Josh and Reeves Lead Bruins to 80-72 Exhibition Win Over Cal State San Bernardino
by DCBruins on Nov 6, 2011 5:15 PM PST
in Basketball
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PrintJosh Smith was a beast. He was dominating in so many ways. He won the game for UCLA. On defense, he had two steals and three blocks in the first half. The complete box score is here. UCLA pulled out a 80-72 win that was too close for comfort for much of the game. Josh scored 26 points, had 18 FT attempts and fouled out two-thirds of the Coyotes' front court. I don't know what the +/- for Smith was for the game, but it had to be huge. He was great and did not even start.
Reeves Nelson was the normal Reeves double-double machine but he also had three nice outside shots, including shooting 2-2 from the beyond the arc. One of those was a big one when UCLA was down in the second half. As Nestor would say, not enough data points to conclude much yet, but he looked good in this game.
But the problem is that those two carried the team: 42 of the 80 points. The pair shot 11-22 from the field, 18-22 from the charity stripe, and 2-2 from downtown. The rest of the team was 10-31 from the field, 15-19 from the line, and 3-6 from downtown. The first stat is alarming. We shot under 33% without Reeves and Josh.
Also, Cal State San Bernardino shot 44% from the field. Most alarming was the fact they were 15-31 for two pointers and were beating our guys inside. Smith made some nice blocks and Reeves drew some charges but the interior defense otherwise looked weak. Clearly, the defense is a work in progress.
Of course this is the first game but there were reasons for concern beyond the defense.
LJ was the only other player to shoot 50%, but he had five fouls all in the second half. Lamb made a nice dunk in transition but was 0-5 otherwise. Powell did hit a three-pointer, had some nice passes but also had an air ball and looked a little wild. De'End Parker, on the other hand, looked lost and a bit out of control.
Then there was the Wears. First, Reeves' and Josh's playing time is not going to be threatened by these two. That said they both move well for being 6'10" on the offensive side of the ball. Travis scored 10 points in only 15 minutes. David had a nice three-pointer on a pass back on an in-bounds play and some nice dunks. You really can see how these two are better than Lane or Stover on offense from last year.
But the Coyotes' players did not have much problems with the Wears on defense. This is a major worry. If Division II inside players can score on the Wear twins, it makes you wonder.
Tydides wrote that it looks like we may need Reeves' outside shooting. I am not sure, but Reeves' outside shooting was the best new edition in this one game (well, maybe Smith's domination on defense). Smith and Nelson lived up to their billing for this game. I just hope everyone else can contribute so it is not just the Josh and Reeves show.
Go Bruins.
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Observations/Predictions
IMHO:
- We look set and strong at three positions: PG, PF, C
- We have enough talent otherwise that we will eventually have a serviceable SG and SF. I wouldn’t be surprised to see an equitable split at SG between Lamb and Powell and predict that Parker will move into the starting SF spot (he had a long injury layoff prior to this game and was rusty, but Jon Gold reported that the players have been raving about his athleticism and his burst.
Predictions:
- We will dominate on the boards
- The defensive cohesiveness will come
- We will shoot close to 50% from the field
Hopes:
1. Reeves continues to shoot well from outside
2. Anthony has developed some offense
3. We get better at closing out on the outside shooters
4. All of the players go all out every minute that they are on the floor – we should be deep enough for this to be possible
5. All of the players let CBH help them maximize their ability
6. We win the 36th and the 42nd games that we play (yes, I already counted them)
If we get 4 and 5 above, I will enjoy the season and be satisfied with the results.
Thanks for your efforts, DC
I look forward to an enjoyable season
GO BRUINS!!!
Thanks 83
Agree on your first point. Still a bit worried on your second point but way TOO early to say. I will add I am too hard on Parker in the above. Poor kid has been hurt twice this year already. It was hard to expect much from him tonight
I think the defense will get better too. Of course I agree with you on point 6.
I am excited still.
Only one objection to your fine summary
I just don’t think we are as strong at PG as we are at the 4 and 5. Zeke gives us a lot of 2-guard aggressiveness and good outside shooting, but he still showed some issues from last year. He gets flustered when there is strong on-ball defense on him, mainly because he hasn’t the innate quickness to free himself. It’s also apparent on in-bounds plays when he has to take the pass. He just can’t lose his man well enough, and there as well would pick up frustration fouls.
It’s really too bad we don’t have a true PG to allow us to use Zeke as a 2, more his natural position.
Good call on Zeke...
Biggest problem to me is that he continues to have a hard time keeping his man in front of him. Too much penetration into the lane…and then frustration fouls. Still, he’s a calming influence and a good leader. We need him.
The new additions are going to work out really well. De’End, and Norm are both VERY fast and seem to be good shooters. The wear twins didn’t play big enough on D, but they gobbled up rebounds, and David looked good shooting from downtown. All really good signs. Plus, the CSSB has good bigs, who are probably good enough to play (or actually HAVE played) at D-I level.
This team is probably 10 deep at this point, a big change from recent years when we went no more than 7-8. My only question is: where will Stover get minutes from? There might be a few leftover minutes at the 5…but he’s good and I want to see him keep developing. Lane is the odd man out, and should find a way to redshirt so that he can keep developing and be there after some of the bigs go to the NBA.
Overall, this was a great team to schedule as the first exhibition. They have good individual players but also play team basketball. They execute, and force us to execute. Except for a couple of runs, we kept the lead at 6-8 the whole game…would have liked to put them away but it’s the first exhibition game…
If I'm not mistaken
Lane is actually set to graduate early, so I don’t think a redshirt will work for him. This is one case in which Lane is perfectly happy in his role and will continue to work as hard as he can to help the team.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
agree
that we can use Stover’s swat…but he’ll be the man two years from now. Has to wait in line behind Josh, although his offensive game isn’t as bad as it looks (which is to say ugly). And I’m happy if Lane is happy. If BH hadn’t recruited so many great bigs he’d have had a bigger role on the team!
Maybe a better way to put it is
LJ is our point guard and that role is set. LJ is not the level of Smith or Nelson. But he is a good player, a leader and our PG.
He did have 5 assists last night and I think he is a good PG while Smith and Nelson are potential PAC 12 Player of the Year candidates.
The 2 and 3 positions do not seem set.
Optimistic.
Having been to the exhibition games the last few seasons, the bruins played considerably better than in those 1st games. Even with today’s sloppiness, I felt the whole team was focused and giving intelligent effort beyond years past. I think it’s a matter of the new players learning how to fit in, but clearly there is talent and speed. I think Lamb had a lot of responsibility that he is not used to, and in the 2nd half began making mental mistakes. I also know he wanted to show his friends and family a lot and might have tried to do too much. My concern is like yours DC…the Wears. They looked weak and I don’t know how they will measure up in D1 play either. Hopefully (adding to 83s hopes), today was about all of the new guys’ jitters about playing their first game as a Bruin and I agree with you prediction.
I was glad to see the focus and concentration out there. There were mental errors, but it looked more like, wow this is our first game together, rather than we’re so great we can just show up and get all fancy. I don’t know last year’s stats, but I would guess the turnovers were way down from the early games. I like this team and I predict they will come together beautifully. And as for Powell’s air ball, it was his first shot as a Bruin, and he made the next.
I am so looking forward to Friday. I sure hope that place really has been painted blue. I can’t wait to yell my head off.
Go Bruins!
Wears
I think there was evidence of ’rust" in both cases and I am confident that they will improve significantly.
My impression from Row 2 (I have no idea how my season ticket translate to Row 2) was there was also a strength issue. I could see them getting out muscled for rebounds and position. That said, I am not sure if it is not more of a contrast to how strong Nelson and Smith are. The Wears are not beasts but maybe not a liability on strength.
by Bruin Dad and Grad on Nov 7, 2011 11:47 AM PST up reply actions
CS San Bernadino ... - by only 8!!!!
San Bernardino? Really.
I started at UCLA in ‘76 – one year after Coach retired. At that time it was a given that we were to win the Pac 8. The unknown was how far we were going to go in the tourney. We ran Gene Bartow out of town because he only had a 24-5 record and only made the Sweet 16. Ran Gary Cunningham out of town in 2 years when he was 50-8 overall and "only" 29-3 in conference. He only got to the elite 8 so we had to get rid of him.
I know that some parity has happened and it’s a good thing for the sport, but I pine for the days when we really didn’t have to worry about a CS San Bernardino.
I hope the team gels and we see the first Pac 12 championship come home and a very deep run in the tourney (final 4).
Alum of ‘80
Live life to the fullest, and do it in the fast lane
Why do people
have this attitude about basketball but not football? Baffling, really.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
Seriously
I pine for the days when we really didn’t have to worry about a CS San Bernardino.
Substitute ASU, Utah, or even SJSU for CS San Bernardino, and that’s football. Why do people not get this?
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
Those Cunningham teams had a lot of talent.
Given the amount of talent they had, they underachieved.
by Seth Chandler on Nov 7, 2011 12:35 AM PST up reply actions
By only 8...
…. this reminds me of the 2009 preseason games lost to division 2 teams…. and we know what happened after… Is this one going to be a repeat ?
Don't buy the comparison.
First of all, we lost those games.
Second, it seems that CSSB has some serious talent. New guys from JC ranks and D1 transfers (Shumpert from Arizona).
BUT – I believe that if our talent is REAL good, we don’t struggle pre-season no matter what excuse you bring to the table (rustiness, nerves, new team chemistry). In our best seasons, we handle all exhibitions easily. This team did not do that, but it did not lose to a fairly decent opponent. So I think we’ll be decent this year. But a deep run in March would surprise me a lot!
Competition is more even in college BB
Than it was in even in the 80s. CSSB is a pretty decent team, and while we need to improve, this team showed a desire and togetherness lacking the last 3 years or so. Talent, hard work, and team play. Get all three, and you could be good. I think we might be, but only time will tell.
And as an LA native, I think we’re a basketball town. I’ve always cared about the Lakers more then the NFL teams, even when they were here. At what other university would it make more sense to have a different set of standards for basketball and football than at UCLA, the biggest and best basketball school EVER in the biggest basketball town of the nation?
There’s clearly much work to be done, but I think we’ll be all right. I wasn’t as happy as most seem with LJ’s game tonight — thought he was pressing, trying to do too much and it resulted in bad fouls.
For a first game, I thought the Wears, Parker and Powell were okay. They all showed some nerves and made some bad plays but I think they will all improve as the season goes on — particularly Parker and Powell who really haven’t had much practice..
Didn’t like that Travis has a flat shot, but loved how good Reeves’ shots looked. If he can continue that against more talented opposition, he’s gonna have some kind of year. He mentioned in one of his interviews that the pros he was playing with over the summer pointed out that he’d be playing the three at the next level and would really need to have a shot. It appears he took that to heart.
My biggest concern was with Tyler’s ball handling. He was repeatedly out of control driving into traffic and it resulted in TOs and fouls. He does not appear to be up to having the ball in his hands that much of the time. Hopefully, Jerime’s return and Parker and Powell’s development will make it unnecessary for him to be handling the ball at the point very much going forward. His shot, too, doesn’t look improved, but I didn’t see any real open shot opportunities, so maybe it’s too early to tell. Strangely, SB seemed to be really up on our guards rather than sagging on our bigs as one would have thought. There really weren’t many open opportunities for anyone from the outside (except for Reeves and D. Wear). Maybe that was a function of too much dribbling and not enough passing.
SB played an aggressive, all out game. We didn’t, but I don’t think we’re quite ready to play that fast with all the new and less practiced players in the mix. I was really happy to see CBH using just about everyone (except Brendan Lane). I hope he continues to distribute the PT and enable everyone to develop and build confidence.
Time will tell, but I think we’re gonna be pleased with this team.
I thought this game was a teaching experience.
During the first of the game, Howland was substituting players after one trip down the floor. He’d take them out and talk to them [some demonstrating going on (as in teaching, not yelling)]. There was no rhythm. It was good seeing Josh hit his free throws. Also the second nice thing was seeing Reeves hitting threes. Cal State’s got a team with a lot of energy. They’d catch us, then Howland put the ones in and we’d go up by eight. There was a LOT of teaching and evaluating going on today. I really don’t think this game was indicative of how this team will play during the rest of the year. DC was the honorary captain of today’s game and looks great. He is a gracious Bruin. Looking forward to smoother games the rest of the season. GO Bruins.
Totally agree.
There were a ton of substitutions. I really think Howland was testing his guys and seeing what line-ups work.
Concerning statistic
LJ had 5 TO’s, 4 assists and fouled out. We need his assist to TO ratio to be around 2:1 this year in order to be really good.
by Waitingfornumber12 on Nov 6, 2011 6:58 PM PST reply actions
totally agree
but would be a bit more forgiving, if he ends up 3:2 (preferably a bit above, it’s hard in college to average 2:1) he’ll really be helping this team…although the five fouls were a real problem, and if you factor them in, he wasn’t overall as much of an impact as he should have been. He was foul prone last year as well…
Just didn't see it tonight - hope it was they were pressing
Maybe I missed the subtleties, but I was wondering where all those skills were that we were hearing about for the Wear twins. Their shooting was mediocre to poor and their defense was pretty vanilla for a couple of bigs. And this business of using their length to guard the 3pt shot didn’t play out too well. They had to concede space because of their lack of quickness, so they didn’t really end up bothering their 3 pt shooters much.
So, hope it was first game jitters. Tonight they seemed a poor trade-off for losing Honeycutt despite all the issues we had with that guy!
My first comment (I think) on BN
I’ve been overseas with the military, so this was my first game watching the Bruins in five years in LA. (I caught the Final Four in ATL, and I am still trying to forget the Arizona game from two years ago.)
Here are my observations:
- Good: Josh Smith shot amazing at the charity stripe, which DC mentioned above. If he keeps that up, then teams will severly pay for using the “hack-a-josh” technique.
- Bad: A ton of his freethrows should have been and ones. In the second half he just did not jump high enough to slam it, and it looked to be because of fatigue.
- Good: Reeves got a ton of great boards again, as DC mentioned. Those two are as big as we thought they would be, and I have no doubt that neither Wear will take a starting spot. (Josh didn’t start, but he’ll get the bulk of the minutes.)
- Bad: On at least one play bad “no-hussle” Reeves returned. He blew a play on offense, and didn’t sprint back full speed. He also seemed frustrated in the first half.
- Good: Da’End and Powell looked athletic and competent.
- Bad: Like most college players, they will quickly realize the game moves much faster at this level. One of these two, I forget which, specifically tried to make a weak pass that clearly worked in the lower level, but doesn’t in D1/2.
- Good: LJ is a leader. He acted like it on the court.
- Bad: I wanted to see him drop some treys like he had worked on all summer. I was begging him to just drain three point shots. We need that from him and Lamb to really stop the zone, which again confounded us.
Final point, Malcolm Lee was in attendance watching the game. Can’t help but wonder what is going through his head can you?
Go Bruins!
Welcome
A couple adds. You are right, Reeves looked like he was sleep walking in the first half at times. He played hard when we needed him but had some lulls.
I was too hard on Powell and Parker. Both looked like their first game.
LJ did hit a key early three and our first outside shot. He will be fine.
LJ does that
Recall multiple times last year when our O was stagnant, Zeke would just pull up for a J, usually a 3, and mostly nail the shot.
Thanks for all of the updates
Wasn’t able to get out to Ontario today so I appreciate all the thoughts and opinions.
Alum of 80…I love the passion but keep in mind that this team has a lot of new pieces and will take time to gel. It was on a pre-season game and it’s not time to sweat yet.
by RealisticBruinFan on Nov 6, 2011 9:19 PM PST reply actions
Was quite a drive from culver city
But worth it. It actually hailed on the way back. What we do to support our team.
Agree with everyone here. LJ 5th foul was completely bogus as he fell on the floor and the guy tripped over him. SB immediately calls a TO. They come out with a diamond and one press but we wisely use our point forward RN to break the press. We did turn it over once when JS thought he was RN lol! But good composure to close out the game.
TL is a little out of control when dribbling. He needs to pass sooner or dribble to attack the rim. At times it seemed he was trying too hard to dribble out of traps and that got him in trouble.
The WTwins looked serviceable for sure. I think the 3 is a good spot for them. I have a feeling a lot of teams will go 2-3 zone on us so NP and DW will have to lights out shooting. And they did go to the twins in the post which was a good thing although they missed a lot of gimmes…
It really will be how the two and three gel with the 1,4,5 positions. Once they understand how to move without the ball and help LJ with the entry into the offense I think our combo of RN and JS will be awesome. As more teams zone us it will be necessary that we hit the 3 point shots to keep them honest.
On defense we look huge. The WT did at times look suspect giving up baseline on faster SFs. They will need to force there players to the middle where they can get help but SB saw that as a ripe opportunity. The help looked good but at times the lane was still open so the D need to use it’s length and feet better. All in all I think there is a ton of upside here.
I do wonder why we saw zero BL today. I like his hustle and effort. Hopefully he will not become a victim of this dirth of frontline players…
Go Bruins!
by BruinArts on Nov 7, 2011 7:29 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
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