When Coach left us last year to reunited with Nell, I thought eventually I will write that one post that will perfectly encapsulate how I feel inside about the greatest Bruin of all time. I keep waiting for inspiration and the perfect combination of words never came. I don't think it will ever happen because it is impossible to sum up the range of emotions and reflections we have about Coach. So I will start this note by sharing these words from College Basketball Hall of Fame and NBA Hall of Famer Bill Walton:

After my father, Coach Wooden has had the most profound influence on my of anyone in my entire life. I was touch by Coach Wooden's greatness - he set a standard I have been trying to live up to ever since. He is as positive as you get. He taught us the values and characteristics that could make us not only good players, but also good people. He taught us how to be true to ourselves while also striving to be our best.

Now I am forty-four years old and I'm telling my four teenage sons what Coach Wooden used to tell his players. I'm even writing his maxims on their lunch bags and then listening to them complain about it, just like I used to complain.

They'll see. My kids will learn. Soon enough they'll come to understand and appreciate the great wisdom of a very wise man: Coach John Wooden.

I have nothing but the greatest love and respect for Coach. Thanks for your sacrifice, gifts and patience.

The Big Red shared those reflections in Steve Jamsion's "Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court." I was thinking of Bill's words today while watching the incredible video T put together. Mrs. N and yours truly are now just days away from the expected arrival of a Little Jospehine Bruin. One thing I have always dreamed about is writing out those little maxims on the lunch bag of my daughter when she goes off to school. I will probably never be able to write that perfect post or essay in honor of Coach. What I am looking forward to today is trying to live up to his standards as a Bruin father.

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UCLA put together 40 minutes of great defense, CBH had a great game plan, and, of course the perfect ending.  Let's start with the ending:

With 47 seconds left to play and the Bruins leading 69-48, Howland called a timeout in order to substitute Trapani, along with four other Bruins who rarely see playing time, into the game.

On the next play after the timeout, UCLA freshman guard Jack Haley popped out to the wing for a wide-open 3-pointer that came up short but landed square in the hands of Trapani under the basket. The junior guard calmly put the rebound up and in and sent the UCLA crowd and bench into hysteria.

And after the game, Trapani’s shot effectively sent his coach to tears.

"I pray a lot, and to have Trapani make that last shot means so much to me, you have no idea," said an emotional Howland. "And I know it does to his family and all those former players. What a cool way to have the last basket ever. This was just a great day for us, and to finish like that really is special."

While that was definitely the moment of the game that literally brought Coach Ben Howland to tears in the locker room, long term this may be the most important comment on the game, by Arizona's coach Sean Miller:

"They've become the best defensive team in our conference," Arizona coach Sean Miler said.

Wow, who would have thought someone would say that by the end of the season? Early this season that thought would have been laughable.  But putting aside  the one road game at Cal, recently the Bruins defense as a whole has been pretty awesome.

Of course, defense was not the only part of UCLA's game that was playing near perfection. 

More break-down after the jump.

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Wow.  First thank you to everyone who attended!  The loud crowd (and the spirit of Coach) helped the team today.  The best win for UCLA in a number of years.   I am almost too pumped to write this. Box score is here.

So many stars to mention.  Reeves Nelson had a great game, his best as a Bruin.  To me the best story line was his defense.  Playing against Derrick Williams the whole second half Reeves gave up only one FG!  Oh, and he also had his career high in points and 16 rebounds.

And the last basket in the history of Pauley is by Wooden's great grandson, Tyler Trapani.

Also, we are tied for first place in the Pac-10 and have almost certainly punched our tournament ticket.  I bet we are ranked for the first time since 2008-2009.   Is this a perfect ending or what? 

More after the jump.

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Today is the last game at "Old Pauley".  Never again will the Bruins play in this same hallowed hall as Pauley will be remodeled and improved for the future.  It is hard not to think of past teams, just as it hard to write a review that will do justice of game where there is so much to think about outside the match-ups. 

But what a game we have!  The Bruins are back from the depths of the Serbian despair of last year to playing for first place today at 1 p.m. PST.  The Arizona Wildcats are a top ten team featuring one of the best players in the country. The two traditional powers in the Pac-10 are once-again dueling for the conference title.

Of course, the realists will point out that it is hard for us to win the title as we go to Washington next week and Arizona plays the Oregon schools at home.

But for today it is all about first place.  This game may come down to a few simple things.  The UCLA team of five players versus the Arizona superstar Derrick Williams.  Can the top UCLA five stay on the floor because, while Arizona has the best player, they also have the better bench.  But most of all, the key question is how many minutes of "Ben Ball style" defense will UCLA play?  As the Trogans showed earlier this week, stifling defense is how U$C beat the Mildcats Thursday night.

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It feels good to be a Bruin today.  A win against a top 25 team for the first time in a while (08-09 season).  A total team effort and while maybe not 40 minutes more than 30 minutes of great effort.  Some of the trademark Ben Ball Defense but also some of the quicker offense promised.  But maybe the best part  was to win the Wooden Classic:

Howland admitted after the game that he had asked the team to practice with Coach Wooden in mind. UCLA played one of their worst games of the year against at last year’s Classic with the legendary coach in his box.

"I was really looking forward to meeting him," Smith said.
Wooden didn’t get to see UCLA’s performance this time around. And he never got to meet Smith. But Howland seemed sure that Wooden would have been pleased.

"We played for Coach today," Howland said. "We wanted him to be proud of our team."

The numbers are what UCLA needed to do.  Our front line had 55 points and 20 rebounds.  UCLA forced BYU into 19 turnovers and only 5 assists.   And what I hope will become a trend, the opposing team coach praised our size and inside presence as something unique and unstoppable.

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One year after an ugly and embarrassing performance in front of Coach, the Bruins redeemed themselves and picked up a much needed victory against the #16 ranked and previously unbeaten BYU Cougars 86-79 in the John R. Wooden Classic (box score). With the win, UCLA notches its first "good" win of the year, and brings the Pac 10 conference a much needed victory. The Bruins move to 6-4 on the year.

The first half started poorly, as CBH, who had stressed the need to play great transition defense, could only stand and watch as his team surrendered transition baskets en route to an early 10 point deficit. In what would become a trend, Joshua Smith picked up his first foul under a minute into the game, and for Bruin fans, the sight was all too familiar. Whether it was CBH's timeout, or if it was Coach lending some inspiration, the Bruins picked their defense up from that point, and the rest of the half would be marked by BYU turnovers and a relatively balanced Bruin attack led by Reeves Nelson, Tyler Honeycutt, and Lazeric Jones.

At this point in the season, it can be said that the Bruins really only put together two good halves in the same game once; against Kansas. That game was a loss, but if UCLA was to pick up its first good win of the season, the second complete game of the year would have to come today. The Bruins came out of the locker room looking inspired, and extended the lead to 13, before a parade of whistles forced Smith to the bench for extended periods of time. Joining him on the bench for a while for the same reason was Honeycutt and Jones, and the game not surprisingly got tight with the Bruins nursing a 2 point lead. BYU, who had been riding their star point guard Jimmer Fredette in the first half, turned to forward Brandon Davies to carry them, and the Bruins found themselves in a desperate situation. CBH brought Smith back in with 10 minutes to play and the big freshman along with Nelson put the beatdown on BYU inside, and even found a way to pick Fredette clean at the end of the game to cap things off.

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How dire is the situation for the Pac- 10?  As the Orange County Register writes in a caption  "Because of the Pac-10 woes, Coach Ben Howland and UCLA might be in a must-win situation when they face BYU at the Wooden Classic at Honda Center" to this article which Ben Howland tries to dismiss in a defense of the PAC 10:

"I don't think it will be the last ranked team we play this year," Howland said.

Ah, CBH, who would that be?  The Pac-10 has no one in the top 25.  After BYU, UCLA next best out of conference opponent is . . . CHP's St. John's.   I realize that CBH wants to defend the Pac-10 but that is getting tougher by the day.

Part of the problem with the Pac-10 many would allege is the lack of seniors.  While the hot nearby San Diego State has five seniors on its roster, the same article points out the Pac-10 is lacking seniors.  As a result, the Wooden Classic game against #16 BYU is looking like a must win:

Actually, there are just 16 seniors playing in the conference this season. UCLA, Stanford and Washington State do not have a senior on their rosters. . . .

Time and options are running out for the Bruins. UCLA can earn an automatic NCAA Tournament berth by winning the Pac-10 Tournament. Or it can win the regular season title. But based on the season so far, the conference shouldn't expect more than the two tournament berths the NCAA granted the Pac-10 last March.

This means if UCLA is to have any hope of an at-large berth it probably needs to win Saturday.

CBH seems to agree on the lack of upperclassman:

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It opens later this month at the Morgan Center. From the official site:

In the months following Coach Wooden's passing, his children, Jim and Nan, faced the impossible task of trying to accommodate everyone who had requested items from their father's life. His alma mater, Purdue, received a number of items, as did Indiana State, where he coached and earned his master's degree in Education. His hometown of Martinsville, Ind. was also entrusted with several keepsakes to display. But in the end, the family insisted that UCLA was at the forefront.

"We shipped things to a number of places, but UCLA is where he spent most of his time," says Nan, who had final approval on the room's authenticity. "We really wanted them to have the den. I think they did a great job on it."

UCLA athletic trainer Tony Spino, a longtime friend of Coach Wooden as well as his primary caregiver the last several years, summed up the exhibit best.

"The only thing missing is Coach," he says.

Not really Tony. Coach is with us forever.

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