Let's start with this from the Chicago Sun-Times:

UCLA forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and North Carolina guard Danny Green are among the players the Bulls are keeping tabs on for the ninth pick of the second round. Both are expected to work out for the team at the Berto Center.

One scout considers the 6-8, 229-pound Mbah a Moute the prospect with the quickest lateral movement at the draft camp, and he showed why when he defended 6-2 Jeremy Pargo of Gonzaga and 6-6 Richard Roby of Colorado on Tuesday night.

''I take pride in playing defense,'' said Mbah a Moute, a royal prince in his native Cameroon. ''Going to the NBA as a rookie, that's what I'm going to have to do anyway. I pride myself in guarding any position, from one to four. Sometimes in college, I guard one to five. Being that versatile ... has helped my team get to three Final Fours.''

With that as a jumping off point, indulge me in my own little riff on Luc:

At his best, Mbah a Moute is an unconventional player. As the scout above notes,he has incredible lateral quickness. His arms are very long and he is quick off his feet. The result is a player who can defend basically four different positions with a natural knack for rebounding.

He's been compared -- poorly, IMO -- to Bruce Bowen and Dennis Rodman. This is only because these two players carved a niche for themselves in the NBA without being real scoring threats, the rebounded and defended their way into relevance. If that's the extent of the comparison, then I can see how Luc fits in with that group, but really, the Prince is nothing like Bowen or Rodman who are nothing like each other.

As a freshman, that's the Luc we saw. In retrospect, it occurs to me that he didn't know any better. He was still relatively new to the game, at least he wasn't a kid who grew up playing every day at the park. He came from Cameroon and compared to other elite prospects hadn't developed his game as completely.

What UCLA got was a revelation.

Luc rebounded and defended, sometimes it seemed he was operating mostly on instinct. You only have to watch the final sequences of the Gonzaga game to see Luc at his best.

So, what happened after that, how did Mbah a Moute change and how did that impact the perception of his game.

I think Luc found himself in a quandary.

On one hand, he had "people" telling him he needed to become a true small forward, because that's what he'd be in the NBA. "Work on your handle and your jump shot," he was supposedly advised. On the other hand, the more he tried to become what he wasn't -- at least not yet -- the less he focused on the things that made him great in the first place.

A series of events outside his control played into the situation, too. His sophomore year was marred by injuries, his quickness and leaping ability were curtailed by tendinitis. Arron Afflalo left for the NBA before LRMAM's junior year, prompting Ben Howland to at least experiment with Josh Shipp in the backcourt and Luc at small forward (which only stoked the Luc-is-a-three fire).

What we ended up with was Luc-lite. I lack the recall to cite specific games, but my general feeling about Luc's junior year was that we would see him trying to show off his offensive prowess early on, many times in games UCLA fell behind. Try to remember how many close games and comebacks we had last year. When UCLA was mounting comebacks, we'd suddenly see the Luc of old, he'd grab rebounds and buckle down on defense. I don't really think this was by design. Had UCLA won its games going away, Offensive Luc would have lasted longer every night. But the need to win, the desperation of having to come back or fight in close games, brought out Instinctive Luc -- the kid we saw as a freshman.

So, when Nestor says he wants the Luc of old or no Luc at all, I know what he means. Luc is simply a better player when he does what he does best and doesn't try to be more than he is. Ironically, he seems to be saying exactly that in the quote above.

No one in their right mind doesn't want Instinctive Luc back as a Bruin. That guy is a great player. But getting back the Luc who spends too much time trying to show the scouts he can score is simply less desirable.

The bottom line is: Luc Richard is capable of being a very special player. He has shown us that many, many times. All we want is for him to realize that he's special just the way he is, and that he doesn't have to be someone else to be happy.

Where's Mr. Rogers when you need him.

We will start our walk in Orlando, Florida. That’s where Diane Pucin has been hanging out, tracking LRMAM and other college players in NBA’s pre-draft camp:

Looking lighter and leaner and a little jet-lagged, UCLA junior Luc Richard Mbah a Moute defended 6-foot-2 Jeremy Pargo of Gonzaga and 6-foot-6 Richard Roby of Colorado on Tuesday night in some get-out-the-kinks drills at the NBA Orlando pre-draft camp.

The 6-foot-8 Mbah a Moute kept up with the two guards, and it was a taste of what the 100 or so NBA scouts and general managers will expect of the UCLA junior if he stays in the draft.

"They'll want me to play defense against perimeter guys, I know that," Mbah a Moute said Tuesday night. "I feel like I held my own out there."

I think for LRMAM to fit in the NBA he will have to fit in with a team that needs a player in the mold of Dennis Rodman or Bruce Bowen. And to fill in that role LRMAM will have to perform like the way he did in his freshman year, when he emerged as a defensive star and an absolute menace under the board. LRMAM is not going to butter his bread in the NBA by making jumpers. He will have to do it with his defense and athleticism. And it would make sense if he came back for a great senior year so that he could really accentuate those skills. But these players are often operating in a different mindset compared to fans like us. So it will be interesting to see what he ends up doing. But right now if I am reading the tea leaves correctly, I get the sense LRMAM will not be around next season. And just like I was telling you guys about KL leaving, it might make sense to mentally prepare now for the possibility that there is a very good chance LRMAM is not coming back next season.

With or without Luc Ben Ball is going to be a hot ticket next year. With that in mind Morgan Center is putting together a "Select-A-Seat Open House" this Sunday:

The UCLA Athletic Department is giving fans of the Bruins' men's basketball team a unique opportunity to choose new season seats for the best upper level seat location for the upcoming 2008-09 season in the Select-A-Seat Open House this Sunday, June 1 from 2-4 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion.

This is the second straight season that the Bruin fans have been invited to visit Pauley for the Open House and receive an actual view of available seats for purchase on a first-come, first-serve basis. Admission is free and open to everyone.

The men's basketball schedule for 2008-09 is sure to be an exciting one as the Bruins set out to win their fourth-straight Pac-10 championship.

There are just a couple hundred seats available for purchase (in the 300-level baselines), which will be tagged in the arena. Fans can process their order instantly right inside Pauley Pavilion by either check or any major credit card (VISA, American Express, Discover and Mastercard).

You can read rest of the details here.

Elsewhere, Dohn has a short note on how two to three players may leave the football program at the end of this spring quarter, making room for Kevin Prince and a JC OL to come in this summer.

Moving on, the Daily Bruin profiles Krista Colburn, a key senior who have served as an anchor for the number 2 ranked softball team heading to the world series this week:

When the Bruin softball team heads to Oklahoma City to face Arizona on Thursday in the opening game of the Women’s College World Series, it will turn to a group of seniors as its anchor.

Krista Colburn is one of those key pieces on the Bruin team.

The senior outfielder has started all but one game of her four-year UCLA career. It’s been an up-and-down ride, but now Colburn and the other Bruin seniors have a chance at the national title that has eluded the program for the past three years.

"I don’t necessarily think my expectation bar is higher," Colburn said. "But I think that having all that experience under my belt does help me be able to help the team."

The senior from Mukilteo, Wash., has set the tone for the Bruins this year; she’s hit .335 and is second on the team with 43 runs scored.

Let’s hope KC and co. can keep their hot streak going this week against Arizona.

Lastly, Blair Angulo and Kendall Salter from the Daily Bruin has written an article on the emergence of fanblogs, which includes some quotes from the frontpagers of BruinsNation. Instead of commenting on the article, we will post all the answers we provided to Daily Bruin’s questions (via email) re. why we blog here on BN.

GO BRUINS.