Turns out that UCLA's failures in a "final four" are not limited to just that Final Four.
Ben Howland's Bruins are indiscriminate when it comes to
No. 4 UCLA lost to unranked Michigan, 55-52, in the 2K Sports classic on Thursday night in Madison Square Garden.
That, of course, is bad news for organizers of the tournament who were looking to bring Duke and UCLA together in the finals -- figuring that these two former Super Powers could actually win a tournament for a change.
Turns out that was a little bit myopic of them. Perhaps next time they could find an NAIA school for the Bruins to beat. And let's be honest, Michigan is just barely above that level.
Just make sure John Beilein isn't coaching the team. The former West Virginia coach continues to dominate Howland, even with lesser talent. Beilein twice defeated Howland's Bruins when he was coaching the Mountaineers and the magic continued on Thursday night. For some reason, Howland just can't figure out that zone.
But is it time to go into full panic mode in Westwood?
Panic in college basketball, especially a program such as UCLA, is foolish. But there are some glaring warning signs.
One of the biggest problems that Bruins had was in the front court. Josh Shipp probably wishes that he went to the NBA (or at least Europe) right about now. He was a dreadful 2 of 9 shooting and did not look sharp. Alfred Aboya often looked lost on defense as Michigan consistently beat him on the back door. James Keefe just seems like wasted minutes. Somehow the box score indicates that he had eight rebounds, but that just doesn't seem possible.
And what's with the offense? A game of pong seems more imaginative.
The Bruins did some good things in the game, especially in the first half. But it always seems that Howland's style will allow lesser-quality teams hang around, and you see what happens.
Obviously, the Bruins shouldn't be written off so early in the season. But there are some problems here that could linger in the future. For right now, the Bruins don't seem worthy of their lofty ranking and really need to show something in the coming weeks.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-21-2008 @ 9:53AM
ren said...
Clearly, you didn't watch the game or any other game Michigan has played so far this season. Although Michigan admittedly played better in their first two games than against UCLA, Michigan will be a NCAA tournament team this season, and they will end up ranked. Michigan's defense was a huge problem for UCLA, and they have one of the best players in the Big Ten on their team (Manny Harris, with DeShawn Sims also being worthy of attention). This was not a bad team that beat UCLA. And, honestly, UCLA is also not where they were last year in terms of talent, but they are still probably a top ten team.
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11-21-2008 @ 9:55AM
ren said...
Clearly, you didn't watch the game or any other game Michigan has played so far this season. Although Michigan admittedly played better in their first two games than against UCLA, Michigan will be a NCAA tournament team this season, and they will end up ranked. Michigan's defense was a huge problem for UCLA, and they have one of the best players in the Big Ten on their team (Manny Harris, with DeShawn Sims also being worthy of attention). This was not a bad team that beat UCLA. And, honestly, UCLA is also not where they were last year in terms of talent, but they are still probably a top ten team.
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11-21-2008 @ 12:30PM
Craig said...
Your garbage analysis is ridiculous. I recognize the hyperbole of the writing, but the fact is that UCLA crushed tough non-conference opponents in tournaments last year (Michigan State anyone?) and dominated the Pac-10 tournament 2 of the last 3 years. Yes, they are really young (they lost 4 KEY players to the NBA and graduation last year) and lack a post presence this year. But they have the number one overall recruiting class. They'll pull it together. Another Final 4 is probably unrealistic - but I can't believe you have the gall to seriously question the winningest basketball program in history. It's Year 5 of Ben Howland and he's been to 3 Final Fours and is just now starting to accumulate elite talent. It's way too early to talk that kind of trash. Remember, Russ Westbrook and Collison were barely recruited. Westbrook only got an offer because Farmer declared. Let's be real - Westwood is back and we'll be fine. This team will defend, it just needs to figure out how to consistently score.
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