Howland Updates On Team's Practice
By Bruin Basketball Report
Today's practice marked the second straight day and just the second time this year that UCLA has been able to practice with all 11 scholarship players.
According to Howland, Michael Roll has had two good practices after his short playing stint against Texas. He said that he has really improved his conditioning over the last two days because the team has done a lot of up and down play as well as conditioning.
He also stated that Darren Collison had also improved his conditioning in the last two practices because there has been better competition in practice with a full group of healthy players.
(courtesy of UCLA Athletics)
Labels: Team Misc News
BBR :: Article Link :: 4:00 PM ::
11 comments
11 Comments:
I wanna see less talking and more doing.
I want a Davidson massacre on Saturday.
I want Bruins up 20-30pts in the first half,
I still have a bad taste in my mouth from that Texas game. Don't get me wrong, I love Howland and think he is a fantastic coach. What I don't like however, are the constant 1st half let-downs!
Don't worry about the TX game. Howland will soon get them to start force feeding the post. Keep in mind that none of these guys has played with a player who could consistently score in the post so it may take some getting used to. In the first half against TX the team got too hooked on taking outside shots. They figured it out in the second half, got into the paint and the only thing that saved TX was a missed front end of a one & one and an answer to a prayer.
My concern is the Bruins didn't come out ready to play against a zone defense against Texas...I knew, you knew it, it was even in the site's preview....Why did it take until the second half for UCLA to execute against it? Im having problems understanding what happened in the first half. Love Ben, but that first with TX was awful.
Keep in mind too that no matter the game plan or execution, there are just certain days/games where a player may elevate his game to a level where he won't let his team lose. Remember Aaron Brooks for Oregon last year against the Bruins? It was like there was no stopping him. Augustine for Texas had that same fire last Sunday. I think by the time we responded, we were already down and had an uphill battle the entire second half.
But the Bruins showed character in fighting back. I think every post on here is correct that the intensity needs to be there in the first half of our games! It is too much to claw our way back against teams like Texas (and probably half of the Pac-10)!
The team took Texas too lightly. They figured that a team with back to back Final Four experience could beat a young Texas club without much work.
We are not a great team right now. We start games with little intensity. That has been our weakness the last two years. We would lose to Washington State if we played them right now.
"We would lose to Washington State if we played them right now." - We SHOULD have lost to them last year at home. Good thing is this loss came at the right time.
Last year they faced the zone. The same again this year. Against a good team there're going to have problems. Westbrook is shooting over 40% 3pts. So there're going to have to get more from the rest. Roll's going to have to start earing that 3pt. shooter title he's suppose to be.
Last year they faced the zone. The same again this year. Against a good team there're going to have problems. Westbrook is shooting over 40% 3pts. So there're going to have to get more from the rest. Roll's going to have to start earing that 3pt. shooter title he's suppose to be.
This game against Davidson will be another good test for Westbrook. He may have done a great job shutting down Abrams from Texas, but Davidson's Curry is going to try to light it up.
Keep in mind Davidson only lost to North Carolina by 4 pts and Duke by 6pts so we know they are not to be taken lightly.
Curry had 24 and 20 pts respectively so we need to keep a body on him at all times. But we can't foul him because he never misses a free throw. He is prone to foul himself so whichever Bruin guard he covers needs to take him to the hoop!
I can't say I am expecting a blow out like some other posts, but if we are suppose to be at the same level as UNC and Duke, then Davidson is going to be a good game to gauge!
I'm still not convinced at how the Bruins have handled high scoring, highly-touted guards the last couple of years. Neitzel/Michigan State may have been sick as a dog against us, but he still knocked down 13 points. Maryland's guard (Vasquez/19 pts) and George Washington's (Rice/11 pts & Beatty/12pts) all had their highest point production against us from their guards.
So if Westbrook only scores 6 points against Davidson but shuts down Curry (say around 10 or 12 pts), I will be more than satisfied!
Anyone for Deja vus? Anyone fretting over the Texas loss, read on!
Game of the Century
Main article: Game of the Century (college basketball)
On January 20, 1968, Lew Alcindor and the UCLA Bruins faced the Houston Cougars in the first-ever nationally televised regular season college basketball game. In front of a record 52,693 fans at the Houston Astrodome, Elvin Hayes scored 39 points and had 15 rebounds--while limiting Alcindor to just 15 points--as Houston beat UCLA 71-69. The Bruins 47-game winning streak ended in what has been called the "Game of the Century". Hayes and Alcindor would have a rematch in the 1968 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament where UCLA would defeat Houston in the semi-finals 101-69.
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