Bruins maul Vikings 69-48: Postgame thread

by Tydides on Nov 9, 2007 10:02 PM PST in Basketball Comment 15 comments

UCLA pounced all over Portland St. with a 18-2 run to start the game, and activated the autopilot en route to a 21 point win.

I admit to being a little concerned about our defense during the preseason, but when your non-walkons surrender point totals in the high 30's, you must be doing something right.

Tonight was also officially Kevin Love's coming out party with 22 points including 9-11 from the FT line. He was unstoppable on the blocks with anything less than 3 defenders on him. It's Kevin's world, we just live in it.

Equally spectacular IMO was Josh Shipp, who didn't seem to be in the game long, but made his impact felt when he was pouring in 18 points. Hitting 3's fading away off of a curl, with a man flying by, pulling up on the fast break, he doesn't need to be told twice to score the ball.

It wasn't all spectacular, with the offense seeming discombobulated without their sure handed lightning quick point guard. I said it during the preseason and it bears repeating: The offense runs smoother with DC. As it almost always is with Ben Ball however, there is a silver lining. These extended minutes for Westbrook in a starting role are going to pay dividends later.

Comments? Observations? Concerns? Postgame thread, right here.

GO BRUINS

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11 deep

That's what I took away. They can get contributions and meaningful minutes from the big 4 (love, DC, Shipp, LRMAM) plus Aboya, Mata-Real, Westbrook, Roll, Dragovic, Stanback, and Keefe. That's huge.

In contrast, I have a degree from Illinois (College of Law, 2001), and their 2005 team was one of the best "teams" I've ever seen. They only went seven, maybe eight (depending on whether Nick Smith showed up) deep. That depth is going carry the Bruins through a tough Pac 10 schedule, and they should be ready in March.

by LA Seitz on Nov 9, 2007 10:16 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

At last!

including 9-11 from the FT line

..at last -- and probably when we don't need it because of Love's Waltonesque outlet passes and middle play -- someone who can hit charities.

My only regret is that Noah, Brewer, and Horford turned pro and won't face UCLA in the final four; probably shaking in their boots about Kevin "Man-Boy" Love.

It would have been sweet to see them get disassembled by a Howland team.

by whp68 on Nov 9, 2007 10:27 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Bravo, you said exactly what I wanted

regarding that girlie man and his team. Now that we have all that firepower in place, the girlie man and his gang, rather than to face again, bolted for the pros, tails tugged tightly between their legs. KLove would have showed that girlie man playing basketball the real man's way, no ponytail flapping, mouthpiece jutting in and out of the mouth, etc.

by Htse005 on Nov 9, 2007 11:30 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Love

looked really good tonight, especially rebounding. Hopefully he can do the same against all the trees in the Pac-10.
Westbrook is obviously not a natural PG, but this will be good experience for him. I don't know what happened to Luc, but hopefully this is just a first-game funk or something.
I think even without Collison and Roll, this team is a top 20 team, but of course with them it is definitely worthy of being in the top 5.

Btw, it's probably better not to give Kevin Love the nickname "Man-Boy" because you end up saying "Man-boy Love," which I'm guessing is not a nickname anyone would want (well, unless you're into that sort of thing). :)

GO BRUINS. HOOK 'EM HORNS (well, except on Dec. 2).

by uclawarren on Nov 10, 2007 6:45 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Lol

Fox--this is NOT one of those times when you should throw in "not that there's anything wrong with that."

by Barnes2JJ on Nov 11, 2007 12:48 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Concerned

a bit about Luc's game: 1 for 6 shooting, 1 rebound, looked a bit lost out there much of the time.

He doesn't look comfortable playing at the 3.

Still waiting to see the Luc of 2005.

"If I don't do my job, I will get fired" -Karl Dorrell

by godblesstyus95 on Nov 9, 2007 10:34 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

love looks so solid

he really is just so fundamentally sound. it's crazy. so confident. so smart......now physically he is going to have issues with the lopez's and brockman will be a handful.....even taj gibson will give him some fits.
dude needs to get stronger and especially get his wind stronger. klove is ALWAYS huffing and puffing. Luc looked horrible tonight. Josh was quietly spectacular, he let the game come to him. Westy looked out of control quite a bt, but this was a valuable game for later in the season. the more he is forced to run the point, the more secure we should all feel about this team. our whole season can't hinge on just colly or klove.....other guys need to be forced into pressure situations early in case of fouls or (gasp. god forbid) injuries. promiing team. ver proud.

by bosscloss on Nov 9, 2007 10:40 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Have no worry

KLove will play himself into peak form in no time when conference play begins. As a freshman, he is beyond reproach fundamentally, living up to all the hypes.

The tempo of the game accelerates with KLove in the middle. Tonight, Pauley witnessed shades of Bill Walton. As the season progresses, we should see even more of the Waltonesque plays from KLove.

Lorenzo played his usual game of physical basketball, ferociously fighting for offensive rebounds and clogging the lanes defensively. His turnaround jump hooks looked better than ever. In some tight game situations down the road, I can just see how that comes in handy when everyone is covered. So with the shot clock rapidly winding down to single digit, they just pass that baby high over the defenders to him and bingo.

He can also free up KLove to make his jumpers from the perimeter.

What I saw tonight convinced me that Howland finally has a team deep, versatile enough to handle various situations.

When Mike Roll returns and teams up with Shipp, those laser guided three pointers will start raining in from all corners too.

by Htse005 on Nov 9, 2007 11:57 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Some thoughts...

Everything about Kevin Love has already been said. He's just unreal. Even with the insanely high expectations that are on him, he seems to exceed them at every opportunity.

Westbrook was real shaky at the point but I love his potential as a 2. He is just so fearless in attacking the rim, and can really finish.

Luc was just awful. He has no ability to play the 3 right now and seems to have zero confidence in his shot. I know that his future is at the 3 and if Coach Howland believes he can play there, then I will trust him. But his ball skills are so weak.

Shipp was great, Mata was good and Abdul-Hamid nailed a 3 as time ran out! Dragovic was abused on defense though, in fairness, he was guarding PSU's 2 man at various times. Aboya gave solid minutes, but I'm sure Coach Howland will remind him that his range does not extend to the three point line, as he tried once.

Not a great performance overall, but a solid opening night win. It's going to be a great and special season. I encourage everyone to get out to Pauley as often as possible. There's a feeling in the air that this team is going to do special things.

GO BRUINS!

by Quickhands on Nov 9, 2007 11:46 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Luc was awful

Maybe because unlike the past season, Howland isn't counting on him to do the scoring now that KLove and his Waltonesque game has arrived in Pauley.

Russ is quick, but prone to play out of control at times. He is like Collison was, when the latter was relieving Farmar. That's why we need these exhibition, preseason games to fix all the glitches.

With Howland at the helm, we will only see better days ahead.

by Htse005 on Nov 10, 2007 12:07 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

One more thing...

KL's outlet to Westbrook, who caught the ball in stride, took one step and jammed it home, was an absolute thing of beauty. KL just fired the ball a good 80 feet, right on target and RW knew what to do with it.

by Quickhands on Nov 9, 2007 11:52 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Definitely

That pass was amazing. I can't believe it wasn't the connection of the game vid. I saw Love looking up after for another replay.

by mhmiles on Nov 10, 2007 1:21 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

The only thing that really had me worried tonight

Was my fear that Love had managed to hurt himself I think midway through the first half when he went down after getting whacked by Portland's big men. The thud of something hitting the floor was quite loud, and Love seemed a little shaken up by the play - shaking his knee, walking around a little bit more than usual after a foul. Also, he seemed to be slightly less effective in the next few minutes, not going quite so all-out on the rebounds, and looking for the outlet-bomb a little longer. I was getting a little worried at times, and wanted him to come out once the game was in hand. However, it appears nothing has happened - no news is good news.

by jaffa on Nov 10, 2007 1:05 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Remember how Walton played at Pauley

Brittle knees, fragile ankles, you name it, Walton played through it all at Pauley with sheer guts and valor. From what I saw at the game last night, Love shares that calibre of determination and skills too.

Barring the unforseen, Love will lead us into that " promised land " for the 12th time come April.

by Htse005 on Nov 10, 2007 11:40 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I never saw Walton play

I can't comment on him. All I'm saying is that Love looked like he could have been hurt, and seemed to be slightly less effective afterwards. It's great that he can play through it, but it would be nice if he weren't hurt at all and didn't have to play through anything, much less anything serious. Collison played wih a sprained knee - why couldn't Love have been playing through a similarly serious injury?

by jaffa on Nov 11, 2007 8:34 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs