Bruins Hoops ROCKING in The Bay Area

by Nestor on May 15, 2007 4:35 AM PDT in Basketball Comment 13 comments

So the Golden State Bruins stumbled in their last game and they are on life support down 1-3. Yet I still can't get enough of stories like this one on Baron and Matt playing together and raising the profile of UCLA:

[E]ight years removed from when they were college teammates, Davis and Barnes are part of the NBA's most unbelievable story.

"It's great and it's exciting to be playing with Matt again," Davis said. "It's like we're back living our UCLA days."

The Warriors' playoff performance has enthralled others.

"Because of them, I've turned into a fan and that's hard for a NBA player to say," said Seattle SuperSonics guard Earl Watson, who played with Davis and Barnes at UCLA. "Not only are the Warriors good, but they're fun to watch. Baron has dominated every game and Matt's playing the way he played his senior year at UCLA, when he did everything -- score, play defense, rebound, pass. I'm so happy for those guys, and because I'm so close to them, I've been tempted to show up at a game with a Golden State jersey on."

That was from the OC Register detailing BD having a sensational playoffs:

Davis arguably has been the most outstanding player in the NBA playoffs, his only legitimate rival being Cleveland's LeBron James. Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki is expected to officially be named Tuesday as the league's 2006-07 MVP. However, as far as the "We Believe" contingent of Golden State fans and Davis' teammates feel, he is the MVP of the moment. Even if Warriors coach Don Nelson declined to say what many others wholeheartedly believe.

Davis is averaging 26.9 points, 6.3 assists and 5.2 rebounds in the playoffs. He is shooting 54 percent from the field and has had four 30-point-plus scoring outings in nine games. But it is the way he has taken over games and the mind-boggling plays that he has made that stand out.

and Matt emerging as one of key catalysts in Warrior's great run:

Barnes has been a linchpin for the Warriors. He has played an all-purpose role as a starter, sixth man, a scorer when Davis and co-captain Jason Richardson missed numerous games because of injuries, a distributor and a hustler extraordinaire.

Barnes averaged 9.8 points and 4.6 rebounds during the regular season and has fattened those numbers to 11.2 points and 5.6 rebounds in the playoffs. Although Barnes has started three of the nine playoff games, Nelson prefers to bring him off the bench for the energy that he provides to the Warriors' thin second unit. But for three consecutive playoff games, Barnes averaged 42 minutes.

Just one problem with the article. It ends with this:

"Golden State is a perfect fit for those two players, with a coach that takes advantages of the skills they offer," former UCLA coach Steve Lavin said. "Baron's game was tailor-made for the NBA back when I first saw him play in high school. He's as skilled and as entertaining a player that I've ever had a chance to coach or to watch. Baron played so well against Dallas and was so dominant that I believe he took away their confidence.

It is really amazing that a gasbag like Steve Lavin is actually sought out to provide thoughts on these two Bruins. These two guys have gone on to become successful despite his negilgent coaching. In fact there are so many stories out there basically asserting that one of the reasons Baron left Westwood early because he did not want anything to do with Lavin after two tumultous and leaderless years under Lavin. And there was Barnes who developed his skills despite being benched and neglected under Lavin's wasteful coaching who was taking mintues away from Barnes so he could give them out to pets like Sean "lucky charm" Farnham and Billy Knight. Lavin cost these two kids (and others who were unfortunate to play for him) millions of dollars and now he has the audacity to opine on their successes like a shameless pr!ck?

Anyways lets not let a fraud like Lavin spoil all the fun. As always we wish best of luck to Baron and to Matt for continued success. I will say it while they have taken Bay Area by storm, it sure is helping to raise the profile or UCLA basketball, creating a perfect storm for Coach Howland who is starting to reel in blue chips recruits who are getting enamored by Howland's recents runs and the successes of the former Bruins in the NBA. After all may be its a not a total coincidence Howland's latest recruit - Drew Gordon - happen to live near the backyard of Baron and Matt. And it was also the same backyard (Bay Area) which Bruins used as a key launching pad to punch their tickets for their last two Final-4s. See it all fits together in the world of UCLA basketball.

GO BRUINS.

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Baron and Matt rock!

Since shaqille O'neal left LA lakers, I had lost interest in NBA completely. I never thought I would watch another NBA game. Even with Shaq playing with lakers I thought NBA is extremely boring.
It looks like it took someone like Baron Davis to bring some excitement back into NBA, excitement that has been missing since Magic Johnson and Larry Bird retired. Golden state playoff games are very exciting to watch, and I am not even a Golden state fan!! At least not until last month.
I am proud of our former bruins. Go Warriors!!

WE BELIEVE

by cyberdbk on May 15, 2007 11:20 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Coach??

Im not sure why he said that Barnes was the most excited player that he has ever coached. Im pretty sure there wasn't much coaching going on. He should've stuck with just the watching line.

by lil eg not cs on May 15, 2007 12:33 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

ooops

sorry *exciting

trying to pay attention in the art of listening and reading BN at the same time.

by lil eg not cs on May 15, 2007 12:35 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Are you an athlete?

I could never get into that class because it was always filled up by football players. Three times I tried to get in, to no avail...

by tasser10 on May 15, 2007 1:56 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

nope

no..not an athlete. There are a lot of athletes in the class though. I guess i just got lucky. Being a freshman and all im not sure how it wasn't filled by the time my first pass came. It kind of reminds me of my earthquakes class, where i had half the men's soccer team and 3 gymnasts in my lab.

by lil eg not cs on May 15, 2007 5:48 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Haha I'm in that class

Hope Cheng's done with this classical/opera stuff soon so we can go to contemporary stuff. Gah.

As a Warrior fan, I'm sad that the Warriors have been eliminated, but I'm sure Baron Davis will lead us back to the playoffs next year. He is a Bruin, after all...

Class of 2010. GO BRUINS!

by Yoyo on May 16, 2007 12:08 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Now, Yoyo

Give opera a chance.

Here are three things from Verdi that are hot by any standard:

Traviata: Just after the card scene when Violetta meets Alfredo and begs him to leave her.

Rigoletto: The Act IV quartet where Gilda discovers that the Duke is two-timing her.

Trovatore: The part in Act III where DeLuna discovers that Azucena killed his brother and condemns her to death.

Tell your teacher you want to hear those, and I guarantee you will not be disappointed. And that's a solemn Bruin promise, not one of those things from across town.

by Fox 71 on May 16, 2007 7:03 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

What An Insanely Apt Description of Him

You got it right.

He gave us seven years of negligent, freelance coaching, subject his teams to horrendous embarassments and monumental defeats the likes of which you and I hopefully won't ever see again until perhaps Ice Age returns.

That repugnant cheerleading style of coaching along the sideline particularly irks me to this day. How in the world Dalis could buy into such juvenile deceptions is totally beyond me.

by Htse005 on May 15, 2007 2:33 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Take a closer look at Quagmire's quote...

... for the subtext:

"Golden State is a perfect fit for those two players..."

(Cliche #1.)

"... with a coach that takes advantages of the skills they offer ..."

(Translation: Unlike me.)

"...Baron's game was tailor-made for the NBA ..."

(Cliche #2.)

"...back when I first saw him play in high school. ..."

(Translation: Which is why he wanted to get out of school early before I made him lose even more draft stock.)

" ...He's as skilled and as entertaining a player that I've ever had a chance to coach or to watch... "

(Translation: Which, given my style of coaching, were actually synonymous.)

"... Baron played so well against Dallas and was so dominant that I believe he took away their confidence."

(Translation: He was really good.)

What a tool.

And we will have our vengeance, in this game and the next.

by Meriones on May 15, 2007 3:18 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

From the quotes

it seems like Lavin is purposely trying to avoid the subject of who deserves credit for the player that Baron Davis is today. He knows that he contributed nothing to Davis' career, and he knows that saying that he did would be an unprintable lie.

by Tydides on May 15, 2007 5:37 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Mixed feelings

I have been excited about and proud of the two Golden State Bruins, who have helped drive a moribund team to lofty heights of possibilities. I mean, the Bay Area has suffered for many years of lousy teams, bad management, temperamental players (to say the least), and hopeless seasons.

Still, the fans came. Don't ask me why, but they continued to shell out big NBA bucks for miserable teams. Then, along come Baron, Matt, and company, and all of a sudden, the team is making the playoffs, shocking the number 1, and believing that they can win it all. Just like that. Almost overnight.

Well, the abused fans responded. Their home court in the playoffs has been as loud as any, anywhere. The fans have been hungry and miserable for so long, they have responded with a vengeance.

And, there at the center of things, are two Bruins playing prominent roles. Good stuff.

And, yet...

Golden State is currently carving out a deserved reputation for being this season's Bad Boys. Maybe the refs are watching them extra carefully, but who can blame them? Richardson and Davis' fouls when the games were lost were cheap shots and reflected poorly on the team. All of GS's ejections (4, I think) and all but one of their 9 technicals in the playoffs have come in losses. No one on the team, including Davis and Barnes, has ever committed a foul.

That's not simply playing hard. That's being a bad sport. A poor loser. The contrast has been made more stark by Utah's well-coached team and gracious players. Fisher's class and grace in the wake of Davis' act of frustration in game 4 stands in bold relief to Baron's "What's the problem?" responses to the incident.

I'm proud that two Bruins have led this downtrodden teams into the limelight. I just wish that they, and the rest of the team, had displayed more class in doing so.

by BruinLuv on May 15, 2007 9:15 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree...

Living in the Bay Area, most of the teams here are pretty classless. However, I'm sorry that this classlessness has worn off on Baron and Matt. Ben Howland coached players don't "cheap shot" or whine like that -- too bad they didn't have the advantage of playing under the coach, instead of the other guy.

I like both those kids, but I'd like to see them in a different environment.

by waters96 on May 16, 2007 1:02 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs