Bruins Beat Utes 76-49
by Tydides on Jan 26, 2012 9:29 PM PST
in Basketball
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PrintCan you feel the excitement excreting from Chianti Dan's (Funeral) Home Court? Well that's raw sewage, but you'd be forgiven if you mistook it for the quality of opponent trotted out at the Sports Arena tonight. As we have mentioned before, the Utah Utes are a woefully bad team, and as it will be with many games from here on out, it will really only be news if we lose.
UCLA shot 59% and Utah was held to 37% (box score). UCLA got to do basically whatever they wanted on both ends of the floor. Utah tried to do things, like matchup zone, and didn't do anything particularly well. Again, not surprising.
Josh Smith once again proved he can dominate terrible teams (14 points, 5-6 shooting), and the question of whether Howland would bench Anthony Stover (2 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks) for tweeting what we were all thinking anyway about the Oregon game was answered in the negative.
Maybe it's the proclamation earlier from Howland himself that the regular season essentially didn't matter anymore, but never did that seem more true than tonight, and the crowd (and our thread) pretty much agreed with that assessment.
I'm sure some, and especially the more delusional among us, are expecting a more comprehensive roundup after this big*, dominating**, crushing***, and corner-turning**** performance. Well that's not going to happen. Because I'm trying to erase this slogfest from my memory ASAP.
Up next, the league leading Colorado Buffaloes, fresh off of their own stomping of the Trogans, and led by Howland recruiting whiff Spencer Dinwiddie.
*LOL
**LOL
***LOL
****LOL
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If Block was there and saw the team beat Utah by 27...
…well, you get where I’m going…
Block was there?
Talk about a dilemma. It would be great to let him see t-shirts, etc. in the stands expressing sentiment that DG has to go, but that means not boycotting the game, and then if Block doesn’t show next time…
by islandbruin on Jan 26, 2012 10:35 PM PST up reply actions
Maybe Dan invited him out
I can only imagine the conversation went down like this. “Oh Glorious Chancellor of all mighty UCLA, will you grace us with your presence at our basketball game? Yes, the game with tall men and hoops. We are going to play a powerhouse and bitter rival, Utah. This year’s team is really, really good and I really need to show you that all of those rumors are fake – we are indeed a great team this year and I want to show you that I’ve been strapping it on every day.”
“Dearest Dan, my loyal minion, you know I don’t care for the brute and barbaric nature of sport but I will on behalf of your humble request, make a cameo so those ingrates will stop flooding my inbox and bothering my secretary. If you insist that this game is of paramount importance, I shall support your cause.”
“We have won by 27. Indeed is this team not excellent? Utah is a powerhouse and we are so lucky to have a capable head coach who took us to 3 Final Fours. I have been strapping it on every day.”
“Ah yes, Dan dearest. However, this arena’s conditions are deplorable and why are we playing a home game so close to USC’s campus. I would not let UCLA students play their intramurals in a decrepit shack of this nature.”
“What’s wrong with the LA Sports Arena?”
Dump Dan!
by bruinclassof10 on Jan 26, 2012 11:01 PM PST up reply actions 2 recs
Maybe another "UCLA on the Road" event with Chancellor Block has been scheduled
So just in case uncomfortable questions about the basketball team come up, Block can respond, “Hey, did anyone watch the Utah game?”
If there were 4K people there
Either they crammed them way the hell up there where no cameras could see, or they were dressed up like empty chairs.
I was at the game and would have said 3,000 or less
Students were above average but still likely less than 100. Band was in force.
I would think there was attendance inflation in the announced figures.
by Bruin Dad and Grad on Jan 27, 2012 8:13 AM PST up reply actions
It was a good win, even if expected
Our guys were hustling and they played unselfishly, nobody played like the season is over. There is still some fight in these guys. Go Bruins!
That anyone could even describe this win
Over a 5 win Utah team as a good win is a damning indictment of this program.
What?
We beat a bad team, like we should have, by 27 points and our coach won his 200th game as our coach, that’s a good win and a good night. Looking forward to attending the game on Saturday and cheering on my Bruins.
You can't look at one game in a vacuum.
We did what we were supposed to do—no more, no less. Utah is TERRIBLE.
by Kenneth Powers on Jan 26, 2012 11:48 PM PST up reply actions
All depends on your defintion of a "good win"
Redondo’s points are valid. I thought the fact they put the hammer down at the beginning of the second half was another good point.
But I also agree with you Tydides that it is hard to describe it as “good”.
by Bruin Dad and Grad on Jan 27, 2012 8:15 AM PST up reply actions
Howland
Howland won his 200th game tonight, can’t we at least take a moment to celebrate the accomplishment. Yes, the team hasn’t played the way we all expected the team to play and Josh may never be that player that his talent would allow him to be, but let’s enjoy the win and congratulate Coach Howland on his 200th win.
They say a win is a win.
Very true, but something tells me that in our case, it doesn’t seem like the win tonight thrilled anybody, proved anything whatsoever.
There is a malaise gripping the fanbase, just to paraphrase our former POTUS Jimmy Carter. Perhaps Howland fatique is really getting to me. I watched the last few minutes, just in time to catch that three pointer by Powell. Then the camera caught one of the Wears gently ribbing the rotund waist of Smith, trying to whisper a few words into his ears. Whatever that meant, I hope they were not celebrating mediocrity tonight.
Fan base malaise is not just a Bruin problem
Good article on Duke’s declining student numbers at games:
http://dukechronicle.com/article/low-attendance-forces-duke-athletics-sell-student-seats
At the very least, it is not due to lackluster, or even poor performance of the team
Let’s face it, come rain or shine, Duke fans do not look at THEIR coach with the same kind of skepticism we do now with ours.
I still wish Howland could revive our team, and for that matter, his own coaching prowess. Thus far, he appears to be someone whose best years are behind him already.
Hey Bruin Fans
As I was trolling the net I came across this.http://www.insidesocal.com/usc/archives/2011/01/jones-transfers-1.html……lol read the comments….atypical trogan meets typical trogan.
by Darthruv9 on Jan 27, 2012 2:36 AM PST via mobile reply actions
What a lineup!
You don’t have to know the record, even in this lousy conference, that 2 Wears, Jones, Lamb and Anderson can’t beat a decent team. Even Howland has thrown in the towel. The only questions that remain are: who is really coming next year, and is he going to seriously do something about Josh Smith in the off-season..unlike this year. I’m as disappointed as anyone hear in JS, but I really beliveve (without Shabazz) that he is our only hope to challenge nationally in the next two years.
Is the box score link a joke...
or maybe a double joke. 0-8.
Anyone notice how the Pac-12 was in blowout mode last night. Closest score spread was 15.
That's weird
I don’t recall looking at the box score for their game, so it’s odd that I’d be able to copy paste that exact URL.
There is something to take away.
While Utah is far from an impressive win and the blowout should have been expected, we can still acknowledge some of the tendencies that we broke away from. I’m thinking mostly of Zeek’s distribution of the ball and overall improvement in shot selection. His number of shot attempts were way down, and were distributed throughout the team. Perhaps something that we can look for moving forward.
Not really
He had 10 assists and one TO against ASU. Yes he was 3-10 in that game but I think it may be more a sign of the team they are playing.
It was nice the team did not let down. They took care of business. But it is hard to take much else against a bad team.
I think you are both right
You can’t really evaluate performance against a JV-quality team. You can’t make anything of Josh shooting a high percentage and getting a lot of points, for example. He could go up against a good team and whiff. So the only things worth looking at are the choices that people made. LJ did not gun it up, even when it got into garbage time and he could have gotten away with it. He got a nice writeup in the LA Times, so hopefully he will be reinforced. That’s good, but he still gets an incomplete, because before we get too happy with him we have to see what choices he makes when the Bruins are down and need leadership. If Colorado gets a big lead, will he be thinking “Excuse to Shoot!” or “I need to get the ball to my teammates in good scoring position?” We don’t know.
Why are the cameras on the same side as the student section?
This placement of the cameras makes the place look empty.
Why cut Jim Harrick out?
Jim Harrick, to the left of Coach, should be included in the official picture. He was cut from photo after firing.
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