Comeback kids
Here is the story I wrote in today's paper about UCLA's ability to come back late. Also, Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon spoke about the Bruins' comeback after the loss.
"I feel like we were in control of the whole game,'' he said. "We did a good job against their defense, their pressure, and it just came down to (Kevin) Love and (Darren) Collison at the end just making plays.
"I mean, Love made two unbelievable shots and we couldn't guard the ball screen late. And Collison made two big-time shots, and that was the difference in the game.''
Its funny how teams feel like they should have beaten UCLA but time and time again, they talk about big plays the UCLA makes in crunch time to win the game.
Hello, everyone. That's how you WIN games!
That is why Howland and the UCLA team are winners and have been winners for 3 years now. The team makes big plays when they need to.
Being clutch is not something you can quantify and coach. You are either a winner or you are not.
He also neglected to mention that they couldn't score against our defense late. Didn't they go something like 10 minutes without a basket? Funny how he forgets that
I agree with drodri18 - the big plays capped it off but it was - as always - the incredible defense that made it possible. With only two guards and then Josh as the "3" spot, we can't play all-out Ben Howland style defense all the time this year. But when we do get it going and clamp down, our defense is pretty incredible.
From the point they were up 36-26, about a minute and a half into the second half, we shut them down almost completely. They got only 13 more points in the entire game - and four of those came at the very end IIRC - outscoring them 25-13 (51-49 final). Next year, if Luc, Alfred and Josh all return - Ben Howland will have SIX guys put out there at the three perimeter spots and five up front - the energy level will be ferocious and maintained all game long.
This year it's amazing how well they've done with no sub true guard. While celebrating the brilliance of Darren and Kevin, no one should overlook the great defensive efforts from Luc, Josh, Alfred and Kevin as well.