Bruin Bites: Malcolm Lee Update, Hundley Doesn't Want a Limited Leash, and Non-Revenue Sports Notes
by Bellerophon on Sep 25, 2011 12:05 PM PDT
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PrintHey, guess what? We're tied for first place in the Pac-12 South! Haha, okay, well let's return to reality following Rick's best efforts at giving away a game in Corvallis by implementing his conservative, playing not to lose philosophy. Boy, you'd think the way he doesn't trust his team to open it up and execute that he must think his team is barely better than a bunch of bottom-feeders who got beat by Div. I-AA Sacramento State. The truth is that this team has the talent to not only be competitive with Stanford, but to beat the Trees in Palo Alto next weekend (that's what happens when you've recruited as well as UCLA has the past three seasons), but the coaching staff is marginally better than if Barney Fife parlayed his law enforcement "skills" to the girdiron.
Let's turn to some other Bruin news to lighten the last bit of your weekend before we all get back to the grind. Here's your Sunday afternoon round-up of bits and pieces of news from around the UCLA-iverse:
- Starting with basketball, Malcolm Lee, despite leaving UCLA for the NBA, is still living the life of a college student due to the NBA lock-out. In fact, Lee, along with other former college stars (including Jimmer) are stuck in limbo, no longer able to play college ball, drafted by an NBA team, but with nowhere to go. For now, Lee is working out where he can and living off an allowance from his agent. Gee, I guess that's better than being the undisputed leader and captain of a loaded UCLA team that should be the odds-on favorites to not only win the Pac-12, but to make a deep run in March.
- In previewing the golf season, the Orange County Register notes that both UCLA and U$C will have a huge home-field advantage at this year's NCAA championships, being held at Rivera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, a course both schools regularly practice at. This year's men's team is being led by golf sensation Patrick Cantlay who tore up the amateur golf world this summer, while the women's team will return four of their top five players, entering this year where they left off last year, ranked at the very top, looking to defend their national title. Let's hope both teams bring home two more banners to Westwood.
- Sticking with golf, Golf Week has a handful of UCLA women's golf notes in their review of the women's Mason Rudolph Fall Preview in Franklin, Tennessee, an event that the Lady Bruins currently find themselves on top of the leaderboard with a six shot lead after the second round.
- Turning back to football, Brett Hundley has made it clear to Rick that he doesn't want to be some bit-part role player this season and waste a year of eligibility for a handful of plays. If Rick does care about his alma mater and the long-term health of the football program, he won't waste Hundley's redshirt year in a desperate attempt to save his job (if it comes to that). Given how sharp Richard Brehaut has looked (when Neuheisel doesn't shackle the gunslinger with his conservative, play-not-to-lose offensive play calls), there's no need to turn to Hundley this year (Brehaut, in four games, has 705 yards in the air, 140 yards on the ground, 4 passing TDs, 2 rushing TDs, no interceptions, all with a QB rating of 147.4). The biggest irony of this season is that, with Brehaut at the helm, it's the one position that isn't the problem for UCLA (read: the entire defense and the coaching staff).
With that, those are your Bruin Bites for the tail-end of the weekend. Fire away with your thoughts, comments, and additions in the thread.
GO BRUINS
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Since LA Bruin didn't post it . . .
The women’s volleyball team defeated #2 Stanford (3-2) and #1 Cal (3-1) on successive nights. Though they went into the weekend ranked only #7, they made a pretty clear statement that they will be a force to be reckoned with this year. Want more? here’s the UCLA sports website:
http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/w-volley/ucla-w-volley-body.html
He did post up a fanshot
This is my snarky way of saying two things simultaneously. The first is that B does the best he can with these things and inarguably does a great job and doesn’t need people nitpicking him on the stuff he missed. The second is that if there’s a fanshot already dedicated solely to the women’s volleyball team, that it’s hard to argue that they aren’t receiving “love”.
Actually LA Bruin ...
…there’s a non-revenue round-up set to go up on the front page tomorrow afternoon, featuring, among others the women’s volleyball team (including a note about the first 30 kill performance by a Bruin in a decade)
I hate to say this, but when people like you come in here and demand something right away, without waiting to see what else I have set in the coming days, it really pisses me off. The point of asking for folks to add stuff in the comments thread is that, yeah, I’m not going to get everything, but if there’s some tidbit you want to share, you can do so here. Just telling me I’m not doing what you want isn’t going to cut it.
Besides, the women’s sweep of the NorCal schools is huge. That’s not really good BB material. BB are just quick hitting tidbits of interesting stuff from around the interwebs related to UCLA. Something like women’s volleyball’s big weekend really deserves it’s own FanPost (hint hint) from a fan who can break it down and analyze it for the community.
That being said, I’ll give you a pass since we haven’t had a non-revenue round-up in some time and it’s something that the rest of the BN crew and I decided I was going to start doing regularly on Monday evenings.
So folks, expect to start seeing a regular Monday evening non-revenue round-up. I take payment by cash, credit, and/or cookies.
I think Malcolm
would like a mulligan.
by LavinRuinedCollege on Sep 25, 2011 1:20 PM PDT reply actions
I wish Malcolm the best
But this NBA lockout wasn’t a complete surprise. We were hearing credible news that this would happen before he had to declare for the draft.
Dreaming of Westwood while in permanent exile in Virginia
Dumb mistake
Sorry Malcolm, I know I’m supposed to be supportive and be behind you as a Bruin and all. But Howland told you so, we told you so, and surely there must have been others who told you so. Instead you listened to your agent and whoever else you had in your ear. How’d that work out for you? Let this be a lesson to the next kid who thinks about leaving early.
On the other hand, you have that extra year of eligibility left, maybe you can bring your defensive skills to our football team…
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
That is harsh
But accurate. And to add further insult, count the potential millions he lost by not being a higher pick after another year in college.
I hope for his sake he learns the lesson that basketball won’t always be there for him, and he gets his degree. Too many student athletes take their scholarships for granted.
Even though Lee is not on the team anymore
can he still re- enroll at UCLA, assuming that he merely left his sports scholarship and continue his academic pursuit as any other undergraduate during the NBA lockout.
Although his plan is now on hold involuntarily, he can at least focus on his study, assuming that even if he had played right away, he would still return someday to finish his degree.
Yes, it is regretably a personal letdown for him. I am not saying he didn’t deserve the lesson but people will make mistakes.. He will get his chance to show his skills if he perseveres and in the meantime, go with the flow and make use of the time to study.
I would like a mulligan too.
I think UCLA needs to put a video/documentary of all the guys who left early and didn’t work out.
Jaron Rush
Jerome Moiso
Just to name a few. And, that’s not even considering guys from other schools. Both of these guys had promising years coming up when they left. Could have possibly cemented a place in the lottery.
I’m pretty confident Lee will work his way into the Association, but going one year without pay while also not playing at either NBA or D1 level has to hurt.
The best thing you can do for your children is to love their mother. John Wooden
Trevor Ariza
was not more than an end-of-the-bench NBA player until well after what could have been his senior season at UCLA.
Roses are red, violets are blue...f*** $C.
leaving early is one thing
some people have to in order to support their families, or they just have good opportunities, or maybe aren’t cut out for college. I can understand and support that.
Leaving early with an impending strike: Just plain stupid.
by silverlakebruin on Sep 26, 2011 8:44 AM PDT up reply actions
Neu shouldn't play Hundley to save his job . . .
He should play Hundley to win some games. The Pistol, or any option offense, will never see its full potential without a running threat at quarterback.
Brehaut can prove me wrong next week. I predict Stanford stops our limited option offense, we get behind early, then we’re forced to pass and really see what Brehaut’s made of. I’m pulling for him. I truly am.
Nevada has already proven that you don't need a running threat at QB
to run the Pistol effectively. Not having a running threat is not the offense’s problem.
Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I tweeted my followers to ask which I should take
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Sep 25, 2011 3:43 PM PDT up reply actions
Ryan...
While you don’t NEED a good running QB to implement the pistol…(Which is a good thing. RB is NOT one!!!) a QB with wheels makes ohhh so much more effective.
I share KingJ77’s frustration as well.
Brehaut would’ve had a ton more passing yardage but he over threw and under threw BRUIN receivers all game long.
Would you say one of the “Pistol” offense’s attractions is that it can be tailored to a particular teams talent???
by GogetemBruins on Sep 25, 2011 5:54 PM PDT up reply actions
Brehaut has 140 yards on the ground and 2 rushing TDs
So he’s not exactly a bum on the ground either. The offense is not our problem so far this year.
What you say here backs up Ryans point...
I think about just being an average runner is OK in the pistol. Of course RB is adequate…but just adequate. Not a knock on the kid.
The offense has barely reached it’s potential. The defense is terrible.
by GogetemBruins on Sep 25, 2011 8:48 PM PDT up reply actions
All GAME long...
specifically to Randall Carroll and smith on bombs. Better thrown balls gives RB another 100 yards, not to mention 14 more points.
by GogetemBruins on Sep 26, 2011 8:28 AM PDT up reply actions
just admit you are wrong
1 incompletion a quarter is not over and underthrowing receivers all day long.
Three interceptions in a quarter, now that would qualify.
by silverlakebruin on Sep 26, 2011 8:46 AM PDT up reply actions
Would LOVE to be wrong...
but Josh Smith practically had to halt his route on a sure fire TD (If the pass was thrown well!) and Randall needed Usain Bolt type speed to corral that one pass that was overthrown.
On the “Money” passes he overthrew or under threw receivers ALL GAME LONG.
Sorry i didn’t make it clear enoug or misspoke.
by GogetemBruins on Sep 26, 2011 11:36 AM PDT up reply actions
Misconception about Pistol
You don’t NEED to run the zone read out of it. There are so many possibilities with this formation which is why we’re all so frustrated with the amount of run plays. We’d rather have our QB run it 15-20 times and have him throw 11 times.
How did Bre lose his redshirt year?
My memory is that he wasn’t needed, but got put in for some garbage time his freshman year.
I hope the same doesn’t happen with hundley.
by silverlakebruin on Sep 26, 2011 8:45 AM PDT up reply actions
Men's soccer loses to SMU at hom
The Mustangs have a solid program, but losing to them at home? Come on, Jorge, get it together NOW!
Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I tweeted my followers to ask which I should take
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Sep 25, 2011 3:44 PM PDT reply actions
The 2 football teams that have beaten UCLA are each 4-0 and Texas is ranked 17th.
Normally I’d take comfort in that. But our two wins look really ugly and Houston is playing cupcakes.
I sure hope we’re all surprised next week. I will be rooting for my Bruins! But from what I’ve seen the problems all lay at the feet of the coaching staff, so it’s going to be tough.
You remember the line about Bear Bryant.
Some coach said “He can take hissen and beat yourn, and then he can take yourn and be hissen.”
It would be interesting to see how our players would do on the blue turf. Or with the LSU coaching staff. Or with the guy I now really really wish had come here – Paul Johnson. Or any of dozens of other coaching staffs.
I had hoped for Paul Johnson as well.
Now, I would like to see Gary Patterson or Mike Leach in that order.
The best thing you can do for your children is to love their mother. John Wooden
I'm for
Patterson, Leach and I’d throw in Dan Mullen and Urban Meyer. I don’t buy the talk of Urban being out of reach, we won’t know unless we try.
We've discussed this before
Despite Guerr-error’s best efforts to lower revenue for UCLA, there is a lot of cash in hand from the new TV deals the conference negotiated (and we get a pretty good chunk).
In fact, as Achilles laid out earlier, we have the money to get Urban. The question is whether we have the balls to make it worth his while, whether we’re willing to give him the latitude he needs to build his program (i.e. giving him the same admissions concessions that Tedford gets at Cal and lack of meddling from fools in Morgan Center) and the support he’d want (i.e. better facilities, a real commitment to winning football by administration).
It can be done. Southern California is a recruiting hotbed in the second largest media market and UCLA is well, UCLA (we all know how awesome it is). The question is whether the school can pull it off and make it happen. If the conditions were right, I think he’d give it a real thought.
I think Urban Meyer is out of reach
for all the reasons you state need to happen.
The best thing you can do for your children is to love their mother. John Wooden
Oh I think that's a fair reading of the situation
And I said the same in my original post on Urban. But financially, he is not out of reach. We have the money to pay a top-tier elite coach.
All the components for UCLA being a national power in football are in place. Geographically, recruiting base, media market, money, history of prior football tradition/Rose Bowl appearances, etc.
All the pieces are in place, except for two: the elite coach who will play to win and a diseased culture of mediocrity that infects Morgan Center and Murphy Hall.
People angry at UCLA’s decade of suck at football need to focus on the root of the problem: the bureaucrats at MC and MH without any vision or will to succeed.
Also because
Florida offers all those things too (except the media market), and he left them for health reasons. Urban Meyer’s availability is probably not under the Athletic Department’s control.
Last time we fired a coach, the new coach had almost double the salary. If we do that again there should be other good candidates.
This is true
But people’s health improves, and if it does, I could see him returning to coaching.
But if health reasons were a continuing concern, we do have a major advantage over Florida and Ohio State:
UCLA Medical Center.
I tend to think not, Mexibruin
and I really think the hurdle to it is Gene Block the chancellor.
It really has to start from the top.
Wisconsin football fared even worse than UCLA ever, ever did. When I attended graduate school there in the late seventies to early eighties, Michigan & Ohio State perennially made minced meat out of the Badgers. Everyone knew we always would trounce Dakota Valley State and other Division II cupcake teams in the preseason games by a wide margin. Then when conference season started, we would see the reverse. The situation took a dramatic turn when Donna Shalala, a close associate of Hillary Clinton and one of the so called well connected Friends of Bill became chancellor.
An avid sports fan and fervent believer of academic excellence in the classroom alongside with athletic accomplishments on the field, she had an eye for coaches. With an opening in the football program under her watch, she hired Barry Alvarez from Lou Holtz’s Notre Dame program. Badgers have been winning consistently eversince. I hate to mention the outcome when we went head to head with them on New Year’s Day. But the point is clear. Chancellor Block must be on board if UCLA ever expects to reel in a big time coach.
Just looking at the new rankings and..
I’m shocked … shocked I tell you … that we are not ranked in the top 5.
What are these voters/rankers thinking? First place in the Pac 12 conference, conquerors of both SJ st. and Ore st. and we don’t even get a vote?
The apocalypse is surely upon us if these guys can’t see that UCLA is deserving of a top 5 ranking.
Basketball team
I’m not yet convinced that the UCLA team should be favored to win the PAC12 or make a deep run in the NCAA tourney. I’m going to take a wait and see approach considering I have no idea how good the guards will be.
I think you'll be pleasantly surprised then
Jerime will only miss two games, which is big for depth, but more importantly, we’ll be seeing a health LJ for the first time this season. I really think that will make a huge difference.
Agree
They have one, if not the best frontcourts in the nation with Reeves, Smith, Stove, and now the Wear twins. If someone other than LJ can hit an open shot, this team should be disapointed with anything other than a Pac-12 championship.
by Waitingfornumber12 on Sep 26, 2011 8:33 AM PDT up reply actions
By surprise... do you mean surprised that we're back to normal?
UCLA Basketball, (the house John Wooden built), is like the Lakers or Yankee’s to me. Supposed to live in the Top 10, suppose to flirt with a #1 Seed every year, supposed to have Final 4 potential every year. We live in the best State in the Union. We live in America’s most popular city (Ok, New Yorkers disagaree). Kids would actually line up to play here even more, if we ran a more uptempo offensive game (maintaining aggressive defense, but pressing and running with every opportunity). Hey, like 90% of us here, I’m partial to UCLA Basketball… excited about the upcoming season. My only big concern is not really having a Home Floor this season. Turn-out concerns me. Winning, though, will solve that problem. Can’t wait. Whoo hoo!
U-C-L-A Fight, Fight, Fight! Go Bruins!
Go Lakers! Go Dodgers! Go Angels!
Re: Bruins78
Obviously, you and I had the unique experience of living through Coach’s dynasty years. What you said was the NCAA landscape that centered around UCLA Bruins exclusively then. No basketball fans on earth could have been more blessed, privileged, if you will than you and I plus many of our cohorts that lived through that era. But time has changed. Parity and other issues since then made it prohibitively difficult, if not outright impossible, to ever dominate college hoops the way UCLA did.
I said what I said because we were down the last few years. Howland looks as if he is succeeding in retooling his program in a way not noticed by pundits, ESPN commentators yet. So if these players really lived up to the potentials, they will surprise plenty of teams.
CRN should play Hundley if it helps us win
Hundley should play any snaps he can get if he wants to compete seriously for the starting job next year. Pretty unguarded comments from the young man, compared with a more standard ‘I just want to help this team win any way I can’ approach to dealing with the media.
Hundley talks like he's Denard Robinson. I believe that the instant Hundley feels he's not
gonna be the starter next year, he’s transfering. Naturally, I don’t want him to. I don’t have any inside knowledge of the team, but I suspect Hundley is watching what’s happened to Malcolm Jones (relatively marginalized so far), and is saying bump-that. I didn’t come to UCLA early to sit on the bench even for a minute. Stardom awaits. Fellow Bruins, get angry all you want. But this is the Sports Center / LeBron James Generation like no other… and yes, that attitude does get rewarded big time (Jrue “Mr- 1st-Rounder-Starting-76’er-point-guard” Holiday).
U-C-L-A Fight, Fight, Fight! Go Bruins!
Go Lakers! Go Dodgers! Go Angels!
I don't know if that's Hundley's thought or not. I'm just reacting to what I sense. Maybe I'm dead wrong. I dunno.
U-C-L-A Fight, Fight, Fight! Go Bruins!
Go Lakers! Go Dodgers! Go Angels!
Relative to Stanford... even though I complain a lot about Rick, let me go on record now
and state I’ll accept any kinda win at the farm this weekend. Ugly. Lucky. Miserable. Fluke. I’ll take it. And I’ll celebrate it. And I won’t complain about it in any way. Promise. 2-0 in league? I’ll grab a seat on the mediocre (winning) bus. Go Bruins! lol
U-C-L-A Fight, Fight, Fight! Go Bruins!
Go Lakers! Go Dodgers! Go Angels!
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