Ben Ball Highlights

by Nestor on Jan 25, 2008 4:34 AM PST in Basketball

First, if you haven’t done so, please join me in giving some huge props to Grok451 for putting up highlights of last night’s key action at ridiculous warp speed.

Here are some of Grok’s goodies. To begin with, let’s get to the two key plays late in the game. Here is Dragovic’s huge bomb late in the game that brought the Bruins within one:

Simply the biggest shot in Nikola’s career which we hope will give him the necessary confidence from here on out.

And that bomb was followed by this, which is RW doing his best impersonation of AA:

Love was dominating, DC was clutch but those two plays were back breaker for the Ducks.

Grok451 posted few more goodies involving RW and the Terminator (AA2). Jump after the flip to check them out.

As we said RW got himself out of the funk he found himself last Saturday. Grok posted his difference making play above. There was also this heady move in the first half:

The key here as noted by Grok there was only 2 seconds left in the shot clock. Just an incredibly smart play.

Now couple of clips involving AA2 who got himself in foul trouble again. But when he was in the game he was well … sacrificing his body to keep the team in the game:

And after he got into foul trouble he played with enough poise not to foul out and making contrbutions down the stretch including getting this key block that helped us seal the deal:

So that’s a little taste of Ben Ball.

Beautiful stuff.

GO BRUINS.

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Comments

A Big Thank You from the Bruins Living in Exile

Big thanks to Grok, Freesia and the others whose posts in the game day thread serve as a play by play to many of us living away from tv and radio feeds.

One of the worst things about living in Texas is the inability to get any form of game feeds on some of our games. I had to follow the sc game on ESPN's play by play which often runs a minute or so late. No radio on the 'net and the video stream you pay for does not work on Mac's. (Actually, I'm glad I didn't see the sc game.)

Without the Play-by-Play, the scores and some of the videos, game days, especially in close games, would be torture.

So, please keep up the good work -- and it is work, because I did a couple of play by play threads in football and football is a lot slower.

Maybe we can save Freesia's fingers some work.

How about a system where we can ask for play by play if we need it, and, more than one person can carry the load?

And, Grok, your video's of highlights really fill the gaps; please, keep them coming.

Again, thanks to all who help add depth and dimension to the thread --

sjh

by Class of 66 on Jan 25, 2008 7:12 AM PST reply actions

no problem

i enjoy doing the play by play. i wish i could angle my computer so that it's directly facing the TV, because i wind up missing some stuff every now and then to hit "post" but i'm still listening.

besides i figure, there's a good chance i might move out of the area, and i'll need to depend on the bruinsnation to do the play by play when i'm stuck in stanford and cal land. ugh, the thought is a tad sickening... i need to research my cable and dish options for picking up the FSNs.

by freesia39 on Jan 25, 2008 9:10 AM PST up reply actions

RE: webstream

Have you tried using the stream over on bruinvideos.com?

by jose007 on Jan 25, 2008 9:16 AM PST up reply actions

Stream

Thanks for the lead. Does it stream all Bruin games? Whose feed does it use?

Do you know if it will work on a Mac?

Thanks.

sjh

by Class of 66 on Jan 25, 2008 2:29 PM PST up reply actions

stream

Most of the games have been streamed and I believe one of the members of Bruinville does the stream (here is the thread regarding it http://bruinville.com/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=6288&highlight=stream).

I am not positive as to whether it works on a Mac, but it's definitely worth the try. I hope this helps.

by jose007 on Jan 25, 2008 8:18 PM PST up reply actions

I'm pretty sure

that you can get the sports package for any city you want. I live in Northern California and I could have paid 5 bucks a month extra to get the SoCal version of FSN. Seems like you could do the same in Texas or whereever.

by Dodger Hater on Jan 25, 2008 9:22 AM PST up reply actions

Not always

While Comcast (or insert your cable provider here) does offer the digital sports tier in many regions, it is sadly not a universal offering. And of course, for people that still do not have digital cable/dish, out of luck.

Thankfully, Comcast has finally decided to supply the digital sports pack (with Fox Sports Pacific - the SoCal FSN) to Central Virginia customers, starting tomorrow!!! $6/month, and I get to watch most of our remaining non-tourney games!

by bruinhoo on Jan 25, 2008 9:35 AM PST up reply actions

Good for you!

I'll still be going down to the local pizza joint to get my Bruin fix.

by Dodger Hater on Jan 25, 2008 9:39 AM PST up reply actions

The Problem is Games on Networks, not FSN

I've got the package -- but for games like sc, which was on CBS, there is no option.

And, I've yet to find a 'net feed of video that works on a Mac.

Finally, the 570 radio feed seems to be blocked too. Does anyone get that?

Thanks.

sjh

by Class of 66 on Jan 25, 2008 2:25 PM PST up reply actions

570 blocking

The station does that for all of the sporting events that they carry over the air - UCLA, Lakers, etc. My guess is that it is part of the station's contract with the teams/school, particularly since UCLA sells its radio feed, as do the Lakers through the NBA.

by bruinhoo on Jan 25, 2008 6:26 PM PST up reply actions

Hey living in exile in Texas

Just make sure your passport is up-to-date when you travel to California!!!

BillSouthBay

by Mensgym on Jan 25, 2008 10:27 AM PST up reply actions

It's worth it

Get DirecTV. You don't need to get a premium package, but the Choice package plus the Sports package, and you get all the Fox Sports channels.

Bob O. (Signholder #3)

by TuneMan7 on Jan 25, 2008 12:31 PM PST up reply actions

YESSSSSSSS

The fiance wanted to get Sunday Ticket if/when we moved, and since that's only on DirecTV... YAY! I was afraid I was going to get stuck in a Dish Network vs DirecTV fight.

Now, I hope the apartment we wind up in allows us to put up a dish.

by freesia39 on Jan 25, 2008 1:07 PM PST up reply actions

DirecTV

is defenitely worth it. I switched when it looked like they were going to be the exclusive carrier of the MLB EI package and I included the Sports package. Its a beautiful thing that I now never miss any bruin football or basketball games...

by gorams77 on Jan 25, 2008 2:29 PM PST up reply actions

Thanks for the props guys

And Love did have a huge night - see below, what I'm calling the 'K-Lites' (Kevin Love Highlights, get it?) When I get around to it (later tonight, since I'm supposed to be working), I plan to put together the same for Collison, which I'll call 'D-Lites', which ought to be delightful. (ok, pretty corny). To the Bruin World: Enjoy!

by Telemachus on Jan 25, 2008 8:44 AM PST reply actions

It was great

everytime that KLove winked after scoring.

by pocho on Jan 25, 2008 2:23 PM PST up reply actions

I gave us less than a 50% shot of winning this

with the injuries. but two big surprises:

DC playing like the DC of old

and

8 solid, productive minutes from ND

turned the tide. KLove's performance was amazing, but didn't surpise. I was most pleased, and surprised to see DC playing like we knew he could.

We are going to be Scary good come March.

"when you've seen how big the world is, how can you make due with this?"

by silverlakebruin on Jan 25, 2008 8:56 AM PST reply actions

Exactly...

...what I was thinking in regards to the DC comment. He played like an All American last night, so let's hope that mentally he's recovered from his injury.

On another note, it's pretty nice to not have to worry about our free throw shooting down the stretch this season.

by jose007 on Jan 25, 2008 9:19 AM PST up reply actions

I had resigned myself to a loss

I was pretty certain that we wouldn't win this one with all the injuries and such.

I was positive we would lose it when we had two back-ups with 4 fouls and K-Love was limping down the court.

This was a huge huge win!

by Dodger Hater on Jan 25, 2008 9:24 AM PST up reply actions

Amazing win, but an observation

To win it on the road with a depleted bench was truly an amazing win.

That said, I really think the key to our defense against WSU was guys staying home on the three point line not letting guys get easy looks on the three ball.

The last two games, it appears the guards are cheating in again, leaving their guys on the three point line open for easy kick-outs. Oregon absolutely killed us with this play.

Why not have our guards stay on the perimeter with the most dangerous three point guys and let our bigs guard one on one? Especially versus Oregon, who isn't very big at all.

Yes, you won't get plays like the Westbrook block late in the game last night, but you also won't give up the huge run of threes we have in the past two games.

by Free the 16 on Jan 25, 2008 9:36 AM PST reply actions

Counter Observation

I the last two games,the perimeter has been less of a problem than the interior. Think of Oregon driving in. Leunan and Catron were tearing us up inside. Think of the back door cuts and dunks by SC.

We just need to be fundamentally sound on defense and IMHO we haven't been doing that - with the exception of Wash St.

by mizzou on Jan 25, 2008 10:06 AM PST up reply actions

Good points as well.

I think Luc is a big part to either defense working well.

True Oregon was getting some good looks inside, but more due to working in the paint to get them. It seemed to me they had far fewer back cuts for easy hoops than SC did.

In the Oregon game, the kick outs were the killer.

by Free the 16 on Jan 25, 2008 11:16 AM PST up reply actions

You Make Your "Luck" --

but that said, there were some series when we played intense D, forced them to take a shot at the end of the clock, or knocked a ball away only to have it bounce to a wide open duck who sank a shot.

Yes, as others have pointed out, they outhustled us for much of the game, and over a season lucky bounces even out, but last night was their lucky night.

That we won, overcoming everything, is amazing.

sjh

by Class of 66 on Jan 25, 2008 2:35 PM PST up reply actions

It was an amazing win

considering out injuries status.

Some observations:

The Ducks would collapse on Love, and quite a few times Keefe would be open underneath. It seems that Keefe's teammates have little confidence in Keefe to score and therefore he did not get any passes under the basket. Keefe is reduced to looking for outside shots, of which he made one. I guess Keefe has to earn his teammates' confidence.
We won with Shipp having an off night offensively, which is a good sign. If Collison and Westbrook continue to hit their jumpers, it would open up things for Shipp.
If Dragovic could make a couple of 3's per game -- never mind his defensive liability -- it would make our team that much harder to defend. To me, he is not that much of a drop-off from Roll. Others have sung Roll's praises based on his performance in practices, but I have yet to see it in actual games for the past 3 seasons. Has Roll ever made as crucial a 3 as the one Drago hit last night?
The twin guards of Collison/Westbrook is the best in the nation, I don't care what "experts" say.
Love's best chance to go NBA is found in his ability to shoot the 3. Every 3 he makes decreases whatever slim chance of his returning next year.
I can't wait for payback time at Galen.

by bluegold on Jan 25, 2008 10:56 AM PST reply actions

soft

That middle is a freeway to layups. Bruins have to plug it up by slamming bodies when the opponent frequently beat our guys for an uncontested layups. Gives them something to think about next time.

by brewinz on Jan 25, 2008 1:12 PM PST reply actions

K Love

While K Love absolutely dominated on the offensive side, I must say that I felt his defense took a step down this game. Certainly this is due to the fact that we had so many big men missing, so I put no blame on him personally, but I do think this was a rare game where we won despite playing a relatively poor defensive game. I just want to get our guys back and get back to what we do--defend.

by jjreicher on Jan 25, 2008 1:40 PM PST reply actions

Agree in part,

We played our trademark D at the very end of the game. We did not play it all game long.

We had very few turnovers leading to fast break points -- and that's why RW's play at the end of the game signaled a sea change.

sjh

by Class of 66 on Jan 25, 2008 2:37 PM PST up reply actions

Strengths and Weaknesses

This game displayed the team's strengths and weaknesses. A spread court offense creates vulnerabilities in our defense. Love is still a bit slow to react to decent, but not great, big guys who can drive to the basket. Like Florida in two national championships, and USC last week, a spread offense produces easy baskets against us. Oregon scored 75 points against us, after USC scored 72. With the spread offense, it is too difficult for the Bruins to make their rotations and the results are layups, dunks and kickouts for threes. Nevertheless, I love this team. The last 7 minutes was a tremendously gutty performance with contributions from everyone (except Shipp, our most consistent scorer.) Love and Collison had season high games, but it was Westbrook who dominated the last 4 minutes, making a three, making the play of the game - steal followed by a layup, and then getting two gigantic rebounds that closed the door on Oregon. They play with such confidence and expect to win. Being a fan of this team is like an addictive drug. After the Oregon game, I can't wait for the next fix.

by 75NatChamps on Jan 26, 2008 3:58 AM PST reply actions