"UCLA is a dead team"

by Nestor on Mar 8, 2010 7:38 PM PST

UCLA (13-17) faces Arizona on Thursday. The Bruins have lost four of their past five games, and coach Ben Howland has a mess on his hands.

"The underachieving teams get a second chance in the conference tournaments," Kelly ["John Kelly, a sharp college basketball bettor who writes for EOG.com" - BN Ed.] said. "It's also the last chance to bet against these dead teams. UCLA is a dead team."

Note by linking to that piece I am in no way or shape encouraging participation in any kind of gambling activities. I thought the quote was a little striking and wanted to use it to make a larger point concerning our participation in the upcoming Pac-10 tournament. I can totally understand why people want to be excited around this time of the season and want to believe. However, before people do that take into consideration the following:

UCLA is on a 3 game losing streak
UCLA has lost 6 out of its last 8 games
UCLA hasn't been able to put together a 2 game winning streak since end of January/first week of March (beating Oregon State (1/30) and Stanford (2/4))

Yeah, we did show some effort against Arizona and some signs of life later against Arizona State but the season has been long gone for a while. The exclamation point came against Oregon (who was playing for a fired coach) in front of Coach Wooden.

Just facts to keep in mind for those who are thinking about day dreaming this week.

GO BRUINS.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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Comments

Is RN playing Thursday?

Regardless, I think we win Thursday as AZ is not the right team to beat CBH three times in a year especially when he has time to prepare.. I like the fact the team has not given up and is talking about a “new season.”

But my optimism ends there. As you point out we have not been able to put together a win streak and the idea of this team winning back to back to back strains even the most optimistic person’s reason.

by DCBruins on Mar 8, 2010 8:05 PM PST reply actions

Vegas knows what they are doing.

I’m not encouraged by the talk of a new season, because it’s a tired old sports cliche. What else where they going to say? As they say in screenwriting, “show me, don’t tell me.”

The best thing you can do for your children is to love their mother. John Wooden

by MexiBruin on Mar 8, 2010 8:34 PM PST reply actions

question about Thursday game streaming online

Seems better here than any other thread I see at the moment: anyone know about options for streaming Thursday’s game online? I know many of us will be at work. channelsurfing.net seems to have many of our games, though I don’t know if they’ve actually had most/all. I know justin.tv has also been a godsend for those of us not getting regional games. If anyone knows of a definite, specific online streaming location, please share. Thanks!

by KSBruin on Mar 8, 2010 9:00 PM PST reply actions

With the game on FSN

I’ll be surprised if ChannelSurfing, Justin and my personal favorite, atdhe.net, don’t all have streams.

For everything UCLA baseball, visit my UCLA baseball twitter.

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Mar 8, 2010 9:03 PM PST up reply actions

TV

i’ve actually never had to rely on those websites as i’m either at the game or watching on tv, but i’ll be in class. how does one access games through those sites so i can watch while im in lecture?

by truebluebruin24 on Mar 8, 2010 9:29 PM PST up reply actions

You go to one of these websites

Justin.TV, ChannelSurfing.net or ATDHE.net. On Justin.TV you click sports and then scroll until you find the game. Just click on it and you’ll be able to watch it. On the other two, just scroll down the home page until you see the game you’re looking for and click it.

For everything UCLA baseball, visit my UCLA baseball twitter.

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Mar 8, 2010 11:07 PM PST up reply actions

Never even heard of the third one

thanks, Ryan.

by KSBruin on Mar 9, 2010 5:01 AM PST up reply actions

Those stats are a bit misleading

In 10 weeks of Pac-10 play, we lost more than once in a week once, and we lost less than once in a week once. If you take out the USC weeks where we only played one game, we had split 6/7 weekends before this past week. We’ve also been 5-2 in mid-week games in Pac-10 play, with both losses being fairly narrow. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to predict another split this weekend.

by SuperBruinMan on Mar 8, 2010 9:10 PM PST reply actions

Huh?

Which specific stat was misleading? UCLA has lost 3 games in a row, 6 out of last 8 and we haven’t been able to put together a 2 game winning streak since back to back wins over Oregon State and Stanford. Note sure why are you accusing me of providing misleading info.

I didn’t say we are going to lose for sure against Arizona but I implied winning Pac-10 tourney (winning 3 games in a row) is nothing but a delusional pipe dream. There is nothing misleading about that considering stats mentioned above that are cut and dry.

by Nestor on Mar 9, 2010 4:07 AM PST up reply actions

I was mainly referring to the one in the quote

I don’t think it’s fair to conclude UCLA is a dead team simply from the fact that they’ve lost 4 of the last 5. If you’re winning alternate games but miss out on what’s normally a win, then you end up with what appears to be a big downslide.

WLWLWL —> (W)LWLLL

Now that’s not how it’s gone exactly, but I think it’s misleading to say Arizona is a sure bet (as Kelly implies). I admit I didn’t see either game this week as they both conflicted with the women’s games, but the Oregon game looked to me like just another game this season. Given the first half lead against UA, I’m not sure UCLA has given up on the season, as I would say dead team implies.

by SuperBruinMan on Mar 9, 2010 10:50 AM PST up reply actions

I see where you are coming from

When I read the quote I didn’t infer that it was exactly talking about our chances against Arizona. I took it more on our chances of winning the Pac-10 tournament (based on the comment about tourney being a “second chance” for teams like UCLA). I agree with you that UCLA is not necessarily “dead” against Arizona. However, IMO it is reasonable to conclude based on our recent track record we are “dead” in terms of getting into the Big Dance. Hope I am wrong.

by Nestor on Mar 9, 2010 10:58 AM PST up reply actions

Not deep enought

Even if we show heart…even if the guys buy into the new season…even if we get on a roll, we are simply not deep enough to win three games in a row. I’m an eternal optimist, and I think we will beat Arizona this time. Then, Cal and ASU would probably be waiting for us, two winable games based on their styles, but we’re going to run out of gas long before the tourney’s over. Also, these guys don’t have the mental toughness to stay strong for 120 minutes of basketball over three days. I’ll still be rooting for the improbable.

by rocket rod forever on Mar 9, 2010 9:13 AM PST reply actions

"Dead Team"

I don’t want this to turn into a gambling discussion, but UCLA has been decebt as an underdog this year (7-5-2 in conference ATS) . They pushed both games vs the Vegas line last week in AZ.

Without Nelson they were undermanned vs UO and they still battled. This team just isn’t talented or deep enough to win three games in three days. The young men haven’t quit and they will show up and give the Cats all they have on Thursday afternoon.

Whichever team advances to face, presumably, Cal will have a good chance of knocking off the Bears without Gutierrez (leg injury) – he’s their defensive stopper and provides them with energy and a ton of intangibles.

Life is what happens when you're busy making plans.

by 11 Banners on Mar 9, 2010 11:01 AM PST reply actions