UCLA 71, Pepperdine 52
Malcolm Lee took care of the penetration
Michael Roll handled the outside game.
Drew Gordon did the rest.
Lee had 13 points, including nine in the first half, Roll had 17 points and five 3-pointers, and Gordon had 18 points, nine rebounds and three blocks as the Bruins defeated Pepperdine 71-52.
Lee hit 4-of-8 shots and had three steals, including a swipe-and-layup on the first play of the game.
With sophomore point guard Jerime Anderson sidelined early in the second half with a right leg cramp, Lee took over the role of primary penetrator. Lee got into the lane and slashed through Pepperdine's young backcourt trio of sophomores Keion Bell - who led all scorers with 22 points - and Lorne Jackson and freshman Joshua Lowery.
When Gordon wasn't clogging the lane, that is.
Gordon had seven points in the first half on 3-of-4 shooting, including a monster dunk on a putback, and was a force in the paint, hauling in six rebounds as the Bruins built an eight-point halftime lead.
I think they will continue to improve, they actually have a lot of talent. I think Nelson, Lane will start getting more playing time and Keefe's will diminish. I could also see Moser getting more minutes.
The team looked much improved last night. The frosh provided good minutes. UCLA took care of the ball much better. Roll is finding his stroke again. One thing I think UCLA need to do is crash the boards better. It seemed that there was only guy rebounding at a time and lots of people watching the shot go up.
I wonder if that is CBH telling the kids that getting back on defense after a shot is more important?
it's pretty sad that Jon still hasn't posted anything about Forbath being named a finalist. That's a huge honor
Perhaps the most important thing to occur in last night's game was that Mustafa Abdul Hamid got some playing time and scored 10 points. He has been a brutal turnover machine thus far and he made some bad plays in the early going against the Waves. However, down the stretch he seemed to play with more confidence, playing defense in a Collison-esque stance and getting some shots off his own dribble. With Anderson a bit injury-prone and Lee likely to get worn down with too much time trying to beat the press, we'll need Hamid at some point this season to step up and this is our chance to get his some extended playing time. We'll also need Moser to channel his inner M'Bah Moute and use those long arms and athleticism, so it was nice to see him get a steal and go to the races.
It's pretty sad when you criticize someone for not telling you what you already know. I prefer fresh news. I do not beleive this blog is supposed to be the one and only source of news. If that were the case, all other sports writers can just pack it in because Jon Gold has the EXCLUSIVE on all scoops relating to UCLA. Please, lay-off Jon. He has done a good job so far. Has it been perfect? No, but he doesn't go to your work and critize how you failed to dry the bumpers completely and left some gunk on the windows before you moved on to the next car coming off the car wash line.
did Jon ever get in touch with Uko's coach?
I agree with UB. Get a life dude, its just a blog.
My biggest concern is our guard play.
Jerime did not look very good and Hamid will get eaten alive by the other Pac10 guards, lil'romeo excluded.
The team is still lacking a play maker.
I hope someone steps up soon, i.e. before Thursday versus Portland.
Sometimes you guys scare me! Abdul-Hamid should be the starting point period. He seems to grasp the offense a lot better than anderson and has a calming effect on the team. Anderson reminds me of a young cedric bozeman all the talent but not sure how to use it yet. Getting the young guys experience will pay off at then end of this year and next year, Please put BOBO in he can't be worse that what we have...Gordon is not a Center! If the 2-3 Zone is so hard to crack then why don't you run it BH????? HMMMMM....Becausue it's not!
UCLArt, those are my feeling exactly.
I hate to restate the obvious, but in the limited minutes he has played, Anderson's ball handling skills have been really suspect let alone the turnovers due to bad decision making. I was hoping it would improve with more experience in the preconference games but due to injuries his minutes are going to be limited.
Everything else seems to be improving but PG play is scaring the bejeevies out of me.
I really think that this team looks leaps and bounds better against the zone than they did in the first game. There were some nice patient possessions last night that lead to open shots. Also, some nice feeds from the high post to low post that lead to dunks (Lane's nice one).
Everyone needs to understand that zone's are meant to slow the game down. They are usually, but not always played because a team has inferior athletes or injuries not giving them depth.
Syracuse wins championships with a zone. If played well, it's not that easy of a thing to tear apart. It takes patience and good shooting and crisp passing. it limits a teams offensive possessions.
That is what we are seeing. Lesser teams trying to keep up with superior athletes.
CBH has done a nice job coaching so far and I for one hope that people are seeing that.
The team shot far better from the free throw line and 3pt line last night. Against a team that is very comparable to the first team we played. if roll is 5-9 from 3pt-land and the team shoots 80%+ from the free throw line...we win that game by 15.
Even JA hit some open shots including a nice floater through the lane. Improvment!
So be patient, appreciate the improvement, understand these kids are young and will make mistakes!
Go Bruins, keep making strides! We're behind you!