Final: USC 65, UCLA 55

This Bruin Team is down right UNWATCHABLE and lacks heart.Think of this comparison when talking about elite programs in different sports.
UCLA Basketball offensive game plan
Ohio State Football offensive game plan.
To great programs with loads of talent and an UNWATCHABLE offensive scheme.
I think of it like this; You have to find someone to take your place in the 100 meters and Usain Bolt volunteers to do it but he needs some shoes. You go out right away and purchase a pair of Crocs for him to run in. (sorry Brian) I love Howland, he is a great coach, but there is more to basketball than defense. Yes, defense wins but he needs to work on his offensive scheme because it is downright painful at times to watch the games

I can't begin to describe how disgusted I am tonight. For awhile, I thought Shipp was the only one who could score a basket. Holiday didn't even score until 1:35 was left in the game - come on!! And this guys is supposedly leaving for the NBA after one season??!! Gotta give props to 'SC for playing a good/hard game from the start. Too bad UCLA never showed up!!

Yeah, I totally agree we deserved to lose that one. I wonder if any of our freshmen (other than Gordon) have developed.
I hope this will light a fire under our butts for the tourney. Hello the South Region!

any news on gordon's knee?

Jrue Holiday is so tenative on offense. It is painful too watch this team in the half court set. Jrue is playing scared, when he does take shots or drive, it looks awkward. Is it too early to call him a bust? He hasnt shown many signs of assuming a leadership role for the team next year, and although he does show flashes of potential greatness, i havent seen him consistently play well for more than one game.

Collison and Holiday need to step it up. Collison's lacking intensity and fire. Holiday is lacking confidence in his shots, but at least is playing hard. I love that Shipp has stepped it up and playing w/ some passion and being competitive. I love the effort of the freshmen and others, but it all starts w/ Collison. As Collison goes, so does the team.

Collison, Shipp, and Aboya...take a page from Bozeman and Hollins...let's end your Senior year on a high note!

Go Bruins!!!

WOW that was tough to watch. I know Holiday is playing out of position and it appears he is having a problem not having the ball in his hands to initiate the offense but that was PATHETIC!!
This is a difficult team to figure out, I think the old basketball adage of "the team that scores in the paint and defends the paint wins" applies to this team.

Most of you left early but that chant you heard from inside the Staples Center was:

"Just like Football!"

Can you guys stop saying Jrue is playing out of position? He was regarded as the #1 sg and the #1 pg, so how is playing sg and sometimes pg, playing out of position? He is playing his position! Also, stop with the talk about him coming back next year. Dohn has repeatedly said that everyone in the know and scouts have all said the kid is gone in the lottery this year.

ok even if jrue is playing out of position how can he not hit a 15 foot jumper. im pretty sure any pg can hit that. he jumper has been so BROKE the last couple weeks. no one is asking him to be a spot up 3 point specialist 3 point shooter.

Dohn weren't you and every recruiting site raving how this kid had a great mid-range jumper before he got to ucla? has anyone seen it in pac-10 play?

and collison needs to stop w/ the jumpstop pumpfake then passing to no one. he needs to pull the trigger and shoot it when he's open. he was too hesitant.

im a bruin and that was hard to watch, but after the fact, i do remember that my brother is a trOJan and im actually happy for him and hope u$c gets into the tourney for his sake alone. how terribly conflicted huh? lol.

i dont hate $c hoops, like ive always liked and respected taj gibson's game...its $c football that i hate, that program is from hell lol

They were awful, and I didn't think I would ever be writing this about a Howland team, but they indeed have no heart; playing horribly against an inferior Figueroa Tech team is just the writing on the wall for this year's Bruins squad. This isn't the first time they have come out and laid an egg this year, mercifully, it's almost the last time.

I live in Kansas City and stayed up late every night they play......but last night I shut it down right after half time.......just to painful to watch....USC wanted it more and So they took it..GIVE THEM CREDIT

It goes to show how tough it is to beat anyone three times in one season, like two years ago when we beat Cal twice during the regular season and then lost to them in the Pac 10 tournament.

Worst performance of Howland's tenure, including his first season.

With nothing to show for it, does anyone else think this season was completely meaningless?

I'm not as upset at the loss because it wasn't even close. Bruins were overmatched last night. I hope it was because Collison was injured and that would have made a difference but USC looked awfully good. Unfortunately, not enough inside presence for UCLA, so it could be an early exit from the Big Dance.

SUC wanted it more than our Bruins tonight. Plain and simple. Yes the refs missed a bunch of calls and perhaps there is a subplot with DC being hurt and his slow night...but it boils down to their season was on the end of the line and they wanted it more. Remind me, in some ways, of how UCLA beat SUC in football in 2006.

cj003, your post echoes my thoughts of the last few months EXACTLY. Dohn talks about how Jrue is playing out of position to explain his atrocious shooting (and I'm not too impressed w/ the rest of his game either), but how about getting in the position of making a basket?!!! I didn't know that speciality was relegated to just one guy on the team. It's beyond my comprehension. His O is about as good as mine! It breaks my heart that, in good conscience, I cannot take my Bruins to the championship game in my office's March Madness pool. Oh well, from here on out, any succes in the tourney will be gravy. As always, go Bruins.

my comments above may have come out harsh, but i still have to say GO BRUINS. hopefully they can pull off some magic in the real tournament.

Not to rub it in but we knew we had you on Friday, when Jrue Holiday was quoted yammering about how hard it was to beat a team three times. Pathetic.

As mentioned by Rodney, welcome to your very own 2006 style brainfart... 65-55. Enjoy the road trip back east.

There aren't going to be any championships with Howland. The Bruin faithful should start preparing to buy out his contract or suffer until he is gone.
The guy couldn't win with two top draft picks and Luc so this year's disaster isn't surprising.

Locoweed...are you seriously trying to make a joke out of enjoy the trip back east? These days the SUC toejams would love to be making a trip anywhere that doesn't have NIT written on it. Get a clue and some perspective.

Yeah Johnny Angel, because three straight Final Four appearances is really suffering. Let's face it, we all had high expectations for this season but the reality is we're having a rough year. It happens. It sucks, and it's painful, especially when the loss comes to USC, but it does happen. It's not realistic to expect the kind of dominance we've enjoyed the last few years every single year.

And I find it really funny that any USC fans would say anything given the beatdown we gave them earlier this year...not to mention that before now, I was unaware USC even HAD basketball fans that didn't root for UCLA.

On the bright side, even playing like complete garbage, we were able to keep it relatively close for the better part of the game. Not to mention I love Lee's game, both on defense and offense. He will be a total baller next year. I like Gordon's fire and intensity, the rest will come with experience. The freshmen have shown some nice flashes that will only improve with experience. Overall, 25-8 during a rough year, with (previously) the highest FG% ain't too shabby.

JUST LIKE FOOTBALL!