I am having a hard time getting excited about UCLA athletics right now. Still recovering from the meltdown from Saturday. But we still have a hoops season that has been slowly unfolding during last few weeks and there are some reasons foe early concern. We are 6-1, but our record is apparently little deceiving because, according to news reports and online chatter except Temple (and may be Drexle) all of those wins came against cupcakes in not so impressive fashion.
Our half court offense looks out of whack, and our big men have apparently played so aweful that they would probably get punked in those basketball courts near Dykstra Hall. I am not going to reach any conclusions yet because I have only seen 3 games so far this season (NM State, Memphis St, and Drexel), and I don't think I still don't know what to make of this team, since Farmar was playing hurt, and we were playing without Shipp and Aboya. I will form my early impressions sometime in January, after we have played a few Pac-10 games. Also, I think it is totally concievable that we will lose our next two games against Nevada (this Sat. at Wooden classic) and then on the road against Michigan. Both teams have played some great basketball this early in the season.
But there is reason to be a little patient. We have some good news. Shipp is recovering nicely, set to make his season debut on December 21st, and we have also apparently signed a big kid from Serbia/Monte-Negro, Marko Spica. Welcome to the Bruin Family Mark. Get here soon. So anyways like I was seeing I cannot really get worked up right now about the injury riddled hoops team (playing with no seasoned big men thanks to Lavin's atrocious recruiting) play early in the season. Lot of the concerns being voiced right now are coming mostly from Lavin lovers. So yawn. Lavin's total destruction of this basketball program turned it into an at least five year rebuilding project. Howland is barely into his year three with a nice foundation in place. So no reason to freak out from an early season turbulence, i.e. a possible 6-3 record after next two games. Hey ... at least we have an exciting Sun Bowl to look forward to on December 30th after visualizing and dreaming about the BCS the whole October. GO BRUINS.
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