Stormin' Norman leads the way
UCLA freshman guard Norman Powell had his best game as a Bruin, and it looks like things are starting to click for him.
Powell led the Bruins with 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-6 3-point shooting, and added eight rebounds, three steals and three assists in the Bruins' 89-60 win over UC Irvine on Tuesday night at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.
He had two beautiful sequences in the second half, with a 3-pointer-steal-dunk-and-one-free-throw run following a rebound-3-pointer-rebound-drawn foul spurt just a few minutes before.
Finally, Ben Howland is giving him more playing time, but the one player that I'm very happy to see coming around is Tyler Lamb. Also the rest of the team seems like they're playing more loose, relaxed, I guess Nelson Reeves really was a cancer on the team.
Norman Powell will be a star before he is done at UCLA. I am certain of this; he has athletism and hustle. He can be coached to get better in many areas of the game, but you either have hustle or you don't; same with athletism.
The team seems to be having more fun and there appears to be less head hanging and such. Could it be the lack of drama from Nelson? One would have to think that there is some correlation.
I'm liking what I see. I also look at the rest of the conference and UCLA's schedule and have to think that this team will be moving up the standings. We will see.
GO BRUINS!
Most athletic Bruin baller since Russell Westbrook...and more importantly, seems to be buying into Howland's system.