Bruins Get Buried in the Southwestern Desert, Like so Many Gangstas Before
by Patroclus on Mar 4, 2010 10:04 PM PST
in Basketball
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PrintNo, no, Drago did not attend a pregame concert in Tuscon. The Bruins did, however, come from ahead to drop a winnable game to the Standard (can we even use that in the correct mocking tone anymore?), 78-73 at McKale Center.
Michael Roll continued his late-season senior charge with another outstanding performance, scoring 21 points while racking up 5 rebounds and 4 assists while playing all but 2 minutes this evening. Tyler Honeycutt had what is becoming a typical game for him with another double-double, scoring 11 points and 11 rebounds, while dishing out 4 assists (though he turned the ball over 4 times). Malcolm Lee even looked good at the times in which he was free to play his more natural position of the 2-guard, scoring 13 points - though looking sad on his thankfully limited outside shots - and pulling in 4 rebounds.
Kyle Fogg again lit up the Bruins, following up his 25 point performance at Pauley with 26 points tonight on 8-12 shooting, leading Marques to at least one point in the telecast to call out the Bruins coverage of Wise, particularly the lackluster defensive play of Jerime Anderson.
If nothing else, tonight's game saw a couple of the freshmen see extended playing time. Brendan Lane scored 7 points and racked up 6 rebounds in 27 minutes before fouling out in the final miuntes, while Mike Moser saw 4 minutes of action (really, don't laugh. While that doesnt seem like much, that is well above his Pac-10 play average). Good thing that Drago's play kept Lane out of the lineup; too much of Lane could have really screwed us this year
The coaching staff's love of Nicola Dragovic is well known to Bruins Nation, and is easy pickings for us to note in hindsight (or while the game is ongoing. Really at any point). The fact that Dragovic played 39 minutes in this game is sad, but entirely expected at this point. Even the Rhodes Scholar-level intentional foul with 14 seconds remaining that sealed the Wildcats win can't be totally be put on Drago's head; in the end, it is CBH that sees Drago as worthy of seeing 34+ minutes/game.
The more mystifying personnel decision of the evening was Mustafa Abdul-Hamid only seeing 6 minutes of play. No one will mistake MAH as being an all-conference PG, but he is a solid, and steadying presence on the court. When Malcolm Lee was forced to come out of the game in the second half with cramps, MAH was the logical choice to come in and maintain the Bruin lead. Instead, we saw more of JA at that point, and the Wildcats begain their winning run. I'll let y'all allow your feelings on JA, Drago, and CBH's mystifying personnel decisions speak for yourselves. This is your postgame thread.
Go Bruins!
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All the criticisms of this game are so repetitive
that they’re not even worth enumerating anymore.
CBH, ND, JA. Not even worth the time to type an analysis. I think I’ll go to a bar now.
Yep, order a strong one for me too !
I needed on just as badly. Tear drops, tear drops………..
I Puked While Watching This Game
It was blood red from the ulcer Dragovic has given me. I always thought I was a Bruin to the end. Now it appears the end is near…
Dragovich singlehandedly sank our team with that T !
One more game to stomach and the misery is over finally. At this point, I am not planning to watch, nor want to know, how we will do in the Pac 10 Tournament.
Nothing we can say hasn’t been said already, except that we owe Michael Roll a big thank you from ther bottom of our hearts. His winning character, that sheer determination to compete and prevail against all odds shines so brightly this evening at McKale.
Really?
Had nothing to do with Roll’s shoddy D on the previous play then? (or throughout the game) Singlehandedly lost a team game, hmm…that’s a new way to spin it.
by PowderKeg Blue on Mar 4, 2010 10:45 PM PST up reply actions
No, CBH single-handedly lost it
Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Rago is just the bullet.
Roll is the guy spilling his guts so much so that he is probably gassed at the end of the game and doesn’t have a solid front line to cut of a more athletic guard that gets by him.
I'm certainly...
…not, but I’m trying to look at the big(ger) picture, not just subscribe to the BN party line. I know we’re SUPPOSED to blame the whole season on Nikola Dragovic, but it’s a bit more nuanced than that, bub.
by PowderKeg Blue on Mar 5, 2010 1:51 AM PST up reply actions
So you think the whole program is poisoned?
I prefer to think we (by which I mean UCLA and all people who have ever attended a class there.) don’t have the horses this year. PARTICULARLY MR LOSER. Mr. Loser (aka Bob aka Rago) is a loser by definition. He’s been arrested twice and from what I’ve heard ON CAMPUS Howland is playing him so that other recruits from Serbia don’t go to SC exclusively.
I think having a frontline consisting of Lane, Reeves, Josh Smith and Honeycutt could only be an improvement. Adding Lamb and Jones to a backcourt of Lee and Anderson could only be an improvement. Am I missing something?
The loss of Roll is sad for sentimental reasons(Last of the Final 4 Warriors) but I think in the long run Honeycutt will be better than him just based on his physical attributes and advanced basketball IQ.
I think that it is sad that Nestor has provided video and photographic evidence that Drago disrupts his own defense. I can only hope an analysis of Arizona’s shot chart will reveal that they exclusively attacked Drago’s section of the zone in the 2nd half.
Don't think PKB said that
He was just pointing out that there were other mistakes – as proximal as the previous defensive series – that also cost us. ND is the most popular target for blame this season – though perhaps now supplanted by CBH for playing him? – and with JA spared some amount of opprobrium by spending more time on the bench.
A lot of us (by which I mean people who post here and other people I talk to) are looking forward with guarded optimism for next year. TH, ML, RN and BL should hopefully all improve over the offseason. We should get more consistent offensive/defensive performances over the course of the season from the 3 and 4 positions than we had this year, and ML has the talent to match or surpass what MR gave us as a 2. Stategically, the unknowns are largely the same as this year – what are we going to get from our PG and C? Emotionally, are unknowns are largely the same as this year – who is going to step up and lead this team in the tradition of JF,AA and DC, and are we going to play solid team-first basketball?
Okay, I hear you. Roll wasn't without mistakes.
But you know each time he really tried to carry this team with whatever he got, warts and all. Without him, this season could have been even more destitute, not to say utterly demoralizing.
At this point, let’s not rehash the rehash of the rehash anymore. Enough, really. Everything’s been beaten down to pulps. But I am just so SORRY to see Michael Roll finish his Pauley career this way.
He cost us this game in the past, not the present
By not having played Lane more all year so he could’ve been more prepared. Lane had a pretty bad game, blowing several opportunities that Nelson would’ve converted. I think Nelson’s lead over Lane was confirmed for the moment. As for Drag, with nobody on the bench this was not the game to be mystified by. And no matter how much I want to send Jerime Anderson to Siberia MAH is still not superior in any department but shooting. Not even really defense.
Howland had a great offensive game plan in which we got open shot after open shot, but the presence of our cancers killed us again.
What does Anderson bring right now that MAH doesn't?
If you want JA to play for the sake of his future development, then you can’t just hand the PT to him. He needs to work for it, because obviously he has no motivation to improve any aspect of his game. I don’t care how much potential he has, he will never realize it if he thinks the spot is his. I am willing to bet a lot of money that Anderson jokes around this off season and comes into next year with virtually the same level of play we have seen form him so far.
Well, the spot isn't his. Howland has said that publicly.
And called him out on his offseason work ethic. He will improve drastically by next year — not likely — or lose his spot at least to Jones if not anyone else we might recruit. JA is athletic enough at the moment to at least somewhat handle the ball against pressure if he’s awake. MAH simply lacks that ability. Notice when he came in the first time he played the 2. He couldn’t bring up the ball against Concordia for crying out loud — if any of you saw that game, you’d realize just how unfit he is to handle pressure. My point is that he is not any better at any of Jerime’s most costly flaws. So I’m saying it’s not a no-brainer to play the walk on.
MAH's outside shooting has cooled off after a hot start
but re: Lane vs Nelson – I think it’s pretty clear our defense looks better with Lane and Nelson looks like a better offensive player (though I am not convinced RN does a great job of making his teammates better on offense).
by britishbruin on Mar 4, 2010 10:22 PM PST up reply actions
MAH's shooting
I agree technically, but when you spend most of your night sitting, it’s kind of hard to come in for 2 minutes and be great at anything.
MAH looks like he has better form
so I’m agnostic on this. His sample size is pretty small to judge anything. I just don’t know that it is as obviously a big advantage over JA as I thought it was previously.
by britishbruin on Mar 4, 2010 10:26 PM PST up reply actions
I think even if they are close to being equal
you go with MAH. He is more sound fundamentally than JA and plays better defense. I don’t really want either of them bringing the ball up. That should fall to a combo of Lee, Roll, and Honeycutt.
Nelson is our only post presence
A fact made extremely clear the last three games. In each of those games we had no post presence at all. We almost lost to OSU because of it. We would’ve definitely won today and against Oregon with Nelson.
To be a good post player you need to create position and of course finish, neither of which Lane is strong enough to do yet, as we can see. His offense came off putbacks or uncontested shots.
I agree RN is a much better finisher
but we have done without good finishers at that position before, relying on guys like LMR to play sound defense and set good picks for the playmakers. RN doesn’t play good defense and doesn’t seem all that interested in the team offense unless it involves him shooting the ball – he doesn’t set great picks and doesn’t like to pass the ball once he has it.
I’m not arguing that BL is ahead of RN, just that I think it’s really pretty close.
by britishbruin on Mar 4, 2010 10:32 PM PST up reply actions
I would've thought the same, if not for the last three games
When Nelson’s absence was felt in a huge way. LMR may not have been a finisher, but Nelson is not playing the same role. We always had a good finisher inside, whether it was Luc or Love. And LMR’s defense was great — in a different level entirely than BL.
While I have never been as extreme in my assessment of this team as N
This game absolutely justified his all of his criticism, especially about Howland’s coaching.
I never believed that Rag should be benched because the truth is we need him as a body if nothing more. Now? If Howland does not bench him for the entire ASU game for that stupid flagrant foul (and yes I thought it was flagrant), then I will not even watch this team until winter 2010.
I have been in the camp that Anderson should have his minutes severely limited, but he needs to be sent a message. Howland needs to make him 3rd string behind MAH, where he doesn’t see more than 5-7 minutes a game.
And finally CBH. For the most part, I have though that we has certainly made some mistakes, he is trying hard given the hand he has been dealt. No longer. He royally fucked up this game, from timeouts to substitutions to what flavor gatorade they were drinking. I am not calling for his head, but I just got a hell of a lot closer to that point.
This game was pitiful, but I walked away not the slightest bit upset, which is even more pitiful.
foul was a cheap call for the home team, imho
though may have been stupidly right in front of the ref
by britishbruin on Mar 4, 2010 10:24 PM PST up reply actions
I can see the argument that it might not have been flagrant
but it was clearly a foul and I can see how it could have been interpreted as a flagrant. He didn’t just foul Williams IMO, he wrapped him up and didn’t let him move any part of his body. And this was before the ball was inbounded.
Bottomline is that if the plan was to foul someone before the ball came in, I don’t think Rago is the one that should be doing it, and that mistake is squarely on CBH.
if it's a foul
then it is flagrant by default, according to the new interpretation of rules. It looked to me like any other inbounds play, where you don’t let a guy move cleanly. Would have thought more leeway rather than less at the end of the game… would have to see the replay though.
by britishbruin on Mar 4, 2010 10:34 PM PST up reply actions
Yeah I should probably watch the replay too
I caught the one they showed right after it happened and agreed with the call, but I was also extremely angry at Rag at that moment.
On the previous possession we were inbounding
and before the ball was thrown in, their defender grabbed MR’s jersey and practically ripped it off him.
No call at all.
That, too, if called would have been flagrant — 2 shots and the ball — and would have changed the game.
ND may have been dumb, but the ref’s were inconsistent.
sjh
actually
I thought what the commentators said was that the new rule interpretation applied in ‘must foul’ situations – so it applied to us playing from behind, but wouldn’t apply to them playing ahead.
That's the point I was trying to make
if they were going to make that call, and it is, a priori a flagrant — they should have called it on the guy who grabbed Roll’s jersey. Or, not make it in either case, which I think would have been the better choice.
I’ve never said that call cost us the game. I’ve been very clear about what cost us the game — and a good part of the season.
But, it was another example of poor officiating and the Pac 10 really needs to do a better job in both FB and BB.
sjh
Jerime Anderson is responsible for this loss.
The minute I saw JA crack that stupid little smile after yet another bonehead play, I knew this game was lost even though we were up by nine points at the time.
That smile is really starting to bother me
He needs to get serious, plain and simple. He is not a leader. He is not a scorer, passer, rebounder, and definitely not a defender. He is not quick, and his decision making is atrocious. He is basically worthless right now.
a few thoughts
1) I may be wrong, but I think CBH thinks JA handles the press better than MAH. Also, our success in the early going was predicated on being able to get inside – JA is a better penetrator than MAH. Regardless of the argument as to who is better overall – and JA was pretty bad tonight – it seemed that he was in there to play a role that MAH just cannot play. Not that JA did it well, I grant you…
2) ML needs to not get cramps as a sophomore, particularly early in a Thursday game, and particularly when we are playing zone. That is pathetic. No NBA for him.
3) we had no front court depth, which was exacerbated by BL’s foul trouble. 39 mins for ND is not an aberration in that context – unless you want more minutes of JA at 1 and TH at 4. Not many teams could get by easily with 4 of their original frontline depth chart unavailable (DG, RN, JMM, JK) while also being weak at PG.
4) Bobo needs to not fail to show up for meetings. We needed him tonight and he took himself out of contention.
5) not having MM ready from more minutes earlier in the season is on CBH; not giving him major minutes tonight may still have been the right decision.
6) I think we needed TH to handle the ball more when ML went down. He was doing a lot of other stuff, but he is a gifted playmaker.
7) as was clear to everyone, we needed to attack them at their weak spots (aka “the guy playing 16 minutes with 4 fouls”) rather than settling for jumpers
8) MR – real battler and leader on this team, taking on a role that isn’t suited to an unathletic player who specializes in smart passes and accurate shooting. He tried to put us on his shoulders tonight, but didn’t get enough help.
Roll played his heart out almost every game.
Pauley will miss him so much.
by Htse005 on Mar 4, 2010 10:28 PM PST reply actions 2 recs
Thanks Patroclus good write up
though you were probably too kind. I agree with longbord, it’s all been said so many times before.
Let Roll play the remainder of the games because he earned it and then let the kids have the rest of the season.
Sideout, it’s pretty sad when you come to expect what we saw tonight. I have felt like that most of the season. I watch each game in hopes that someone will step up and give me something to get excited about. Haven’t had a lot of opportunities for that this year.
Also: Anderson played only 16 minutes!
What did you want. Zero minutes?
Absolutely.
Especially after he singlehandedly lost the game for us last time giving up [at least a good portion of the career high] 26 points to Kyle Fogg, who matched that tonight. I didn’t see the game because I was in Pauley watching the Women’s team, but I’ll bet he had something to do with it this time too. ML did his job again, holding Wise to 12, and guess who dropped the ball on his assignment?
Even from a stat line perspective, 4 fouls, 2 TOs, and 2 points on 16 mins? If he’d have played any more, he would have only fouled out and given up two more freebies.
This is not play worthy of a UCLA guard, and it is certainly not play worthy of his flippant little smile. Zero mins today would have sent a message, and might just have won the game for us.
by b d on Mar 5, 2010 1:03 AM PST up reply actions
We all know JA would have gotten more
had he not earned his 4th (and 3rd and 2nd) foul as quickly as he did.
Kordie, Lordie......
Now they are out in force to watch the girls play. If this keeps out and I certainly hope not, perhaps even Warren Beatty might come to see if any Bruins girls still worth his time to make a pass with.
pathetic....
we build a good size lead working the ball inside and playing decent defense and then just like every other loss we abandon the game plan and start jacking up threes and coughing up turnovers. This is pathetic. If something is working why on earth would you go away from it?! Also, can someone tell that Jones kid on Arizona that he is no Michael Jordan and should put that damn tongue back in his mouth…But I guess what do you expect from a team that sports Drew Gordon Hairdos!
I was at Pauley tonight
watching our Lady Bruins defeat ASU. Damn, it feels good to watch Bruins who have heart, drive, and the absolute need to win. Feels a lot better to say good-bye to the old Pauley than when I was there last Saturday, so it was definitely worth the awful traffic. A pitifully small crowd, however (despite the aforementioned celebs). We should really try to support our women; they’re actually getting somewhere..!
And I think none of us can wait any longer for this horrific season to be over.
Whoops, my bad
All this time, I thought we were moving out of Pauley for next season. Turns out it’s the season AFTER next season that we might be playing at the old Forum or elsewhere. Guess I should be reading the fine print a little more often…
80 more minutes of ND.
It was the first thing going through my mind after the game, and it’s still there as I read this in the morning. 80 more minutes of game time, probably 76-77 minutes of playing time, then he’s gone. MR has been a Warrior, giving everything he has; in my mind, he’s much like Kevin Craft in that sense. Regardless, for me relief over the end of ND’s “playing” career outweighs my sadness over seeing MR graduate.
Here on the East Coast
I stayed up enthusiastically, watching the Bruins pull away to a 14-point lead. Then Lee got hurt, and goodbye.
But the moment I turned off the TV and went to bed was when on successive plays Rag blew possessions. The score was still close—maybe ties, maybe one point down, when Roll found Rag in the post—and he missed a bunny. Next time down, he took a 3 from hat looked like 30 feet. Brick.
A bunny, a brick, and bedtime. And that doesn’t count the open corner 3s he gave up throughout the game. Take away his 6-for-18, and the Bruins shot better than 50%. What does CBH see that we don’t?
Oh, that this season will come to an end soon.
Bruised Bruin
is it time for Football yet? Cant wait for the spring game…Tuff loss but bad teams find a way to lose games like this…
"Success is never final, Failure is never fatal. It's Courage that count's"
John Wooden.....
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