Lee Goes For 29 But Bruins Fall To Irish
By Bruin Basketball Report
Malcolm Lee scored a career-high 29 points but the Bruins still fall to Notre Dame in South Bend, 84-73.
Lee hit 11 of 17 from the field including 4 of 6 from beyond the arc as he begins to show the promise many expected from him this season. The sophomore guard also added 4 assists and 2 steals.
However on this day in South Bend, the Bruins were not able to come up big defensively or to get the key stops when needed.
The UCLA defense allowed Notre Dame to shoot 50.8% in the game and 60% in the second half when the Irish broke out to a double-digit lead.
Irish star Luke Harangody started off slowly but finished with 23 points scoring mostly in the second half.
Whenever the Bruins tried to draw close, the Irish seemed to answer with either a basket from Harangody or a three-point bomb from outside to keep their distance.
UCLA's offense seems to be settling, however, it absolutely runs better when Malcolm Lee is running the point guard spot instead of fellow sophomore Jerime Anderson.
After having a decent game last week against New Mexico, Anderson continued his horrid and uninspiring play with a 0-2 performance against Notre Dame. As in other games, he has not shown the ability to set the offense nor set-up teammates for good shots. His hesitancy and lack of confidence is hurting the team's ability to get into a good offensive rhythm.
With only two games remaining before Pac-10 play, UCLA Coach Howland needs to assess his starting line-up, and in particular, the amount of minutes he's giving to Anderson in games.
Freshman Tyler Honeycutt had another solid game although the statistics don't show it. Honeycutt lets the game come to him on the offensive end. He makes others around him better by making the right pass, cutting to the right spot. The offensive flows better when he's on the floor.
On the defensive end, Honeycutt's 6'8 spider-like presence and smarts gives opponents fits.
A Honeycutt move to the starting small forward spot along with Michael Roll moving to the two and Lee occupying the majority of the minutes at point guard may be the solution Howland needs to help salvage this season.
Senior Michael Roll finished with 19 points on 5 of 8 from the arc.
BBR :: Article Link :: 9:02 AM ::
9 comments
9 Comments:
Can Dragovic get less playing time please!?!?! he takes terrible shots plays awful defense and I still have no idea why he's playing as much as he is...I really want to see a lineup with Bobo and Nelson. Howland really needs to change things up a bit because things obviously are not working
agree completely. ben needs to sit drago and anderson. they are team killers.
Malcolm Lee and Roll played well. However, there was no passion on the defensive end. Guards will blow by Roll, but the bigs have to come up and challenge them in the lane.
Nelson is a player. He has some inside game and his footwork is good. He didnt back down from the Irish All American and held his own.
There is a lovefest with Drag. He simply does not belong on the court; not in the last 10 minutes when they had it down to 6 point defecit. His stroke is gone; he plays no defense; why is he on the court.
Lee at point; Roll at the 2, Honeycutt and teh 3, Nelson at 4 and rotate the 15 fouls with the bigs.
Ten wins still a stretch for these young Bruins; but they could up that if Drags got comfortable on the Bench and chatted with Anderson. The latter is not ready and the former should never have been given a uniform with UCLA on it. The kid is a legen in his own mind and has no work ethic. Would love to hear from someone who watches him at practice. Is he a killer out there? Because he is just killing the Bruins during games. WHy does Howland stick with this guy?
Feed Nelson inside and team the team to rebound defensively; for goodness sake.
Good effort once again Bruins, even though you couldn't pull out the win. I watched the entire game and they played a strong and smooth 1st half but couldn't play the same during the 2nd. I noticed there were a handful of mental lapses that really hurt them like Harangody getting a layup on the inbounds play with less than 5 secs left on the shot clock. The Bruins youth and inexperience really hurts them.
I agree with the starting assessment; move Honeycutt in at SF and bench Anderson. With this move the offense should run smoother, the defense will be bigger, and bench will have more guard depth.
But with Dragovic I feel he has to stay in the starting 5. First of all who else would we start? Bobo, Lane, Stover? There's not too many better options. Second, Dragovic has been rebounding much better this year, which shows he's at least trying when his shot is not falling (rebounds are mainly effort). Specifically in yesterdays game I like the fact that Dragovic didn't gun as many 3s as normal. He added some midrange and post moves to his game, which is where he scored all his points. I remember in the 1st half he hit 2 turn around jumpers from about 15 ft out and then scored a nifty up and under move on Harangody. So don't be so hard on him, he's clearly trying to help.
Drag has got to go...
Anderson still needs to transfer
Bobo is just no bueno....
Good effort Bruins...
We need more offense for next year or we are in trouble as well...
I agree with Tim there really isn't a better option than Drago in the starting line up. But the key would be for Drago to start playing his height and go inside more. I actually see potential in that area but he relies way too much on his outside shot. He doesn't need to, and with Roll hitting the deep ones, and now hopefully Lee knocking those in too, Drago should work on the inside, maybe get a few offensive rebounds. His 6'9" frame doesn't do us much good on the offensive boards when he is out 25 feet on the wing.
Anderson... Well I have been saying this since game one. The poor kid just isn't Bruin (or maybe even major college) material, and is far more costly to our team's lack of success because he is running (poorly) the floor. Might even be time to rotate Abdul-Hamid with Lee.
I want Bobo to take charge but there is also something missing there too. If he could develop a nice jump hook or sorts he could probably nab more playing time.
We REALLY need to get our act together. I'm not up for the "rebuilding" Trojans to clean our clocks twice this year!!!
Drags has Josh Shipp syndrome. A streak shooter getting a little to comfortable behind the arc. Take it to the hole. Pump fake and drive around your man! You notice Anderson can only dribble with his right hand? That is so 30 years ago...Go Bruins!
Agreed. Dragovic really didn't do a great deal last year except for a few clutch shots. I say bag drago and DEFINITELY get Andersen out there. Lee is impressing me more and more and I do like Reeves a bunch. Bobo is the most overly hyped high schooler EVER! He was top 3 best centers in the country his senior year. What a joke. Go Bruins though and thinking we might get better as the season rolls along
The offense needs to center around Roll at the 3/2, Lee at the 2/1, and Nelson at the 5. Honeycutt is a menace on the offensive boards, so he is valuable as a 4/3. The Bruins don't have any other good offensive players, so the other spot on the floor should be determined by how well they match up against the other team and how well they complement their teammates on the floor. Dragovic is NOT a good fit; too many TOs and missed FGs. He would be more valuable as a bench shooter/big. Mustafa is a much better option to start than Jerime. Sure, he doesn't pass as much, but he brings fewer TOs, a better shot, and more leadership. Jerime was much better last year in limited minutes, so the bench role might help him. Brendan Lane lets the game come to him, so if he gets hungrier on the boards he might be the ideal 4. Oh yeah, Keefe should be riding pine, even when healthy. So the top lineup would either be:
Mustafa
Lee
Roll
Honeycutt
Reeves
or:
Lee
Roll
Honeycutt
Lane
Reeves
Bench:
G - Jerime
F - Dragovic
C - Bobo
Mustafa/Lane
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