SB Nation - J`mison Morgan

Shaking Up The Core: Thoughts On Changing Up UCLA Basketball's Starting Lineup/Rotation

Nestor — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:06:09 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

Jerime Anderson is not getting it done with an A/T ratio of 1.18, shooting 50% (!) from the FT line, 23% from 3 point line (35 % overall), and yet averaging 29 mins per game

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So here I go.

I have seen 4 regular season games this year. 5 if I count the second exhibition game against Humboldt State, which I saw via the pathetic online feed from the official site. Based on what I have seen so far here is the starting lineup that seems to make sense:

I think for the short term Howland needs to make two critical moves:

Bench Dragovic for rest of the year (duh) limiting him not much more than 10-12 mins per game
Bench Anderson and limit his mins to not more than 15 mins per game.

More on these two points and other thoughts on how Howland needs to shake up the current core of starting rotation after the jump.

Let's start with the obvious problem, which is the crazy amount of minutes Howland keeps wasting on Dragovic. Nikola Dragovic might be the most startling enigma during Coach Ben Howland's 7 years in Westwood. It simply doesn't make any sense how Howland continues to give this kid special treatment despite his total failure (and no I couldn't care less about his meaningless rebounding statistics) on the court. Time after time we have seen Howland using a quick hook whenever dealing with an underclassmen. We have seen him inserting and then pulling a freshmen or sophomore for making simple defensive mistakes or turning the ball over on the offensive side. Yet, with Dragovic (and in some cases with Josh Shipp from last season), we have seen Howland giving special treatment to an upperclassmen, who clearly doesn't play up to the standards of a Ben Ball warrior on the court (I will not even touch Dragovic's off court issues).

The only explanation I can think behind Howland giving Dragovic mins is that he is hoping that he somehow regains his shooting touch like he did to a certain extent against Pac-10 teams last year. However, numbers don't lie. He is shooting less than 20 percent from the 3 point line this season. Last year, after he got hot during the Pac-10 games, he still shot less than 39 percent from the 3 point line. He is an atrocious defender and he has never shown anything that indicates that he has a natural feel for the game. Yet, he continues to get the mins.

At this point, after what he did against Mississippi State, Howland will send wrong message if he starts Dragovic tomorrow. To me it's a no brainer that Howland takes Dragovic out of the lineup. Now the guy I would start would be James Keefe and here is my explanation for it. I think Brandon Lane has more upside than Keefe. However, I would at least give Keefe the start, because Keefe despite being tentative has a better feel for the game than Dragovic. I think it might make sense to start him and then bring in Lane off the bench. Keefe is better than Dragovic when it comes to shot selection (he has better FG%) and he understands Howland's offense and defense much better than Dragovic. Keefe's problem has been on the FT line and just being too tentetive (which goes back to Howland having a quick hook for all the other players except for some one like Dragovic).

At least with Shipp, I understood a little why Howland let him get away with defensive relapses. Josh Shipp had courage and also a knack for making big shots when it mattered. He was fearless and I thought was a game. Dragovic? Well, I think Bellerophon was off the mark, when he called Dragovic a "scrub" for his effort (or lack there of) on the court. He has shown as much as guys like Ryan Walcott and Travis Reed, to merit starting mins on the court, which is nothing.

Moving on to the point guard situation. This one is obvious. Here is bruinponcho:

The biggest problem is that his lineup and rotations make no sense. As soon as I saw JA in the starting lineup with MR at small forward, I knew this was a loss. JA is not a starting point guard, period. MR is not a small forward. We have lots of big guys and only three guards, go with a bigger lineup.

ML and MR should each be playing 30 minutes a game with JA playing 10 minutes backing up ML and MM playing 10 minutes backing up MR. JA and ML should never be on the floor at the same time. Ever. Their games are too similar in that there only offense is driving and neither can shoot. Used appropriately and in conjunction with a shooter like MR, this can be effective. But you cant have both JA and ML out there together when JA’s game is just an inferior version of ML.

And Meriones called for this, well back in April:

Backcourt size — Can anyone remember when we started a both-6-5 backcourt? Didn’t think so. Malcolm’s hustle and length and Roll’s experience in CBH’s schemes should do wonders to negate any possible lack of waterbug quickness. Worse comes to worst, we bring in JA to check smaller guards and fight pace with pace, but at least we START with the size advantage, for a change.

Note Meriones did have Dragovic in the starting lineup but being the wiseman that he added this:

Caveat: this would hinge ENTIRELY on whether Drago can put in a full summer of workouts and improve his defensive rotations.

Uh, I think from what we have seen this year we don't have to discuss Drago's defensive rotations any further.

I have to say I was dumbfounded that Howland even started Anderson last game after seeing how much more effective and energetic we were against Kansas, when Lee got the start. It doesn't make any sense how this kid continues to get more than 20 mins per game, given he cannot shot, cannot drive, cannot make FTs (!!!), and most importantly cannot defend. Jerime might be working hard. However, given what we have seen from the court, we are not seeing the results. I think it is time for Howland to dramatically reduce his mins, so that Anderson can reflect on how he can be more efficient, smart in practice and focus on how he can improve game by game.

Going back to our rotation, Honeycutt needs to start next game. After watching two games, it seems like he probably has the most upside as the natural scorer in this team. He is also a rebounder (8 in last game, 6 against Kansas). I think it is time for Howland to ride Honeycutt and Nelson, just like he rode on the freshmen talents of JF and AA in their first two years of Westwood.

I get that Howland is trying to win every game. However, from what we have seen its clear that the current core which includes major mins for Dragovic and Anderson, is not the winning formula. It is time for Howland to shake up his current core. He needs to do that by starting Lee at the 1, user Moser's athleticism to back up the 2-3 spot behind Roll and Honeycutt, take out Dragovic from the lineup at the expense of increased mins for Lane and some Keefe. I have to say I have also been impressed with the effort Morgan has given in recent weeks. I think he has clearly earned some backup mins at the 5. I am hoping he can turn up the intensity even few more notches and he might be able to salvage his career in Westwood, just like Ryan Hollins did before he was done in Westwood.

Lastly, people who are feeling uncomfortable with the criticism of Coach Ben Howland on BN needs to chill out. None of us are even going anywhere close to calling for Howland to step aside. There is no discussion of "coaching candidates" that are actually happening on other UCLA online communities. All we are doing is offering our frank thoughts and analysis on what we see wrong with our program. We have been in Howland's corner all this time. We will give him all the benefits of doubt. However, don't expect us to stay quiet and be blind homers when we see something is wrong.

All we are doing is offering our analysis and thoughts. So with that said the thoughts above are my impressions on what Coach Howland needs to do address the current concerns with our hoops program. While the measures suggested are steps to address the short term concerns, I believe they can also help to steady the program, paying dividends for the long term, bringing back where Howland took us in recent history. We can get there again and it will require Coach Howland to adjust, adapt, recalibrate, just like Coach John Wooden did during his time in Westwood.

GO BRUINS.

Ben Ball Roundup: Regrouping Without Gordon With "Fundamentals" & "100 Percent Effort"

Nestor — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:06:56 -0000

Photo Credit: insomniacslounge (flickr)

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Well I guess the only modicum of good news right now is that we don't have a basketball game to play during the middle of the week. Given the bombshell news from yesterday our team has few days to get it together before taking on Kansas (gulp) at Pauley on Sunday. We have already read highlights of Howland's comments from yesterday in earlier posts. Wanted to excerpt another graf that ran today in the LA Times (emphasis added throughout):

Some teammates were not sorry to see him go, a source close to the program said. Certainly his relationship with Howland, who values discipline, had grown increasingly tense.

"We have expectations of how our players represent the university on and off the court," the coach said. "When those standards aren't met, there are consequences."

Obviously everyone here agrees with that point. From what I have read so far, I am supportive of the coach's action in this case. However, I couldn't help but wonder about Howland's actions with respect to Dragovic when I read that quote. Forget Dragovic's off the court troubles (I have already made my thoughts clear on that front as I think he shouldn't have come back until his legal issues were resolved). I am having a hard time reconciling those words from Howland with what I have seen from Dragovic over the years (and not just this season). Yes, Dragovic came on a little last season when he made some clutch 3s in some games. However, most of the time from what I have seen from Dragovic, hasn't been someone who has lived up to the Ben Ball standards of playing solid team defense and patient/methodical offense.

Anyway, I will not dwell too much on Dragovic for now. I will let it go and see how he performs in next few games. Meanwhile, the veterans like MR doesn't sound too upset about Gordon leaving the team:

"As far as it going down, I don't really know," senior guard Michael Roll said.

"I came into lift today and I heard the news. It's unfortunate for both him and for us, and hopefully it works out for him. We're going to make it work for us here."

MR's comments seem very poigant these days. I especially remember the following ones after the Long Beach State game. I believe I have excerpted this on BN once already but they are worth highlighting again:

"Practice," Roll said, when asked what the Bruins can do to get better. "This whole week (in practice) we're going to have to listen to coach, get back to the fundamentals and get back to 100 percent effort every day."

I think those kinds of quotes provide even more context around Gordon incident. More after the jump.

As mentioned yesterday, Gordon's departure means more PT for RN. His team-mates such as MR sound excited about it:

The 6-8 freshman with the faux-hawk hairdo has been a bright spot, averaging 7.3 points and 4.7 rebounds in 14.8 minutes.

"He's a really strong kid," senior Michael Roll said. "Just comes in and tries to bully people, get rebounds, play physical, just do the dirty work that we need."

That attitude might be UCLA's only way out of a hole.

Hopefully RN will provide the much needed element of smart intensity (not out of control street ball) around the rim. Coach Howland is going to need that intensity from his team even if he tries out a zone on Sunday:

"I coached in the Big East for four years, worked against Syracuse, the best zone defense in the country, and they really work hard at it," said Howland, who coached at Pittsburgh from 1999-2003.

"One thing we can do at times is have length and size in there. You have bigger, longer players in that zone and it's difficult to play against. But you have to understand you have to work really hard in the zone.

"Defense, whether its zone or man, is meant to be played with intensity."

Keep those words in mind if we get to see JMM in a zone defense in the coming days. Watch how he defends the paint. Watch whether he is making an effort to provide help to his team-mates defendind down low and whether he is doing his part prevent dribble pentration. I always hear the loud cries of people wanting PT for him. I think for that to be justified he really needs to prove himself on the court defensively.

I don't think we need to give up on JMM. However, at the same time I think we need to watch him closely instead of holding on to perceptions based on the news clippings we read about him as a hot shot recruit. From what I have seen from JMM so far, he reminds me more of Rodney Zimmerman than PAA, when it comes to toughness around the rim. Like I said, I hope he proves his doubters (like yours truly) wrong by earning mins by proving himself during practices, and then translating the practice efforts into solid (defensive) showing during games. Like MR said it all goes back to sticking with fundamentals and giving 100 percent effort every day. Hope JMM is getting the message.

FWIW it sounds like JA struck the right note in terms of our outlook against Kansas:

"Our morale might be down and the season's not looking good," Anderson said. "But we're at UCLA. We have to fight back."

We expect nothing less.

GO BRUINS.

More Thoughts (And Questions) On The Upcoming Ben Ball Season

Nestor — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:00:49 -0000

More photos » by Jae C. Hong - AP

ND, MR, MM & JA signing autographs on media day. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

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Let's continue with the story lines on the Ben Ball warriors coming out of Media Day. One thing I am already liking about this upcoming season is the absence of incessant chatter from the local (and national media) driving the narrative that UCLA basketball season is a bust if there is no Pac-10 championship or drive towards the Final-4. Don't get me wrong. I want the Bruins to win the Pac-10 title every season and make a hard charge to the Final 4 (and banner number 12 and beyond) in every post season. However, the reality - especially in today's world of one and done ballers - it is not going to happen every year and there will be times when the Bruins will be in semi-rebuilding and reloading mode.

Well this is one of those years during which observers both inside and outside the BN are not going to expect a lot out of UCLA in terms of conference championships or deep run in the Dance, but we do have a team that has the potential to develop into something fun to watch and achieve a result somewhere in between what Howland accomplished between his second and third season at UCLA (something beyond just a 1st round tourney team but not necessarily a Final-4/Pac-10 championship team). Where the Bruins end up will depend on number of factors.

We will have to find out what kind of transition JA makes as the full time floor general replacing DC (who made a fantastic transition taking over for JF). From the LA Times:

Anderson expected to be a factor last season but got boxed out by Collison's decision to remain in school one more year. As a result, he played only 8.6 minutes a game.

The sophomore is eager to make up for lost time. "I definitely know how to run a team," he said. "This year, I'm going to be allowed to do that."

From what I saw in JA last year I saw a kid who certainly has the tools to become a good floor general and get the ball to his talented team-mates. However, the question I have in mind is his defensive mindset. How good and aggressive will he be defensively and generate pressure on the opposing guard. He did struggle at times during last season. For some reason I have bad memories from the Wasington game at Pauley (even though we won that game) of moments when DC left the court. I am hopeful that JA is going to grow into his new role and get to work out the kinks during the non conference. He will get to do that against very tough competition which will include dates with the Jayhawks at Pauley and a solid Mississippi State team in the Wooden Class. JA is not the only question mark around this team though. More after the jump.

I am also wondering who will emerge as the go to guy in this team in terms of when we really need a key bucket. Last year it was all about DC, JS and PAA. The year before ... well we had options such as KL, RW, LRMAM along with DC and JS. Of course we had the AA/JF core in preceding years. Who are going to be the scorers this year? JMM thinks everyone is ready to step up:

"It makes it a lot easier - we don't have to just look for 'that' guy," Morgan said, after the team serenaded legendary coach John Wooden on video, celebrating his 99th birthday. "Last year it was, 'We're in trouble, we need to go to Darren, we need to go to Jrue, we need to go to Josh.' Now I feel like we can go to anybody on the team and they can take care of business."

I love his enthusiasm but we will have to see. It will be interesting to see how ML emerges this season. Part of me still wishes he got more time last season, especially given JH's tendency to take time off on defense. I think ML has the natural ability to one of those guards who will be able to create offense with his athleticism (within the frame work of Howland's scheme) by attacking the basket and also connecting from the outside. I also like the energy he brings on defense (at least based on what I saw from last year. In addition to ML, another kid who could provide some scoring punch right off the bat is TH who is thankfully allright and was cleared to practice. From Jon Gold in the Daily News:

Honeycutt enters the season as the hottest ticket in the group (of freshmen), rated the No. 3 small forward by Scout.com, a double-double force from nearby Sylmar High. He was cleared to practice on Wednesday after re-aggravating a stress fracture in his back during the summer.

"I'm going to have that mentality that I have to go in there and do whatever I can for the team," Honeycutt said. "Whether it's score the most or lock up the best player. A lot of people say there's not really a go-to-guy - I'm going to try to be that guy this year."

The combination of TH and other highly regarded freshman - MM from Oregon - is going to be fun to watch. From what I have heard and seen (from his couple of games on television) he strikes me as a little more polished version of LRMAM when he came into college. However, I have no expectation that MM will produce the same way as LRMAM who was just an athletic FREAK in his first year at UCLA. However, if MM can bring that defensive energy and we can combine that with TH and ML's athleticism, it could be something really fun to watch.

We will also probably get long range bombs from MR and ND. However, we will reall need MR to step up in big conference games and ND to toughen up his defense (and build on his tangible improvement he demonstrated last season.

We also have quesitons at the 5 spot and who is going to fill the big shoes left behind by PAA. From the LA Times:

As the heart of last season's team, Aboya brought grit and tenacity to the middle.

"It's a very tough thing to match," Howland said. "Especially on the defensive end of the floor where he made up for other people's mistakes because he drew so many charges."

Sophomores Drew Gordon and J'mison Morgan will compete to replace him, along with senior James Keefe, who started at power forward for part of last season. Freshman Anthony Stover is in the mix.

Injuries hit Keefe (shoulder) and Gordon (knee) this summer; both are working to get back to full strength. Morgan, looking trim after an out-of-shape freshman year, still has much to prove.

Well there are lot of questions here. We will have to see what kind of shape JK and DG are in early in the season. Coaches have to be careful about how they work them in early on. We have talked anough about JMM's footwork and need to play better defense. The report in terms of how hard he worked off season to get in better shape is certainly encouraging.

AS is a definite curiosity. Have heard great things about his athletic ability but I think we can expect him to be pretty raw and unpolished early on. We will also have couple of other freshman forwards in BL and RN (who MR described as a "bull" in the LAT report linked above). I think those guys will definitely get a chance to compete early on but it will all depend on how they pick up on how to play Ben Ball D. So the whole team is going to be a collective work in progress to say the least and they are going to need every out of conference game to develop chemistry among themselve and get accustomed to Coach Howland's style and demand of playing basketball. What we do know is that Coach Howland is going to have some pure athletes to work with.

The group of freshman and sophomore he has now are collectively more athletic than the group he had when the freshman group of DC/LRMAM/PAA/MR/Ryan Wright joined up with AA/JF/LMR/JS. So that said here is the biggest question I will leave everyone with. Will the current batch of Ben Ball warriors play with the same passion, desire, determination and intensity we saw from the crew led by AA and JF in their second year in Westwood? I think the answer to that question will have a lot to do with what kind of season we have this year in Howland.

GO BRUINS.

Attention Howlandwood: 2009-10 Ben Ball Season Officially Around The Corner

Nestor — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 02:53:39 -0000

More photos » by Jae C. Hong - AP

Ben Ball Warriors Singing Happy Birthday To Coach. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

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Talk about perfect timing. The entire Bruin Nation was celebrating Coach's 99th Birthday today and it was the same day Wooden's program officially kick started the 2009-10 Ben Ball season by having it's annual Media Day at Pauley.

Haven't seen a lot of write ups on what went down today at Pauley except for pictures hitting the AP wire like the one above in which the guys were singing Happy Birthday to the Coach. AP has a write up with some very interesting news on JMM who per the report "shed" 25 pounds this off-season:

"Nobody had to tell me, I could definitely feel that I needed to work on my body to play college basketball," said Morgan, who averaged 2.3 points and 1.0 rebounds last season. "Not only was I out of shape, I wasn't as strong as I needed to be."

Howland estimates that Morgan, who is listed at 6-10, 248 pounds, had about 17 per cent body fat last season and quipped that he was jealous Morgan is now down to seven per cent.

"(I expect him) just to be able to change ends of the floor better," Howland said. "That was an issue for him last year in terms of getting fatigued quickly when the game was going up and down. He can provide a low-post threat because of his length and he has a nice jump hook that we want to take advantage of so we're expecting him to have a good campaign for us."

That's not the only good news trickling out from media day.

Lot of folks have been wondering about the status of TH who was diagnosed with a lower back stress fracture earlier this summer. Per the AP report he has been officially cleared to practice with the team which starts on Friday night:

"Tyler being healthy and able to play is important because we're counting on him," coach Ben Howland said Wednesday at the team's media day.

Meanwhile, JK's left shoulder is getting better. His MRI already came back with negative results. He is already doing some light workout drills and it sounds like Howland is not all that worried about it right now:

"Yesterday we were doing one-on-one shooting and he was able to go through it, follow missed shots, dunk it," Howland said. "I think he's a lot better off than maybe was first feared."

I am sure we will have more on these guys and especially our freshmen as more stories come out of Media Day. The news early on should be a huge relief to everyone who lives and die with Ben Ball around here on BN (that would be all of us).

There will be lot of questions surrounding this team heading into the first part of this 2009-10 season. Many of the returning guys will be taking on key roles after getting so used to following the lead roles of guys such as DC, PAA, JS and the Ben Ball warriors who preceded them. While they are getting used to taking control of the team on the court they will have to provide leadership for yet another core of freshmen who will be anxious to make their impact in Howlandwood. Of course it will all start and end with defense.

So, it is going to be fun to see how all of these guys mesh with each other and learn to play as a team. Just three more weeks to go till we all start seeing all this unfold.

GO BRUINS.

Checking In With Coach Howland And Ben Ball Warriors

Nestor — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:48:16 -0000

Don't forget we are also a basketball school.

So moutekicksboute reminds us of that in this fanshot, which is a good occasion to check in with Coach Howland and Ben Ball warriors. We have some news bits concerning the upcoming season, great stories (and well tweets) concerning our classic Ben Ball warriors, and Howland's excitement about working with the new ones.

Let's start with moutekicksboute's fanshot about WWL pverviews of the big picture storylines of the upcoming Pac-10 hoops season. Here is their quick outlook on this year's Ben Ball warriors:

This is a whole new era for coach Ben Howland. The Bruins don't have Alfred Aboya, Josh Shipp or Darren Collison for the first time in four years. The three-year Final Four run now seems like distant history. The Bruins will be leaning heavily on potential stud Malcolm Lee as well as Drew Gordon, Nikola Dragovic, Michael Roll, Jerime Anderson, James Keefe and J'mison Morgan -- not exactly national names. But the competition at every position should be as intense as it has been under Howland. He will be searching for an identity for this squad early and often in fall practices. Lee might hold the only lock on a position, while the rest clearly are open. UCLA has a challenging nonconference slate, but the talent should carry this squad toward the top of the Pac-10, getting the Bruins enough wins to make another NCAA tournament appearance.

I think that sounds about right. They have ND as one of their Key Pac-10 players to watch and marked MM and TH as the two of the conference freshmen they can't wait to see:

• Mike Moser, PF, UCLA: Offensively, Moser is a jump shot away from being an all-conference candidate. Defensively, he has the physical attributes to guard all three perimeter positions. [...]

• Tyler Honeycutt, WF, UCLA: He may be headed for a redshirt year if his lower back doesn't heal in time. Nonetheless, this late-blooming wing type has a bevy of upside. He can stroke the 3-point shot and pass with the best of them. And his shot-blocking ability is impressive.

We will cross our fingers wrt to TH. There will be enough time in the coming weeks to talk about the team but suffice to say at this point we can expect this team to go through the same growing pains, the team with core of JF/AA/DC/LRMAM did in their early years. I certainly don't think we are going to be one of the favorites to contend for the Pac-10 titles, however, I do know that under Howland's leadership, it will be exciting o see these kids grow and develop into warriors. Meanwhile, speaking of those classic Ben Ball warriors we have pretty cool updates involving LRMAM, PAA, RW and AA. More after the flip.

In case you missed it, Michael Hunt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran an awesome piece on the Prince going back to root of his dreams:

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute remembers being 15 or so when he left his home in Cameroon to attend a NBA-sponsored camp in Johannesburg.

When it was over, a woman addressed the young players from across Africa.

Mbah a Moute's English wasn't so good, so this is what he thought he heard her say:

"If you see me again, you will have made it."

Typical teenager he was, Mbah a Moute recalls rolling his eyes and thinking, Who is this person and what is she talking about?

Several years later, when Mbah a Moute was interviewing with Milwaukee Bucks general manager John Hammond before the 2008 draft, the memory resurfaced during their conversation.

The woman, Hammond told him, was Kim Bohuny, the NBA's vice president for international basketball operations.

Suddenly, it all made sense.

"It was funny," Mbah a Moute said Tuesday. "Later, I called her and told her I was

Well last February when Bohuny visited Milwaukee while making her rounds through the NBA, LRMAM took our to dinner to talk about that day in Johannesburg. He completed the dream. Just a beautiful story which you can read in entirety over here.

Meanwhile, while the Prince is living his dream Coach Howland tweeted couple of days ago giving us an update on the President. PAA was back in town this past week. Per Howland he headed to France this past weekend to play for Gravelines, "a professional team in 1st division." Howland said PAA looked "great!"

Howland also had AA, DC, and RW (arguably three of the greatest Ben Ball warriors) at a fundraiser celebrating the First Annual HDSA LA Hoop-A-Thon, which was held at Pauley Pavilion. By all account that event chaired was a huge success. Again just fantastic to see these guys remain such a big part of our program and doing whatever they can to lend Howland's efforts such high profile assists. He was pretty exuberant about how much it meant to him and Mrs. Howland.

Speaking of excitement, Coach Howland is fired up to work with the incoming Ben Ball warriors who he met with last week. He can't wait neither can rest of Bruin Nation.

GO BRUIINS.

Roundup From BN Walk: Trojans Laughed At ESPY, DC's Hot Start, Summer Ben Ball & Other Notes

Nestor — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:05:59 -0000

Let's start our walk this Thursday with a little note from ESPY awards. I never waste my time watching that show because it seems silly and to me it seems to pretty much symbolize what has gone wrong with WWL (which spends lot more time on showbiz aspect of sports than zeroing on pure athletics and pure competition ... perhaps a post for another day). Anyway, going back to the ESPY apparently Samuel L Jackson was hosting the show last night and had this to say Mark Sanchez:

"I admire you for leaving USC so early to go to the NFL. Most people wouldn’t want to take a pay cut like that."

Does someone have a youtube of that moment? Have been looking for it but haven't stumble into it. If you do please post in the fanshots. Not sure who was writing Jackson's lines last night. Obviously that one wasn't all that difficult given it's becoming somewhat of an open secret joke in all of college sports.

Staying with football as hicallliber fanshotted, incoming RB Dalton Hilliard will have knee surgery. From the OC Register:

Incoming freshman running back Dalton Hilliard will have right knee surgery Friday, a UCLA spokesman confirmed today.

Hilliard has a "loose body" floating around in his knee, which the Bruins’ medical staff believes is from a pre-existing condition, the spokesman said.

The 5-11, 195-pound Hilliard is one two running back signees for the Bruins, who saw two running backs transfer following spring ball.

Good luck to Hilliard. From what I have heard he might be ready for the start of the season. As always, we just want to make sure he doesn't rush back. RB position is going to be one of the most competitive sports this August, where we have decent depth. The most important thing for Hilliard will be to focus on rehab and get fully healthy because he has the potential of having a solid future at UCLA.

Speaking of bright future, DC is making hell of a first impression in the NBA summer leagues (emphasis added):

Darren Collison (NOH): The Hornets' first-round pick has brought the discipline and patience of his UCLA pedigree to the pro game. He matched George Hill mano-a-mano in his first game, then came back Tuesday night with 23 points. He's also a perfect 16-for-16 from the stripe in his two games.

Somewhere Coach Howland is smiling. More Ben Ball news and other notes after the jump.

Also in the department of summer hoops, Ben Ball warriors are going at it in Howlandwood:

A pair of pickup basketball games broke out at the Student Activities Center courts today.

Incoming freshman forward Reeves Nelson teamed with Drew Gordon, James Keefe, J'mison Morgan and Michael Roll. Nelson looked particularly strong driving to the paint. Gordon, who suffered a knee injury at the USA U19 team trials in late June, seemed to be just fine - showcasing his leaping ability on a few dunks. Roll was the primary ball handler, while Keefe and Morgan manned the paint.

Former Bruins Ryan Hollins and Earl Watson were on a team together, while incoming freshman Mike Moser played on another.

Hmm. I hope DG is a little careful at these games. He plays with no fear and wreckless abandon. Hope he is fully healthy (and if that's the case it's great news). As for RN I can curious to see how he looks this October. The reports I have read on him ranges from a redshirt freshman candidate (read raw prospect) to someone who could give us solid mins this coming season. Either way it is going to be fun to see all these young guys form a new nucleus of a whole new edition of Ben Ball warriors.

Lastly, speaking of summer sports in Westwood, if you are a huge fan of soccer you might want to know, Inter Milan, the legendary soccer club from Italy is practicing at UCLA this summer (HT Westwood Wizard). Farzad Mashood from the Daily Bruin has a cool practice report. We get that no everyone likes soccer but there are lot of soccer fans here on BN and its especially relevent to us given how incredibly strong both our men and women's team have been over the years. So, if you want to blog about this kind of news and give us updates via fanshots or fanposts, don't hestiate. We'd love to read about any sports that has a connection to UCLA.

GO BRUINS.

BN Roundup: Baron Davis Is A "BRUIN FOR LIFE" Edition

Nestor — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:00:21 -0000

Let's start our Monday with some good news from the basketball front. Per Dohn JMM is working out again:

UCLA hoops sophomore-to-be center J'mison Morgan is back working out after offseason knee surgery. He was doing individual shooting and jumping drills with coaches last week.

Keeping fingers crossed for the big fella's full recovery. It is great to hear how the kid instead of feeling discouraged from his recent surgery is doing everything he can to get healthy and get in shape for next season. No doubt this kind of perseverence will pay off for him in Westwood.

Switching gears let's work in some football and softball. Bruin FB Tobi Umodo has a passion for sports writing. During the off season he pens a weekly column entitled, "Keeping It Bruin: A Look Into UCLA Athletics," for the Canyon News, which I am assuming is a publication serving the Westside. This week Tobi is bummed out about the softball team's early exit from the NCAA tournament:

WESTWOOD—I was hoping I would not have to write this article at all, but unfortunately life does not always work out the way you want it to. This holds very true for the UCLA softball team as they were ousted from the Super Regionals by the Missouri Tigers on Sunday, May 24, in the third game of the series.

The Bruins went into the series defeating the Tigers earlier during preseason 2-1, so it was a tad bit ironic that after the first game on Saturday, the Tigers came out on top 2-1. Defensively the Bruins had no problems. Their ace, junior Megan Langenfeld pitched a complete game, allowing only five hits, two runs and one walk in seven innings while striking out six batters.

Unfortunately they were not able to translate their success on defensive over to their batting. They finished the game with only five hits, two by sophomore Katie Schroeder, and left seven runners on base. After the disappointing lost, they came Sunday with the need to win both games to move on in the tournament.

"It was a combination of a lot of different things," said junior Kaila Shull about their performance on Saturday. "We came out Saturday and lost and that changes the dynamic of everything, knowing your going into Sunday having to win two games. We need to execute better offensively."

You can read Tobi's writeup over here. Of course in case you haven't make sure to read Daynuh's full season wrap which is currently in the recommended section of our fanposts.

Moving on, we have notes from couple of NBA alums who have prospered despite having to suffer through Lavin era in Westwood. Jason Kapono recently traveled to Korea and spoke to the youngsters over there about making the best out of his talent and ability in the NBA:

At the camp, which wrapped up Sunday, Kapono shared a bit of his knowledge and experience with Korea's best young players. He talked about the importance of helping the team win by doing what you do best.

``Not everyone is going to be a LeBron James or Kobe Bryant, who does everything well. You've got to figure out what your strengths are and try to perfect them.

``You have to figure out how to take your skills and mesh it in with five other guys. There's a lot of players who care more about their stats, but if you don't win, it's not a lot of fun.''

As a specialist, Kapono comes off the bench and receives about 20 minutes of playing time per game, taking about 10 shots, including a few from downtown. Over his career, Kapono has proved his worth by making the best of limited opportunities.

Kapono embraces his role as a specialist and said he's modeled his game after players like Kerr, who play a similar style and have similar strengths. He said he planned to advise the young players at the camp to do the same.

While the specialists never get the glory of the superstars, the 28-year-old does have an NBA championship ring he earned with the Miami Heat in 2006 and he's also a two-time NBA All-Star Weekend 3-Point Shootout Champion (2007-2008).

From reading the piece, I was pretty amazed to find out that Jason is currently tied with Arizona alum Steve Kerr as the greatest 3-point specialist of all time, with a career average of 0.454. Good for Jason. He was always classy and maintained his composure while his talent was being wasted by an incompetent individual posing as a head coach at UCLA.

Another kid, who has been able to make the best out of his basketball talent despite getting no coaching at UCLA is Baron Davis. B'Diddy is currently enjoying his off season and just like KL and MJD, is setting examples on how to pimp UCLA every opportunity he gets. Here was his twitter feed from this past weekend:

You can follow Baron along with his legion of followers by going here. You can of course keep track of us in twitterverse why following us here.

GO BRUINS.

Philly Wrap

Nestor — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 11:00:10 -0000

So wanted to share with you some of my extended notes and thoughts from the weekend trip to Philly. The game wasn’t fun but we are more than glad to make that trip to see one of the best senior classes in the history of UCLA basketball to play their last game. Plus the rush of hearing our band, getting to do eight claps with hundreds (if not about a thousand) of fellow Bruin alums all decked out in UCLA blue, three thousand miles away from home is always more than worth it. As I said in my immediate post after the game the loss yesterday had a different feeling. It wasn’t the sense of shock, disgust and outrage we felt after losses in certain first round games in post-Wooden era. Saturday’s loss wasn’t the kind of loss we experienced against Penn State (91), Tulsa (94), Princeton (96) or Detroit-Mercy (98). We lost to a better team with a Bruin squad which was imperfect (more on that below). And after the loss instead of feeling angered, I am looking forward to next season given the players we have coming back and joining us next season.

I don’t feel like we have to do a lot of analysis on what went wrong on Saturday afternoon. It was clear Villanova was the better team. As Coach Howland said himself in his post game comments we were out played and outcoached. I think Jay Wright’s team would probably beat UCLA 6 out of 10 times in a neutral court. There is no shame and no reason to apologize for a "rebuilding" season featuring 25+ wins. That is a successful season in our book despite what you hear from people who didn't graduate from UCLA. If people want to denigrate what this group of players did by posting outlandish, nonsensical takes, they need to find another venue.

Our regular season record was just about what I expected with three seniors and upperclassmen who were role players in Final-4 teams and the freshman class of this season. As mentioned in the post game thread, I think Coach Howland built a team for this season with the expectation that he was going to lose KL and probably RW and DC at the end of last season. The dynamic changed when LRMAM decided to leave (which created a huge hole defensively and also in the front court) but DC decided to come back. With the return of DC, Howland had to move JH over to 2 (even though he is a natural pg) which shaped the dynamic of this year’s team.

DC did a great job this season and he will always be one of my favorite Bruins of all time. However, with him at the pg I think our offense at times (especially when the game was on the line) was predictable. DC as good as a shooter as he is and as fearless he has been in crunch times, doesn’t have the instincts and natural ability to pass as JH and create more options for the team. Again, I am writing this by no means to diminish what this kid has done for UCLA. No way. No how. I am just writing this because that is what my eyes saw through this season. That is all.

Moreover, I think the fate of our team’s post season run was also impacted by this:
Photo Credit: J Rosenfeld

Simply put our offense hasn’t been the same (with DC) ever since he went down against Oregon. He didn’t look himself last night or against VCU and during the Pac-10 tournament. He looked tentative from the free throw line. Not to mention he was bloodied up early in the game.

We all got glimpses of what JH can do from the 1 spot towards late in the season (during the Pac-10 and NCAA tournament). That leads to the question why didn’t we see Howland use JH at the spot lot more this season with ML at the 2? Here is my theory. Given all the hype and speculation about JH being a "one and done" player this season, my gut feeling is that Howland wanted prepare JA as much as he could to take over the 1 spot this upcoming season. JA by all account needed lot more seasoning his freshman season than JH. So I think Howland wanted to make sure he got JA as much experience as possible for next season.

As I mentioned yesterday following the game the two players who come closest to matching the gumption of AA and JF are DG and ML. I think it is difficult to sense the intensity and emotion DG and ML brings to the game just by watching TV or looking at cool shots like this:

Photo Credit: E. Corpuz

To me when we are going through tough times we usually get two different kind body languages from our players. First there is the kind of expression in which players look frustrated, dejected. There is also the second kind of emotion when things are not going to well. It’s the sense of anger we were so used to seeing in Ed O’Bannon and AA (again for those who followed Yankees during the 90s can remember the emotions of Paul O’Neil). DG was not a happy camper on Saturday. He was the only Bruin player that seemed to be upset (at least externally) with the way events were unfolding inside the Wachovia Center. I was really zeroing in on the bench. To me it seemed like all the emotion of the entire team was exploding out of DG. We have seen this kid's explosion all season long:

Photo Credit: E. Corpuz

I think once Coach Howland refines his defensive skills and he develops a consistent low post move the sky is the limit for him at UCLA:

Photo Credit: E. Corpuz

Speaking of taking things in personally, it’s clear to me at least the guy who takes playing defense personally is ML:

Photo Credit: E. Corpuz

At the beginning of the season Howland wanted JH to take on the mantle of defensive stopper of this team (in the mold of AA and RW). While JH made some noticeable impression throughout the season (as evident in the way he defended Derozan at Galen and Klay Thompson during the Pac-10 tournament), I think ML is the best defender among freshman. Again, I don't think one can really get a sense of how active this kid is on unless you see him defending in person:

Photo Credit: E. Corpuz

He has that grean wingspand and he is lightning quick in the way he rotates on defense. In fact he rotates much faster than JH (at least he did on Saturday). He also gets all over his player just like AA and RW used to execute their defensive assignments. If anyone wants to get a sense of how ML defensively impacts a game go back and watch the first half against ASU (in Tempe) from few weeks ago. Go back and see how our defensive intensity changes when Howland brought in ML. I simply love this kid’s game. He is fearless:

Photo Credit: E. Corpuz

He still has to develop physically. He also had the offensive tools which I think will come through once he gets the mins like RW did in his second year at UCLA. Still to me he has the best potential of emerging as the true leader of this team.

I also don’t see any reason to get down on JA. He had a tough game yesterday like he did on some other occasions against more physical guards (ala Washington). But he will get there. After a year or two in Howlandwood and going through off season workouts, he will be ready. Same goes for JMM. Obviously JMM wasn’t ready to contribute this season in Howland’s defensive scheme but his comments from this weekend were more than encouraging. Moreover, if anyone wants to question the possibility of the kind of leap a player can make in Howland’s program, just think back to where ND was just last year. Sure ND has lot more room to improve but two years ago he couldn’t even manage to stay on the floor because he had no clue how to play defense and would just chuck up bad shots. Now ND is playing within himself offensively lot more. He still needs to get quicker on his rotations. We can always hope for that to happen next year. What I am hoping for next year is Coach Howland trusting his bench a little more. I think it could help if he allows kids like MM and TH extended mins in early season, if our current guys at the 4 spot are not stepping up. We can always hope that the switch will go on for JK next year like it did for PAA this season. However, in case it doesn’t I hope Howland is not afraid to trust his freshmen.

BTW, yes the refs were terrible on Saturday. No doubt about it. But at the same time, we have to be honest with ourselves and can’t blame what took place against Nova on the refs. From my pov, we didn’t get the calls on Saturday and frankly throughout this season, because we haven’t been as aggressive on defense as we had been in previous years. The rebounding numbers speak for themselves (you guys pointed to it all day during the game thread and aftermath). Couple of instances stood out to me. I think they both occurred in the second half. In one sequence the Wildcats pulled down three consecutive offensive rebounds and break our back with a three pointer. Then another time, a Nova player pulled down an offensive board with four Bruins in the paint. Pretty inexcusable.

I think the talk of Villanova having a home court advantage is somewhat overblown. No doubt the crowd inside got loud when the Wildcats were making their runs. However, I didn’t think it was anything overwhelming. The arena seemed like a typical NBA arena which is kind of cavernous and built to amplify the acoustics, however it doesn’t give the sense of kind of intimidating atmosphere of a college arena ala Mac Court in Eugene (where the rafter shakes) or Cameron Indoors down in Durham. Besides as mentioned yesterday, the Bruin contingent was loud. And I have to say our band did a great job as much as they could to fire us all up in the early going:

BTW here was another sign when we knew we were going to be in trouble. Our camera battery ran out right after we took that picture and we realized that we had left extra batteries back at our hotel. Yikes. That was a bummer because we had fantastic seats in the lower section (4th row) right behind Plaschke and rest of the MSM haters from Southern Cal. lol We are sorry about that guys because we could have gotten some great shots of the Bruin contingent who did a great job rooting on our Ben Ball warriors.

Speaking about being at the game, let me share something about Don McLean. We have talked all year about Donnie Mac is our favorite announcer during Bruin broadcast. He does his best to sound impartial without trying to do too much and sound completely fake (and annoying in the process) ala Marques Johnson. He was sitting in just few rows ahead of us. And I wish I could describe the anguish in his face as the game was unfolding in front of our eyes. Donnie was in pain. I also loved how Coach Garson came over to him right before the tip off and did a little fist bump. McLean is clearly a big part of this program and I love it.

Going back to Coach Howland and what he would have, could have, and should have done. I think the tone 98 percent of this community has struck is the right one. Sure it is all right to express frustrations or disappointment with some of his strategic decisions (i.e. the way he decided to shape his backcourt mins this season) this season. However, some of the washed up and recycled second guessing we have seen on other boards and sporadically on here about his scheduling decisions, the way he uses TOs etc, are LOL funny. All on a sudden the coach who has reestablished this program as one of the best in this country, and taken to three straight Final-4s has to make whole sale changes because he lost a second round game with an imperfect team, despite winning 25+ games in a rebuilding season. Again as mentioned above, we just have a simple suggestion for these people: call in the local radio show or write to the dying LA Times to get off your cheap thrills but please keep that nonsense out of Bruin Nation.

Lastly, I wanted to end with a plug for Philadelphia. It’s a fun town. Sure it doesn’t have the name recognition of Boston or NYC out in the West. I get the sense many people have the notion that Philly is a gloomy and a depressing city. It’s anything but. There are tons of fun stuff to do in this cool sports town with great bars, restaurants and parks. We didn’t get to stay in the team hotel because we planned our trip at the very last second in late Friday afternoon. Still we ended up having a great time. We stayed in the Warwick, near Rittenhouse Square (around downtown I think). It was right in the middle of tons of cool places to hang out. Despite the tough afternoon, we decided to make the best out of it and enjoy a great weekend.

This trip was very different than my last trip to Philadelphia to see UCLA lose to Nova (in 2002). After that game we went out with other alums from East Coast at a local bar, and commiserated about a lost program being conned by a head coach in name only, who now poses as an "analyst" on ESPN. This time around we left the arena knowing that we still have one of the best coaches in the country, who will bring us back next season with another edition of Ben Ball season, contending for a Pac-10 championship, ginning us up and getting excited for March Madness. The fun will never stop in Howlandwood ...

... as long as we have the Caretaker leading our program.

GO BRUINS.

"It ALL STARTS with our DEFENSE"

Nestor — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 18:21:22 -0000

I wrote yesterday about how we wanted our Ben Ball warriors to repeat Thursday. We wanted them to sustain the (defense generated) momentum gained from putting together probably the best all around performance of the season against the Bears. Well they got it done yesterday afternoon.

Ben Ball warriors massacred Johnny Dawkins's Stanford team at Pauley (in front a so called television "analyst" who perfected the routine of getting massacred and humiliated in big games) sustaining the feel good vibes from last Thursday night and quashing ~~poser Trojan football fans~~ morons who had been quacking in the local rags, talk shows and message boards. The final score was 97-63 but honestly even that margin didn't do justice to describe the way Bruins dominated the Cards.

Yes, the offense was a thing of beauty as the Bruins sliced up the Stanford D inside and out. Still the key to Ben Ball Warriors second consecutive all around performance was the foundation of Ben Howland’s program in Westwood. I will let the Caretaker of Westwood spell it out for us (emphasis added throughout)

"I know it's boring -- I apologize -- but it's the truth," Howland said. "It all starts with our defense."

No apologies necessary coach. Not to us (and frankly no need for apologies to the media concern trolls and ~~poser Trojan football fans~~ morons). More from Howland’s floor general:

"To be honest, there's no magic trick to what we've been doing the last two games," guard Darren Collison said. "We just raised our level of intensity on the defensive end."

They believe a simple equation -- turnovers equal easy baskets -- has pushed the Bruins (17-4 overall) back into a tie for first in the Pac-10 standings with a record of 7-2.

Again as many of us said repeatedly here on BN the game is simple. When our warriors play their prototype shut down defense and exert all out intensity around the boards, it organically leads them to be more aggressive on offense (i.e. attacking the rim). The defense was suffocating yesterday and perhaps the most telling moment of the afternoon was this ...

Photo Credit: E. Corpuz

... that was DC diving towards the UCLA bench (as if he was taking a swim around Malibu), going after a loose ball right after he had converted a layup from a steal. The faces in the UCLA bench and of the coaching staff tells the story. If you want to relieve that moment again check out Tele’s highlights here on leading by example. That moment to me is the hallmark of what it takes to become a ball player for Coach Howland. DC (and AA3) led by example and it rubbed off on rest of their team-mates.

As far as the offensive domination was concerned DC again pointed out it was defense which has led to the offensive aggression:

"Looking at the two games we just played, you can see that we're more aggressive on the defensive end and we created a lot of turnovers," UCLA center Alfred Aboya said. "Our defense creates offense for us. Having lost to Washington gave us more motivation practicing, to get better individually and as a team. I think this weekend's games kind of showed that."

I have been LOL (rolling my eyes) reading comments from morons about how our team needs to get better on offense. Of course for people who don’t follow this team on a day to day basis (and are bandwagon fans) they will always get excited in these kinds of offensive numbers:

The Bruins shot 74% from the field in the second half while pulling away. For the game, they made 73% of their three-point attempts.

All that scoring was preceded by 21 assists, well above the team's average.

"Everybody's looking to pass," Darren Collison said.

Collison was one of three players with three assists each. Center Alfred Aboya had two. Freshman guard Jrue Holiday led the Bruins with five.

"I'd rather give other people looks," Holiday said. "Especially driving the middle and dishing out."

Yet to me all of that was made possible due to our defensive tenacity. I will single out some of our guys from yesterday besides the obvious heroes (AA3, DC and JH):

ML and JA scored a total of 6 points. It didn’t matter to me though. What stood out to me was the way those two guards were locking down defensively. I know Howland has designated JH as the designated defensive stopper to take over the role vacated by RW and AA. However, whenever I watch these guys its ML whose athleticism reminds me of RW the most. He is explosive on both ends. Yes, he needs to get under control on the offensive side a little bit but that will come over the course of time. What I loved yesterday was how active both ML and JA were on defensive ends. Speaking of JA, he is incredibly smooth baller. He makes playing pg look effortless (kind of like JH) and he is also showing his ability to explode out of nowhere. He didn’t connect on that dunk but I am sure there will be more opportunities in the coming weeks/months/years.

I also liked the hustle and tenacity from ND on the defensive end as well. He was active around the boards and also had some beautiful passes to open team-mates. Same with JK. JK has clearly turned it up a notch on the defensive end in last few games. Speaking of defense, I am going to speculate that JMM needs to turn it up few notches on defense. The kid needs to be patient. He is a kid. He will just have to learn that to shine in Coach Howland’s program he will need to put in all out effort on defensive end in every practice. He just needs to look at ND who has clearly carved out a role in this team based on the intensity he is bringing on defensive end that is clearly at a higher level than what we have seen from him in the past. Here was AA2 on how the intensity from practices turned into ferocity in last two games:

"After the Washington game, Coach told us we had to have the best practice we've ever had," center Alfred Aboya said. "That's what we did. After that, he said we had to keep it up every day."

And JH on what CBH wants from this team:

"We're starting to find our roles and do the things we do best and not try to do anything crazy," said Holiday, who also had five assists and six rebounds. "I think we know what (Howland) wants, and it's really up to us to try and figure it out.

"I figured out that I can't leave my man on defense. I'm playing the best (opposing) player, so if someone drives, I cannot help off of him."

We still have a long way to go this season. Yet what matters for all of us is despite all the concern trolling Coach Howland and his warriors have been subjected to this season from certain parts of the traditional media, some idiots posing as UCLA fans, he has our basketball team at the top of the conference with a record of 7-2. All this even after losing three superstars to NBA and having to integrate 5 freshmen and some upperclassmen who weren't used to getting substantial mins in last few seasons.

As I wrote above ... we still have a long way to go. I am also not naive to think that we are done with our tough moments this season. There will be more set backs in a very tough and competitive Pac-10 season.

Yet I like where we are and I am excited to see how team is going to fight through rest of the season. Judging from the image and comments above ... it's clear our Ben Ball warriors are not going to concede an inch. Hopefully when they get back on the court on Wednesday they will heed the words of the Caretaker and lock in on the next opponent by zeroing in on DEFENSE.

GO BRUINS.

The incomparable CougCenter Pac-10 conference minipreview

Nuss — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 08:42:28 -0000

With the conference season tipping off tonight, I figured I'd give you my quick look at where we stand heading into the 18 games that truly will decide each team's postseason fate.

What follows is a short breakdown of each team, ordered in my own little power ranking. (I didn't take into account tonight's games, FYI, since I started working on the post this afternoon.) And don't look now, but the "weak" Pac-10 is now the No. 2 rated conference by Ken Pomeroy.

1. UCLA (10-2)

Pomeroy Ranking: 16

Quick Take: The Bruins are still the class of the Pac-10. They might not be the 1,000-pound gorilla they've been over the past few years and might not be a shoo-in for their fourth consecutive Final Four, but they're still very, very good. The team defense is down just a tick, and J'Mison Morgan hasn't exactly been the replacement for Kevin Love that UCLA fans thought he might be, since he's only averaging 7.2 minutes a game.

But they still generate a ton of turnovers, and Darren Collison is one of the most efficient players in the country (No. 45 in offensive rating and No. 53 in eFG%). The most pleasant suprise for UCLA has been the play of guard Michael Roll. The junior supersub has the No. 2 offensive rating in the country, and is shooting a ridiculous eFG% of 73.4, which would also be No. 2 if he had played enough minutes to qualify.

The Bruins have been destroying some less-than-impressive competition since losing to No. 7 Texas so who knows how much they've improved since that loss, but with an experienced squad and Ben Howland on the sidelines, they're still my odds on favorite to win the conference title.

2. Arizona State (11-1)

Pomeroy Ranking: 9

Quick Take: The Sun Devils are the highest rated Pac-10 team by kenpom.com, but it's tough to know just how good they really are after yet another typically creampuff nonconference schedule. ASU has played just one true road game (for the second consecutive year), and lost its only real test against Baylor.

But the Sun Devils have the No. 1 effective field goal percentage and No. 4 adjusted offensive efficiency in the country thanks in large part to a weapon that no one in the conference can match: James Harden. Want to know just how good Harden has been? Read this piece at Basketball Prospectus. It's a couple of weeks old, but still relevant. The guy is an absolute stud, ranking in the top 100 nationally in percentage of his team's shots taken, offensive rating, effective field goal percentage, free throw rate and assist rate. He's a one-man wrecking crew.

Jeff Pendergraph has also been very good, but the Devils are thin up front. Depth there might be an issue against Pac-10 teams with better big men than the Devils have faced this season.

3. USC (9-3)

Pomeroy Ranking: 41

Quick Take: The offense has been inconsistent, but the defense has been typically sound under Tim Floyd. Only the loss to Seton Hall raises eybrows, as losses to Missouri and Oklahoma -- especially with as close as the latter was -- are nothing to be ashamed of. The offense has been inconsistent at best, but that's to be expected as the Trojans figure out how to replace to production of OJ Mayo and Davon Jefferson.

Dwight Lewis has taken on the bulk of the scoring load, while Taj Gibson has been his usual beastly self inside, posting seven double-doubles already to go along with the No. 17 block percentage in the country. But what truly makes this a team on the come is freshman sensation DeMar DeRozan, who Floyd says is "growing in front of our eyes right now." Also keep an eye on junior Daniel Hackett. He's a player I've been down on in the past, but he's quietly blossoming into one of the top point guards in the Pac-10.

If there's one thing Floyd has proven, it's that he can grow a team over the course of a year so that it's playing its best ball by March. He's well on his way to doing it again.

4. Cal (11-2)

Pomeroy Ranking: 32

Quick Take: And here we have our first big surprise of the season. I said before the year that the Bears could be the surprise team of the conference, and don't look now, but Mike Montgomery has the Bears playing some mighty fine basketball. Their only two losses came to a decent Florida State in Las Vegas and a very good Missouri on the road -- no shame in that.

How have the Bears done it? By turning a mediocre defense in 2007-08 (No. 152 adjusted defensive efficiency) into one of the better ones this year (No. 66) while maintaining the offense, even with the loss of Ryan Anderson to the NBA. I thought Patrick Christopher might be one of the surprise players in the Pac-10 this year, but it's been point guard Jerome Randle who's been the difference maker for Montgomery. His stats are up across the board, as he's averaging 19.5 points and 4.8 assists.

I believe now more than ever that Cal is poised for a WSU-like jump into the top half of the conference.

5. Arizona (9-3)

Pomeroy Ranking: 42

Quick Take: The Wildcats have played far better than anyone had any right to expect in the wake of Lute Olson's retirement just after the start of official practices. Forget about the comically absurd loss to UAB and the close loss to Texas A&M; the Wildcats have impressive wins over Gonzaga and Kansas to hang their hats on come Tournament time.

It doesn't hurt that they've got the most talented trio in the conference with Nic Wise, Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill. The three account for 65 percent of the Wildcats' scoring, 56 percent of their rebounds, 59 percent of their assists. Hill has been especially impressive, leading the team in scoring and averaging a double-double.

Coach Russ Pennell deserves a lot of credit for getting this team to play as well as it has and on track for yet another NCAA Tournament berth. For all the hand-wringing by Olson and the players about the slower pace played under Kevin O'Neill last year, Arizona is playing at an even slower pace this year, although they've played faster recently. Pennell is clearly doing something right.

6. Stanford (10-0)

Pomeroy Ranking: 30

Quick Take: The Cardinal finished the nonconference slate without a loss, and while there isn't really a win over an impressive opponent in the bunch, most of the wins were by double digits, including a 111-66 thrashing of Texas Tech. Stanford's adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency are both ranked in the top 40 nationally under first-year coach Johnny Dawkins.

Anthony Goods has really stepped up his production, leading the way with 18.4 points per game, but it's been a balanced attack, as the Cardinal feature four players averaging double figures. Part of that is due to Stanford playing much faster this year than at any point in recent memory, averaging more than 71 possessions, a pace befitting the smallish squad left in the wake of the defections of the Lopez ~~sisters~~ twins and graduation of Taj Finger.

But that small frontcourt might prove to be the Cardinal's undoing. They're already giving up the 40th highest 2-point field goal percentage in the country and blocking only 7.7 percent of their opponents shots (203rd). Contrast that with the sixth-best 2-point field goal percentage and No. 36 block percentage last year, and you wonder how Stanford will hold up against legitimate big men, which most teams in the Pac-10 possess.

7. Washington State (8-4)

Pomeroy Ranking: 40

Quick Take: The Cougs were the picture of consistency in the nonconference schedule, beating the crud out of teams they were supposed to beat, going 1-1 against middle-of-the-road SEC teams, and going 0-3 against ranked teams. If this team has any hope of making the NCAA Tournament for the third year in a row, it's going to have to make some hay in the conference schedule.

The defense has been as good as ever, holding all opponents but Baylor, Gonzaga and LSU to efficiencies under 100. But the offense ... oh, that offense. It's bad. Real bad. And if the Cougs want to get up into the top half of the conference, Tony Bennett's going to have to come up with some answers in a hurry. The defense is good enough to win some games all by itself, but unless the offense gets better, this is shaping up to be a remake of 2005-06.

8. Washington (9-3)

Pomeroy Ranking: 24

Quick Take: The Pomeroy Ranking suggests I ought to have the Huskies higher than this, but let's just say I'm a little bit skeptical considering they lost all three games they played away from Hec Ed, including a season-opening debacle at Portland. But there's no denying UW has been impressive at home, posting a dominant win over Oklahoma State (No. 49 Pomeroy) and a nice win without Jon Brockman over an underrated Portland State team (No. 88 Pomeroy) that would be Gonzaga in Spokane a little over a week later.

Brockman has been his usual dominant self inside, averaging a double-double, and the Huskies have gotten improved play on the perimeter from an unlikely source: Justin Dentmon, who is averaging 12.4 points. Additionally, Isaiah Thomas has shown flashes of being the explosive scorer the Huskies hoped for.

The thing that has Husky fans hoping this year will be different than the past two is that the defense seems to be better -- 17th in adjusted defensive efficiency, fueled largely by a much improved shooting defense (No. 64 in opponents' eFG%, compared to No. 234 and 193 the past two years).

One thing to keep an eye on, though: Washington's defensive efficiency is fairly significantly correlated to opponents' turnover percentage (-.74). Will the defense be as good against Pac-10 teams that figure to take care of the ball better than some of their more overmatched opponents? Kansas and Florida posted the two highest opponents' efficiencies while posting two of the three lowest TO%.

9. Oregon (6-6)

Pomeroy Ranking: 93

Quick Take: Poor Ernie Kent. With his keister firmly on the hot seat, he sure picked a terrible time to play the toughest nonconference schedule of any Pac-10 team -- 38th nationally according to Pomeroy. The Ducks got soundly beat by the good teams on their schedule, but also lost a couple of not-so-good games to Oakland and San Diego.

It's the same old story with the Ducks. They're playing the fastest pace of anyone in the conference (73.7) and chucking up a ton of 3's, which they're still pretty good at making (37.5 percent, 61st nationally). Where the offense is struggling, though, is in getting easy baskets -- the Ducks are an appalling 269th nationally in 2-point field goal percentage after being 14th last year. Much like Washington, the defense is actually quite improved so far thanks to a high number of steals.

Tajuan Porter has proven to be mediocre as a leading man. Don't let the fact that he's leading Oregon in scoring fool you; he's posting just the team's fourth best offensive rating. Freshman Michael Dunigan has been solid, but team's might start employing a hack-a-Shaq strategy on him if he doesn't improve on that 51.1 percent from the line.

10. Oregon State (5-5)

Pomeroy Ranking: 175

Quick Take: Nobody's going to confuse the Beavers with a Pac-10 contender, but nobody's going to confuse them with last year's edition that went 0-18 in the Pac-10, either. This team is improved under new coach Craig Robinson*, especially on the offensive end. Their adjusted offensive efficiency is higher than the Cougs', thanks largely to improved play in the paint -- OSU is 10th nationally in 2-point field goal percentage.

Expect this team to get much better as the season rolls along. Robinson employs a version of the Princeton offense, which players don't exactly pick up overnight. The growth is already palpable; the Beavers soundly beat Howard University at home on Dec. 20, whom they lost to by two in their season opener just a month before. This team that quit on Jay John last year is playing hard for Robinson. It might not translate into five or six wins, but it'll translate into two or three over teams that don't come prepared to battle the Beavers.

* Notice how I wrote Craig Robinson's name without mentioning that he is Barack Obama's brother in law? Oh, wait ... dang! I just did it! Dangit!!!