0 minutes. Seriously.. zero. Though I appreciate how hard Keefe plays. And Drago for that matter, but I think it’s time to change it up. Anyone else like my starting lineup?
by Lets go Bruins clap clap clap clap clap on Feb 6, 2010 10:17 PM PST reply actions
0 mins for all those is taking it too far
i would give drago 5mins from the bench to see if his rainbow is falling, if he does, it wouldn’t hurt, and on the offensive side @ late game his 3pt and FT is useful too
JK is definitely a much better defensive option than RN now on defense, i’ll give him the same amt of mins he’s getting now and that will keep RN fresh
JA is also good for back up mins to ML & MAH
also what about BL & BOBO?
also this game will work on small & quick teams but will get owned by huge teams that can rebound
i would rather have a line up of
ML – MR – TH – RN – JF with MAH, MM, JA (backing up the guards in that order), BL, drago, BOBO (backing up TH, RN, JF in whatever order)
this line up will give us better D + better reb, RN can stay on his low block, JF stay on high post anyways, ML and TH can run the break…..
of course that will only happen in the ideal world….. or if i get ncaa bball and create my own line up and depth chart
initialism gone awry?
who is “JF” in this context? Did you mean James Keefe?
by insomniacslounge on Feb 7, 2010 2:21 AM PST up reply actions
What is missing is really obvious
Cal is a better team, senior led. Plus they shot the lights out. Tough man to man defense stifled out entire offense. We simply have no one who can beat a player off the dribble. Their hot shooting combined with the stifling defense led to a huge run. Our team got really tight after that, and could not make consistent runs. The better team won.
75NatChamps
got it right again. After reading all the stuff about CBH being the merest of mortals and how disgusting the drago man is, it is refreshing to read a comment from someone who understands what is going on. Mike Roll also spoke truth when he used the words “better than us” and “outmanned today.” And they shot 55%! The upshot is this: we have a split with the Bay Area schools. Cal has a bunch of seniors who can play basketball, at least at times. We rely on freshmen and sophomores to play key roles.
When the kids play the men, they often lose. I know the prospects for next week’s game are gloomy, but I don’t think they are hopeless. I never think they are hopeless. Shucks, I thought last year’s game against Villanova was even-up, going in. But Wazzu did beat U of A yesterday, didn’t they?
75NatChamps
Yeah, he has really offered a lot of substantive takes here on BN except for how we should always “trust” Ben Howland. Perhaps you guys need to find a coach worshippin at all cost website somewhere else.
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