Instant Impact

by Nestor on Apr 12, 2008 10:39 AM PDT in Recruiting Comment 45 comments

From future seniors in football, let's talk about some incoming freshmen Ben Ball warriors. Some of you are already on this. If you are anywhere near Portland (OR) today, you may want to check out our Fab-4 playing in the Nike Hoops Summit. The Oregonian ran a feature today on our future Ben Ball warriors, who are excited about coming in an making in an instant impact:

"You're going to see what we're going to do at UCLA," Holiday said after a practice at the Nike campus near Beaverton. "Everybody up here, all of them are great players, and they all do everything. I think we're going back to the Final Four. If those guys leave, I think all four of us that are here have the ability."

"Those guys" are center Kevin Love and guards Russell Westbrook and Darren Collison, who will surprise few if they make themselves available for the NBA draft. Regardless of their decisions, Anderson also is excited about the possibilities next season.

"All of us are real capable guys, so it's a lot of fun to see what each other can do," said Anderson, who has played with Holiday on a traveling team. "I've been playing with Jrue for a couple years now, so I know his game pretty well, but seeing Drew dunking on people and Malcolm doing his thing, it's a lot of fun."

Holiday -- whose parents played basketball at Arizona State and whose brother, Justin, is a freshman forward at Washington -- is the jewel of the class.

He averaged 25.4 points, 11.2 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 4.4 steals and 2.4 blocks for North Hollywood (Calif.) this past season and became the 16th player in California history to score more than 2,600 career points. Scout.com and Rivals.com rate him the No. 3 recruit in the class of 2008.

Lee (6-5) and Anderson (6-1) aren't as polished as Holiday but have tremendous versatility. The fleet and muscular Gordon (6-8) is a relentless force inside, having averaged 17 rebounds as a senior.

The four are primed to play big roles as freshmen. If Love, Westbrook and Collison leave for the NBA draft, as expected, coach Ben Howland will need the newcomers to get acclimated quickly for the Bruins to make the Final Four for the fourth year in a row.

Read the rest of the feature here which has more quotes from Gordon and Anderson. Although let's not get way ahead of ourselves and start thinking about another Final-4 at this point. I think they key to next year will be the return of LRMAM and AA2. If we get those two guys back, we are going to have a chance to put together a very decent season allowing us to take a run at our 4t straight conference title (which is going to have a down year with defection of boat load of NBA talents up and down the conference).

However, it is a testament to the kind of job Coach Howland has done that even if in the worst case nuclear scenario, he has a kind of class lined up that had the mindset to make immediate contributions, and do what they can to keep our basketball program at a good place.

GO BRUINS.

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Hacksaw Hamilton

I was listening to his radio show earlier and he had a caller basically saying that Howland is a bad coach and they should get rid of him and bring in someone like Mark Few or Jim Harrick who will run, press, and have 7-footers. I'm not even gonna go into how asinine a comment like Ben Howland is a bad coach is. Obviously I would prefer that Howland bring in more post players because the frontcourt is thin. The run and press is nice and all but it comes at a price of a ton of quick shots and more fastbreak opportunities for the opponents. I think Howland stresses to the players to make each possession efficient. What I would like to see more of is off the ball movement by the other players. I didn't see as much back screens and backdoor plays this past season like in the previous ones. And I would like to see the PG get into the halfcourt offense earlier instead of waiting for the defense to set up.

by UCLA4Life on Apr 12, 2008 12:18 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Whoever called and said those things

I watched on FSN the Nike game too. We have
" devastating weapons " arriving this fall. Never mind about those comments.

Walton, Jabbar, Ewing, Olajuwon, Robinson, Duncan, etc, the list goes on but mother nature doesn't produce bumper crops of them perennially, not that Howland didn't try. He coaches and strategizes with what he has on hand. I am sure one of those years when he recruits his entire team in the mold of that " Walton " gang, you may see some eighty eight game winning streak again too.

by Htse005 on Apr 12, 2008 3:47 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

wow

I love our crop coming in. Watching for only a few minutes already, I see that Drew Gordon has a knack for rebound, defense, and is intense in the paint. Holiday, Lee, and Anderson all are playing hardcore defense and are really athletic, fast, and play with intensity.

We'll be just fine next year!

by blinkshot on Apr 12, 2008 1:19 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Yeah

This is the first time I've seen Anderson or Gordon. Wow on all 4 of them!

by Raisin on Apr 12, 2008 1:37 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

wow

Thank god I've recorded some of this. Just saw Jrue sink a 3 after a pass from Lee, then when the World team inbounds, I think Jrue tips the ball to Lee, who throws the ball up for the alley-oop but misses, but Gordon is there to finish it.

Team ball!

by blinkshot on Apr 12, 2008 2:24 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

You can watch this

On Yahoo! Sports. There's a live stream...Gordon is playing incredibly.

by nhoj on Apr 12, 2008 2:29 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Jrue has had a great second half

Gordon has had a great game both halves. He really cleans up the boards nicely. Anderson has had a few nice dunks.

Shame Lee has had some foul trouble.

by Raisin on Apr 12, 2008 2:31 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Next year will be a BIG disappointment..,

..for the MSM bloviaters and Bruin-haters. Can you spell "MINIMAL (IF ANY) DROP-OFF" boys and girls?

Is it November yet?

God, it's great to be a Bruin!

by whp68 on Apr 12, 2008 2:59 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

beautiful

Jrue has a beautiful stroke. He can easily replace Collison at the point next year if DC leaves... JH is like Westbrook and Collison combined. Just sick.

by blinkshot on Apr 12, 2008 3:01 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Gordon looked really good

Second highest scorer behind DeRozan, but contributed to shot blocking, defense, and rebounding (while against a 7'4" guy!).

At this point it looks like he would be starting over Keefe.

by dokein on Apr 12, 2008 3:10 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

And that

Holiday to Gordon at the end was sick... they already are communicating with each other on what to do and so on.

by blinkshot on Apr 12, 2008 3:31 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Such Fun To See

the future. All four were impressive, particularly the intensity of their play and their communication.

Coach Howland has done it again, I think.

Love My Bruins

by Bruingirl83 on Apr 12, 2008 3:51 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Can you believe

I was in Portland for the last 10 days, and took a quick trip home, today. Return to Portland Tuesday.

Had I known about this game, I might have stayed.

So, while I was on a plane to Texas, the future was on display.

Tele, can you put up some clips?

sjh

by Class of 66 on Apr 12, 2008 4:54 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Does anyone know...

Does anyone know if Holiday is a one and done type player or is he the type ala Farmar and DC that will need at least two years to develop at the point before he should consider the pros?

by SmrtGuy82 on Apr 12, 2008 5:00 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

From what I've heard

Jrue could certainly be a one and done. One of my friends is a manager for the basketball team and says the coaching staff thinks there's a 60-70% chance he's gone after one year.

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Apr 12, 2008 5:47 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Troubling..

Rye,

Do you think this will be the ultimate fate of UCLA's program? I mean Ben works his ass off to get these kids and then they (understandably) blow right out the door to the NBA. Like KL, DC, and RW, I sure don't begrudge them the opportunity to market their talents, but it sure destroys continuity.

I mean, it's like we and other schools are a triple-A farm club for the big show. I know that David Stern is talking about "two and through" which would be better but not as good as "three and free".

Another thought on how good Howland is (and this is directed to the jerk-wad who called Hacksaw), Howland is saddled with a burden that John Wooden didn't have, this lack of continuity. In light of this, what he (CBH) has done is nothing short of amazing!

Wanna bet we'll never see Memphis anywhere near the final four again in our lifetime?

God, it's great to be a Bruin!

by whp68 on Apr 12, 2008 11:19 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think

Its just the nature of the game now. If you're good, and the NBA comes knocking, you're probably gone. In fact, Florida was the only team to return all its starters to win another in the last decade or so. All other schools (including Florida) had the majority of their guys go in the 1st round after their last championship as well...

As far as recruiting goes, well, the fact is that your best shot to win every year is when you have the best players possible each year playing as a team. If that means bringing in a highly-touted but likely one-and-done in Holiday, or as in Love this past year, you have to do it. After all, with Afflalo having left, Love was the only way we were able to return to the Final 4 really.

by blinkshot on Apr 13, 2008 1:08 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Understand..

Interestingly, the guys you love to hate (well, I do anyway..), the Florida kids including Joachim Noah agreed/vowed to return to see if they could get a second banner.

Got to hand it to them, giving up the loot for a second run at a flag.

God, it's great to be a Bruin!

by whp68 on Apr 13, 2008 8:25 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well

They were also coming back to a program that allowed them to stay on majors such as "leisure management." Staying in Florida is a little different than going through the academic programs of UCLA.

by Nestor on Apr 13, 2008 8:30 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

True

Florida does not compare to UCLA, academically (well in sports too).

I do give the Florida group credit for staying, but it hurt Joe Kim. He would have been a top 3 pick easily. He dropped to #9 the following year. I think Green could have gone in the last first round, and dropped to mid 2nd round by staying.

Horford and Brewer though improved their draft status by returning going #3 and #6.

Also, that was the "easier" draft year in which no HS player could enter and had to play at least 1 year in college. I thought Joe Kim and Co made poor individual decisions by returning because of the loop hole year, but I credit them for staying.

by shaq on Apr 13, 2008 12:25 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Kevin Love: Embarassing.

Kevin Love was a great player at UCLA. And he was a great Bruin. But i have to call this one like I see it: It is embarassing that he chose not to attend the Wooden Award Ceremony so that he could talk about his pro prospects with his parents. I don't like this one bit.

With only five finalists invited, any player should be there. But especially a UCLA player. Hey Kevin, do you remember that John Wooden was the Greatest coach you ever lived and a UCLA Bruin? What about all that respect you had for John Wooden, seeking him out early in your career, only to miss what is likely your final college activity??

I'm not sure why this story has not been diaried or is not on the homepage. Perhaps it has been discussed already in another thread, and i missed it.

But again, in my opinion wanting to talk to your parents about your "pro prospects" is not an good excuse for missing what every other player considers an event of great honor. Embarassing. As the Wooden Award spokesperson says in the daily news article, "it's really important" that all the finalists attend.

I hope Kevin has some other reason, and I hope I'm wrong about him. Really, I do.

ESPN - http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3343048

Daily News - http://www.dailynews.com/ucla/ci_8871673

by rfirpo on Apr 12, 2008 5:27 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

He already has Coach's blessing

With that, it is a non-issue.

by Tydides on Apr 12, 2008 5:34 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Followup

from Doh!n's blog:

Unfortunately Kevin has a very limited opportunity to be with his family as they talk about the decisions he faces regarding basketball and his education before he must return to class at UCLA. He has spoken to Coach Wooden regarding his concern about missing the dinner and Coach Wooden fully supported Kevin's choice. "I am concerned about disappointing the people who have supported me this season, especially those in Southern California. I hope they will respect my decision to spend some time with my family and continue to support me and UCLA."

by Tydides on Apr 12, 2008 5:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agree

after reading that paragraph, I don't think its that big of a deal.

However, 20 years from now, Kevin might look back and wish he would've been there.

"You don't make it to the Final Four three straight times for no reason..Obviously coaching has something to do with it." Darren Collison

by godblesstyus95 on Apr 12, 2008 6:57 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

It may be due to classes

Right now is the lull right before midterms (next two weeks). If he were to go to the Wooden Awards, then it is possible he wouldn't be able to speak to his family until after midterms, because ... it is difficult to make a life decision of this magnitude while cramming.

by dokein on Apr 12, 2008 7:11 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Umm

John Wooden isn't connected with the Wooden Award. In fact, he withdrew his support after the LAAC refused to let him use his name for another award.

JOHN WOODEN called. He said he was not watching the Wooden Award show on CBS
on Saturday, as the show's host suggested to a national TV audience, but
instead spent the day with his family.

Wooden, 95, and recently released from the hospital after being treated for
diverticulitis, said earlier he would no longer support the Los Angeles
Athletic Club, which sponsors the award, and would boycott the ceremonies
because the club tried to dictate to others how his name might be used.

The LAAC left the impression with TV watchers and later with banquet guests
that Wooden was not in attendance because he had been ill.

Wooden said he remains at odds with the LAAC, and when I asked if the dispute
might still be resolved, he said, "It's beyond that. You know my daughter, and
it's up to her."

...

The LAAC continues to use Wooden's picture in publications to promote the club,
and Hathaway said he remains hopeful Wooden will attend next year's event.

I remain hopeful Hathaway will get a clue, but I have a feeling we'll both wind
up disappointed.

Simers

by SuperBruinMan on Apr 12, 2008 7:40 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeap

Thanks for posting that and saving me the trouble.

by Nestor on Apr 13, 2008 7:39 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Do you realize...

that Coach Wooden is himself no longer involved with the Wooden Award? And in all honesty, when it comes to spending time with a person's own family... I think that they come first all the time and I'm sure Wooden would agree. Calling a 19 year old kid "embarrassing" for spending time with his family to celebrate his dad's birthday is pretty lame. It's just an accolade. Family comes first.

by bruindodger on Apr 13, 2008 5:51 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's true

The fact that it's his dad's birthday makes it completely excusable IMO.

Kevin has always been team first this year, and this is an individual award. Maybe he doesn't feel that this is as important because of that. If so, I think that's pretty admirable, actually showing that he's team-first rather than just saying it.

by Tydides on Apr 13, 2008 1:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for all the responses already

Your quick fire comment without any shred of research was embarrassing and uncalled for.

by Nestor on Apr 13, 2008 7:39 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Disagree.

There was nothing in support of K Love's decision at the time I posted. Probably, other people didn't like the decision, and so people dug deeper.

Anyway, I still think he should have been there. This individual award was earned in part because he was on a great team. You can disagree if you want, but leave it at that. For the last time people, opinions don't have to be researched.

by rfirpo on Apr 14, 2008 8:46 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nice try

You posted a hit post on Love without doing some basic research to find out whether there was another angle to the story. All you had to do was to go on your boy Dohn's blog and find out Love got Wooden's permission himself to skip it. If Wooden said OK, who the hell are you impose your value judgment on Kevin? You should have just admitted that you were wrong on it but can't bring yourself to man up and admit it.

by bluestreet on Apr 14, 2008 8:54 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's a lie

You wrote:

There was nothing in support of K Love's decision at the time I posted.

Your initial comment went up on Sat. April 12. The Dohn post Tydides linked to was up on Thursday, April 10. So its a lie to say that nothing in support of K Love's decision was posted when you made this embarrassing attack:

You made an assertion attacking one of our basketball players. You could have easily gone to Dohn's blog and found out how those allegations were just totally baseless.

Also I believe the story about the Woodens not being properly treated by the "Wooden Award" organizers have been out there.

You ran with one side of the story and came on here to attack Kevin without getting both sides of the story. That is embarrassing on your part.

And then you actually concern troll asking why this story has not been "diaried" or on the home page? Again are you paying us to blog for your pleasure and serve you personally rfirpo?

You could have just simply admitted that you were wrong in prejudging Kevin. And I will value the Coach's opinion on whether or not Kevin did the right thing than someone who throws up cr*p with out any facts.

by Nestor on Apr 14, 2008 9:15 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

final box lines on our game

Final box score for our new guys:

Lee: 12 minutes, 2 points, 4 rebounds
Holiday: 22 minutes, 13 points, 5 assists, 3 steals
Gordon: 18 minutes, 15 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 steals
Anderson: 15 minutes, 4 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals

All the players picked up fouls here and there but it was somewhat the nature of the game anyways since the game was under FIBA rules (24 second clock, wider lane, etc.) but overall a great athletic bunch we've got coming in.

Full box score:
http://www.usabasketball.com/men/2008/08_hsum_box.pdf

by blinkshot on Apr 12, 2008 6:39 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Some thoughts on todays game

The statistics mostly confirmed my observations about the game:

Gordon was very active, and did a great job hustling for the ball (considering he was competing against some very tall guys, e.g. the 7'4" guy). Great offensive rebounding. MUCH better than expected, based off this one game.

Jrue Holiday did not have a lot of shots fall for him, but he really passed the ball well (more than the assists will show). He is a great guy at creating openings for the team, and his game is very polished.

Jerime Anderson had very quick hands and reflexes. This is one guy that will kill you unless you have great ball control, which a lot of the non-USA players lacked.

Malcom Lee is still a bit raw in his game, but he was definitely playing tenacious defense. He contributed more in the first half, but picked up 3 fouls.

And as for Demar DeRozan who is going to USC ... he definitely has talent. However, we have 4 talented kids coming into the program.

Overall, I am very excited. It seems that our guys really enjoy passing,

Top 3 in terms of offensive rebounds (per minute played)

Drew Gordon: 0.33
Ed Davis: 0.27
Malcom Lee: 0.17

Top 3 in terms of defensive rebounds (per minute played)

Scotty Hopson: 0.21
Malcom Lee: 0.17
Al Faroq: 0.16

Top 3 in terms of total rebounds (per minute played)

Drew Gordon: 0.39
Malcom Lee: 0.33
Ed Davis: 0.33

Top 3 in terms of steals (per minute played)

Jerime Anderson: 0.20
Jrue Holiday: 0.14
Demar DeRozan: 0.12
(4th place Drew Gordon: 0.11)

Top 3 in terms of blocks (per minute played)

Drew Gordon: 0.22
Scotty Hopson: 0.05
Demar Derozan: 0.04

Top 3 in terms of points (per minute played)

Drew Gordon: 0.83
Scotty Hopson: 0.79
Demar DeRozan: 0.65
(4th place Jrue Holiday: 0.59)

Top 3 in terms of assists (per minute played)

Jrue Holiday: 0.23
Al Farouq: 0.16
Tyreke Evans: 0.13

Top 3 in 2 pt FG%:

Drew Gordon: 86% (6/7)
Jerime Anderson: 67% (2/3)
Al Farouq: 67% (4/6)

Top 3 in 3 pt FG%:

Al Farouq: 100% (1/1)
Jrue Holiday: 40% (2/5)
Demar DeRozan: 25% (1/4)

by dokein on Apr 12, 2008 7:43 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Question

Does anyone have pics from today's games? Can't find any on the net so far.

by Raisin on Apr 12, 2008 7:44 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Off Topic....

According to DNS Scoop, bruinsnation is worth $919,296.00. Sell and retire Nestor!

Go UCLA!

by madmaxucla on Apr 12, 2008 7:52 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Not so sure

It's hard to tell how well this blog will do in the professional media with advertisements.

However, it definitely has potential and would draft high. If it adds a bunch of advertisements and the readership doesn't decrease, it could draft higher. However, if some of the major contributors get carpal tunnel in the offseason, it could definitely kill the draft pick.

You can't blame Nestor for retiring early, it's a lot of money.

by dokein on Apr 12, 2008 8:04 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

lol

Guys let's make something clear ... we haven't collected a single penny from blogging on BN. In fact we have stripped out space for blogads and text links. The only ads you see here on BN ... all of the revenue from it goes to Sports Blogs Nation.

All of us - frontpagers - are doing this strictly as a hobby.

by Nestor on Apr 13, 2008 7:45 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's definitely going to hurt your stock

I recommend not telling the buyers.

by dokein on Apr 13, 2008 11:58 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hah!

We would not want anything to happen to change BN anyways! This place RULES!

Go UCLA!

by madmaxucla on Apr 13, 2008 7:50 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Although...

Not quite as good as cnn.com @ $669,440,000.00 :)

Go UCLA!

by madmaxucla on Apr 12, 2008 7:55 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I told you Gordon played Big!

I know this is still no reason to get overly excited, but man I really like how big he plays with those blocks and inside presence. I just think he has the perfect skill set to thrive as a ben ball warrior.

Anyway another side note, is North Hollywood a nickname for Cambell Hall now? In regards to the bit about Jrue.

O.A.

by Ollie on Apr 13, 2008 12:53 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I think that when...

the vast majority of UCLA and college basketball fans in general acknowledge that Coach Howland is doing a great job running the program... and that we focus so much on the very small percentage of people that downplay our program.. we are actually helping to contribute to the negativity that they promote. Why even address this minority? It doesn't make any sense to me.

by bruindodger on Apr 13, 2008 5:43 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs