Roundup From BN Walk: News & Notes

We will start our walk on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. That’s where former Ben Ball warrior Jordan Farmar found himself last week (along with "Dallas Mavericks’ dancers) promoting the Association. From the Korea Times:

Farmar joined the Dallas Mavericks' dancers and New Orleans Hornets' mascot as guests at NBA Madness Korea, an interactive event for fans that took place Friday through Sunday at Yongsan I'Park Mall in Seoul. He put on basketball clinics, spoke with crowds and signed autographs in an effort to help others have a good time.

``I'm trying to be as involved in the NBA as possible,'' Farmar said. ``I feel that I've had an opportunity to grow with playing time and an opportunity on the court, and I'd like to take advantage of an opportunity off the court. I think it's good to be able to travel the world and see other places and help get the word about the NBA globalized. I think that's what we're trying to do.''

In addition to teaching others about basketball, Farmar used his trip to Seoul to learn about Korean culture. He had some knowledge of South Korea from his friendship with Ha Seung-jin, a Korean basketball player who had a brief career in the United States. But this was Farmar's first visit to the peninsula.

``My first impression is that Korea's a beautiful county,'' Farmar said. ``I like it a lot. It's similar to New York City because it has a lot of people. There's a lot of stuff going on, a lot of lights.''

There's a lot of stuff going on in Farmar's basketball career as well. The 1.88-meter, 81.6-kilogram guard recently finished his second season in the NBA, during which he emerged as an important player for the Lakers, averaging 9.1 points and 2.7 assists per game. He helped the team compile a 57-25 record during the regular season and win the Western Conference title, before it lost the NBA finals, a best-of-seven series, 4-2 against the Boston Celtics.

``I'm playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, and I realize how special that organization is, built around winning and greatness and all the people who have played for that organization,'' Farmer said, referring to Lakers stars such as Hall of Famer Earvin ``Magic'' Johnson and the NBA's current Most Valuable Player (MVP), Kobe Bryant. ``So for me to be a part of it after growing up my whole life watching them and loving them, it was more of a dream coming true. I couldn't even imagine it happening if I tried, and when it hit me, I was extremely, extremely happy.''

Dreaming to join JF is his former class-mate LMR:

UCLA's Lorenzo Mata-Real is one of 22 prospects vying for a spot on the Lakers' summer-league team this week. A Lakers spokesman said the team expects to finalize a 13-man roster for the Las Vegas Summer League Thursday after evaluating their players during two-a-day practices at their facility in El Segundo.

HT to qazplm3 for confirming the scoop norcald503 posted last weekend. We are all realistic enough to know this is a long shot for LMR. Yet given how he developed as a defensive stalwart at UCLA, no one here will count the kid out.  Also note from qazplm3's post Cedric Bozeman is also in LMR's team. Good luck to both CB and LMR.

Also on the hoops front, looks like elite SG Xavier Henry is coming to Westwood for a visit. Eisenberg from the Press Enterprise has the details. Henry is on the list of number of elite guard/wing prospects who are currently on UCLA’s board. I am not all that worried about who ultimately ends committing to UCLA. I am in pretty much cruise control mode with Howland in charge.

Switching over to football, QB commit Richard Brehaut has racked up another honor as he has been invited/selected for the UnderArmour All American game. This follows his selection for the Elite 11 camp. So he is kind of on a roll. Note Brehaut is the second consecutive Bruin QB to play in this came. Last year Nick Crissman (and EJ Woods) represented the Blue and Gold in that all star contest.

And we will end this walk with a little college football "fantasy" by some guy named Jerry Green at the Detroit News. Jerry and his buddy (who is a Trojan fan) is proposing, an "annual Big Ten-vs.-Pac Ten College Football Showdown pitting these two rival conferences in a series of games to open the football season." The idea would be to match up the teams from two conferences based on previous year standings during the Labor Day weekend. So here is how the matchups would look this year (as 5 games would be played in West and the other five in fly over land):

*Ohio State vs. Southern California
*Illinois vs. Arizona State
*Michigan vs. Oregon State
*Wisconsin vs. Oregon
*Penn State vs. UCLA
*Iowa vs. Arizona
*Purdue vs. California
*Indiana vs. Washington State
*Michigan State vs. Stanford
*Northwestern vs. Washington

I am sure our program will have no problem relishing matchups with Big-10 teams (as long as it doesn’t involve Wisconsin). Since 2000 Bruins are 5-0 against Big-10 teams racking up victories against Northwestern, Illinois, Michigan, and tOSU.

In other words, sounds good to us.

GO BRUINS.