- Ok, we just avoided the biggest collapse in NCAA history. As our lead was fading away, the pro-UCLA crowd was absolutely silent and scared. You could literally feel the tension from the team and the crowd.
- Darren Collison was rattled. DC usually has ice water in his veins, but he bought into the hype. After the Pac 10 and Texas AM games, the media hyped him up to be the best pg in the country, etc, etc. Even in pregame interviews, he even sounded a bit too confident. Anytime you think you can’t lose, you will. Perhaps this is a wake up call. He made dumb decisions on defense and got owned by the WKU press.
- The Animal Westbrook was exposed. There have been experts projecting him as a top 10 pick as a PG. Now the experts know what most UCLA fans know - the Animal Westbrook CANNOT play PG right now. His biggest weakness is an uncontrolled jitteriness to his game. He is all fast twitch does not have many speeds, only the super fast one. This leads to bad decisions, over penetrating, and turnovers. Maybe he comes back now. A few experts have compared him to Monta Ellis, and that is where the difference is. The Animal has similar athleticism, but if you watch Monta, he is always under control, even though he’s going full speed. The one thing that the Animal needs to do that noone has talked about is this: THE ANIMAL NEEDS TO GO BACK TO HIS PULL UP JUMPER!!! That is what made him so special, he could get off his own shot at anytime. But recently, he has been so determined to get to the rim, in part due to his recent frustrations. A lot has been made of UCLA’s lack of outside shooting, but I think what is more problematic is UCLA’s lack of MID-range shooting.
- James Keefe - MVP. A heroic effort and the crowd realized it, constantly giving him standing ovations from the UCLA sections. WKU simply did not have an inside game, so it made things easy for the big White Beast and Keefe. Things won’t be as easy against Xavier.
- The Big White Beast - Kevin love is just too good, and now the whole country knows. Hello NBA, I am the big white beast. He could have dropped 50, and it made me angry that we stopped giving him the ball. We would rather have Shipp shoot or Luc driving? Really???
- The whole comeback thing that WKU did really made me feel like I was at the Gonzaga/UCLA game again. Except I was a Gonzaga fan. I felt sick. All the Bruin fans felt sick. You could feel it in the arena.
- Ben Howland is deserving of blame. Howland is a great coach, but he is a bit anal and meticulous. There is an overall conservatism in our style of play. Our beasts are not unleashed. He doesn’t let them play, but instead, our players have to play within a certain structure. I said this last week - when UCLA gets a lead, the reason why we dont blow people out is because we play a PREVENT OFFENSE. We try and milk clock and no longer attack. We then play hot potato with about 5 seconds left in the shot clock and prays that DC makes a play. So many times we had a 2-1 against their press and instead we brought it back out. There is a lack of aggression in our players, and this is due to Ben Howland. Believe it or not, it has permeated throughout the PAC 10. UCLA is the standard for the Pac 10 now, so the other coaches and teams have adjusted. If you watch Stanford, Wazzu, and even SC and Arizona, they often don’t take the first good look they have. This is the Ben Howland effect. And this is why the Pac 10 is struggling. Not because of a lack of talent, because noone can argue that our conference has the MOST talent in the country. It is because of the style of play. The teams are used to playing this style throughout the league season, but when they face other styles and teams in the NCAA, the Pac 10 hasnt fared well. Other teams, you can tell, play with more freedom. And this can be traced back to Ben Howland. And this is why we almost blew the lead against WKU. And this is why we don’t blow people out. And this is why we get criticism. BUT this is why UCLA wins also. We’ll see how this plays out.
- Let’s end this bad boy on a positive note….In college basketball, at any time, a team can get hot. UCLA is not hot (I know I am going out on a limb). But yet we still keep on winning. The parts are there - We have a post presence(the big white beast), we have a slasher (the Animal Westbrook), we have a great pg, and we have an outside shooter (I cant believe I said that, and you know who i am talking about). This team has proven earlier in the year to be very well balanced, and right now it’s been a few guys stepping up here and there. Xavier is going to be tough and most of the country believe we are shaky. And its true, the Bruins ARE shaky right now. I agree. They ARENT playing well. But, all it takes is one game to get hot, to get balanced. Most teams, when they are playing poorly lose and they dont get a chance to redeem themselves. And that is the difference with this team, UCLA keeps winning and surviving. Little signs of hope are there - Shipp making some shots, Love, Keefe, DC (before the WKU game), etc….we are really, really close now Bruin fans. Let the Xavier fans and the rest of the country talk and just know this…… if this Bruin team can just click on all cylinders, watch out. NOONE in the country can beat us.
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