UCLA Closes Out Richmond 71-63 to Run PRN Era Streak to 5-0
by Nestor on Dec 23, 2011 10:03 PM PST
in Basketball
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For last few days we had been pointing to this Richmond game as a decent test to find out where the Bruins are heading into the conference season. We were all feeling good with our 4 game winning streak but we maintained our perspective because those wins were racked up against cup cakes. So we were interested to see how the Bruins would perform tonight. Well the Bruins kept their winning streak going tonight with a hard fought 71-63 victory over Richmond Spiders. The win streak is now at 5 and the team is 5-0 during PRN (you know what those initials stand for).
Here is the boxscore. There were three players of the game tonight. For the first time this season I think the Wear Twins came up huge down the stretch with clutch shots and huge offensive rebounds securing the wins for the Bruins. The Twins combined for 26 points and 12 rebounds (7 of them came on the offensive side).
The other guy who got it done for the Bruins (7-5) was point guard Jerime Anderson. Jerime finished the game with 13 points and team leading 6 assists. He got the Bruins going on the second half as he help break open a 24-24 half time score with a 7-0 Bruin run. He had his share of classic Jerime mistakes but it was his leadership late in second half that helped the Bruins close out the game. More on his efforts and the game flow after the jump.
Bruins started the game sloooooow on defense getting shredded on M2M defense. In the first 5 mins David Wear, Joshua Smith and Jerime Anderson were the key culprits on D early on as they were getting embarrassed by the Spiders. Meanwhile, on the other end of the court we looked lost with no leadership from Zeke Jones at point.
Finally Ben Howland woke up. He took out Jones, brought in Norman Powell and put us in zone. Bruins then went on a 7-0 run to close the score 12-14. Our offense getting bogged down when Jones kept driving down the lane thinking he was going to score on some gimme points ala UC Davis and UCI. It didn't work out that way and the Bruins fell behind again 12-21. We were ice cold, making only 5 of our first 23 FG attempts. Then Howland took out Jones and boom all on the sudden Bruins went on a 6-0 run keyed by decent defense.
Jones finished the game with team high 16 points but frankly the stat line is deceptive. He did not do a good job of leading this team and distributing the ball among his team-mates. His shoot first mindset killed us on number of possessions. Howland needs to find a way to rein him or bench him to get better and smarter contribution from him during the conference season.
The score was 24-24 at the half. Anderson started the second half strong for the Bruins breaking open a 24-24 half time score by leading the Bruins to a 7-0 run (scoring 5 of those points). In the closing mins he helped seal the game setting the Wear twins with dunks and layups in the paint.
What the Bruins did well tonight was rebounding. Our rebounding kept us in the game in first (out rebounding the Spiders 25 to 17). We ended up out rebounding the Spiders by 15 (36 to 21). As mentioned above, let's give some credit to the Wear Twins. They did a solid job cleaning up on the weakside as they were absolutely relentlessly on the boards. We are going to need that kind of tenacity from them for this program to live up to its preseason expectations.
Joshua Smith contributed with 11 points and 5 rebounds but frankly he was underwhelming. The game remains close in the second half (after the Bruins had run up a 7 point lead) because of lack of physicality, toughness and desire from Smith. He looked soft, unsure and lethargic down low as he didn't show a lot of will power in going after the rim. He must have blown at least 4 or 5 opportunities for easy dunks and layups, as he either weakly passed off the ball to befuddled team-mates or put up weak shots. Smith finally dunked the ball once in second half. For the Bruins to make a run in the Pac-12 they are going to need much more from Smith
The Bruins got a good win tonight but it could have gotten much uglier early on when the Spiders missed some easy shots. The Spiders started the game making 6 out of their first 10 shots. But once Howland switched primarily to zone, the defense kicked in and it seemed to throw off Richmond as they finished the game making only 18 of their 52 shot attempts.
If the Bruins want to make a run during the conference season they cannot afford to get off to slow start like they did tonight. Who knows perhaps the way they closed out the Spiders will give us some much needed confidence.
I guess the kool-aid view here is that it was our defense that helped us close out this game. Hey, it's almost X-Mas. So I will go with that kool-aid view for now. Let's keep drinking it at least for few more days unless reality hits us in the face up North in few days. Remember nothing short of a tourney season will be acceptable for this season. Howland needs to figure out a way to get it done.
With that we will let you take over this post game thread so you can fire away with your quick takes. If you have extended reflections make sure to use the fanpost section. Wish everyone an early Merry X-Mas. Fire away.
GO BRUINS.
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yay a win over a non-cupcake ish team
Completely surprised that Powell and Lamb could not get anything going offensively
not surprised that we’re going to be shredded by outside shooting teams with our zone defense.
My thought of the night: Reeves may have been the most talented power forward, but he was emotional or checked out on defense numerous times. We may knock on the Wears for not being quick or strong (and sometimes smart), but I have yet to see a part of the game when they sulk on the court or don’t give 100%.
Lamb..
Cannot make the short and medium jumper! Powell is too jittery mentally .That’s the difference that makes great players even as freshman!
disciplined
Spiders played good for a mid-level team. solid interior D and Brothers was dropping em on us
by NicoBlue&Gold on Dec 23, 2011 10:39 PM PST via iPhone app up reply actions
sloppy bruin
What was Josh Smith’s deal? Sloppy, slow, uncomfortable, barely sweating, no vertical… Did hit his free throws though. As Nestor pointed out, team was more fluid without Zeke on the court.
by NicoBlue&Gold on Dec 23, 2011 10:43 PM PST via iPhone app reply actions
And better with ..
the Wear’ on the court. They are coming along … they seem to comfirm my post at the beginning of the seaon to wait and see as a counteract to those who were eager to put them down.
Once again Smith can only make shots under the basket. Outside he has no coordinated body control moves like the short hook shot…..etc… Losing weight won’t change this!
I don't think the community was that hard on the Wears
but just recognized they needed a lot of improvement. I would say that to a large degree, the folks at BN have been vindicated in that regard. Their improvement has been because they are not taking very many shots from just inside the 3pt line anymore, they are working on rebounding and playing the post better and have shored up their defense. One of the main things that people here said was that they didn’t want to see two Wears on the court together because defense suffers and neither can guard the 3. CBH seems to agree; two Wears in seems to equal a zone, and most of the time two Wears in means they play 4 and 5, not 3 and 4. That makes a huge difference. In that regard, part of the responsibility falls on CBH by not recognizing after an entire year of seeing them in practice that they would be torched by most 3’s.
In any case, congrats to them. They are looking pretty good and improving every game.
One Detail Not Quite right, Jones was in for Run but Powell Key
Finally Ben Howland woke up. He took out Jones, brought in Norman Powell and put us in zone. Bruins then went on a 7-0 run to close the score 12-14
Actually during the 7-0 Lamb went out first then Anderson then Jones. The Key was Powell but Jones was in for every point of the run.
The link is
here. In addition to Powell the key to the run was zone.
Hmm
I wish I had a chance to watch that segment again. I thought Jones was taken out. Gametracker can be screwed up sometime.
If someone watches that part again and confirms whether or not Jones was taken out, I’d be happy strike that part re Jones. Thanks DC.
by Nestor on Dec 24, 2011 5:23 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
All right I went through my notes again
And edited it to reflect that Jones was in the game during our first run but he wasn’t during the 6-0 part of second first half run that closed the gap and got the game tied up at half.
I see Nestor already fixed it, but just watched the first half again so I thought I'd put in the numbers.
Spiders – Bruins: Guard substitutions: Guards in after substitution
0=0: : Jones, Lamb, Anderson
14 – 5: Powell in for Lamb : J, A, P
14- 8: Lamb for Anderson: J, L, P
14=10: Anderson for Jones: A, L, P
14-10: Jones for Lamb: J, A, P
19-12: Lamb for Powell: J, A, L
19-12: Powell for Anderson: J, L, P
21-14: Anderson for Jones: A, L, P
21-18: Jones for Lamb: J, A, P
21-20: Lamb for Powell: J, A, L
24-24
Also noticed that Powell and Smith were missing lots of easy shots on good set-ups. Jones threw some wild passes. Really good D, especially by Jerime. Also, Jerime and Jones seemed to both run the offense at different times when they were both in. I really like our guard play this year.
Go Bruins!
yea but you gotta love the rotation
CBH keeps the guards rotating and today he did seems to give them all an even blow. sometimes zeke stays in too long with powell or anderson not enough… today, zeke got more pine which was a good call… especially was impressed with the duration of the zone this game, and then to switch to the man with 3 minutes left. it really messed with the spiders minds. they started to rush it and force the issue. those few mistakes sealed the victory…
and shout out to the STUDENT SECTION and BAND! i know most of them are on break so the sections were very small, but they were the LOUDEST group in the arena! props to them for making the game enjoyable…
+1!
The Den, though diminished and diminutive, we were great tonight!
+2
They were excellent. I’m pretty sure I heard them singing “itsy bitsy spider”.
Yep, during an opposing free throw the band sang and performed it.
It was very creative and it worked!
Go Bruins!
I was on my way home
from watching the game with some family and i heard on the post game radio show (AM 570) that CBH called out Josh mid interview for eating a slice of pizza. As in, Josh was standing on the court somewhere eating a slice of pizza and CBH said “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” (I imagine that’s what he said). Can’t wait to hear more about this tomorrow.
to clear up
Howland was the one being interviewed. He called out Josh during the interview.
I just came back from the game.
And I saw the saddest thing ever. A guy proposed on the big screen, and his girlfriend ran away. Everyone is the stadium felt bad for this man. Its not a great way to start the holiday season.
It was awful.
He was a couple of rows behind me. The woman looked shocked and I’m not sure having a microphone thrust into her face helped. She looked like she didn’t know what to do and finally pushed the microphone away and ran out. I don’t know what she said in the end, she said nothing in the moment, but it was terribly sad and took all of us a long time to get over it! He sat for a few minutes, hurting horribly and then left as well. Who knows, maybe she just hated being put on the spot like that!
Go Bruins!
Or maybe. to paraphrase Nanki-Poo in the Mikado,
He misconstrued her customary affability into expressions of affection and claimed her in marriage.
In the Mikado, Nanki-Poo flees rather than marry Katisha, an elderly lady in his father’s court. And from that nonsense comes the funniest thing I have ever seen on stage. Or as it is more often described, it’s one of the top 20 or 30 Gilbert and Sullivan productions.
I knew there had to be a relavent Gilbert and Sullivan reference.
Thanks Fox. I wondered if he did it that way so she’d feel more pressure to say yes!
Go Bruins!
It was sad, awkward, and darkly funny all at the same time
I really hope she was just scared about being thrown in the spotlight like that, and that she said yes later on. I mean my own girlfriend is incredibly shy and would probably kill me if I proposed in such a setting (she told me as much once at a Dodger game we attended a year or so ago where someone popped the question).
Good thought
I hope she had stage fright as well. That doesn’t sound like fun for anyone involved. Especially for this time of the year.
OT
but does hate Joel Myers? Ugh. I was glad when the Lakers got rid of him until I found out he was doing Bruin games…
by LavinRuinedCollege on Dec 23, 2011 11:16 PM PST reply actions
I used to like his voice...
But as the ex voice of the bruins i sense a tinge of sarcasm in all his comments. He is supposed to do play by play with dmac doing color. But he always gets his jabs in there. I wish prime ticket would allow CR to do our games… Now he IS the voice of ucla sports… :)
by BruinArts on Dec 24, 2011 8:33 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
How did you know it was him?
It certainly can’t have been because of his voice. :)
Roses are red, violets are blue...f*** $C.
I guess we should feel good our mid-major team oozed out a win tonight
It’s about all we can expect in the current Howland era. Better than a loss, bit I’m still not very impressed. It’s an era of diminished expectation in Westwood.
Summed it up very well.
I like the three guard offense.
It’s a lot quicker on both sides of the ball.
Smith seems like a good kid but he just doesn’t get it yet. He could be dominant, but without some major self-discipline he seems lost out there. CBH has his work cut out. Could be another RN down the road. I hope not. Again, he seems like a good kid. He just needs to apply himself.
Jones just ties to take on too much of the load. In his case, with his skills, less is more. He just take needs to take the shots he needs to keep the defense honest.
We look like an above average team right now. To get higher, we need Smith to vastly improve and Jones to contain himself and a lot more of Powell IMO.
CBH should be complimented for jettisoning RN and making the necessary adjustments.
thanks to all for the amusing (and informative) posts, e.g.,
“chianti dan,” PRN era, now josh smith eating pizza and CBH interrupting his press conference to reprimand him, and so many more. I have been reading BN since RN was fired and it is now my new #1 source of bruin sports news. thanks.
You'll like it here, Bruin_Girl
Just remember that Nestor is often confused. That’s when he disagrees with me.
by Fox 71 on Dec 24, 2011 8:49 AM PST up reply actions 3 recs
Powell
18 Minutes last night was about right. Kid struggled on offense, but was pretty solid despite some iffy plays guarding the 3.
Good that Howland did NOT yank him after that foul on the 3 pt shooter. Meant that POWell got significant playing experience in a pretty tough contest.
Now it is on the coach to keep getting significant PT for the young star-in-the-making.
It is interesting to see how Powell's development plays out
I think his energy helped turn the game around when he came in and us down 14-5 but that may have been because of the zone. Lamb was actually worse than Powell last night shooting and heard he was cramping. So I wonder if he would have been 12-14 minutes if it was not for Lamb’s cramping.
Anderson and Jones played 35 and 37 respectively. I still am worried about Powell’s minutes.
Cramping or something.
The trainers worked on him for a good 5-10 minutes or so in the second half then took him into the locker room for a little bit. He looked in pain, I wondered if it wasn’t the hip again.
Go Bruins!
They were massaging his thigh muscle...not stretching his hip.
Dont know if it did not result from the hip or from protecting the hip. But it was the thigh muscle.
by Bruin Dad and Grad on Dec 24, 2011 11:38 AM PST up reply actions
I am also still worried about Powell's minutes.
Howland’s past does not instill confidence. But the difference this year is that there is no one in the backcourt who can be called exceptional.
Got my fingers crossed.
I’ve said that if Howland pisses off Powell and he transfers, that could be the last straw for a lot of fans.
Last night, I don’t think Norman complains about his minutes – esp since he wasn’t yanked after fouling the 3 pt shooter.
Pizza Man
As David Vassay pointed out on post-game “Bruin Talk,” CBH was wrong to reprimand JS for eating pizza if the team itself was supplying the pizza —
It was nice to see CBH overcome his stubbornness and go with zone defense for most of the game — that is why we won this game.
Finally, I almost felt like “the proposal” rejection was a set up, but I was not close enough to see and my view of the “jumbo” tron was partially blocked by the scoreboard — but if acting, they did a pretty good job
Seems like the team could be bringing something healthy to eat after the game.
Especially if they want him to eat healthier. They have to be hungry after the game and pizza probably fills the spot. On the other hand, since it was the non-jumping Joshua again last night, I can feel for Ben. On the other hand, sarcasm never works in a public forum, especially on radio where there are no facial cues. Eating problems can not always be overcome with will. Actually, when it is a real problem, they probably can never be. And shaming someone doesn’t help.
Go Bruins!
I just don't understand how it is even possible
to be so young, so tall, play basketball, and be overweight. Does Smith have some weird medical problem?
by CharliePotts on Dec 24, 2011 9:38 AM PST up reply actions
Missed layups.
My concern was all of the easy shots the team missed. Josh missed several, not getting off the ground, but so did the guards (Anderson and Powell especially). Could easily have been a blow-out with those shots. I sat there is disbelief at all of those misses. I hope they can fix whatever is causing that.
As for Josh, he really needs to get off the ground and dunk it. He passed out an easy one when he was wide open under the basket, rather than dunking it. I’m glad he finally did get one. Maybe the appreciation the crowd showed will serve as motivation to do it more often.
The whole crowd was louder and more filled in last night. I know it’s appeared empty, but I don’t remember Pauley being much more crowded the last couple of years in pre-conference games (except Texas and Kansas, in the case of the latter they filled the place not us). So I’m hoping with our better play, the arena will get fuller. Last night was a really fun game to watch. Our players are also so personable with the fans and gracious. I really like this team. I really like the way they are playing together. And unless I’m mistaken, it seems we’re running offenses I don’t remember seeing much of. The ball seems to move around a lot more, with more cutting and in and out than in past years. Maybe someone can comment on this.
Go Bruins!
+1 about the layups.
The crowd did get loud. But it was still empty. I was sitting next to the Den and the yell leader had everyone in that section put one finger up and… WOSH clap clap, on a free throw. If you did it correctly he would go around giving high fives. It was just a fun game/ environment. It surprised me a lot.
It was a fun game environment
Official game stats whow 4194 in attendance so the crowd was low. But if there were really that many people there it is not that much lower than NC games during the holidays at Pauley.
Seemed to me that it was fun because the crowd that was there was into the game. And the game fed into it (come from behind, nice hustle by most of the players).
Surprisingly good time.
by Bruin Dad and Grad on Dec 24, 2011 11:43 AM PST up reply actions
Richmond had a good shot blocker
That caused some but not all the problems
by DCBruins on Dec 24, 2011 11:52 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
about the missed layups
It probably was caused some by the shot blocker on the other team, but I remember watching other games, even laker games, where it seems like there is a glass lid on the rim with all the missed easy shots, sometimes shots just don’t fall. The team should be commended for overcoming all those missed shots
by Bruin2011 on Dec 24, 2011 10:43 PM PST via iPhone app up reply actions
Love the Howland is mixing it
The 2-3 Zone was the key last night (and the Wears), but I would really like to see Howland try other zone combinations like a 1-3-1. The switching of defense really throws teams off balance. Also practicing the zone seems to really help our offense against it. The Bruins haven’t looked like deers caught in the headlights so much when teams throw it at us.
BTW What ahppened to poor D’end Parker? Is he ever coming back? Can this kid ever catch a break?
Still out with the knee for De'end
We really miss him because he could spell Lamb, who looks good when he isn’t pushed hard but last night faltered, in large part I believe, due to his leg troubles.
If De’end can’t come back soon, I am wondering if it might be possible to get a medical redshirt or if he has played too many minutes.
More passing on offense
We are definitely seeing more passing on offense compared to the chuck it up at first opportunity that we were seeing earlier in the year. I like seeing the inside out game, it works well. The combination of way too many easy missed shots and the spiders making a high percentage of three’s in the second half were frustrating. Josh needs to assert himself in the low post. In shape or not we have all seen moments when he gets this burst of energy in the key and simply cannot be stopped. If he gets into that mentality down low it is a game changer. Watching Powell in that #4 jersey is so cool.
DGB
Smith is the problem
I have to disagree with Nestor. Jones was noticeably trying to push the ball up the floor which is exactly what he’s supposed to do. Their energy was actually good at the start of the game, they just had a run of bad luck with the ball not going in the bucket.
Smith on the other hand was terrible once again. The team didn’t play better with Jones on the bench, they played tremendously better with Josh Smith on the bench. Smith is now a liability on both ends of the floor and really should never see game time until he gets himself into shape. It’s a shame it really is, but it is reality.
by areukiddingmebruins on Dec 24, 2011 11:24 AM PST via mobile reply actions
Jones and Smith
Jones: I think Nestor and others are right. Jones did try to force things especially in the 1st half. I would say, though, that it may have been out of frustration. We could not make a basket in those first 7 or 8 minutes — I think any point guard might end up forcing too much when everyone else is missing so badly.
SMITH: I commented in the game thread that you can tell Smith’s mindset from his mouthpiece. When his head is not in the game, he is playing with his mouthpiece all the time (in and out, into his hand while defending). He was playing with his mouthpiece in the first half. In the second half, he had focused and it showed….his mouthpiece was in. So Smith has 2 problems: 1) conditioning that limits him as in the second half and 2) focus which seemed to limit him in the first half. CBH has his hands full in getting Smith to understand how to really leverage his potential.
by Bruin Dad and Grad on Dec 24, 2011 11:48 AM PST up reply actions
Smith
Bottom line, we would have won by 20 had Smith sat the bench for the entire game!
by areukiddingmebruins on Dec 24, 2011 11:58 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
I've been a big Smith supporter, but
even I have been entertaining thoughts that he’s headed towards bustville, and we are going to suffer for the next two seasons. But giving Stover 20 minutes is just a fantasy.
As a matter of fact, the team rated #17 in the preseason never existed. It was a mirage because 1) we didn’t know how bad the Nelso situation was 2) we were misled about Josh Smth’s conditioning 3) we were doomed as soon as the Morgan Morons set this “road show” in motion especially at the Sports Arena and 4) everyone forgot how weak we were at guard (Zeke is our equivalent of Derrick Fisher circa 2011) because the world was enamored with the front line.
All that said, a turnaround in Josh Smith, with the Wears’ help (the only two that will actually make the tough pass into him on the block), can still get us the Pac-12 trophy-but not much more.
Smith is begging for a hot recruit like..
Tony Parker or to come in a take his job. I like the kid a lot, but his lazy habits are killing us. He needs to wake up in a hurry.
How do you motivate someone who is costing themselves millions?
What other carrot is there to dangle? This guy confuses the hell out of me.
This is honestly where an agent would be a positive influence on a college athlete. ( i can’t believe I just typed that, but its true) Josh Smith needs Jerry Maguire to give him the “help me help you” speech, (a few times a day). Then maybe it would sink in a little. I’m sure coach is doing a lot of that, but I think it’s kind of when your dad tries to give you life advice, it goes in one ear and right out the other. But if someone in the business were to council him he might take it to heart and it might actually have a positive result. (But for the record, I Hate agents!)
by areukiddingmebruins on Dec 25, 2011 11:40 AM PST via mobile reply actions
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