The Early Words: UCLA falls to Cal
A sneezing two-week old kitten.
A puppy on Prozac.
A baby lamb struggling to take its first steps.
Answer: What are things meaner than the UCLA men's basketball team?
The Bruins once again struggled to put their foot down, once again refused to keep a big lead, once again looked on helplessly as a struggling team righted itself and left them in the dust.
UCLA watched an 11-point lead turn into a 7-point deficit in just eight minutes to close the first half, and Cal cruised down the stretch to a 72-58 win at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday afternoon.
"When we get big leads, we kind of get too comfortable, then they start to chip away at it," UCLA freshman forward Tyler Honeycutt said. "We think we can just turn it on when we want, and we haven't been able to do that. We need to keep the pressure on them."
Instead, Cal was the one that put on the pressure.
With a senior-laden, guard-heavy lineup, the Bears flustered UCLA's two young ballhandlers, Honeycutt and sophomore guard Malcolm Lee, into a combined nine turnovers, after the team committed just five in a win over Stanford on Thursday.
After the Bruins jumped out to a 14-point lead after a 3-pointer by senior guard Michael Roll - who led all scorers with 22 points but was the one Bruin in double-figures - UCLA went cold as Cal's big three of forward Theo Robertson and guards Patrick Christopher and Jerome Randle started to heat up.
Robertson and Christopher each had 20 points and Randle added 14 on four 3-pointers as the Bears went on a 29-6 run to close the first half and start the second.
"We're not the kind of team that can just coast with a lead," said UCLA freshman forward Reeves Nelson, who admitted to suffering a concussion early in the game and playing through it, finishing with six points and two rebounds in 20 minutes. "We need to keep going at people like we were down by 14, I guess. I don't think it has to do with being nasty, we just need to play as best as we can at all times."
During a three-minute stretch in the second half they did.
After Cal (15-8, 7-4) built its lead to 12 points with just more than 15 minutes left in the game, the Bruins went on an 11-2 run to close the gap to three with 11:34 remaining.
But the Bears buckled down, forced bad shot after bad shot and UCLA helped the cause by missing eight of 11 free throws down the stretch.
"When we made our run, we again did a poor job not knocking down our foul shots," UCLA head coach Ben Howland said. "Against a good team like that, you have to hit your foul shots and we didn't."
With three minutes left, Howland's frustration finally showed through as he slumped to his chair, folded his hands and looked on in disgust as Jerime Anderson missed a free throw.
This was not like Thursday, when the Bruins held strong late and clipped the Stanford Cardinal 77-73.
This was not like last Saturday, when UCLA (11-12, 6-5) closed out Oregon State in Corvallis with a 62-52 win.
This certainly was not like Jan. 6, when Roll hit a leaning jumper with less than two seconds left in overtime to live the Bruins to a 76-75 win.
In short, this was not a day to remember.
"Even if we were meaner, they're guards are all seniors and they've been in some good games," Roll said. "They're good players. We knew they'd make a run back. It's not even about stepping on their throats - we just need to play better."
Cutting deep, Jon. Cutting deep.
Finally the truth. Que the whining from the other UCLA fans living in fantasy land.
FYI USC won tonight.
Actually, "What are things meaner than the UCLA basketball team?" is the question, not the answer.
Tied for first place in the Pac-10 this year is situational and in-jeopardy.
And so now it is SC-ucla week, and I suddenly have a somewhat limited interest in ucla, but an interest nonetheless. I hope the bruins indulge me with their patience as I habitually each year describe and disect the differences between SC and ucla
Most of you will be shocked, or at least surprised,
or possibly only mildly suprised.
But I expect the usual personal emotionally immature insults sans any intelligent counter-argument.
LAWYER JOHN
An anonymous source cites multiple anonymous sources and says Chow is resigning on Monday. Name your sources Mr. Anonymous. You are just SO credible! We are all SO worried. And if someday your wish comes true, do you think Rick Neuheisel, with around 25 years experience coaching in the NFL and at the division one level, might have some connections? Rumor that Shaw Stanford's OC going to USC.
It is now being reported that Stanford Offensive Coordinator David Shaw will be the next SC Offensive Coordinator to be named as early as this Monday.
Dear Obnoxious Anonymous (all of them):
Are all your boards down? Thanks for your interest, now go home. Afraid to post names, sources, anything solid besides WORTHLESS RUMORS? BTW...what are you guys doing postseason? NOTHING! Same thing your football team will be doing at the end of the next 2 years...NOTHING!
Happy Valentines Day! We love you guys...especially love it when you get caught cheating and are exposed. One more thing.. Have you EVER HEARD OF A RECRUIT (you pick the sport) going to UCLA because he couldn't qualify at SUC? Didn't think so,...me neither.
Fite Trogans!
Any chance Seantrel Henderson flips to UCLA if USC gets hit hard by NCAA? Would make sense to me since both schools are in LA with similar exposure. Also, it would be a nice way to get back at USC if he felt misled by Lame Kitten.
A credible source in the NCAA has reported that the NCAA is considering a two-year TV ban and a one-year postseason ban for USC. John, is this true? Do you think they'll go through with it? Or does USC have too much influence with the NCAA infractions committee?
No way Notre Dame allows the network to ban the biggest rivalry game for both schools. The TV networks wouldn't have it either.
On average USC/ND gets better ratings than any UCLA game has ever had. Hell, it's probably gotten better ratings than any UCLA bowl game since 1983.
And UCLA isn't getting back to the Rose Bowl Game anytime soon considering Norm Chow is leaving.
ThaiMex,
Have you EVER HEARD OF A RECRUIT in football going to UCLA because he thought it would give him more exposure to pro scouts than USC? Didn't think so... me neither.
If a guy wants to play in Los Angeles and get an education in what it takes to play in the NFL, he's gonna FIGHT ON!
USC has 42 former players currently in the NFL and UCLA has 35 former current players in the NFL. Not a hell of a lot of difference. When if we are comparint the number of former students or faculty who won the Nobel Peace Prize, there is a significant difference. It doesn't matter, if a guy is any good and has the ability to play in the NFL, he is going to be found even if he is at Slippery Rock. Go back to your Trojan board ignorant anonymous and await the NCAA infractions committee.
Sorry, that posting was all screwed up. Let's try again...USC has 42 former players currently in the NFL and UCLA has 35 former current players in the NFL. Not a hell of a lot of difference. Now, if we are comparing the number of former students or faculty who won the Nobel Peace Prize, there is a significant difference. It doesn't matter, if a guy is any good and has the ability to play in the NFL, he is going to be found even if he is at Slippery Rock. Go back to your Trojan board ignorant anonymous and await the NCAA infractions committee.
Players currently in NFL SC= 38 UCLA=18. See http://espn.go.com/nfl/college/_/letter/u
Significant difference
Red was just schooled by Hersch
Attn..Anonymous.......This BREAKING NEWS Just in......
Generalissimo Franco STILL DEAD....and
Chow still at UCLA...
Did some checking and Red must have meant former players on 2009 pre-season NFL rosters because his numbers are correct for pre-season rosters. This would lend credence to the idea that NFL scouts notice UCLA players as much as USC players. Scouts don't overlook people who can play. USC has more players in the NFL right now because they have had better players recently. Why they have had better players recently is a good question. Let's ask the NCAA infractions committee next week. As for Nobel Laureates, UCLA has five faculty and five alumni awardees for a total of ten and USC has only one faculty awardee. Tells you something about the education you get at the respective schools. Red, thank you for making the brilliant points.
What a dumb argument...NFL preaseason is rife with these invitee players so that the talented ones don't hafve to really play during those meaningless preaseason games...so basically what you are saying is that UCLA players are scrubs? Also, everyone knows the nobel prize is a liberal award given to the most liberal establishments (see obama). UCLA is far more liberal than USC and there lies the rub. The award is not given to those most qualified, but to those who subscribe to a certain agenda.