march madness 2009: my picks

it pains me that ucla is not gonna make the final four, but it is what it is. if they do, great. if they don't.... well...

so here are my picks:

ucla: we're number ... 2?

so ucla beat oregon. but, washington beat wazzu.

which meant ucla finished the regular season at number 2. strange. the dark days of the lavin era feels so long ago that i can't seem to fathom supporting a schizophrenic-but-will-eventually-flame-out team anymore. i'm not saying that this team is like that. not at all. i 'm just saying that it's weird not being the top dog in the pac this year. ah well. there's still the pac-10 tournament and the ncaa tournament to look forward to.

back at pauley: ucla v. arizona

it has been awhile since the last time i was at pauley. ever since i decided to give up my tickets (around the same time bruin basketball got better... and the tickets got more expensive), i have been cherishing the rare moments i set foot at pauley.

so, i am pleased to say that my first time back in a year has been enjoyable. first off, coach john wooden is still around. he is being wheeled in a wheelchair these days but hey, he is 98 or so. pretty darned good, if you ask me. he still gives me the goosebumps everytime i see him sitting behind the bruin bench. what an awesome man.



second, ucla won 80-63. i was pleased that nikola dragovic has actually been productive this year (and even the leading scorer this game) as i had high hopes for him when he first came to the states from serbia about 3 years ago... and turned out to be a dud. not so much anymore.

third, i was pleased to see alfred aboya again. he has improved much in his free throw shooting as seen in the video below. it used to be that every time he went to the charity stripe, i had to cringe. it was almost an automatic turnover. but, he is much improved and am happy for him. plus, he has been very good about not fouling too much. this will probably be the last time i will see him in a bruin uniform as this is his last year (he is currently a grad student at ucla -- he graduated college in 3 years!). hopefully, i will see him soon as the president of cameroon, as he has dreamed to become.



fourth, i was pleased to see crazy alumni guy again. this guy cracks me up. wherever you may be sitting at pauley -- whether on the floor or in the nosebleeds, you can hear this guy screaming and hollering at the other team when they are attempting to make free throws. his shrill voice and spastic moves is classic. gotta love him.



last but not the least, i enjoyed watching the fab five freshmen - jrue holiday, drew gordon, malcolm lee, jerime anderson and j'mison morgan. ok, granted, they were not all in good playing form. e.g., morgan needs to get fitter to go up and down the court but he has lots of potential. otherwise, holiday rocked. and if memory serves, gordon made a couple of awesome blocks towards the end of the game.

overall, i still love my bruins. while they are not top ranked in the country, it is all good. i think they will make a deep run in the tournament.

the last game of the season: ucla v.u$c

all i can say is that thank god it's over.

let the rebuilding begin and a new season unfold.

meantime, as far as i'm concerned, the score was:

RIP coach newell

a sad day in the college basketball world.

may you rest in peace, coach.

finally, a win.

yes, wazzu was (is) at the bottom of the pac-10 barrel. but hey, a win is a win.

so much confidence, indeed, that bruin fans were doing the wave.... a lot... during the bruins' commanding 28-3 win. i wanted the wave to stop.



kevin craft seemed more confident. that's good. but my euphoria was (still is) tempered by the fact that, again, wazzu was (and still is) at the bottom of the barrel. we shall see what happens next week when ucla travels to oregon (who just got embarrassed by $c last night).

to be continued...

let the bad times roll

just like the roller coaster that was wall street this past week, so was ucla's football season. but at least wall street got bailed out. don't think ucla will get bailed out anytime soon.

i am so glad...

i am so glad that ucla routed cal 22 points on thursday to silence all the critics about how cal allegedly got jobbed a game from a week ago.

i am so glad that ucla beat u$c on friday. and i am happy to finally see oj mayo play in person. overrated. i know a lot people say he will probably be a lottery pick.... but, that guy wants to be "da man" and i don't think that is good for the team. kevin love, on the other hand, is very team oriented, which is why ucla has been so successful.

i am so glad that ucla beat stanford today to win the pac-10 championship and silence all the critics about how the trees allegedly got jobbed a game from a week ago.

pac-10 champs, baby!!!!

selection sunday, bring it on. it best be a #1 seed out west.

below was video i took during the UCLA v. u$c seminfinal game of the pac-10 tournament at staples center:

all about love... and then some

i told you so. kevin love was named pac-10 POY and FOY today. woohoo!

what is even better is that russell westbrook was also named defensive player of the year. sweet!

congrats! GO BRUINS!

what this all means is that love (and potentially darren collison and westbrook) will be gone next year.

welcome jrue holiday, drew gordon, jerime anderson and malcolm lee ... potential future pac-10 POY's and FOY's.

to all the bruin haters

the cal game

people have been hating on josh shipp's unbelievable shot with 1.5 seconds left, which can be seen here. particularly, haters claim that NCAA rule 7, section 1, article 3 makes it an illegal shot because "the ball shall be out of bounds when it passes over the backboard from any direction."

ok, first, bill mccabe (the pac-10 supervisor of the refs) said it was a close call as it was too quick and it passed the corner.

"It comes right over the corner," McCabe said. "After the game, the official said it was too close to call."

second, rule 7 is entitled, "out of bounds and the throw in." there is a separate rule (rule 5) entitled, "scoring and timing regulations." thus, based on where the over the backboard rule falls, it only applies during the throw in and not during scoring.

so stop your whining.

i will admit though that while i am a homer, i find it interesting that there was no technical called when the bench stormed the court with .1 (which was later reset to .7) second left in the game. i think it interesting too that there was no call for shipp punching the ball out of bounds right before that. but then again, the home team usually gets calls its way.

either way, cal should have never allowed ucla to erase its lead.


the furd game

people have also been hating on the foul called against lawrence hill when he blocked darren collison's shot in the last few seconds of the stanford game on thursday.

people, the foul was not when hill blocked the ball -- yep, i saw the clip, which can be seen here, since my last entry. the block was clean. the foul, however, was for contact with the body.

also, that mccabe guy admits, that while he thought it should not have been called because of the close game, that it was still a foul. to be exact, he said: "There was body contact, but it's not a strong call, not a game-appropriate call. It's not an incorrect call and that doesn't make it wrong. But I want solid calls." (Emphasis added.)

as an aside, per the la times:

Earlier this year, McCabe had defended game officials for not calling an intentional foul on Washington's Tim Morris on an inbounds play where Morris threw a pass directly into the face of UCLA forward Alfred Aboya.

hmmmm....

finally, these two gems from collison and hill per the la times:

It was a hard-earned win and Collison was honest about it. The foul call on Lawrence Hill at the end of regulation? "I was fortunate to get a foul on that call," Collison said. "I heard it was a makeup."

Three of Collison's teammates -- Love, Mbah a Moute and Westbrook -- were telling Collison "shhh." But Hill didn't complain. "He drew contact when he went to the basket," Hill said. "It was still on him to make the free throws." (Emphasis added.)

so yes, bruins deserved both wins.

GO BRUINS!

pac-10 champs, baby!

i won't lie.

it was ugly for about 38 minutes.

i went through depression, anxiety, anger (yes, that last shot during regulation appeared to be a clean block; but, the trees got some gimme's that were clear fouls as well... so, don't give me the "refs-jobbed-stanford" line at all! please.) and finally, joy.

yep, pac-10 champs, baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaby!!!!

if the bruins don't get the #1 seed in the west region for the big dance, then there is no justice in this world.

coach wooden: i wish you a speedy recovery.

it's the arizonas

i am crossing my fingers for tomorrow and saturday.

the first 2 of the last four games before the pac-10 tournament.

both the sun devils and wildcats are currently on the bubble and would want a big win against ucla to ensure entry into the big dance.

ucla better get its defense together -- it has not been as impressive as the past 2 years (i know people are saying that the bruins have been better defensively in terms of points allowed, etc.; i still think tho that they have not been as shut-down as last year)... but then again, bruin defense in the past 2 years has been phenomenal!!!

i know the bruins beat ASU big last time, but ASU should have learned from the last game and may have sharpened its zone. ...and we all know how UCLA plays against the zone.

one thing to look forward to: i don't think we will see a slacker effort from kevin love anytime soon as quoted here:

Without offering an absolute explanation for what he called his "low energy level," UCLA freshman Kevin Love promised he would not have another game in which his enthusiasm and focus seemed away from basketball, alluding to UCLA's victory over Oregon last Saturday. Love said he talked with Bruins Coach Ben Howland and with his family afterward. "It wasn't that I had a bad attitude," Love said. "It was just one of those games where I was out of it and I have to apologize to the team about that because I shouldn't let my actions affect my team. Another game like that is not going to happen. It's not fair to me, not fair to my teammates, not fair to my coaches and not fair to fans."

this kid is just great!

more on coach wooden

there is just something so special about coach. here, he talks about the dunk and how he hates it. i can understand it because it focuses the attention on the individual player as opposed to the team play.

with all due respect, however, i love the dunk. it is spectacular. most recently, was this one courtesy of russell westbrook during the cal game.

that being said, i love coach's philosophy on life and his devotion to his nell.

as much as i enjoyed the video below from espn, i still hated hearing the interviewer's voice. you know, he-who-shall-not-be-named-but-is-the-one-who-destroyed-the-ucla-basketball-program-before-coach-howland-came-in. ugh!

hopefully, bruins take care of business tonight in beating the 'cats. GO BRUINS!

wtf?!?!

just saw this.

There is no such thing as a pretty win for the Cardinal these days, but Stanford will take a hard-fought victory over an Arizona team it hadn't beaten in the last six tries.

"I'm going to quote (USC's) Taj Gibson," Robin Lopez said. "'Wins are like women. You always want to get a pretty one, but sometimes you get ugly ones.'"

as if.

here's taj gibson:

picture courtesy of: http://www.insidehoops.com/pictures/taj_gibson.jpg

again, as if.

it's a perfect day

granted, it is only 3 pm and the day isn't even close to being over.

granted, it is 73F degrees, the sun is out and it is just a flat out beautiful day.

granted, i have a nice buzz going at 3 friggin pm.

yes, it is a perfect day.

and the reason is:

ucla 81 v. washington state 74.

but for some defensive lapses in the last 5 minutes of the game, the bruins' lead over the cougars should have been over 10.

love posted another double double.

love had 2 3-point friggin shots. a friggin center with 2 3-point friggin shots!

yes, love is going to be pac 10 POY AND pac 10 FOY. i would not be surprised if he is national POY and/or FOY either.

i give wazzu its props. but the cougs never led the entire game. as it should be.

the only reason the bruins have that one loss to date is.... i still remember it so clearly. friggin luc decided he is a 3-point specialist even though he has been bombing it all game. yes, that texas loss - which was close - but more importantly, occurred earlier on in the season when collison was still coming back from a hiatus due to injury.

nation, be very afraid. the bruins are legit and have been since coach howland came into town.

my only concern (other than all the injuries) is that all starters (except for aboya) plus westbrook have been playing over 30 minutes per game. and today was no different.

of course, this has to do with all the freak injuries that have plagued the bruins.... for 3 or so years! it was freaky to see love with all his scratch marks on his back and arms. but that is how they practice. physical. point is, playing that many minutes per game can't be good. roll needs to be healthy. drag needs to learn how to play so he can get some minutes. and stanback needs to mature soon and earn his minutes.

otherwise, perfect day.

GO BRUINS!!!!


Highlights: Washington State - UCLA

the washingtons and 2009

on to wazzu

as expected, the bruins beat the huskies last night 69-55. although, the win came in with a high price. collison and mbah a moute suffered bruises to the hip and knee, respectively.

my concern is, the cougs are up next. i am pretty sure that westbrook will handle the point well if collison sits out the game. but, westbrook can't play point for the full 40 minutes. shipp may step in? highly disturbing. chace stanback? he will be good in a couple of years.... but not tomorrow. matt lee? aaaaaaaarrrgh! wazzu can play. our point should too.


2009 is looking good too

the daily news reports that reeves nelson has given an oral non binding commitment to join ucla's class of 2009.

Nelson, a 6-foot-7, 220-pound forward, is the quintessential Howland recruit. He has a reputation of being a tough, hard-nosed player.

if he's anything like aboya, i am very excited. exciting times.

so far, so good

my boys beat stanford in the pac-10 opener and beat cal today to make it a nice sweep of the bay area schools this weekend; $c lost to cal in its pac-10 opener and i am hoping it will lose to the trees later tonight.

neuheisel retained dewayne walker.

it will be a great 2008 (and i don't care if the wear twins go to north carolina).

looking forward.... to saturday and basketball

i know ucla won yesterday against oregon state. but it was ugly. the score might state otherwise (40-14) but the first 3 quarters were painful to watch.

i am looking forward to the notre dame game this saturday...

but more importantly, i am looking forward to college bball to begin. so this article re kevin love makes me laugh. i just have to remember that he is, after all, just a kid and most likely hormone crazy:

Asked why he chose to attend UCLA in 25 words or less, Love lists his teammates' names, along with "campus, academics, atmosphere, winning, tradition and California girls." Asked if he's more tired of answering questions about Bill Walton '74 and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar '69 or — talk about California Girls — the Beach Boys (singer Mike Love is Kevin's uncle), he admits it's Kareem and Bill. "How can you respond when they compare you to the two best college basketball players ever?"

The comparisons continue, but Love seems ready. "My role will be different than [in high school]," he says. "Now I get to play with great scorers like Josh [Shipp] and Darren [Collison] and rebounders like Luc [Mbah a Moute] and Lorenzo [Mata]. We will look out for each other. My goal is to win the NCAA championship."

Well, that's one of his goals. His final e-mail concludes, old-school style: "I am also looking forward to getting to know the many girls on the UCLA campus. Girls, keep me in mind, please."

i am so feeling the love

i know i am supposed to talk football now with the bruins home season opener against byu just around the corner.

but i can't help it. sports illustrated did a nice story on coach ben howland yesterday, and today, something on kevin love. i love this quote:

One thing Love does not need counseling on is his outlet-passing skills; he has long been known as a virtuoso of the long-bomb outlet on the AAU circuit. Bruins point guard Darren Collison got to experience it first-hand when he and Love played pick-up together for the first time, earlier this month at the Adidas Nations Basketball Experience in New Orleans. "We were setting up a little thing at the free throw line," said Love, "and right when I'd take the ball out of the net, he'd take off on a full sprint, and when he caught it at the other end, he wouldn't even need to take a dribble -- he'd just lay it up."

"People were asking us afterwards how many times we'd played, saying, 'You look like you've been playing together for years,'" said Love. "But that was the first time we'd played together, so it was good hearing it. Hopefully we'll take that into the season and make a run for a national championship."

and here's a video of love's skills, among them, his famous outlet passes (from a YEAR ago!!!). he can only get better.



i am so excited for this upcoming season already!

from what coach howland says, it appears that mata will play the 5 and love will play the 4. interesting. i do like mata's hustle and defense, but dude just doesn't have strong hands! but, the coach knows what he's doing.

shocker!

espn actually gave pac-10 bball a lot of love. they went even as far as saying, pac-10 is "Best in the nation good. Scary movie good."

was there a shake-up over there?