Ben Ball News & Notes

by Nestor on Feb 26, 2008 4:46 AM PST in Basketball Comment 14 comments

Bruins rise in the polls is the top line in today’s LA Times report. Diane Pucin managed to track down the lone sports editor who voted for Ben Ball warriors as the number 1 team in the country. Can’t really disagree with his reasoning:

In the AP poll, the Bruins (24-3, 10-3) even got a first-place vote from Bill Liesse, the sports editor of the Peoria (Ill.) Journal Star.

Tennessee is first in both polls after beating previously top-ranked Memphis. In the AP poll, the Volunteers got 69 first-place votes, No. 3 North Carolina got two and UCLA had Liesse's ballot. Memphis is second in the AP poll and North Carolina third, while the coaches have North Carolina second and Memphis third. Tennessee was a unanimous first-place vote-getter from the coaches.

"I don't see anybody else matching UCLA one through five," said Liesse, who then named UCLA's starting five -- Kevin Love, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Josh Shipp, Darren Collison and Russell Westbrook. "I know it's crowded at the top, but at the end of the day I don't see a Kevin Love on Tennessee."

Well over here we are not going to get into commenting on which team should or shouldn’t be number 1. Tennessee won a huge game at Memphis. Kudos to them. Good luck to them in hanging on to that top spot. As for us we have to keep taking care of our business here in the Pac-10. And it looks despite the issues we have to work on our numbers are looking across the board in the Pac-10. From Pucin again:

UCLA ranks in the top five of every team statistical category in the Pac-10 except three-point field-goal shooting percentage, where the Bruins are ninth (Oregon State is last). The Bruins are first in scoring margin and defensive rebounding; second in scoring defense, free-throw percentage and field-goal percentage; third in scoring offense, three-point field-goal defense percentage and offensive rebounding; and fifth in field-goal percentage defense.

Freshman center Love is seventh in the conference in scoring, second in rebounding, fifth in field-goal percentage, second in offensive rebounding and tied for second in defensive rebounding. Westbrook leads in assists, and Collison is first in free-throw percentage and steals.

As for the issues we have to work on we have already talked about 3 point shooting. Love noted how he has to work on his FT shooting:

UCLA center Kevin Love, a 74 percent free throw shooter, was 7 of 12 from the free throw line against Oregon, and is 11 of his last 20 from the line.
"I can't believe it,'' Love said. I missed five of 12, and I'm a far better shooter than that. I think I'm an 85, 90 percent shooter."

Well Kevin is shooting around the 75 percent range this year. So if he can maintain that average or do better than that we are going to be ok.

Kevin also talked about having a sense of urgency during their remaining games:

UCLA freshman center Kevin Love spoke last week about needing urgency, or it will cost the Bruins come NCAA Tournament time.
After Saturday's win against Oregon in which the Bruins trailed by 11 points in the second half, he spoke about it again.
"I don't s necessarily think it's a good thing,'' Love said. "We can't be so off and on like that or else we're going to lose a game when it counts. It's not like the Oregon State game. We had to find ways to get motivated and we did.
"This game, we kind of waited too long. We still won, but we let them get up 11. We didn't have any intensity on defense. We did wait until 11, 12 minutes were left in the second half to really pick it up and then we decided to play. that's something where we're going to have to play all 40 minutes if we want to go where we want to go."

I agree with Kevin that there has to be a sense of urgency heading into this road trip. However, I think that sense of urgency was not missing during the Oregon game, as it was missing against Washington. We have already talked about that game enough. But once again I felt like it was a matter of very talented Oregon team playing lights out right out of the gate. We ended up adjusting and got in our lockdown mode by the later part of first half. But because of some freak issues such as slippages on east end of the court or not being able to convert some easy layups, missed FTs, we weren’t able to take control of that game earlier. Let’s hope those issues are addressed heading into Thursday night’s game against ASU. Because we are not going to have any margin of error on the road against a team that will be playing for their NCAA lives.

So I hope Love along with rest of his team-mates bring the same urgency they showed against WSU on the road, the Oregon/Bay Area road trip, starting with an intense focus on defense. In our program everything starts with our defense. When we come out with a razor sharp intensity on that end of the court, our offense will take care of itself.

GO BRUINS.

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UCLA is the best team in the nation...

when they want to be. The problem is that they don't always play like they want to be. I think part of the reason is that so many players have turning pro on their minds. Possibly being a multi-millionaire in less than a year -- that would distract you a little bit.

by bluegold on Feb 26, 2008 8:16 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

I'm not sure...

...it's the NBA distracting us. I think our players know that if they win games they will get more notice from scouts.

I simply believe that everyone who plays us comes out of the gate 100% fired up to beat a top 10 team, especially one with such a rich tradition. Generally, teams can't maintain that kind of intensity for 40 minutes due to fatigue (mental and physical) and eventually they wear down. I also think that CBH is one of the best at making halftime/in-game adjustments, so even if an opponent comes out with a good game plan we can counter it very easily.

Go Bruins.

by hicalliber on Feb 26, 2008 8:38 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

No way

I strongly doubt that the prospect of getting to the NBA is what is distracting our players. What I see is the same thing that plagued the Lakers, the Spurs and even Florida last year: Regular Season Fatigue.

Every game, these guys have to play the most intense defense in the country while having every single team come at them full speed to knock them off. It wears you down, particularly when all you really want to play are those last two games of the tournament. It's like when you play a video game, get all the way to the end, lose to the final bad guy or fail the final stage, and you have to start ALL OVER AGAIN to get to that level. Most of these guys have already been to two Final Fours, they're just waiting for their shot again. So, in my opinion, it's a case of looking ahead to the tourney mixed with the occasional boredom/fatigue.

by tasser10 on Feb 26, 2008 9:40 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Sense of Urgency

I think the team did lack a sense of urgency at least on the first half of the Oregon game before they picked it up with intensity on defense on the second half. That first half resembled the effort we got in the USC and Washington loss.

by cyberdbk on Feb 26, 2008 8:58 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

You Know What They Say...

If it'll play in Peoria, it'll play anywhere.

by mcbruin on Feb 26, 2008 9:07 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

My one concern remains the same...

... and that's backcourt depth. My heart went into my throat when RW went down temporarily.

I know, I know, the '95 team only ran with three guards, and even had JR Sakuragi in the backcourt more often than Charles O'Bannon.

Still, I would LOVE to see the miracle of either (a) Chace getting about 8-10 minutes per game from here on out, 'cause he clearly has athleticism, or (b) our perimeter guys dodging injuries until, oh, let's say August...

... of 2009.

"In this program your passion bucket must be full to play SC." -- CRN, to Dan Patrick, 1/2008

by Meriones on Feb 26, 2008 9:40 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Washington game

I thought we played hard versus Washington, but the were so much more physical, and Luc was out, which made a huge difference.

by 75NatChamps on Feb 26, 2008 3:55 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

If

Tennessee loses tonight in the music city...how far do they drop...3? lower?

O.A.

by Ollie on Feb 26, 2008 6:04 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

If everyone else wins this week,

probably #3.

by Raisin on Feb 26, 2008 7:42 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Tough!

There is no doubt as to which conference is the toughest in the land and this is what makes UCLA along with others in the conference so good. Look at the schedules. Pac-10 normally plays with only one day of rest between games. Rarely two. In the top five Tennessee, Memphis, North Carolina, Texas normally play 4 days between games but never lass than two not couting game day.

UCLA is conditioned and tough. Go Bruins.

by Blue Critter on Feb 26, 2008 6:05 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

We are Consistent

But not dominant, so it will be another harrowing run through the NCAA's. You have to love our team, because they play hard, they are smart and they are all winners.

by 75NatChamps on Feb 26, 2008 6:21 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

It usually is

harrowing, hair raising to navigate the treacherous paths of the tourney.

One big plus we have is that during crunch time, we rise to the occasion by grinding it out against our opponents, except the two consecutive losses to the Gators when they completely outgunned, outplayed us.

Well, the girlie man & company finally left the arena this year. How I wish they hadn't so that we could exact vengeance on that ugly, tacky, obnoxious bunch.

by Htse005 on Feb 26, 2008 11:08 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe we're too critical?

1. Tennessee (69) 25-2 1,797
2. Memphis 26-1 1,682
3. North Carolina (2) 26-2 1,668
4. UCLA (1) 24-3 1,593

Two years ago, at the same point in the season, The AP poll ranked us #15 w/ a 22-6 record...we went to the championship game

Last year, at the same point in the season, The AP poll ranked us #2 w/ a 25-3 record (we ended ranked #7)...we went to the final four

Very similar record today, 24-3, (not rank, however, but that's arguable).

Our starting line-up, leading the toughest conference in the nation, (Memphis doesn't have their 26-1 record in the Pac-10), Tennessee's loss today will drop them, and a Zona sweep for us will hopefully cause a rise and further build our skills against "hungry" teams...

Lets hope our boys work out their kinks over the next 2-3 weeks and stay injury free!!

Then bring on the tourney, because I truly believe this is CBH's best bruin team yet

by uCla on Feb 26, 2008 10:54 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Never mind

those rankings, pal. Whatever it is now doesn't matter one iota if we flamed out in the tourney. All I care now is to close out the regular season and PAC 10 tourney games well enough to stay close to home in the big dance, then crush every team in our way to the "promised land" for the 12th time.

by Htse005 on Feb 26, 2008 11:17 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs