Colorado at UCLA Basketball Roundup: Silliness
by DCBruins on Jan 29, 2012 5:57 AM PST
in Basketball
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UCLA offensive execution was a thing of beauty Saturday afternoon. It made Colorado, look, well silly:
The Buffs, who fell out of a tie for first-place in the Pac-12, had been holding opponents to 38.8 percent shooting entering the game. The Bruins made 31-of-52 shots (59.6 percent) and finished with 26 assists.
"They played better than us. Period," CU senior guard Carlon Brown said after being held to six points. "They shot the ball well, they executed better, and they made our defense look pretty bad. . . .
"We're the best field-goal percentage defensive team in the league," Boyle noted. "And they made us look silly."
Leading the charge was Tyler Lamb, who had his best game as a Bruin according to Coach Ben Howland:
Lamb's smothering defense all but totally shut down Brown, the Buffalos' leading scorer, setting the tone in a convincing 77-60 UCLA victory over Pac-12 co-leader Colorado at the Sports Arena.
Lamb held Brown to one field goal, none in the game's final 26 minutes-plus, and had team-highs in steals (3) and rebounds (7) plus a blocked shot on afternoon in which the Bruins limited Colorado to 34.8 percent shooting from the field in a second half in which UCLA led by 19.
Lamb, the sophomore out of Mater Dei High, was just as impressive on the offensive end, connecting on 3 of 5 shots from behind the 3-point arc on the way to 13 points while also handing out six assists.
"His best game as a Bruin," UCLA coach Ben Howland said of Lamb's performance.
But this was more than a one man effort.
Even the normally depressing Sports Arena crowd was better.
"Our crowd got here today and supported us," UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "I think our players were very enthused by the support of our fans and the students today. That was really nice. I think this is by far the best crowd we've had at the Sports Arena this year."
The crowd of 9,253 was the largest for the Bruins at home this season, including games played at Honda Center.
But more than the crowd the team played a complete game on offense:
We were in the huddle and we were communicating in timeouts, coach Howland was asking us what we thought would work and our senior guards stepped up a lot."
Senior guard Lazeric Jones had a team-high 17 points and nine assists, Anderson added eight points and eight assists and Lamb added 12 points and six assists as UCLA finished with 26 on the afternoon. The sharp passing helped the Bruins erase an early deficit that was plagued by sloppiness.
As Howland said:
"That's how basketball is meant to be played," Coach Ben Howland said. "I love it that our players get joy out of making a pass that leads to a play."
And the UCLA offense is playing very efficiently. As Peter Yoon writes:
The Bruins were a well-oiled machine on offense, shooting a season-best 59.6 percent from the field for the game and getting 26 assists with only 12 turnovers. And this against the team that entered the game holding opponents to a Pac-12 leading 38.8 percent shooting. . . .
The 26 assists were a season high and the most for UCLA since Dec. 31, 2006, against Washington.
It was the second consecutive game that the Bruins set a season best in field goal percentage and the fifth time in six games that the Bruins have shot over 50 percent. They are now shooting 50.4 percent in Pac-12 games -- second in the conference. Over the last seven games, UCLA is shooting 52.5 percent.
"We're executing better and better as the season progresses," Howland said. "We really went back to work on it after the first road trip in conference."
But that is just it. UCLA is still 1-4 on the road and has not won a game against a Division I opponent outside of Los Angeles and only beat win-less U$C on the road this year. So that's why I don't like the sentiment that Jones shows here:
"Beating a team like this shows we can be in [the race]," Jones said. "If we continue to do that, who knows where we'll end up."
Because of the start the Bruins had this year and win-less trips to Northern California and Oregon, UCLA has to win for the first time since 2004 on the road at Washington to stay "in the race" and likely win the rest of their Pac-12 road games. That seems like an unrealistic proposition and a "silly" thing to predict.
So enjoy the good offensive execution until Thursday night on ESPN against Washington. Because we all know Thursday night ESPN games work out well for Bruins fans. Sorry I am being silly.
Go Bruins.
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Chianti Dan will be bursting with pride
9253 fans for a home game !!
A new season high !!
We are supposed to be a program on a par with Kansas, Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina.
When was the last time they drew as few as 9253 fans?
This is just a further benchmark showing how far our revenue programs have cratered under Chianti Dan.
Well I think it was "I am going to college day" yesterday
So they gave out probably over 4,000 free tickets to kids. Nice sentiment but if those guys had any imagination they’d probably do it much earlier in the year.
True, but
I don’t think it was near 4000. They were in the upper area and pretty spread out. The nice thing was that the lower and mid level were finally more filled in. I also agree. Why aren’t they just giving out tickets to any kids any time! To schools or in the neighborhood. Let’s hook the kids in South L.A. to our brand.
Go Bruins!
Another thing...
This was only the 2nd sports arena game (Texas the 1st), where all season ticket holders had tickets. The morons came up with a system where you could only by half of the pre-conference games + Texas. A lot of people did. So, yesterday, everyone had a ticket. Friggin way to get support for the team chianti. I mean really.
Go Bruins!
Wow, really?
Season ticket holders are, well, SEASON ticket holders. Why not all the games? I don’t even know what to think anymore.
by Alanamaslama on Jan 29, 2012 8:58 AM PST up reply actions
Really.
I guess they were concerned folks wouldn’t buy season tickets for the arena (duh!), so they gave a blue option, a gold option, a sports arena only option, or an all games option. You could save quite a bit by not buying the gold or blue.
Go Bruins!
AT least that many kids
And it was key to the crowd energy. Do it AGAIN.
Watched the game on TV last night. The crowd noise did not come across the TV. In the first half it was all the kids. They got everyone else involved.
by Bruin Dad and Grad on Jan 29, 2012 10:38 AM PST up reply actions
How about giving away free tickets to college kids - such as kids who attend UCLA.
Free tickets would undoubtedly get some people to attend who wouldn’t ordinarily do so. The kids to who Morgan Center is giving free tickets now are more likely to buy tickets to just$c* home games than to ours, on the other side of town. Giving free tix to Bruins, on the other hand, may well create lifelong fans.
But no. Morgan Center knows better. Dan is a great leader. And the denizens of our athletic department never, ever lie to us.
I'm still highly skeptical of that number
That’s 60% capacity, and from the low angle crowd shots, the lower bowl didn’t even look 60% full, so unless the upper bowl was more densely packed, which I can’t remember happening in any arena ever, then that number is BS.
that number is tickets sold, not actual attendance
sometimes it can be a lot higher than the actual number of people there, as there are always those people that buy tickets and don’t show up
by bucknellbruin on Jan 29, 2012 8:45 AM PST up reply actions
Lots of kids up on the 3rd level
but no it was not at 60% capacity.
by Bruin Dad and Grad on Jan 29, 2012 10:39 AM PST up reply actions
yup, this would be straightforward
tell people if they don’t show up by half-time, they lose their seats; and then other people get to move down.
If it helps Chianti etc to think of it this way: you could charge people $5 to move down to courtside seats at half-time. All the tickets are barcoded these days, this would seem to be easy to implement.
I tried to move down to the loge section on Thursday night with about 15 minutes left in the game and the usher turned me away. . . and there were a LOT more open seats on Thursday. I know the team would rather have those lower seats filled — kind crazy in my opinion.
by DesCon Sports on Jan 30, 2012 11:07 AM PST up reply actions
everytime i try to move down
they don’t let me, even when theres no one there D: lol
My Take Aways:
1. CBH Listening: For all of his well documented stubbornness, I find it interesting that in huddles CBH is asking the players what hey think and the senior guards are stepping up and leading. This is not a side of CBH that we see — the image is of a stubborn coach who is not all that collaborative. I wonder if this is a change or has been going on for a long time. If a change, I wonder if the improved assist ratio and guard “leadership” is a function of this better communication.
2. Players Improving? I’ve questioned whether CBH is a good “teacher” as opposed to being a good tactician. In the past, I’ve wondered if our players were improving — which I view as the result of good teaching. I am seeing improvement in several of the players, some improving from last year (Lamb, especially) and some getting better within this season — both Wears. With the Wears, the improvement was to be expected; neither had really played since high school and probably needed time to get back into game form. But, there have been improvements in almost all of the players, save Josh, and he has been held back by conditioning more than learning.
However, one game does not a communicator or season make. The key is consistency. Let’s see if we can replicate this on the road.
sjh
On point 1 I totally agree.
Example: yesterday they were about to run a play after inbounding. Before we got the ball, Lamb went to the bench made a suggestion, then when Zeke got the ball, you could hear Lamb say “Zeke” and call out something else. Zeke passed it to Lamb and a beautiful play unfolded.
Go Bruins!
Well
None of these points are going to matter much if we don’t win on Thursday night. We have seen signs of Howland “listening” and players “improving” in spurts here and there last three years. But when reality hits us in the face they become moot.
They may not matter at all
It may be too little too late — but they are my observations from yesterday.
I’m not arguing for CBH’s retention or against it. My biggest concern on that front is not allowing Strap On to make another selection.
What I wrote is what I got from yesterday, not the season, not the past seasons. Just one game.
sjh
I get that
And that one game can be construed as nothing more than an oasis at this point:
When watching such a pretty game, like the one against Colorado, it’s very easy to get swept away with it. The way UCLA played was, truly, an oasis in the general desert of a mediocre season. The issue, of course, is: when the team goes on the road this weekend for the oasis not to turn into a mirage.That was from Pierson in a review not behind subscription firewall.
Last night’s improvements will be meaningless ones if there is no followup and the Bruins lose on Thursday night. At this point unless the Bruins win 7-8 games in a row and get themselves into the tourney pic (not NIT garbage), this season will be a complete and total waste.
Followup
Yup. When you watch the game, and particularly if you are there, you can be suckered by the siren song of, “We have turned the corner.” And sure we can run the table and yeah win it all in a hoops stampede.
But that will never occur if the consistency we have never seen this year never develops.
Followup is the only way this season gets salvaged.
For me I always think about.....
….how UCLA would do against Duke, Syracuse, etc. And then it puts current performances in perspective. I’d be surprised if we were within 20 of any of the top 5, but we should be beating them.
Hear Hear!
My biggest concern on that front is not allowing Strap On to make another selection.
It’s time to stop letting a twelve year old have the keys to the family truckster.
The Mad Bruin
It's one thing to be flexible and open to suggestions in a blowout
It’s another to do it when the game is tight and the pressure is on.
I agree BUT
that is not how Howalnd is stubborn. Look Howland is not a bad coach like Lavin, Farmer, or Hazzard. He is a good coach but has he lost his way or is he good enough for UCLA are the relevant questions. Three things in response from this game.
1. For as well as we played yesterday we were almost losing the first half until Lamb and Powell hit two big threes at the end. Our defense only played well for a half. Against a bad road Colorado team that is enough. On the road against AZ and UW on ESPN and CBS I have serious concerns. This could get ugly like the Kal game, where we played very well on offense in the first half.
2. And this gets to where Howland is Stubborn. First on players. While the starting five is well coached, their ability is limited. None of the starting five is NBA level material. But two and half guys on the bench may be. Putting aside Josh for a minute, Norman Powell is a better defender than Anderson, Jones, or Lamb. Anderson was burned early yesterday and is the worst athlete to start for UCLA in a long time, period. (On the plus side Anderson is playing close to his limited ability) And it is not fair, an example, Powell was out of position and got beat on a play in the first half but he came from behind blocked the shot and forced a jump ball. Powell needs to play more because he is a better player than Anderson but CBH won’t do that because Anderson is playing close to his potential and a senior.
Stover is the same problem to a much lesser extent. This team is good on the set offense. Stover is not much help there and to be honest ugly. But Stover is great on defense. This team needs defense help sometimes which is not something the Wears can do that well and Stover is an answer there.
3. Howland is stubborn in the way he plays his players. The zone is gone now. We will need it against UW. Will he dust it off? Will he play Stover more at 5? More likely he will again try the utterly failed experiment of David Wear at 3. Why did we not show a zone in the first half when we were struggling on D? Howland said earlier he would play both defenses. Yes, we played nice D in the second half but again, this is Colorado on the road not UW at home.
He REALLY likes David Wear at 3
And I honestly have no idea why. I can’t remember that being a good thing for us at any point in this season. It’s sort of like the instant impact you get when Stover subs in directly for Smith and you get a defensive upgrade and energy boost, except in reverse. DWear at 3 ultimately means less time for Powell, two things that Howland seems to love, and the rest of us universally detest.
Yep and IF he does it
Say Anderson and Powell are in foul trouble, so David Wear may be the last resort. Okay, then he HAS to play zone if David Wear is at the three. Which again he won’t do.
To your second point...
it puts Howland in a precarious position. I agree that Powell is a overall better player, but makes a lot of Freshman mistakes. The biggest example is his overall inconsistency (to be expected as a Freshman). Give Powell more minutes (freshman mistakes and all) and get him ready for next year, but potentially lose some winnable games because of it. We all then use it as further proof that Howland cannot do his job where it matters most…in the win column. However, do not play Powell more and we get on Howland for not making the planning for the future. A future that many of us think he shouldn’t have in the first place. That’s tough.
I disagree with the premise
I do not think playing Powell more minutes is a net loss, even right now. It is a loss on offense, but a bigger gain on defense. Also, CBH has said playing Anderson too many minutes will bring diminishing returns.
A key to the comeback in the first half was Powell’s play. Anderson was torched on D. The +/- for Anderson in the first half was 7. The +/ for Powell was +4.
Anderson poor D helped Co in the first half. Powell lesser set offense ability was more than offset by his better ability. Powell is a better for the team now, not always but a break in that game may have been when Anderson had to sit some in the first half with fouls. It saved Anderson for the second half and got Powell more minutes.
Oh I see...I think you're right.
Perhaps something we CAN take from a single game then.
No but even in a "big" win
There are questions. And Powell has been a good defender for a while now. Even if CBH is playing to win right now I am not sure he is playing the best lineup. And what happens when we play at UW when the talent level of the other side goes up. Experience only goes so far against superior talent.
by DCBruins on Jan 29, 2012 10:55 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
Wrong
DWear at the 3 means that he’s already going with a 2 Wear lineup and a center. Having both Wears in at the forward spots instead of 4/5 gets you diminishing returns, and has the added bonus of making us the insanely slow team we were when we lost our first two games. Powell and one Wear at 4 is a better lineup than Wears at both forward spots and gives us the best chance to win both now and later. It’s tough…for you, since you so desperately want to defend Howland but are finding it more and more difficult to do so.
We Agree More Than Disagree
The “slow starts”/unacceptable play is a function of starting the wrong players. D. Wear should not start. For defensive purposes, Stover should — until we control the D end of the floor. Yes, he may not score, but a team cannot fall behind 8-10 points at the beginning of most games and later win them. The cost of falling behind in terms of effort required to catch up is too great — it forces us to play Zeek and Lamb too many minutes.
So, we go down, and then we put in Stover who gives us a burst of energy, blocks some shots, our good D turns to O, we battle back, and then we pull Stover — only to give ground again. Start Stover.
Josh cannot play effective man D — especially when he is called upon to hedge; he just is not fast enough to get out and back, and it tires him out. So, if we want Josh’s O, why not zone while he is in the game? It would also protect him against fouls.
I’d even like to see both Stover and Josh on the court at the same time — just curious to see how the combo would work. I know people say it can’t be done because you need Stover to back up Josh — but truth is we play much of the game without either on the floor — so why not?
sjh
I don't get to watch enough to be able to offer a reasoned opinion about Smith,
but from what I have see, he is not a D-1 athlete. I can’t remember when I have seen anyone that slow. I have seen him get rebounds, but I don’t think I have ever seen his feet leave the ground. If I were coaching the opposition, I would run every play right at Smith and take my chances. A player even marginally quick would go around him like he was standing still. (But wait – he is standing still.) A reasonably tall player with a reasonable turn around shot ought to be able to shoot 80% against him.
Stover may not be able to score (and to be honest, I don’t remember even noticing him when he’s played in the couple of games I’ve seen), but I am so discouraged with Smith’s dreadful slowness that I would put just about anyone in ahead of him. Maybe IE Angel or JTthirtyfour can show me some nuances about his skills that I haven’t seen, but I don’t think the guy should be playing at all.
This may all be a function of his weight, but I doubt it. I just think the guy is slow. I used to play a little bball myself, and I know what slowness looks like. Frankly, I’m a shorter, pudgier, paler version of Smith. I would not start myself if I were Coach Howland.
DCBruins
To your #3. If Coach Howland will put Anderson, Lamb, Powell, Stover and Wear on the floor and give them time to Gel, UCLA will have created a winning combination with some much needed energy. Experiments., 2 Wears on the floor = bad Science, too much Jones + Smith = no science, low chemistry, they are weaker.
I’m just saying
The starting five played lights out last night and
the bench played a role by giving the starters rest and to keep T Wear from fouling out. Yes the 1st half was ugly and the team needs to work on their slow starts but this win was mainly due to the play of the starting five. The bench: 2 rebounds, 14 points, 5-12 shooting. Powell is a great problem to have in terms of getting him more minutes. I think he makes the other guards play better. Stover is a liability because he has no offensive skills. When he comes in the defense is vastly improved but when we transition to offense we look weak.
Josh Smith: Why does JS hit the floor so much? It looks like his weight leaves him unbalanced. Why does he look uncomfortable in his uniform? Give him a bigger jersey. Why does he play with the mouthpiece even during the action? It looks like he uses the mouthpeice as a pacifier. Why does he look lost out on the court? His immaturity must prevent him from learning the plays.
Josh Smith has got to change his attitude about the game of basketball. His lack of mobility and leadership on both sides of the court is hurting the team.
Don McClain agrees with your "looking lost" analysis
Donnie Mack describes it as poor basket or floor awareness. Josh, when he gets the ball, too often looks like he struggles to find the basket. Watch the other players when they are under the basket, they smoothly make their move to the hoop.
Now if you or I were just a sophomore and being pushed, hacked, shoved, leaned upon and kidney punched by a 235 pound 22 year old Division I kid who can bench press the Sports Arena, well, our floor awareness would be suspect too. Both Josh and his coaches need to work this issue and no doubt they are.
I hope it is a sophmore transition to big time basketball and JS
becomes the all american that is in inside of him in his junior year. If JS is in Dvision I shape he can dominates on both the ends of the court. He would be Stover on defense and KL on offense.
Re: It looks like he uses the mouthpiece as a pacifier.
That is precisely my thought. Grow up. Look at Big Baby Glenn of the Celtics. When he was in college, we beat his team senseless. Five years and quite a few pounds lighter, he is a pretty productive NBA player.
Smith is many pounds heavier than KLove when the latter was an overweight freshman. Recently I saw Minnesota played and I couldn’t recognize it was KLove, lean, muscular in a sinewy fashion. I hope Smith read the newspaper and knows the multiple digit contract Minnesota just inked with Love.
U$C finally has a conference win over Utah
What a wacky pac-12 conference we have.
Yesterday, the team had great execution, but when those plays start to break down, you need players who can make something out of nothing. We really don’t have anyone like that (outside of Zeek, who isn’t necessarily great at it). We don’t have much of a reliable go-to-guy. So we have to pray for perfect execution of set plays every time…a difficult goal.
The crowd
A number of prior comments related to the crowd. I have no idea how the attendance is calculated. Never trust a press flack. But I was there and this I know.
There were more folks present than at any game to date in the Sports Arena. No doubt. There were more geezers (alumni) present. But the upper level was populated with high school kids. They filled a majority of the upper level. The public address announcer identified them in the second half (I don’t remember how he described them) and they cheered wildly for themselves which is what high schoolers do. The bubble gumming teeny boppers made a lot of good noise, had a lotta’ fun and no doubt learned they need to work on their grades if they want to be True Blue.
Nestor above says it was college day
and those tickets were give aways
Who bothered asking this to Stover I wonder?
https://twitter.com/#!/Anth0nySt0ver/status/163681960013742080
Stover covered his eyes when Smith stepped on the ball and fell
after his dunk. That is what it is reference too.
I
Howland wraps himself in the glory of Coach Wooden and claims he is the keeper of the flame, when he so clearly isn’t, on some many levels.
I was going to write a longer message, but ended up sending that one accidentally
However, notwithstanding the typos, it sums up how I feel so . Sadly, a decent game on any individual night does not change the direction of his program, or the very real need for change, despite the impediment of Guerror being in the position to pick his successor.
He doesn't 'wrap himself in the glory'
he is very humble and reverential towards Coach. I cannot emphasize enough how much Coach would dislike his memory being casually used as a stick to beat underperfoming coaches.
There is plenty of legitimate criticism to throw at Howland – try sticking to that and leave Coach out of it.
Irony to me that this team actually executes offense the best...
I have to say that despite all of the problems this team is having this year, I think this team is one of the best, if not the be best, team I’ve seen able to execute an actual team half-court offense, especially the zone. There isn’t that lazy cross court passing around the perimeter vs. the zone that drove me crazy in earlier years, there’s actually ball movement and player movement that creates open shots; part of it may also be the ability of a lot of the players to hit an open j (at least, more so than before), but the offensive movement in the half court has been impressive to me.
The problem has been, especially on the road, when things are tight, we don’t have a guy we can go to that can consistently hit his shot in the clutch… and if the game is on the line, and we have to give it to somebody to create a shot, forget it. I’m not sure if Zeke gets tired at the end of games or what, but we need a shot to stay in the game late, his drives or shots end up being forced and sometimes pathetic. I think the guy who do it all if we need to hit a shot is Jeremie at this point, but that’s the top of a weak crop. I’m not sure what’s going to happen next season, when we’ll have a pretty strong and better experienced front court, but no PG, unless Drew is a real answer…
It's not just Zeke
Good teams, when things get tight, go inside. Josh Smith needs to become that guy too. He’s the one who can get position down low and make an easy shot or get fouled.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
Yes I agree but...
Yes, you’re right there… however, when things get tight we also need a guy who can make his free throws, and Josh, who’s not a terrible free throw shooter, just hasn’t been clutch in that department, yet. When the chips are down, it’d be great to depend on getting the ball inside to Josh or being able to depend on Zeke or Jeremie to take it to the basket.
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