Hoops Press Conference Report
UCLA head coach Ben Howland on Brendan Lane's DNP against Cal State San Bernadino:
"He's not ahead of the four guys that are ahead of in. It's based on how each game goes. Right now he's the fifth big guy. He brings a good attitude every day, works real hard."
On Loyola Marymount:
"Their two guards are really good players. (Anthony) Ireland the starting guard, very quick, chagnes speeds, shoots it well. They have a lot of guys with a lot of experience.
On not starting Josh Smith:
"Kind of the same reason we went away from it early in the season last year - lot of times officials are trying to set a tone early. I don't want him to be in foul trouble. Josh was fine with it. He still played his minutes and played well."
On having length, especially with Anthony Stover:
"It'd be nice to get Stover back. His length is the length that bothers more people than anybody. Josh has good length and size combined, but Stover is the kid in our progam who changes more shots."
On defense:
"We had too much standing. Too much relaxation. We've got to do a better job with our shot selection."
On nerves:
"First game jitters, adrenaline flowing, going too fast. When you slow down things seem to open up a lot more than when you speed up."
On Josh Smith's foul shooting:
"He's going to get to foul line a lot. He's just a load to handle. His free throw shot is much improved from where it was a year ago at that time. Really nice compact stroke. Anything above 70 percent is great for him. I'm happy with him shooting over 70 percent."
On Smith in the post:
"The one thing I want him to do better is that sometimes he dribbles right in middle of paint. I would lie him to not dribble and catch it so he can go straight up. It slows down his release a little bit and people are able to react a little quicker."
On Tyler Lamb's defense:
"I thought that Lamb did a very good job defensively for the most part. He's going to have that role of taking on the other team's two-guard a lot of the time. Zeek got in foul trouble in second half and had a couple that were ill-advised. We have to keep him out of foul trouble. That was a factor in the game."
On David Wear's defense:
"I thought that he got extended out a few times defensively, got dribbled on two occasions in a row. It kind of depends who you can gap or who your tied to. Overall, he did a good job."
On Tyler Lamb:
"I think Tyler will score consistently. He's going to have an opportunity to score on a consistent basis for us. I've always liked a team who has four or five guys in double figures. You want to have good balance."
When will Stover be back?
Yeah, four or five guys in double figures would be good. Amazing how easy this stuff is when you put your mind to it.
Read this excerpt from BruinsNation...it's pretty comical and delusional.
Guys, don't be quite so secure in your feelings of unanimity among the fans
I took a look at Inside UCLA or whatever Gold’s blog is. The comments really surprised me. BN was viewed as the National Socialist Party, and Nestor, well, let’s just say we all know who the head of the Nazis was.
There is more to do in terms of convincing people that Neuheisel is not the coach of the future (or of the present.) The people still chugging the Kool Aid are not total morons. I think they are so young they have never experienced what it’s like having a real team with a real coach and expecting to win every game. These people need to be helped with convincing arguments. I hate to say it, but their fixation and feeling to absolute superiority in that fixation seems trogan-like in its misplaced arrogance. There is a lot of missionary work to do, folks.
by Fox 71 on Nov 8, 2011 6:43 AM PST upreply
.
I'd pay as much attention to comment threads of tradmed blogs
As I would to comment threads on YouTube. Most of the times there is no secured commenting system in those outlets. So you have rival fans coming in and commenting as "UCLA fans." If you have the time to lower your IQ and troll through those comments, go for it. Otherwise it’s not worth wasting time on and talking about it here. We have better things to do.
by Nestor on Nov 8, 2011 7:07 AM PST upreply
No u idiots...u r fake Bruins...we are real Bruins.
Could we please stop talking about bruinsnation on this blog? A website on the internet sucks? Shocking. Can we move on?