Basketball Media Day: UCLA Looks to Win the Pac-12
by DCBruins on Oct 28, 2011 6:16 PM PDT
in Basketball
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Media Day got off to an optimistic start, when the media picked UCLA to win the Pac-12 matching BruinsNation's expectations. We were also ranked #17 in the AP Poll.
So in answer to the first question on all UCLA basketball fans. What is the line up besides the three locks (Josh Smith at center, Reeves at power forward and LJ at PG)?
We're either going to have De'End Parker or Dave Wear at the three, so we'll either be 6'10" at the three, or 6'6", 215. . . . That being said we're going to play big. Dave Wear isn't actually a four man, but we need help at the three spot. So he played all his minutes yesterday except for a couple at the three, and did a very good job, especially defensively, which is my biggest concern. That's where it's going to be a real challenge for him being a guy that at the end of the day it's really going to benefit him as a player. I think it helps us rebounding-wise, because he's going to be a very good rebounder for us.
On offense, don’t forget that not only will we have a size advantage, David Wear has shown to be a good three shooter in limited shots which will really help this very good inside team. If David plays a lot of minutes, it may be an interesting trade for a CBH team: more offense and rebounding for defense. Then again, maybe Parker will be a true team player at the three and a "glue guy." He was a PG last year in JC and did a little bit of everything.
The other opening seems closed. . . for now:
Tyler Lamb is our starting two guard. He played last year as a freshman, but he's had a good off-season, and I think he'll take over the role that we always have someone guarding the other team's best wing player. Norman Powell will give us tremendous -- he's a very good athlete. He's just getting adjusted to playing at a high level in Division I.
Tyler Lamb showed flashes last year that he is ready to step into the shoes of Malcolm Lee, Russell Westbrook, and AA on defense. The big question is his offense. Hopefully he will get there and given our recent history at the #2 guard there is reason for optimism. Powell has a learning curve, is raw, etc. But you can’t teach athletic ability and we have all seen with the Bruin Factor that CBH can teach basketball.
Next, the star. Josh Smith. This will be Reeves’ and his team. We will dominate down low. Zeek will do his job but Smith will determine how good we are. On Smith CBH said:
Josh has got to get in better condition, there is no doubt about it to be as good as he can be. Josh is a force, number one, because he's skilled and has great size. When he finally does reach his potential in terms of his conditioning, he'll be unstoppable. That's how good I think he can be. He's got great hands, great feet, and is a very good athlete for a man that size.
In closing CBH, seemingly agrees with BN and I love the way he put it .
Our team always has high expectations. It's the expectations we put on ourselves that matter most. It's always nice to be picked high, but that doesn't guarantee anything. It's where you finish.
Go Bruins!
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This season
I’m really looking forward to this season. Maybe its because our football season has been so dismal or maybe its because our BBall team looks to have a realistic chance of winning the conference and making a run in the tournament. I have a lot of faith in Ben and believe he is going to do some interesting things with our team this year. I’m looking forward to watching us dominate on the boards and own teams down low.
by Bruin_Al on Oct 28, 2011 6:39 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
What does 'Potential" mean?
Everytime people mention a certain players having good potential, I have mixed emotion about those players. To me, “potential” means not a good player, and never made it. I rather have a solid player than a player with a lot of potentials.
Potential
I agree to a certain extent but not in this case. Josh is only a sophmore and has a lot of potential but he is also really young. When the word “potential” is used to refer to a freshman or sophmore it usually means they have a lot of ability bnut haven’t really been developed yet. A good example of a young player with a lot of potential was Russell Westbrook. I’m sure Howland said similar things about him having a lot of “potential” after his freshman year. He didn’t really develop into a great player until his sophmore year
by Bruin_Al on Oct 28, 2011 7:23 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Thanks for your thought
Oftentime a lot of players were drafted based on having a lot of potential but were never developed into starters.
Simply put...
I was always taught that “potential” means you haven’t done s**t yet…
It’s a wish list of items that people stick on to other people for the purpose of defining someone’s level of success. You very rarely hear of a person defining their own “potential” and you also rarely hear of someone meeting their “potential” because the definition continues to change.
In regards to Josh Smith, my question would be is he committed to being in top level condition or is he not? If not, then we live with what we get and we will continue to hear about his “potential”. If he is, then his “potential” is unlimited.
One thing I’ve learned over time is that the more you hear about “potential”, the more you experience disappointment. I hope Josh doesn’t disappoint us.
"Josh has got to get in better condition"
That statement worries me a bit.
What? Josh didn’t learn from last year that he HAD to lose a lot of weight and get in better shape for this year? He tried and failed? He didn’t try very hard? He doesn’t care? I read that he’d lost some weight, but didn’t he gain weight after the end of last season?
How can you be an elite player at the best basketball school in the nation and not be in shape? OK, so he thinks he’d like to be able to play 30 minutes per game. That’s acceptable thinking? By CBH? By the other coaches? by Josh himself? Shouldn’t the goal be to be in game shape, not just sort of game shape?
Help me understand this….
Agreed
There really is no excuse for him starting the year out of shape—he has extraordinary advantages over any average big young man trying to lose fat and condition himself.
I too, am worried about this. We cannot build a team around a player, no matter how talented, who is not determined to do everything it takes to play his best and win. I hope that Josh will consider his teammates on this issue.
Love My Bruins
No real home court advantage
My main concern for the team this year is playing our home games away from Pauley. I am thinking for those players like Josh and RN that will be expected to pick it up in crunch time may not always happen with a potential lack of a real home court crowd and environment.
by basketball is fun on Oct 28, 2011 8:30 PM PDT reply actions
Thanks to old alums sitting on their hands all game long
Our team should be used to a lack of home court crowd/environment by now, so that’s not much of an excuse.
Not so much an excuse
Agree, we definitely don’t have a strong home court base to begin with but teams generally speaking in any sport have a hard time adjusting to temporary environments.
by basketball is fun on Oct 28, 2011 9:03 PM PDT reply actions
I prefer to think of it as an opportunity for this team
If it’s basically all the same in the way of crowd noise, playing in different venues should help this team mentally for what will hopefully be an extended tournament run. As we’ve laid out previously, the stage is set for this team to obtain a high protected seed if it can fulfill its potential, and that mental edge may be just what we need to squeeze in an extra round over where we may otherwise land. You don’t get to play tournament games at home, and given the state of the conference and our overall schedule, we should still be strong conference contenders even without Pauley, and should we not achieve that, the renovation will not be a legitimate excuse.
CF Real Madrid and UCLA
Here in Europe, Real Madrid (who are one of the biggest soccer teams in the world) are expected to win everytime they are on the pitch by the fans. They can play at home, or away and the and the expectations are the same. I know college basketball and soccer are two different sports, and college basketball is very well balances overal, but shouldn’t we (the alums, fans, etc) demand UCLA to play to win anytime and anywhere. I dont care if UCLA is playing at Pauley, at the Sports Arena, Honda Center, or my backyard, if they have a baby blue uniform and 4 golden letters on their chest spelling UCLA, I expect them to win. Simple as that…
"Winners Then, Winners Now... Bruin in Madrid"
Yes
And BTW lot of similarities in the cultural psychologies between European soccer leagues and college football and hoops. So your example is a fun one.
by Nestor on Oct 29, 2011 7:38 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
But I mean...
When you see UCLA play dont you expect them to win? I mean, I know they won’t always win, that is asking to much, but if they are playing teams like Montana, CSU Bakersfield, etc I expect them to win. I know maybe the comparisons are a bit apart but the point I am trying to make is it does not matter if UCLA plays at Pauley or whereever, they should play to win, and give it their all, specially if they are playing some of the lower-tier teams.
"Winners Then, Winners Now... Bruin in Madrid"
Difference
The difference is that Real Madrid pays it’s players millions of dollars to win. You can’t realistically expect student-athletes to win every game. When you guys were in college could you have imagined practicing basketball every day and playing 2 huge games every week while still having to study for huge exams and go to class? By expecting 18-21 year olds to win every single game, you are putting unrealistic expectations and pressure on the students.
by jcgobruins on Oct 29, 2011 10:42 AM PDT via iPhone app up reply actions
"But the most things, the biggest thing he tells me is make sure I get my degree. "
- From Derrick Rose
really? is this some type of joke?
Also of interest, this report confirms for me that Brendan Lane can graduat early with a degree. I had heard rumors about it on here and BRO but nothing really definite. I wonder if he’ll stick around a 4th year for a graduate degree, or if he’ll leave
Brendan a smart kid
must have had a ton of AP credits coming in as a frosh. I would guess he would stick around and go to grad school.
by 84 on Oct 29, 2011 8:01 AM PDT up reply actions
well, maybe the reason Howland is offering so many scholarships for the class of 2012
is because he and Brendan have discussed his graduation plans.
Just a thought. By no means am I encouraging him to leave.
I'm not sure that the online rantings of fans really exert any pressure on our players.
I would imagine the peer pressure of going to class after a disappointing loss would exert more real pressure than our expectations.
Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. ~ Vince Lombardi
Fired up for the season
Even though we have to go to the Sports Arena and Honda Center. I do think that football being so absolutely depressing has caused me to be even more excited about basketball.
by RealisticBruinFan on Oct 28, 2011 11:22 PM PDT reply actions
Excited for New Basketball Season
I agree with all of the people here about being excited about the upcoming basketball season. For some odd reason it feels this football season is taking forever to be done with, I guess because our team sucks! Anyways, there seems to be a lot of hype around the team, I have heard great things about the Wear twins, and about the two new kids coming in. Million dollar question is, what should we really expect from this team… Pac-12 season title, and a Sweet Sixteen appereance, maybe an Elite Eight or Final Four or what? With the “potenital” this team has what would be an underachievement and if we underachieve, what will happend? I hope CBH can deliver a championship, he teased us with one for 3 seasons in a row… that is like going on 3 years worth of dating and never getting to kiss the girl other than on the cheek and nothing else! Hopefully this season, we are in it to win and win it only.
"Winners Then, Winners Now... Bruin in Madrid"
I cannot for the life of me get excited by/for basketball right now.
I am so completely disenfranchised by the mediocrity of the Morgan Center.
I’m sure at some point in the near future Football season will be completely over and the basketball games will be fun and exciting and almost put football out of my mind.
But for now life just sucks.
The best thing you can do for your children is to love their mother. John Wooden
Since we already have tix to Loyola and Texas BB games, the only
thing that could spoil it (save for a loss) would be the appearance of DG or RN…
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