[DaBruins]

i'm just gonna make an official thread and keep posting in here. We've got a nice team this year in pretty good looking pac 10 conference: Arizona, Washington, Stanford all look to be very good teams despite the fact that UCI just beat Furd (albeit Stanford was without their best player). It's a good thing we're deep this year 'cause the injury bug has already hit us hard with 4 starters out with injuries right now - Josh Shipp and freshman Alfred Aboya will still take another month to heal up, but Mike Fey and Jordan Farmar should be back in a week and hopefully in time for our matchup against Memphis on wednesday.

We started off the year 3-0 with victories in the NIT tournament over New Mexico St and Temple and another victory tonight over the Deleware St team that gave Duke way too much trouble in a 1 vs 16 matchup in the NCAAs. Freshman are playing well again this year with another nice recruiting class. The future looks very bright if Farmar, Afflalo, and Shipp stay with our current freshman Luc, Aboya, Roll, Collison developing nicely and Keefe coming in next year with the potential #2 recruit in the country center Kevin Love leaning very closely to UCLA. We desperately need a center for the next couple years and Love looks sensational.

Edit: Also got a foreign big man coming in. Looks to be at about 6'8 and he plays pf/c. From what i've heard he's one of those shooting types ala Radenovich (sp?) on Arizona.

 

[kansasalumn]

I am going to move this from CHC board to the Pac 10 Conference forum with a redirect. DaBruins, If it deals with a specific team only, it needs to be in the confernece forum.

 

[DaBruins]

ok, thanks kansas..

#11 Memphis 88 - #16 UCLA 80
Well, tough game against #11 Memphis in the Garden. We have a few potential starters out and a couple that were banged up and i think it contributed to our slow start. We shot like crap but we made a nice comeback in the 2nd half to keep it close. We probably win this game if Josh Shipp and Alfred Aboya are playing. On a positive note Farmar started just 1-8 but ended finishing the whole game at 9-20 and was the leading scorer and assist man in a game where he was up against maybe the #1 pg in the country. Our backcourt played an excellent 2nd half. Our freshman Luc looks like hes gonna lead us in rebounding practically every game. And Hollins and Fey actually had very nice production getting 21/7 combined in 40 mins.

That Shawn Williams just got too hot for us and killed us in the 1H. Hes only made 1 three all year but he went 5-5 in the 1st half from 3, 7-7 all togeher. Ended up finishing with 26 points on only 13 shots.

Next up, a scrappy Drexel squad who gave Duke plenty of fits. Seems like an easy win if you dont know the teams and just know their reps, but this is could be a tough game and IMO its a must-win.

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/boxscore?gid=200511230349

 

[TM]

DB, did you hear Dicky V talk about Kevin Love? Guy's said twice now on two separate occasions that Love has committed to UCLA. Several scouts say they haven't heard anything. Does Vital really have inside sources?

 

[DaBruins]

DB, did you hear Dicky V talk about Kevin Love? Guy's said twice now on two separate occasions that Love has committed to UCLA. Several scouts say they haven't heard anything. Does Vital really have inside sources?

no, Dukie V is just talking out of his ***. Love has taken an unofficial visit here and he has said that he wants to make his commitment early to get the decision process out of the way. This coupled with that fact that his 2nd choice of school (UNC) has taken so many bigs lately that there is little room for him there, means it very likely he'll be at UCLA. But no commitment has been made yet, and even if it has it doesnt guarantee anything.

 

[TM]

nice win :none:

 

[DaBruins]

nice win :none:

a wins a win. As long as we do ok for now until Fey and Farmar are 100% and Shipp and Aboya come back next month. We should be due for a good run at years end.

 

[Starbury03]

I thought I heard in an interview with OJ Mayo that Love wanted to go and play where Mayo and Walker go. But that probably wont happen but if UCLA got all 3, that would be crazy. Especially after losing out on Dieon to North Carolina.

 

[TM]

Neither Mayo or Walker have UCLA on their list... That comment about Love is a long, long shot.

 

[DaBruins]

yeah kids always see they want to play together but in reality it doesnt happen all that often. I doubt they will.

 

[TM]

Speaking of Love and the new information that's popping up everywhere - I'm hoping that Gordon to Illinios becomes your & Coach Howlands down fall. How you might ask? Now that Gordon is off the table, it's become public knowledge that Duke is still in pretty good communication with Love. Most people - Duke fans anyway - thought that relationship had died months ago. Apparently not. Love, and his good buddy Singler, become Duke's #1 priorities for 2007.

 

[DaBruins]

Albany 65 - UCLA 73 - http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/boxscore?gid=200511290606

another close game. We had 3 starters out as Farmar didnt play again when it was thought he had a stress fracture in his ankle but fortunately he was re-evaluated and its not too bad and he'll be back in a week.

We had a 19 pt lead on Albany right off the bat in the 1 Half but then when we put in our bench they killed us on a 27-7 run. But Bozeman, Afflalo, and Luc were too much. Kudos to Collison for playing decent in his start as a freshman point guard. Luc led us in rebounding yet again with 13, including 8 offensive boards. I love the guy and hes only a freshman. Off to a 5-1 start but with injuries it hasnt been pretty.

 

[DaBruins]

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/boxscore?gid=200512040606

UCLA 69 - Coppin St 57

This game wasnt televised and i wasnt there so i'm just going off 2nd hand stories and box scores. Horrible start to the game as they were just killing us despite the fact their tallest player is like 6'7 210 lbs. Our centers played abysmal. But then Farmar rolls off like 8 points in a row to close the half and Afflalo, Ced, and Luc once again play some great ball. Collison played decent off the bench and Aboya saw his first action after getting surgery on both knees in the offseason. Fey didnt play and neither did Mata.

Mckee killed us but another double/double by our terrific Frosh Luc as he gets 11 points (on 4 shots), 10 rebs and 4 blocks. Farmar adds 16 and 10 assists. Ced gives 15 and 6 boards and Afflalo adds in his 20 points. I cant believe an actual division I team can only muster up 12 total team rebounds and just 5 assists in 40 minutes but Albany managed to do it. Its pretty amazing that they have like 30 guards on their team and can only get 5 assists. Horrible officiating as usual in the pac 10 (i also think that great Zag-Wash game had bad officiating that probably hurt Gonzaga). I cant wait till Shipp gets back.

Go Bruins!

 

[thekid]

Collison-Farmar combo looking good and Affalo's development can be seen.

 

[Drk Element]

Wow, UCLA is owning it up.

 

[bruindre]

Impressive win by the Bruins in Ann Arbor today. Anyone else catch the game this morning on ESPN? Great defense kept us in it and allowed us to pull away. A far cry from the Lavin days...

 

[TucsonClip]

Afflalo and Farmar ARE the bast backcourt in the Pac-10. I thought Hernandez and Grunfeld would give them a run, but thats laughable now. Brooks and Hariston have been dissapointing as well.

 

[DaBruins]

i've been gone for a lil bit (just came back from Vegas....), but its been a terrific time for us Bruins. Beat a ranked Nevada team and followed it up by travelling to Michigan and beating the Wolverines on the road. Our only loss has been to top 5 memphis and even that was a game we could have won. Doing great so far.....Shipp should probably return in about 2 weeks. Go Bruins!

 

[DaBruins]

UCLA 74 - Wagner 72

Wow what a tough game. Wagner caught fire from 3 going 10-16 and we had just 1 3 and went 9-18 from the FT line. But we were dominant scoring 2 point field goals and we had a nice hot streak toward the end of the game. Bruins improve to 9-1 now. Wagner might not sound like a great team but they were ranked 30th in the RPI and look like an NCAA team. A loss wouldve been pretty bad for us, a 2 pt win.....i'll take it. But I expect Howland to kick our teams *** in the next couple practices before pac 10 play.

 

[DaBruins]

http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/polls/rpi/index1