More thoughts from last night
Before I posted videos with Ben Howland and some players, including my first video interview with Anthony Stover - who is an awesome kid, I found out - here are some more thoughts...
* I was a little surprised that both point guards played such extensive minutes, and I think it's crucial, at least early on without a clear-cut winner, to play both so much. Lazeric Jones had 20 minutes, Jerime Anderson had 17, and I think the battle has pushed both of them to better performance. If Howland handed one of them the keys now, I think the other would start to fade. Neither played spectacularly last night - both were above-average offensively and had a few defensive issues - but it appears that they're in better shape than last season at the point.
* Not sure how they can continue to maintain that they're a good 3-point shooting team, then go 3-for-21 from 3-point range, and then still maintain that they shoot better in practice. We can't watch practice, besides the one that was open to boosters and media, so I guess we need to take their words for it. I don't see it, though. Many of the guys were wide open for 3-point attempts and missed badly. Tyler Honeycutt airballed a shot. Reeves Nelson continues to shoot threes like he's Steve Kerr when he has the range of Miranda Kerr.
* The UCLA defense has a long, long, long way to go. Basically, it's in Iceland right now. Some truly poor rotations, some bad help defense, and really, a simple inability to stay in front of the man. Now, the positive from this is the fact that UCLA came away with 25 turnovers, and they certainly were harassing Westmont guards. But what happens when they try to man-up on Isaiah Thomas or Ty Abbott?
* Really, really impressed by Anthony Stover and Tyler Lamb. Stover was incredibly active defensively - the four blocks don't tell the story - and Lamb made up for some freshman lapses with poise and solid make-up defense. Lamb had a really pretty pick-pocket steal, ran back on offense and got a reverse layup and foul, all in about 12 seconds. But, he was also abused twice on backdoor cuts that showed his age.
* I need to see more of Matt Carlino to determine if he can find a true spot in the rotation this year, but from the looks of last night, it's a no.
* Malcolm Lee's statline - 12 points, seven assists, zero turnovers - was telling to me. I watched Lee act almost exclusively as a facilitator, really choosing pass over shot. That wasn't the case last season. If UCLA holds true to this up-tempo game, Lee will need to continue to look pass first, and if he keeps his turnovers down, that's pretty impressive.
"Reeves Nelson continues to shoot threes like he's Steve Kerr when he has the range of Miranda Kerr."
That has got to be your best line, yet. I laughed out loud, then looked around outside my cubicle to see if anyone heard me.
Jon,
Was at the game last night, and a couple of things ...
*The offense seemed to flow a lot better with Jones in there instead of Anderson. That being said, Anderson looked better with his own shots this year from last year. I see Jones getting the starter position and more minutes if this keeps up.
*I thought Carlino played much better that you state here ... an Italian shooting guard, who knew! He's likely to get abused when we play bigger teams though.
*Reeves Nelson is an absolute monster, especially that punch to the bball at the end of the first half! That attitude will win some crucial games and keep the rest of the team up for victory. Team unity looked really good overall.
*Anthony "The Stove" Stover looked really good as you said! Put the opposing team in the oven, and their cooked!!
*I'm somewhat concerned about Malcolm Lee ... four of those points came towards the end back-to-back. He just didn't look comfortable and still has too much of the high-flying act in him.
*We actually/finally have some good size underneath ... Stover, Smith, and Nelson ... and Lane still needs about 20 lbs of muscle. He was the only one with no points that played decent minutes
*And of course the defense and three point shot ... miserable on both ends. Fix those two things, and you have a sweet sixteen team in the making. I really like our chances next year for the Final Four with the Wear twins added!!
WE ARE BACK!!
Jon I totally disagree with your Carlino assessment.
Much quicker feet than I anticipated, very savvy BB instincts, if he shoots as well as advertised, he will fill some valuable minutes.