Final: Memphis 78, UCLA 63

There was no team in the Pac-10 that compared to this Memphis team. Big, strong, well-coached.

That said, remember that Memphis has been hit hard with this recession, so any little psychological help is well-welcomed.

Of course, in a town as callous as L.A. is, that sentiment will not penetrate most L.A."souls."

I'm not going to second guess why Howland kept Collison on Rose for too long or why KLove wasn't being utilized more.

We were up against an extremely HOT Memphis team with uber athletic players, while we weren't clicking on all cylinders ever since the first round of the Pac-10 season.

It was another great run towards the Championship and I know we'll be back soon and eventually win it.

Go Bruins!

"This did not look like the UCLA team fans have watched all year."

Enough said.

. . . and then depression set in

I'm not really understanding Ben Howland's philosophy in the later stages of the game. I know Darren Collison's a great player, but if he's not long enough to compete, then Russell Westbrook should've been doing this. It happened later in the game when collison got his 4th foul. The score 59-52, and we had a lineup of Love, Keefe, Mbah a Moute, Shipp, and Westbrook. That lineup was long enough to have competed i feel for at least five minutes of the game, and Russell was playing well defensively against Rose. I just don't understand the philosophy. Hat's off to the team for a great year, but it shows that Howland needs to start recruiting longer and more athletic players rather than, smaller players who meet his system. After seeing the listed heights of the class next year coming in, it's the same problem again. When it comes to these late stage games its not just about the defensive capabilities of ucla or the coaching prowess, but the talent level on the floor, and in some respects it shows that the national recruiting styles of coaches like donovan,williams, and calipari. Another thing i noticed, where were the hedges and the traps that we used against LSU and Memphis a couple of years ago. What do you think Jill, or Brian?

I'm not really understanding Ben Howland's philosophy in the later stages of the game. I know Darren Collison's a great player, but if he's not long enough to compete, then Russell Westbrook should've been doing this. It happened later in the game when collison got his 4th foul. The score 59-52, and we had a lineup of Love, Keefe, Mbah a Moute, Shipp, and Westbrook. That lineup was long enough to have competed i feel for at least five minutes of the game, and Russell was playing well defensively against Rose. I just don't understand the philosophy. Hat's off to the team for a great year, but it shows that Howland needs to start recruiting longer and more athletic players rather than, smaller players who meet his system. After seeing the listed heights of the class next year coming in, it's the same problem again. When it comes to these late stage games its not just about the defensive capabilities of ucla or the coaching prowess, but the talent level on the floor, and in some respects it shows that the national recruiting styles of coaches like donovan,williams, and calipari. Another thing i noticed, where were the hedges and the traps that we used against LSU and Memphis a couple of years ago. What do you think Jill, or Brian?

Okay... I'm normally the gracious person, but I sure wish that "out-of-bounds" call on Love was reviewable.

I don't think it would have mattered in the end as we were outmatched in the last 6 or 7 minutes, but for a minute I finally understood what a TAM fan must have felt like...

I think Howland could've used an occasional zone defense to force Memphis into shooting from the perimeter. They were penetrating almost at will and they were doing pretty darn well on the glass too. We had no answer for CDR & Rose with our man-to-man D and they were in full rhythm offensively.

Our lack of shooters on the offensive end as well as lateral footspeed and length on the defensive end finally caught up to us.

Memphis is playing the best at this time of the year. They dismantled us, as well as a good Michigan State team and a very very good Texas team. Memphis was definitely the better team today. Congrats to the Tigers.

Great season, disappointing end. Memphis was the better team. VenturaBruin's entire assessment is on the money.

To win on this stage, Howland will need to evolve his style. We must be willing to play zone occasionally, especially against teams that thrive on getting to the basket off the dribble. Make them hit some jumpers. Give them some different looks.

We also need to add some creativity and imagination on the offensive end. Great teams won't consistently shoot 35% against us on this stage.

Howland reminds me a bit of Izzo in that he overcoaches on the offensive end.

Sorry to say this but UCLA look soft, nobody from this team should consider leaving for the pros.(including love)

Darren Collinson has yet to show up in the tournament this year...Josh Shipp disapeared for the latter part of the season....

And can somebody hit an open shot.

Last comment: I will take superior talent over superior coaching any day of the week. And Memphis had superior talent and athleticism.

Well that and they just bullied our guards all game.

Are we becoming the Buffalo Bills?

When you're in a hole, stop digging!

I hope that Coach Howland takes the result of this season as a message that it's time that he needs to take a more agressive approach to offense. No one can question Coach Howland's skill as probably the best defensive coach in the country, but his players seem to diminish in their offensive skill and confidence the longer they are under his tutelage.

Defense is great, but ultimately, basketball is an offensive game. However great one's defense, if you can't put the ball in the hole, you're not going to win, and at the tournament level, ucla has been punked in the final rounds of the tournament for the last three years by its lack of offense.

Would Coach Howland consider an offensive coordinator to serve on his staff -- someone who can bring the same genius to our offense that Coach Howalnd brings to our defense?

The better team just won. Period.

Conejo:

Our defense might be very good, but that wasn't the case tonight.

Howland is very good at coaching a strict man-to-man D with the double in the post.

If a team, such as Florida or Memphis, has the personnel or scheme to beat our scheme, then our scheme needs to be adjusted.

Our defense wasn't very good tonight. We couldn't stop their guards from their dribble penetration.

I wish Howland would use an occasional zone to force teams to shoot from the perimeter.

As for offense, it would help to have some shooters and a couple more pure, quick, long slashers from the wings. Can we recruit a Corey Brewer type of player.

Don't get me wrong, I love Coach Howland and our team. They had a great year and came oh so close to the grand prize once again. Congrats to the Bruins for a great year.

Great year anyway...We got killed by a better team..NO ONE SHOULD MOVE TO THE NEXT LEVEL AFTER TONIGHT...AND THE FACT THAT WE DID NOT HAVE MIKE ROLL FINALY CAUGHT UP WITH UCLA, WHICH FOR THE MOST PART THEY GOT AWAY WITH MOST OF THE YEAR.......STILL LOVE THE TEAM.....NEXT YEAR?

Shut up about the zone. Ask Texas how well it worked for them.

The problem I had most about the game was that our players ran away and didn't contest when Memphis drove the ball in for layups. Shipp did that on several occasions. It's fine in the early going when you're trying to stay out of foul trouble, but in the second half everybody has to let it hang. It's the Final Four! Make 'em earn it!

I agree with some of the comments. Much like the WKU game when DC fouled out, we dug deep and found a way to win. This time, we again started making a mini-run and then in comes DC and there goes the game. I'm not trying to pin the loss all on his shoulders but he certainly did very little to help our cause. Kevin said Darren's WKU game was "unacceptable"; I wonder how he would rate this one?!?

I too think CBH needs to evolve his coaching to include more shooting and less scoring plays. Nobody can consistently hit the open perimeter shot which is a necessity in this day and age of the three pointer. Maybe next year having Michael Roll will help out that cause but probably at the expense of less foot speed on defense.

CBH will have a new team to try to develop into another FF team but again we will be back to the past several years of not having a post presence. Maybe he'll have to bite the bullet and try to start recruiting more raw talent (i.e. Renardo Sidney) and less the type of players he likes to mold into his system.

I think there were basically two stories in this game: 1) Memphis was physically better and 2) UCLA needed to play as they did against Xavier if they hoped to advance. The lack of a consistent outside threat, Collison's struggles and the focus issues were a death cocktail for UCLA. At the end of the day, though, Memphis had great interior defense and outstanding guard play. That gets it done on most days.

Howland is a great defensive coach. But, if the Bruins want to get over the hump, we need to push the ball up the court offensively. We were beaten 3 times by teams that can run and shoot. These past Bruin teams could not play that kind of game. It's frustrating to watch the Bruins dribble the shot clock down and then force low percentage shots. Its been that why since coach took over. I doubt that Holiday is looking foward to playing his slowdown offense. No way this team could have beaten any of the other 3 teams in the final four. we could not match up with speed, athletes and shooters. No way. Hopefull, coach can add some aggressive offense to his D.

- COLLISON: an immature game. was outmatched physically and didnt respond with superior mentality and play. 3rd foul when he got beat and didnt trust the help and reached with a defeatist attitude. 4th foul off-arm push was so hard it must be called. 5th foul was brain-dead. very disappointed.

- SHIPP: fail. tanked at the absolute wrong time of the year. its hard to win when playing 4 on 5. (im confident he'll bounce back next season)

- LOVE: early in the 2nd half when memphis bigs had some fouls, why wasnt love and the inside game forced??? that was our only chance. kevin, if you love ucla you have to stay in school!

- HOWLAND:
1) lets face it, howland's offense sucks. thats the truth. hes taken us this far with his defense, which is superb, but to take this to the upper limit, he needs to revolutionize his offense!

2) howland needs to keep players on the team! memphis top to bottom has superior athletes. same with kansas and others and the past florida team. if howland ever wants to break into the upper elite or approach the term "dynasty" then his players must stay in school! all players on this team, including love, have to stay or, as many people think, the window is gone for an NC for a long while.

*end rant*

good job 3-peat final four. we're all proud of the team. go bruins. *cries and goes to sleep*

UCLA lacked aggression on offense, defense, and the boards.

Love was mugged in the first half and got no calls. By the second half, he was out of gas (he needs another year to improve his speed, strength, and endurance before considering the NBA).

Collison was overpowered by the bigger Memphis players, and they exploited him repeatedly.

No defense, no rebounds, no attack.

The most revealing moments in the game were right after Collison went out with his fourth foul.

An earlier move putting Westbrook on Rose (and Collison on someone who couldn't score) was an improvement, but now on the floor for UCLA were Love, Keefe, Mbah a Moute, Shipp, and Westbrook.

This line-up stopped Memphis.

UCLA finally had the physical advantage against the Tigers they had enjoyed against other teams, but for some inexplicable reason (loyalty? inability to adjust mentally?), Howland brought Collison back.

Collison and the coach really let the team down.

I'm concerned that Coach Howland doesn't see that.

Which reminds me of another recent UCLA head coach . . . .

UCLA lacked aggression on offense, defense, and the boards.

Love was mugged in the first half and got no calls. By the second half, he was out of gas (he needs another year to improve his speed, strength, and endurance before considering the NBA).

Collison was overpowered by the bigger Memphis players, and they exploited him repeatedly.

No defense, no rebounds, no attack.

The most revealing moments in the game were right after Collison went out with his fourth foul.

An earlier move putting Westbrook on Rose (and Collison on someone who couldn't score) was an improvement, but now on the floor for UCLA were Love, Keefe, Mbah a Moute, Shipp, and Westbrook.

This line-up stopped Memphis.

UCLA finally had the physical advantage against the Tigers they had enjoyed against other teams, but for some inexplicable reason (loyalty? inability to adjust mentally?), Howland brought Collison back.

Collison and the coach really let the team down.

I'm concerned that Coach Howland doesn't see that.

Which reminds me of another recent UCLA head coach . . . .

UCLA doesn't need to do anything different. They don't need longer players or an "offensive coordinator."

All they had to do was play their bigger, stronger line-up (especially since Collison didn't show up today).

Their fundamentals, strength, and determination would have won the game. There were moments where Love and Mbah a Moute were dominating inside battling for the ball.

Allowing Collison to make the defense into a sieve took the heart and aggression out of UCLA.

If the coach had adjusted his defensive line-up to the one right after Collison's fourth foul (the zone mentioned above is a good suggestion, but not necessary if you take an etiolated Collison out), UCLA would be playing Monday night.

Every credit to Memphis - they were absolutely a better team in every way yesterday. To add a couple of thoughts:

1) UCLA looked intimidated, and I never though I would say that of this team. It reminded me of how they looked against Florida the past two FFs, and that was too bad. Memphis used their up-tempo athleticism to their best advantage, hacking wildly at every rebound, slapping the backboard on layups, the put-back dunks, the acrobatics. You could see our guys just getting psyched out. We got scared, lost our fundamentals, and began to play into their hands. When you expect your shot to be blocked into the 3rd row - and thus you fail to offer even a half-hearted pump fake - you're pretty much cooked.

2) Absolutely agree with the poster who said we didn't exploit the inside when their bigs got into foul trouble. I can't fathom why we didn't drive into the lane more at that point. I figured that free throws would bring us back into it - couldn't imagine that FTs would actually work to their advantage!

3) I know our mam-to-man is sacrosanct and not to be questioned, but... I really that Howland was going to come out with a different look just because the whole world expected him not to. I thought he might throw a box and one on Rose (using Westbrook or Shipp to hound him) or triangle and two on Rose/Douglas-Roberts. Would it have changed the outcome? Probably not, but it might have thrown Calipari enough of a curveball and kept them off out of the paint and off the offensive glass a bit.

Again, hats off to Memphis. We were soundly beaten in every facet of the game. It doesn't negate what was another amazing season, but carbon-copy losses in the three straight Final 4's are admittedly tough to take.