UCLA Game Thread

Quote from: carmineabbatiello on February 18, 2012, 05:59:37 PM

Heard they had a frisbee dog half-time.  Now that's some high brow entertainment.

frisbee dogs were the best. the 3rd dog kicked @ss

Hope to see them back again.  Maybe bring in some circus acts too.

Hat a great win by these freshmen.  I couldn't be more impressed.  They lose by 30 in the most disappointing game if their. Steers.  Almost anytime folds up the tents and leaves, but these freshmen come back with SIX guys and beat UCLA?! Wow!
We are in for a treat.

Didn't post at the game or immediately after yesterday; but this really was a nice Win for our guys.   We definitely needed it from a confidence standpoint.

Would love to see them follow it up with a strong performance Monday night.   Alumni Hall should be packed, hope most of you will be there.

Didn't post at the game or immediately after yesterday; but this really was a nice Win for our guys.   We definitely needed it from a confidence standpoint.

Would love to see them follow it up with a strong performance Monday night.   Alumni Hall should be packed, hope most of you will be there.

Hope they don't fall into Cincy trap where I heard they were a bit overconfident because we had already beaten them on the road and DePaul is the same situation. A team that is 5 games under 500 has no right to feel overconfident against anyone. Hope they remember how much better it feels to win.

I'm not as worried about them feeling over confident as I am over the short turnaround from saturday to monday with only 6 guys and the fatigue factor

I'm not as worried about them feeling over confident as I am over the short turnaround from saturday to monday with only 6 guys and the fatigue factor

Exactly. They won't lose from being overconfident. Being exhausted, maybe.

People would rather say its overconfidence though, so they have an excuse to rip the kids. 

Quote from: mjmaherjr on February 19, 2012, 07:17:00 PM

I'm not as worried about them feeling over confident as I am over the short turnaround from saturday to monday with only 6 guys and the fatigue factor

Exactly. They won't lose from being overconfident. Being exhausted, maybe.

People would rather say its overconfidence though, so they have an excuse to rip the kids.

The remarkable thing about yesterday's game was that UCLA was clearly the exhausted team down the stretch.  During a stoppage with about two minutes to go in the game I saw the UCLA bigs bending over to catch a rest while the Johnnies still looked ready to go at it.  Conditioning is one of the more distinct hallmarks of this staff.

Wish more of you would have been at the Garden yesterday.  The lads gave 110%.  Please come out and make some noise for the ND game next Saturday.  The team deserves it as it will be the last home game of the year and they have been exciting, given great effort and shown growth overall for the season.

If you folks get a chance, check out Sunday's Arizona Republic.  Its main sports section article is on how the Pac-12 "has fallen on though times".  It mentions that the Pac-12 only has the #10 RPI conference rating.  One of the leading NCAA bracket guys stated that the Pac-12  looked like a "bunch of NIT teams, every one of them". 

We expect out here (ASU) to see Coach S. and AD Love (for more than just a bad BB program) get pink slips, as well as the Pac-12 commissioner, Larry Scott.

I was hoping that St. John's would continue its home and home relationship with UCLA, or change to perhaps Arizona, so we ("West Coast" alumni) could catch a live game.  I am not even sure Coach H. at UCLA will be around next year.  What will KA do if that happens? Start a reality show, the "Second Coming of Vinny Chase".  Maybe Seton Hall has an extension in LA!

By the way, ASU only scored 8 points in the first half  this week end in a loss to WSU.  Wow!

Howland sealed his fate with the loss to the one team/coach he couldn't lose to.  Unless they make a big run, he has to be gone.  You'd have to think that would open things up for KA.

Howland sealed his fate with the loss to the one team/coach he couldn't lose to.  Unless they make a big run, he has to be gone.  You'd have to think that would open things up for KA.

Really?  I have no inside info, but with the recruiting class he has coming in, I just don't see them letting him go.   He is really a great defensive coach.

 Of course, UCLA is probably one of a handful of programs that expects nothing but national championship contenders every year.

Interesting point about his recruiting class.  Hey CR, who did Lavin have lined up when he was fired.  I'd be interested to know.

Interesting point about his recruiting class.  Hey CR, who did Lavin have lined up when he was fired.  I'd be interested to know.

The 2003-2004 Bruins freshmen were Trevor Ariza, and Matthew McKinney.  I don't know if anyone decommitted when Lavin was fired.

Quote from: simplyred on February 20, 2012, 12:59:32 PM

Interesting point about his recruiting class.  Hey CR, who did Lavin have lined up when he was fired.  I'd be interested to know.

The 2003-2004 Bruins freshmen were Trevor Ariza, and Matthew McKinney.  I don't know if anyone decommitted when Lavin was fired.

Scout is showing McKinney as a 2002 commit.  He may have redshirted.  I guess bringing in one future NBA player wasn't good enough to save his job.

3 Final Fours in 8 years on the job should get Howland another year.   If he doesn't win next year then he's done.
But it would be pretty ridiculous to show him the door now.   I'm not saying UCLA fans are rationale, they expect greatness.  But they need to show a little patience, at least for another year.

Not to say that it couldn't work, but it always seemed an odd coaching selection for such a defensive minded coach to go arguably one the most offensive minded programs (and conferences) in the country.

Btw, he has Kyle (Scout #5) and Jordan Adams (#75) signed.  Bazz isn't going there, imo.  That makes Tony Parker (#20) almost a must-get.  While I don't think he should be fired, getting killed in recruiting by in conference foe Arizona, as well as by SDSU and UNLV, does not make his job safe.

I personally think Howland is a world of trouble if he doesn't win the conference tourney especially with only KA coming in He has lots of ships to fill and only one other top 100 in the class. 

I personally think Howland is a world of trouble if he doesn't win the conference tourney especially with only KA coming in He has lots of ships to fill and only one other top 100 in the class.

Especially considering the pac 24 is terrible this year. Dissapointing in a conference worse than a number of mid major conferences. I think all he has accomplished should get him a couple more years but it is ucla. Their board is calling for his head.

Just watching UCLA's play vs SJU the other day, and there is trouble there.  It's not that they don't have talent.  Their guys were tired out against a team with 5 freshmen, all of whom haven't sat more than a few minuts all season.  They tired out despite having an entire bench.  For a guy like Howland who is supposedly such a great coach, there is a disconnect between the talent and the coaching staff.  Howland don't seem to have the right guys playing in his system.  He certainly knows how to coach, but that never matters too long for UCLA fans. 

He's having a tough stretch here and Kyle Anderson isn't going to fix that... Not with this team.  I know crgreen thinks that ucla can be a NCAA championship caliber team with Anderson there, but I'm not sure I see it.  They were slow is year and Kyle won't help their speed problem...  He's pretty slow.  He's a fantastically skilled guy but he won't help fix the problems with this team because they're bigger than just one talented player.