UCLA Bows To California in Pac-10 Tourney To End Season
By Bruin Basketball Report
UCLA's season ended with a whimper after a 85-72 loss to California in the semifinals of the Pac-10 tournament.
The Bruins competed for most of the game but they were clearly beaten by the better team.
Jerome Randle scored 24 points and Theo Robertson had 15 of his 20 in the second half when California dominated UCLA on its way to the finals of the Pac-10 tourney.
UCLA senior Michael Roll fittingly scored a career-high 27 points to end his Bruin career on a solid individual note.
He also added 5 rebounds and 4 assists in 38 minutes.
Roll's play and leadership this season was a highlight in a year that struggled to find many.
The Bruins (14-18, 8-10) finished with its worst record since Ben Howland's first season at UCLA.
Sophomore guard Jerime Anderson played perhaps his best game ever at UCLA, scoring 15 points on 6 of 8 shooting and handing out 4 assists.
Senior Nikola Dragovic continued his ice-cold shooting finishing just 3 of 12 from the field and 1 of 8 from beyond the arc.
With UCLA trailing by just 4 points midway through the second, Dragovic bricked two consecutive three-pointer after which the Bears countered with two threes of their own to push the lead to 10.
The Bears never looked back.
This was a tough and long season for the UCLA team and its fans.
The loss of Darren Collison, Jrue Holiday, Josh Shipp, and Alfred Aboya proved too much for the Bruins to make up.
The in-season transfer of starting center Drew Gordon further highlighted the dearth of talent on this team.
The returning UCLA players and coaching staff have much work to do between now and next season in evaluating both its physical play and psyche.
Freshman Tyler Honeycutt and Reeves Nelson form a solid foundation for the team to build upon.
The arrival of the 2010 class that includes center Josh Smith and guards Tyler Lamb and Lazeric Jones should help to solidify the rotation next year. The addition of one or perhaps two additional players would certainly help.
Ray McCallum and Terrence Jones anyone?
Still the fact remains in Westwood, for the first time in five seasons, UCLA will not be playing in the NCAA tournament.
BBR :: Article Link :: 3:30 PM ::
13 comments
13 Comments:
So long Dragobrick! Shot us right out of the tourney and season. He is a liability on both ends of the court but Howland keeps him in.
On the other end of the spectrum, going to really miss Roll. Had a great senior year and did everything right on both ends of the court. Wish him luck at the next level, where ever that may be.
Thank you, Michael Roll for your play this year, without you this season would have been a significantly worse nightmare than it was.
Hoping that the light finally went on for Jerime Anderson, he looked good last night.
The biggest disappointment this season was obviously Dragovic, lost his shooting touch and defensively, let's not go there.
How come no one is talking about CJ Leslie? Yes we want T Jones and R McCallum but if we could sign CJ that would make 3 McDonald AA signed. If we only have 2 Scholarships I would rather have Leslie than Jones. . Coach needs to have the "best for your future is to transfer" talk to bobo, anderson and Stover.
IMO Jones is better than Leslie as he is also very dominating defensively. It is not just a matter of holding on to a whole bunch of Mcdonald All Americans. If this were the case, Duke and UNC should be winning the championship every year.
We need to have solid players surrounding a 2 super players or so. Also we are pretty stocked up at the PF position and if anything, need another ball handler. We are probably better to get Ziegler, Jones, and McCallum than Jones, McCallum and Leslie.
This is not to take anything away from Leslie, but rather, filling out needs of a team. I dont see why both Leslie and Jones would both come here as the playing time would be very spread out.
I would rather take another true center than another Pf as Centers are much harder to find.
Anderson did much better this game but I am still concern about his ability. It looks like he is not able to breakdown defenders 1 on 1 which is usually an advantage pg have on offense. His penetration seems to be not there too much either and his defense is not good enough.
There is still improvement that can be had particularly in his footspeed which is crucial for guards.
Roll had a great season especially hitting the 3's. If he work more on footspeed, I think he can find a niche in the NBA as a role player similar to that of John Paxon of the Bulls in the 90's. He wont take people off the dribble too much but certainly will be good on a team with a Lebron or Kobe who can get to the rim at will and suck in defense and then hit the corner set guys for treys!
Goodluck Roll
Well I haven't seen Jones or Leslie play in person but Leslie is ranked the 3rd best PF and Jones is 6th. Also, why would Leslie be scared off of anyone signing with UCLA? If he came here he would be the best player from his very 1st game and would be the starting 3/4.
Well both Jones and Leslie have been offered so who ever takes the offer of the 2 will be a great add. If they both sign and we can't sign a PG we still have 4 PG's next year with: Lee, Anderson, Hamid and Lazeric Jones. Seemed like Anderson played better at the 2 than at the 1.
I guess I would rather see us sign a top PF instead of another middle of the road PG (7th ranked PG). But since McCallum was offered also, it's anyone's scholarship and I believe in Howlands ability to evaluate talent. For every Bobo there is a LRMBA Moute. For every Ryan Wright there is a Darren Collison. For every Jerime Anderson there is a Russell Westbrook. For every Stover there is a Nelson, you get my point, I don't second guess Coach H.
And I just remembered something today. Before Dragovic signed with UCLA he was projected as a 1st round pick coming out of HS. He pretty much played himself out of the NBA. A loser that couldn't keep his hands off his ex-girlfriend and also cost UCLA far more losses than he provided wins. Good ridance loser.
Oh, and I would much rather sign a good center than another PF/SF but we don't have any center's on the radar, do we? Highly doubtful about signing another C besides Smith but I think we should be fine there. We will have J. Smith, Bobo, and Stover. If Lane practices with his back to the basket over the summer he could fill in at the 5 as well.
Well I know one thing for sure. Next year we will be back in the hunt for the PAC 10 title and I can't wait.
Thank you for your last sentence...I AGREE... Here are 3 or 4 spots...Abdul Hamid, thank you for your efforts/gm winner, but we might make a 4th spot open!! Alsdo need to cut the trainer and replace his assistants for recruiting blunders...
Newsflash: I'm curious what program Kendall Williams 2010 point guard, ends up at????
I bet he has no game...He went to Los Osos (Central Cali along the coast)...there isn't any basketball competition.
I have posted this in every article for a month:
Anderson Div 3/WAC player
Stover - played high school in CIF Div 5 small schools...against a bunch of short whities...no wonder he is riding the pine
Bobo - just has no game...No "O" or "D"
Glad this season is over. Hit the weights fellas and practice your game like you never have b4.
U-C-L-A!!
Ray M - I see you
T Jones - I see you
This year was very disappointing.
But, with the Pac 10 not having any overwhelming superior teams for the near future.
Can UCLA rebound quickly?
I think it is possible. But, for now a miserable Spring. Oh well...
I think we all agree that Roll was a pleasure this year and appreciate him given the opportunity. He also made the 1000 point club and most games played as a Bruin. Good luck to him>
Nice to see everyone so enthusiastic about landing 2 or 3 of this players for next year, but most of you are forgetting these kids are being offered many other top rated schools who actually have HIGHER profiles than us right now. If we land one that will be great. Anything above that is fantastic.
I for one still am on the Howland bandwagon, but I want to see a trend more towards players who are stronger, agressive, and physical. Ever since Love and Mata left, we get bashed around a lot, and the opposing guards with even the slightest strength beat the hell out of our skinny guards. We left it all up to Nelson and though the kid has a heart of a lion, that was too much to ask of just him!
And Coach H, please, please, please make your players run Eights for every turnover they make... so maybe that will be incentive to stop making terrible passes like Honeycutt did against Cal.
It is a shame when I crack open my brews out of worry like this year as opposed to enjoyment like year's past. As for the nachos... never even had a single one this past season!
Leslie is ranked higher sure but that doesnt always play out to be the better player just because of the rank. We should know, Bobo was supposed to be one of the best C.
I am not saying Leslie is not good, but so far, based on physical attributes as well as offense and defense, it seems Jones is better at this point based on both ends of the court. These rankings usually put more emphasis on offense than total package.
This is the reason why the collison and the westbrook were ranked lower coming out of highschool but they ended up playing better than most ranked much higher than them.
Most of our bigmen are pretty soft and weak so I just like to see a defensive presence out there. Yes I would prefer to take another good C over a PF but ya theres not much out there.
In any case, I wouldnt mind Leslie or Jones but we cannot use both and be efficient. We need a prolific guard no matter what. Also great offense players will most likely choose a program heavy on offense to show case their talent and make NBA drool so it is more difficult to lure those guys.
I am happy however if we can get two of the following: McCallum/Ziegler and/or Jones/Leslie.
Thanks Mike Roll. The only positive in an otherwise disasterous season. Class on and off the court. You and Abdul Hamid were the hilites of the year.
I'm wondering if some of the top recruits are leaning toward developing their offensive prowess, including passing and rotating, and not just settling for being tough defenders.
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