Cal aftermath

Sorry, Jrue...the time to play clutch was against Arizona State (twice) and Washington State (at home).

And not necessarily related to this, isn't it comical how everyone in national media continues to say that this is a "young" team and pinpoint that as the reason UCLA won't win the Pac 10. So, what part of 3 seniors and a junior in the starting lineup is young? What part of the top 2 reserves being juniors is young? What part of having a 3-year starter (Collison) and a 4-year starter (Shipp) is considered young? This is probably the most veteran team Howland has had.

Want to know why I'm looking forward to senior day Saturday? It's basically the first legitimate senior day since we said goodbye to Hollins, Bozeman, and Fey.

The reason we won't win the Pac 10 has more to do with the lack of a tough inside presence, both on o and d. Aboya is a warrior, problem is he's only a 6-7warrior. Blue's post has saddened me to realize that Michael Fey isn't walking thru that door.

I realized my Bears weren't so motivated because that game was only for 2nd place =) =) =).
I am HAPPY!!!
GO BEARS!!!

This team would probably be running away with the Pac 10 if it had either Mata or Ryan Hollins. I have no doubt!

CalGirl, get a life and stay off our blog. 0-2 against the Bruins, again! Deal with it.

Go Bruins.

Cal never has anything to play for... losers

WOW!!!! If this kid thinks that playing a mediocre Cal team for second place in the Pac 10 is a big-time game, then I really don't think he understands the UCLA legacy. I am truly disappointed with this kid's debut season. I expected much more from him. I really don't see that fire or killer instinct from him that I have Howland's previous highly touted Freshman such as Jordan Farmar, Arron Afflalo, Darren Collison, or Kevin Love. In fact, I don't think any of this years highly touted Freshman compare to those I just mentioned, just yet. However, the other highly touted Freshman from this year can blame lack of playing time, Holiday cannot. I don't buy this playing out of position excuse either. You can play out of position with passion just the same.

I do think that Howland has made a HUGE mistake by not playing the other Freshman more. I think it will hurt us come tourney time. In all of Howland's previous Final Four runs, there was significant playing time by the Freshman. I hope we start to put it together, but it's difficult to have hope in a Team without an identity.

Jrue, common. Let's not blow the Cal game out of proportion. A good win, yes. A "big-time" game, only from the standpoint of second place. Common... this was an average pressure game against an average team in Cal. I'm glad we got the win... but this was not a marquee hang the banners type of game.

Cal was 16-1 at home before the UCLA which was better than UCLA's home court record.

They swept UW and beat ASU at home. They posses a good road win against UNLV.

What you guys fail to understand is that Howland probably put in the Jrue and the other players' minds about the importance of the Cal game.

Think about it.

All the comments above are good and correct. I agree 100% and no doubt Howland had his team geared correctly into thinking how important this game was, against a good team, etc. That's what any decent coach would do. But bottom line is this... the win against Cal while good, is not like we beat UNC or UCONN. The POMEROY rating has Cal ranked only 30th. I'm glad the confidence level is growing, but hope our players also keep it in perspective.

I don't really have a problem with Jrue's statement - look at our schedule this year! What's our "biggest" game this year - Texas (unranked)? Michigan (unranked)? Washington? The Cal win was a win on the road to stay in contention for the Pac-10 title - in the context of the year that's about as big as we've had, imo.

BruinChick, BlueBruin and Fan4Life are smart bruins = ) = ). You silly teddies don't rule the Pac10!!!
GO BEARS!!!

Mike H class of 90 - good points.

CalGirl might as well be a trojan. Beat it, kook.