Bruins Tire Late, Fall to St. John's 63-66
by Patroclus on Feb 18, 2012 12:21 PM PST
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Wish that I could have been surprised by this game, but the signs were clear coming into this morning's game in New York. In a game where neither team was ever able to take an extended run, the Bruins fell behind early in the second half and despite never falling more than a few points back, could not fight past the Johnies, through their fatigue or overcome their mistakes, losing at Madison Square Garden by a final score of 66-63.
As the Daily Bruin tounge-in-cheekly tweeted during the game, Coach Howland charitably matched St. John's shorthanded lineup by using only 7 players today - despite practicing on Friday and having been listed as probable in the injury report, Anthony Stover was again held out of action, while Brendan Lane again might as well have stayed in his Westwood apartment rather than travel to the game. Given the short lineup and high minutes played by the starters on Wednesday night against Southern Cal and the cross-country flight that followed, the idea that the starters were vulnerable to tiring as this game went on was a pretty obvious one, yet the bench was not well utilized. And as the players were struggling late, whatever fundamentals they have - or at least the ability to execute the fundamentals - were not on display for the audience watching on CBS. The inability of a Wear to box out continued today, most painfully coming in the final seconds as St. John's guard Phil Greene took advantage to put back a teammate's missed shot for what became the winning basket.
The Bruins were able to hold St. John's to 35% shooting in the first half, and 37% for the game but the Johnies took advantage of their opportunities at the line, hitting all 9 of their first half attempts and 14 of 16 for the game. there really was not much of a free throw advantage for the home team today, instead it was the frequent Bruin turnovers which really helped out their cause. UCLA turned the ball over 16 times today, "led" by Tyler Lamb's 8 giveaways, including a couple of time where he simply stepped out of bounds. At least Tyler was performing better in other aspects of his game, leading the team with 18 points (7-13 from the field) and coming down with 6 rebounds. Travis Wear finished with a double-double (11 points, 13 rebounds, 7 offensive) while Joshua Smith and David Wear scored 13 each with a small sum of rebounds. Not much offensive production from our remaining guards: Jerime Anderson and Lazeric Jones combined for 8 points on 2-15 shooting, though Jerime did dish out 7 assists and took 4 steals on the defensive end.
All in all, this is far too typical of a Bruin performance in the contemporary Ben Howland era. For folks that have not gotten their fill of UCLA Sports today, the Bruin baseball team continues their series against Maryland this afternoon at JRS. Our open thread for that game will be going up around 1:30 PST.
This is your post-St John's thread. Have at it, folks.
GO BRUINS!
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For those who care ...
You should know what to do. Call and email the Chancellor’s office on Tuesday to let him know if you won’t give a penny to UCLA until there is a new AD.
by Nestor on Feb 18, 2012 12:42 PM PST via mobile reply actions
Same stuff, different day.
Thanks for your service Ben. Feel free to resign so we can move on.
Lamb Got on the JLin Bandwagon Today
Looks like the MSG wore off on Lamb… team-high 18 points to go along with 8 turnovers…
To sum it up:
Ben Ball Offense: Slow, robotic, clumsy, disorganized, out-of-sync
Ben Ball Defense: Slow, uninspired, unathletic, lazy
Ben Ball, 2008 to 2012.
Sorry, missed the game today. 2 Youth B-Ball games to Coach! I looked at the Box Score...
We played a 7 man rotation and J. Smith only played for 22 minutes? Lamb had 8 turnovers. UCLA kept it close….but ran out of gas per our usual road drama of this year. No depth and no inside presence. How can we recruit to obtain and keep depth if our Coach is on the HotSeat and an AD on the way out the door? Perhaps that IS the formula! New renovated Pauley Pavilion, new HC and new A.D.!!!?? “If we build it, they will come!”
Lane was in street clothes in the second half
Is he injured?
He was dressed in the first half???
by Bruin Dad and Grad on Feb 18, 2012 12:53 PM PST reply actions
Swiss Cheese Theory
I’m sure its been brought up before, but often when something goes wrong (i.e. we are beat by a St John’s team playing without a head coach and made up of almost all freshman), there are usually many different reasons/problems/errors which, in aggregate, lead to this outcome…
Here is a link which details the theory: http://patientsafetyed.duhs.duke.edu/module_e/swiss_cheese.html
Well, here are my cheesy thoughts on this particular game:
1. Poor rebounding/blocking out – we should have dominated the boards since they had no one playing over 6-8, but like usual… i’m actually amazed to see we had equal numbers of boards as the Johnnies
2. Joshua was ineffective – had one of his typical I-only-play-with-energy-in-the-state-of-Washington days. couldn’t get the ball, couldn’t block out and only had 3 boards, and was a liability on defense again
3. Inability to get free-throws – which kinda relates to not being able to get the ball to the bigs as much as we should have (see #’s 2 and 4). sadly, i believe our 9 of 13 for 69% FT shooting is better than our average.
4. Difficulty with the zone – as evidenced by 15 turnovers
5. Powell vs St. John’s frosh – my frustration with Powell (only 2nd to Smith – which I have gotten past the anger stage already) came to a head like a ripe teenage zit exploding like a volcano today, as I realized how it seems Powell has not made significant progress since the beginning of the year – 0 for 3 with 0 FT, 0 rebounds, 5 assists (yay!), 1 steal, 0 TO (yay!), and 2 PF in 13 mins. When I recall his season thus far, all I can think of is him waiting on the wings for the 3, passing around the perimeter, sometimes a flash on a rare fast break, some turnovers, and sometimes a liability on D. Can somebody help me here? I long for him to streak to the basket, move more off the ball, create plays… be a factor in the game! Are they not running any plays for him? Do the coaches tell him to sit there waiting on the wings only to pass around the ball or shoot a 3? I guess just seeing how all the freshmen on the Johnnies were today kinda made me reflect and wonder how much progress Norm has made this year…
Which brings me to one other thought and question I had… who is responsible? Besides Ben, what are the assistant coaches doing? Its probably been discussed a couple times here in the past, but can someone refresh my memory?
Apologies for the note of frustration… but thanks for BN for being my therapy for the day. :)
You nailed it!
Terrible frosh year for such a talented prospect. Whose fault? Its not out of the question that Powell has just given up and is waiting to play somewhere else in 2014. But besides Powell, its been a waste of a year for Smith (his own fault) and Stover (not enough playing time to improve), and Lane (same). Speaking of Lane, maybe he decided at the half that he’s outta here. Not many would blame him. Watching a bit of Drew Gordon after our (pathetically uninspired) game I realized that Howell just doesn’t know how to corral spirited young bucks. He’s more comfortable with dullards. Its going to be sad to watch next year as Anderson and Adams try to find a meaningful place on this team. UNLV is licking their chops waiting for them to transfer.
OK, If no one else is going to do it, I guess I'll have to.
What’s wrong with …
- Slowly walking the ball up court almost every time on offense. 5 perimeter passes without even looking inside
-
- Then start dong something that looks like an offense Have no one except do any actual work to get open on offense (Smith just sort of ambles around, but no one runs the baseline like 100% of the teams we play do)
-
- Never finding someone under the basket and then laying a body on them to box them out Never ever following a shot (do these guys think that they’ll never miss, so they never will need to follow a shot)
-
There’s a Bilblical admonition against being just lukewarm. Our offense is, at best, lukewarm. We have nothing. Maybe this explains why the Bricklayer played – he never hesitated when it came time to shoot.
Also, what’s wrong with playing 7 guys on Wednesday, knowing you had a cross-country flight to a place where you’ve never played well, and knowing that your 7 players always run out of gas at the last part of the game? Is there really any wonder why guys leave this program? I can’t think of many kids who want to accept a scholarship and only get off the bench during practice. Wasn’t there someone who got embarrassed because he had his street clothes on under his warmups? That’s what our last 6 guys probably do.
In conclusion, what’s wrong with being an absolutely predictable coach who can’t recognize the obvious?
I agree with you, Geez, Esq. - You have just defined "Howland's Law"
Everything that can be wrong with this team is in fact wrong with this team . . . its worse than Murphy’s Law . . . its Howland’s Law. There is never a sense of urgency . . . Anderson and Zeek simple walk the ball up the court, with the likelihood that Josh needs at least 20 seconds to get down in the blocks (when he’s actually playing). The guys run the offense in slo-mo like they’re at practice. Nobody ever does anything close to showing emotion or heart. The players lack the fundamentals of blocking out, switching, and even helping out a guy thats been beat. Josh’s feet are literally nailed to the floor . . . the Wear’s try hard on offense but they miss so many chippies that they loose “and one” opportunities. Guys on the bench arent playing so the stiffs that are getting 30+ minutes have no concern for they’re starting jobs. Talent is being wasted on the bench. Coaching decisions are atrocious. When was the last time Howland got a technical called . . . if just to get the team fired up? The malaise is killing me . . . they couldnt even get hyped up for a nationally-televised game in MSG. A high school coach would be fired . . . I’m sick of talking sh*t from everyone when I wear UCLA gear . . . its just enough already.
Not to rub salt on our collective wounds..........
But, I live in New Mexico, so CBS only broadcast unranked UNM vs # 11 UNLV @ same time as Bruin game. UNM Lobos had just defeated #13 SDSU on the road for a decisive victory earlier this week, and this match up today was key for UNM’s tourney hopes. I watched UNM Lobos clean UNLV’s clock, with the MVP/lead scorer/rebounder none other than our former Bruin, Drew Gordon. I have had a hard time rooting for the guy, but for those of you who haven’t seen any highlights, Drew was an absolute beast on the court, both on offense and defense. He was the first Howland “defector,” and at the time I said “good riddance Mr. Attitude,” but watching him play as a real team player today, leading UNM to an authoritative vicory, (Another side note of course is that Moser is a key effective player on #11 UNLV), I am now reassessing my thoughts on what has transpired w/Howland and his players since our “core” group of Final Four players have moved on. Sad to say, but Mr. Howland needs to go, and UCLA basketball needs an innovative new coach to restore the UCLA order.
Gordon
put up 27 and 20(!) today. Moser and Stanbeck weren’t nearly as good for UNLV but Gordon was an absolute monster
by bucknellbruin on Feb 18, 2012 3:30 PM PST up reply actions
Howland
I am so tired of seeing our coach making zero adjustments. To think that their five freshman controlled the tempo which we totally fed into, shows you he is not a good coach period. It was so hard for me to watch that I missed most of it, but I assume we didn’t try a zone or if we did, he didn’t give it much of a chance. I would rather take a chance of missing out on some recruits and start out fresh with a new coach, than underachieve for the next how many years?
Go Bruins!
Yes, how on earth do five freshmen dictate the tempo?
I didn’t notice at the time, but pretty amazing, now that you mention it.
by Seth Chandler on Feb 18, 2012 7:10 PM PST up reply actions
Fire Dan / Fire Howland
If Neuheisel was not fired after the Arizona game you know Howland is not going to be either. Imagine if Howland is fired now and an assistant is named Interim coach. This would give Block time to fire Dan and replace him with someone who can make a good BB coach hire. This would energize our players and may turn it around for us.
I just don’t think Block even realizes what an incompetent ass DG really is. Now that Mora has had a great start, this reflects positively for the Strap on Dan. He may even get a contract extension.
I am just frustrated beyond belief, what else can we do force change; this is intolerable.
by cyberdbk on Feb 18, 2012 4:26 PM PST via mobile reply actions
Howland will save his job but...
Only because he’s going to talk up some lame ass story about if he leaves our recruiting class will fall apart.
opponent's FT %
Somehow I feel like our oppnents always shoot ridiculously high FT %…if only I had the motivation to look up this stat. Doesn’t matter, I guess.
Article in Daily Breeze today
If there is not a message being sent to the administration at UCLA with this article, then i plan to eat my old hat…. Don Monson, who already lives in the area, sees what is wrong with the coaching at UCLA (managing the players so they can be themselves and still excel) and is calling it out. How about a new AD, and a new coach from LBSU?
http://www.dailybreeze.com/sports/ci_19994007
Mensgym
Daily Breeze quote from above.
Note the words.. “confidence”, “molding”…. coach is the one to adapt….
“Monson has learned plenty over the years. Perhaps most important is he lets players be who they are on the court in order to bring out the best in them, and the team.
“To be a good coach, you have to be the one to adapt and let the kids play to their strengths and not try to make them adapt to what you’re doing,” Monson said. “This team – and it’s hard to do – you have to let them go more than most teams because their strength is in space in open court.”
His players love that credo.
“He gives us a lot of leeway to kind of play, have a little freedom on the court,” senior guard Larry Anderson said. “And he pushes really hard, so I think he pretty much molded us, as far as us seniors, really well and gave us a lot of confidence.” "
Mensgym
Were Stover and Lane Unavailable?
Just curious. Does not answer season long issues, but I won’t criticize him for that particular failing if he had no choice.
But, I will criticize him for not playing deeper against sc and saving his starters for this game.
sjh
Someone mentioned upthread that Lane suffered food poisioning
As for Stover, the media reported that he practiced with the team in NYC on Friday and was listed as probable for today’s game. Have not seen anything explaining his absence yet.
formerly bruinhoo
Does it matter
Howland will continue to do what he has been doing. He has mis-managed almost as many NBA players as he put in the league. UCLA is what brings the players to the school. We need the coach from Butler. He can coach and he will get the players that he will never see at Butler.
oh c'mon...
I’m disappointed too but please tell me that’s not a serious question…
by DoubleTroubleBruin on Feb 18, 2012 11:03 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
Not a serious question because you think he will come if UCLA calls
or not a serious question because he won’t leave Butler? Because I feel it is the latter. It may very well be a positive that Stevens will not see the players at Butler that he would see at UCLA; what, exactly, did that #1 recruiting class win us? Stevens is notorious for not giving a damn about the recruiting system, and he is smart enough to know that there are two primary ways to win in the NCAAs: great one-and-dones with a few experienced role players sprinkled in, or a team packed with experienced players (i.e. the mid majors). To be in between, getting good (but not great) players that leave early, is probably the quickest way to get fired.
Stevens’ record at Butler is as good as any major program, he is an Indiana native and he feels a debt to Butler for giving him a chance. Lickliter preceded him at Butler and is now fired from Iowa. Thad Matta was before Lickliter and actually has had less success in the past few years compared to Stevens with a hell of a lot more talent.
We forget, but the reason Chianti Dan even got CBH in the first place was because Howland was absolutely infatuated with UCLA. It feels like a long time ago, but I remember wondering what the hell we would do when Roy Williams decided against coming out West. I have absolutely no faith in Chianti to get a great coach after CBH. It would take a miracle to get Stevens out of Indiana (thought now since Tom Crean is looking like his seat in Bloomington is safe, I personally believe that miracle might be when Coach K retires), and Chianti sure isn’t a miracle worker.
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