On the UCLA-Notre Dame game
Some observations from home, as I didn't travel for the game, but watched on CBS:
* Early in the game, UCLA had great defensive rotation, but the Fighting Irish started to have great spacing and just had the Bruins out of sorts.
* Malcolm Lee looked more comfortable than he has all season. He simply took over, scoring 29 points on 11-of-17 shooting. If he continues to trust himself driving to the lane, he's going to blow up.
* Michael Roll had another effective performance offensively with 19 points, but was caught a few times on the defensive end.
* UCLA had no answer to Luke Harangody, but that was to be expected. Harangody's 23 points seemed to come in a clump, when the Bruins just couldn't figure him out.
* Jerime Anderson just looks like he has no confidence right now. He drove to the lane once, by my count.
* If the Bruins learned anything from the losses to Kansas and Notre Dame, it's that they can stay with teams if they play hard until the bitter end. That will bode well come Pac-10 conference play.
Here is another observation Gold... Jermie Anderson sucks and may very well be the worst starting PG in the nation.
I'd like to say that the above comment by anonymous is harsh and and overstatement, but i was thinking the same thing during the game, and he may be right. Anderson is just plain bad. Surprised the Abdul-Hamid didn't at least get a few minutes
wow. my grammar on the last post was terrible.
worst IN THE NATION?? eh i dont think so.
He should be playing less minutes and have Hamid should play some. But i guess CBH either doesnt trust him enough or is trying to build confidence in JA for PAC10 play. Plus you cant have Lee out there the whole game.
I agree about Anderson. He does nothing for this team, but bring the ball slowly up the floor. Lee needs to play the point. He needs the ball in his hands as often as possible. I hope CBH sees this and just uses Anderson to give Lee a brake. When Anderson is in the game it's 4 on 5 basketball!
Anderson just isn't playing with confidence right now. This reminds me a bit of Cedric Bozeman's freshman and sophomore years, showing itself in his free throws. Notice how Howland benched not after he had the airball, but after the fans started goading him on the next offensive possession.
One thing I also noticed was that the announcers talked a lot about rhythm and how UCLA had no way to get ND out of their offensive rhythm in the second half. Perhaps showing a different defensive look? ND switched to zone and then to full court press briefly in the first half and got themselves back in the game, even though they looked TERRIBLE in both sets, it was effective because we needed a lot of 3s to bail ourselves out in our best game shooting from behind the arc.
Jerime is alot worse than Darrick Martin. By Martin's senior year, he was terrible.
Two observations...we are play with only four guys Jerime Andersen is a no show....it looked to me in the critical part of the 1st half ND player got away with some push-offs in the lane to gain space and nothing go called.....
You guys suck, and had no answer for me today. Hopefully you improve so you don't bring our RPI down.
Its a shame that the quality of the bloggers on this sight has dropped off so much. Look, it isn't as much fun to lose, but the guys are all trying very hard and there will be improvement. Just be patient!!! Howland will bring this team back.
We'll be respectable by the end of the year. Next year - watch out!
highlander is right....we should be respectable by the end of the year...we'll are playng better. Malcolm is really coming along--that one game did wonders for his confidence. We'll win 15 this year, which sucks, but next year we are #2 in the PAC 10---.. I can handle that.
Why do you think UCLA will be #2 next year? Malcolm Lee is leaving after this year so he won't be around to help.
unlike FB and the BCS scenario, if UCLA improves during the Pac-10 perhaps they can still get a March Madness playoff opportunity....
the dilemma for the Bruins is should they gives scholarships to best players who bail after a year, or players who won't make the NBA but will stick around four years
P.S. to anonymous... remember UCLA doesn't have a previous BB coach and top player that shamed them, and a white elephant arena. but thanks to that school for the motivation that is getting Pauley upgraded finally
Really anon? Malcolm is leaving? Where is he going-Europe? This isn't a Russell Westbrook situation that we have on our hands (I doubt it, anyway).
jerime anderson is worse than mike fey
Can CBH annul Jeremy Anderson's scholarship for next season so we can recruit additional PG?
last week i gave jerime anderson a hard time on this blog and someone told me i was probably hurting his feelings and not giving him the encouragement he needs. but seriously...is this a joke? if he's not going to play well, at least don't screw it up for everyone else. In two plays, I saw a jerime anderson turnover lead to a 4 point play for ND, then a jerime anderson AIRBALL lead a 3 point play. We are playing 4 on 5 in terms of offense because he doesn't shoot, he doesn't dribble penetrate.
Other things I saw: we have issues boxing out and rebounding as a team. Our 3 point shooting defense could use some work too. i can't say much for nikola's shooting, but he had some good boards and some decent closeouts.
Overall though, the team is on the upswing. let's get this thing goin for conference play