Thoughts from UCLA hoops media day and more
* Ben Howland would not name a starting lineup, but Tyler Lamb did indeed confirm he'll start at the two, and Howland and David Wear both said he'd be playing a lot of three.
* The players really glowed about the arrival of De'End Parker, who strained his patella tendon in the weight room and will miss some practice. The Bruins raved about his athleticism and burst, and that's something UCLA has missed the last two years.
* Joshua Smith said he's 10 pounds lighter than he was at the end of last year, so that's around 315. He should get down to about 305 by the time the season starts, and that's a good number for him right now. The key will be for him to keep it off during the season. He said his goal is to play 30 minutes a game, and seemed more concerned about his penchant for fouls than his conditioning limiting his minutes.
* Anthony Stover told me he really worked extensively on his offense this summer, spending some time with trainers in Las Vegas to work on his moves. If he can add any offense to compliment his sound defense, that's an important piece behind Smith.
* Lazeric Jones' play is going to be crucial this year, and he knows it. He admitted to never feeling right after injuring his wrist in February, but he's been 100 percent for a while now and has had a good summer, many players said. If he can play 25-percent better, he'll be among the better point guards in the conference.
* Reeves Nelson got more tattoos. So did Tyler Lamb.
* Speaking of Lamb, Howland said he worked on eliminating some of the side spin from his shot this summer. Lamb sounds very excited to take on the role of defensive stopper from Malcolm Lee.
* I'll have videos from a half-dozen basketball players tomorrow throughout the day, as well as some football videos for the next two days (including a great one with Tyler Gonzalez), and I'll be off until Monday. Vinny Bonsignore is covering practice tomorrow, then the team is off for two days, then Jill Painter is covering Sunday. Please show them respect.
* Started a new feature on Two Fat Guys Talkin' Football with reader questions, so send them to either Jonah Hill (Me) or Chaz Bono (Sam Strong). We'll take a few of the best ones. Fun stuff. Be crazy.
Hey Slacker,
It is easy to respect professionals like vinny and jill. Cant say the same for a video production specialist who pretends to be a beat writer. Hopefully you take some time to look for a new job while you sit on your azz for the next few days.
You suck, Gold.
PB
Keep up the great work, Jon. PB sucks.
PB went a little overboard but there is a vein of truth in his rant (though much of it is pure B.S.) Up to you to decide which part is applicable.
Can't wait for B.B. season...
What a sad comment by PB... The REALITY is that UCLA fans are hungry for information like this. Thanks, Jon- for being a constant source of great stuff. Enjoy the time off... you deserve it.
Anyone with any experience in journalism knows that these days, you have to mix it up. Good reporting just doesn't do it any more. Why? Because in general this generation doesn't give a sh-t... heaven forbid READ a newspaper.
And when I say 'mix it up', there's no hard and fast formula depending on resources, depending on job expectations, and most of all depending on who butters your bread. For example, newspapers are a bitch. It's all about readership & ad impressions. You're only as good as your reach - not your copy. Accessibility is more important than distinguishing oneself. You have to go to your readers - it's a doomed strategy to 'shine' and expect readers to come to you. I actually think that Jon should create another twitter account dedicated to his UCLA beat material just to align things exclusively & consistently with his blog and his reporting - kind of in the same way that his Facebook pages does.
I ain't saying that Jon hasn't spread himself a little thin in the past, but like his "post-game report cards", like his "Q&A", like his "Ten Questions", his videos are a FEATURE... and it's a good one too - it reaches an audience that would otherwise not view the blog because it requires that scary old fashioned thing called 'READING'. And it keeps people on the INSIDESOCAL.COM web site which incidentally is a metric as well that many don't realize. Not to mention: You have to actually have talent to do that video stuff. You have to be able to talk, stay informed, form a rational but interesting opinion, and know your audience. Contrary to the peanut gallery, this is NOT easy to do. (BTW: I was really sad when the Ben Olson podcast disappeared, but I figure it was tough to do consistently and it was hard to monetize since it didn't infer ad impressions)
For what it's worth Scott Wolf, as much as I dislike his blog, knows his readers. And he posts linkbait that just LIGHTS UP the comments area which I personally wouldn't do... but good for him: That gets his readership riled up and his ad impressions up and he's successful. And that's good for the Los Angeles Newspaper Group.
Anyway, Jon - nice work. It's good to see you getting into a rhythm on the blog and on your beat. Keep focusing on original, character-filled, & unique content targeting your Bruin audience and you'll undoubtedly be more successful than "that guy" on "the other page".
Or maybe you'll even get hired on as the next SCOUT.COM writer for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
Keep up the good work Jon!
Obviously the blog can be improved, as most things can be. The majority of the people visiting the site enjoy the material, including Painter's. I just don't get why the lowbrow Bruins keep harassing the writers. Move on. Read another site. You're only supporting what you abhor by continuing to visit. These folks probably go to Walmart every Saturday, yet complain incessantly about how they hate it. Way to make a difference PB.
Great job Jon. Enjoy the vaca.
I still think Vinny's the guy from Vegas in '96. Anjd if he thinks he's sticking me with paying for that broken bar furniture he's crazy, I told him you can't stand on those little tables holding two girls. I told him.
Jon: I hear one of Reeves' new tatoos says "I love Jon Gold" ???
As per Big Josh, the 10-pound weight loss might be impressive if he was, say, Tyus Edney. But hell, 10 pounds is a simple business lunch for him.
I miss Jon already, but I'm looking forward to reading info from Jill. She might not think highly of UCLA, it's academic status, it's sporting program, it's football team, it's basketball team, it's alumni, or the readers of this blog, but she's entertaining, very informative and HOT. Smack these dudes in the chops, Jill, and lay on some great info. You're my favorite sports writer. (Aside from Jon, of course.)
Coach Thom should go over to Jill's blog "Painting the Town" if you like her so much. She doesn't have the need for fishing for comments by trying to shame UCLA fans into being embarrassed about other UCLA fans booing! You can read all the multitude of comments that were posted in her blog.....er..nm....
It's been a long and painful stretch for UCLA football fans. Let's show some class and not take our frustrations out on Jon.
Anonymous must be a synonym for asshole.
Nice try Gold. Can't throw Strong under the bus that easy. You are Chaz Bono.
-Jon, keep up the great work.
-Not surprised but very pleased by initial reports of De'end Parker's impression on the team. When I saw videos of him immediately after Jon reported his signing with UCLA, I was confident he would be a great addition with his ball handling and court vision at his size, which will allow us to have some flexible lineup options. I hope he gets fully healed from the tendon injury quickly (and I hope UCLA has someone monitoring him in the weight room so he doesn't do this again--no reason to injure your patella tendon if you are lifting correctly.)
-A lighter Josh Smith will equate to more stamina, less fouling due to increased quickness, and a better UCLA squad on the floor.
-I saw Anthony Stover work out this summer (with Josh Smith) and I have to say, I was very impressed with Stover's work ethic and his burgeoning offensive skill set. In games he appears to have virtually no offensive abilities, but I think this has more to do with him lacking confidence to display what he can do. I look forward to seeing him have a breakout season this year including the ability to score in the post.
-Zeek was already one of the top point guards in the conference and one of our steadiest performers before he hurt his wrist and basically had to play with one arm. Great to hear he is fully healthy again, can't wait to see how much he has improved.
-I really hope Tyler Lamb has improved his outside shooting. I don't think he will ever be a great scorer (although I would love to be proven wrong) but we need him to at least be able to drain open jump shots consistently. It was obvious his mechanics were off judging by how much he would miss sometimes, but I didn't realize he actually had "side spin" on his rotation--that's the biggest red flag there is on a shot. I do however admire his desire to take on the mantle of the team's defensive stopper--he's only got average lateral quickness, but same was true of Arron Afflalo, so if he's got the will, there is a way. Plus he has good length working for him.
-I have not seen either of the Wear twins on the court since their high school days, so I am really looking forward to seeing them play. But based on what I remember, they will bring refined offensive skills to the post and big-3 positions.