Bruin Bites: Rick's Defeated Team, Basketball Recruiting Arms Race, Men's Soccer Keeps Winning (Barely), Beavers' "Must-Win" Game

by Bellerophon on Sep 21, 2011 5:00 PM PDT in News

Rick Neuheisel's mentally defeated team will head to Corvallis for a road trip that, on paper, should be an easy Bruin win, but with Rick at the helm and too many talented players languishing on the bench, it's no surprise that the Beavers are the favorites to win.

Once again we find ourselves in the middle of the work week, with the weekend tantalizingly close, but yet so far. Well, actually, with the way Rick has our football team playing, I can't blame folks if they dread Saturday now. Kind of a real damning indictment of Dan Guerr-error's tenure at Morgan Center when UCLA fans can't even look forward to Saturday out of fear that the Bruins will be flat-out humiliated.

But, since it's Wednesday, it's time once again to go through all the bits and pieces from around the UCLA-iverse in this mid-week edition of Bruin Bites:

Starting with the good news, UCLA landing national top-five recruit Kyle Anderson (5 stars, ranked #2 SF by Scout) has set up a bit of a firestorm in the media during a normally quiet time for basketball news. Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Eisenberg sees the commitment of Anderson, and perhaps the landing of Shabazz Muhammad, as a major deal for UCLA, signalling a return to national prominence for the Bruins by not this season, but next.
ESPN's Diamond Leung has noted that Anderson becoming a Bruin is part of what is developing into a UCLA-Arizona elite recruit arms race. With Anderson in the fold, the Bruins shot up the recruiting class ranks, coming second only to Arizona in the ESPNU rankings. Obviously one piece is missing for both teams during this recruiting seasons: super-prep Shabazz Muhammad, widely considered the consensus top national high school player. Let's keep our fingers crossed that Shabazz chooses Westwood, because facing him in conference play would be an absolute nightmare.
Turning to non-revenue sports, men's soccer looked to continue their win streak on Sunday against the University of San Diego Toreros. After a big win over #6 UCSB, it appears the Bruins stepped off the gas, struggling against USD in a defensive struggle that required a bit of overtime to settle the match. Fortunately, the golden goal came through UCLA's Kelyn Rowe in the 91st minute, getting the Bruins a 1-0 win on the road. It wasn't pretty, but a road win is a solid win.

Now, time to turn to the not-so-good news. The Oregon State Beavers look to use a reeling UCLA squad as the springboard to turn their season around, with several key players, including James Rodgers, the play-making wide receiver brother of Jacquizz, possibly returning to face the Bruins. Of bigger concern to UCLA is that Oregon State's players aren't planning on taking the game lightly, calling their home conference opener against the Bruins a "must-win" game. In other words, the Beavers will come out firing, so Rick better have our guys prepared for a hostile Reser Stadium crowd and a fired-up Beavers squad that can smell blood in the water with a mentally weak UCLA team in town.

Sticking with football's piss-poor performance so far this year, ESPN's Peter Yoon has a piece highlighting UCLA's complete ineptitude on third down situations, on both offense and defense. So, not only can the Bruins not sustain an offensive drive and convert when necessary, they can't get anyone off the field either. Suffice to say, the numbers Yoon highlights aren't pretty.

Finally, Jon Gold has a very troubling dispatch from inside the UCLA locker room, which if it proves accurate, is a strong signal that these players have given up and that this season is only going to get uglier. Gold noted that, following the loss to Texas, UCLA players were either unable to cool off or throwing one another under the bus, UCLA coaches "nearly in tears" (how f**king pathetic is that?!), and that the entire atmosphere was one of a mentally defeated team:

The UCLA locker room on Saturday afternoon after a 49-20 loss to Texas was not quite a morgue, but it wasn't too far off. When we were finally allowed in after a double-length cooling-off period, those who were left hadn't cooled off. Tony Dye, a stand-up guy and someone the media has always been able to rely upon for a level-headed response, completely brushed us off. "I'm not talking today, guys." That was a first. Then you had players bashing each other and questioning the coaches and coaches nearly in tears. It was the locker room of not just a defeated team, but a defeated team. Neuheisel needs to know that the message that no one has given up, that no one has lost faith, does not play well when players are so openly upset. Things need to change, and they need to change now.

Things aren't looking so good for Rick. On the field, they look like a weak and defeated team and apparently, per Jon Gold, they act like a weak and defeated team in the locker room. I hope Rick is ready to dust off the old law degree because, at this rate, coaching football isn't looking too good for him. With that, those are your Bruin Bites for the middle of the week.

Fire away with your thoughts, comments, or additional tidbits of news from around the UCLA-iverse.

GO BRUINS

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If that locker room talk is really true...

And we have no reason not to believe it, I really think DG needs to consider terminating him if we lose to OSU mid season. This is my reasoning. It has gone way off now from just fixing things. It has descended into a mental collapse at the top. When I hear of “coaches almost in tears”, I have to wonder what the f_k is going on here. Something akin to a total breakdown is happening. I have never witnessed this at UCLA after many years.

It all started when RN stupidly let KP Prince start, and then left him in after 2 int. Then #3 and TX was off to the races in a rout. Favored by a field goal, they won by 29. Bad. Bad. Bad. Mental breakdown.

Let Mike J be the interim coach and play out the season as well as they can. They can then settle down and just let it fly. This has gone well past just poor playing. Like I read here before, the word “disease” is more to the point. Amputate the sick appendage before the patient dies.

I know it’s drastic, but sometimes that is what is needed. Sorry if I seem too harsh. IMO.

by 1970 on Sep 21, 2011 5:51 PM PDT reply actions

You sound very rational to me.

When i read the part about the locker room it was obvious to me this is worse than it ever was under Dorrell.

I can easily see coaches being near tears if you consider they most likely had to uproot their families and now face the prospect of being unemployed once more after only one year.

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

by MexiBruin on Sep 21, 2011 11:03 PM PDT up reply actions

IF that is an accurate account...

of the Locker room and the same ol same ol happens this weekend against OSU kirk herbstreit will be looking rather foolish come pac 12 championship gametime.
Can a coach lose a team in just 3 games into a season???

This might be the lowest of low points in BRUIN FB annals.
IF the coaches this week don’t have some honest heart to heart frank brutal discussions amongst themselves…

by GogetemBruins on Sep 21, 2011 6:24 PM PDT reply actions

Gads

Sounds like Relentless Optimism is really Misplaced Optimism. Or, Kidding-Yourself Optimism. Sounds also like some Relentless Reality is needed.

by GoodTimesBruin on Sep 21, 2011 6:48 PM PDT reply actions

This has got to be tough beyond words

for Jerry Neuheisel. I feel for him. I feel for Rick.

by Bruinut on Sep 21, 2011 7:11 PM PDT reply actions

+1

It’s hard for us to see CRN fail and lose the twinkle in his eyes.

It must be harder for his kid. And, for CRN to have his kid see it.

Very sad, indeed.

OT — I now live in Sebastopol.

sjh

by Class of 66 on Sep 21, 2011 9:31 PM PDT up reply actions

Oh, wow

That’s great re Seb. Welcome to Sonoma County! I’m eager to meet the Random Thoughts guy.

by Bruinut on Sep 22, 2011 9:28 AM PDT up reply actions

What is Mike Leach doing right now?

by BrendonBruin on Sep 21, 2011 7:26 PM PDT reply actions

No Mistaking...

If Gold has this pegged 100%…RN is finished. I too would be wondering what the “Pirate” is doing right now…and maybe it’s sitting next to the phone.
Sad…very sad.

by GemCityBruin on Sep 21, 2011 7:57 PM PDT via mobile reply actions

This is what happens, sadly

When a coach and his team do not live up to Coach’s measure of success. It’s not winning necessarily. It’s the self-satsfaction knowing that you have done your best.

Losing is always tough, but losing when you know you are not coming close to reaching your potential naturally leads to frustration, dissension, scapegoating, and, yes, even heartbreak and tears.

CRN’s only hope is to channel these emotions into a call for self-discipline, sacrifice and a rededication to the team and one another. Equally important, as the leader, he must acknowledge his failure to hold players accountable and support true competition among the players by guaranteeing the future will be different and that future is now.

The game may be critical for OSU’s season. For CRN and Bruin football it is the game of their future.

GO BRUINS!

by uclahy on Sep 21, 2011 10:59 PM PDT reply actions

Was a big clue to this downward spiral evident when Lasorda was called in for a pep talk?

When I heard about Lasorda in the locker room I gave out a big “OH NO”. To make it short I was playing baseball with a coach that was losing us games with his lousy strategy. We had a starting pitcher that got really terrible. The coach then put this pitcher in as a reliever in the 9th inning, with us leading, and this pitcher lost us the game. We were devastated. Lo and behold in the last game of the season the coach brought in this renouned former player to give us a pep talk. It went over like a lead balloon. Bringing in Lasorda reminded me of that lousy pep talk my team got many years ago. We lost all confidence in this coach and played terrible. I started thinking of this former baseball coach when I saw how CN was leaving Prince in during the Texas game. Lousy, lousy strategy over and over again. What a great way to destroy the spiirt of a team.

by rustyscrew on Sep 21, 2011 11:04 PM PDT reply actions

I thought the same thing.

Even said so in another post. You know you’re in a bad way when firing up the troops is your specialty, and you call in another guy to fire up the troops.

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

by MexiBruin on Sep 21, 2011 11:13 PM PDT up reply actions

The Money Quote

I’ve harped on the tackling issue before, and will continue to do so, but this isn’t just about thudding up in practice. It’s about Aaron Hester and Sheldon Price playing nine yards deep on a 3rd-and-3.

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

by MexiBruin on Sep 21, 2011 11:22 PM PDT reply actions

We'll see how well Sean Miller holds up to the pressure

I attribute much of his recent success to Derrick Williams and without that component, I wonder how he’ll do in developing his players.

by BruinEngy on Sep 21, 2011 11:32 PM PDT reply actions

Holy crap

I knew things were bad down there, but I didn’t know they were THAT bad. I don’t have any UCLA ties, but I wonder if it’d be better to have an abysmal year than a mediocre year. Of course you want your team to win games, but I’m talking about long-term. If things need to change and Guerrero is happy enough with a 6-6 type team (give or take), losing to a depleted OSU team having its worst season in several years would add some firewood to the hot seat(s)…

by scotty256 on Sep 22, 2011 12:19 AM PDT reply actions

I never ever ever never want to lose in anything, but

if/when it happens, we at least have to make something worthwhile come out of it. If that means that another season of failure gives us the opportunity to force some changes, like get a new AD, get a new head coach, draft Andrew Luck (oh, sorry, that’s my parallel world my Broncos are in), then we better take advantage of it. Doing nothing just insures the same thing next year. And you’re right. Finishing 2-10 might force that change more than 6-6, but I’m not sure the AD will make a change this year regardless. 6-6 isn’t good enough for the fans, and many would just as soon pull the trigger on both the coach and AD right now.

Things are that bad, scotty. It’s so bad I’d only wish this darkness on *$c and no one else. We’ve been patient for things to turn under the current leadership, but the longer we’ve waited, the further we’ve slid into oblivion, making the way out that much longer. I know you guys are having a rough go right now, too, but I have a lot more faith in Mike Riley, and trust this is short term for you guys.

greg in denver, U.C.L.A. guy for life - BruinsNation.com

by gbruin on Sep 22, 2011 9:13 AM PDT up reply actions