Drew Gordon had the only positive impact among former Bruins in first round action. Gordon was 7-10 with a team leading 18 points and 13 rebounds as New Mexico beat Long Beach State 75 -68. Unfortunately for former Bruins Chase Stanback and Mike Moser, they did not excel in their exit versus a decidedly mediocre Colorado team in the first round, losing 68-64. Moser was 4-15 and but had 9 rebounds in 35 minutes of play. Stanback ended his college career shooting 3-12 with 4 rebounds in 29 minutes. Matt Carlino was 2-10 with four assists in 32 minutes of play as BYU was eliminated at 88 - 68. At least these players made the tournament. They all played major minutes.

UCLA's only mention on the first day of the tournament was that Connecticut became the first team NCAA Tournament champion since the 1996 Bruins to be knocked out in the first round. I can still see Charles O'Bannon being taken back door as Princeton knocked us out of the tournament.

A day later going over the statistics is almost as much fun as watching the game again.   First things first.  71-49 UCLA over Arizona.   I think I'll repeat that.  71-49 UCLA over Arizona.  UCLA is tied for the Pac-10 lead with a 12-4 record.  They finished 8-1 at Pauley during conference play and 16-2 overall at Pauley.

Reeves Nelson's line is outrageous.  27 pts. on 10-13 shooting and 7 of 8 from the line, with 16 rebounds and 3 assists.The front line dominated. Josh Smith scored 17 on 7-11 shooting and, get this, 3-3 from the line. Tyler Honeycutt scored 15 on 6-12 shooting and had only 1 turnover in a team high 37 minutes of play.   These three scored 59 of the 71 pts. 

Tyler Trapani led the team in shooting percentage, shooting 100% from the field.  He was tied by Jerime Anderson who shot 2-2 and had 3 assists and zero turnovers in only 15 minutes of play.  It was another solid performance from Anderson.  Nelson, Honeycutt, Lazeric Jones, Smith, Malcolm Lee and Anderson each had 3 assists, as the Bruins shared the ball and the victory.  Zeek handled the team well.   The Bruins had a 18 to 8 assists to turnover ratio. 

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Like many of us, I have focused on the Bruins liabilities, without focusing on the problems our team presents for opponents.    If I would have told you that 23 games into the season, TH would have only led the team in scoring once, would you have predicted a 16-7 record?   In fact, RN has led (or tied) 10 times, ML has led 9 times, Zeek has led 4 times, JS has led in scoring 3 times, and TH only once (Kansas - 33).

RN has led (or tied)  in rebounding 9 times, Honeycutt 8 times and Smith 3 times.   TH leads the conference in blocked shots and the Bruins lead the conference in blocked shots. 

The point of this post is that, unlike many other teams, you cannot stop the Bruins by stopping any one player, and by focusing on any one player (say JS), opportunities are presented for all of the other good players who will then get scoring opportunities.  Every player from 1-6 (including JA as #6) is the kind of player who wants the important shot and has had the opportunity to take and make it.  It also means that when one player is down, another will step up to get it done.  When they all play well (the last USC game stands out on this) we look like a very dangerous team. 

I would like the team to pack the defense in and force opponents to shoot from the outside.  Our pressure defense gives up too many layups.  If teams shoot from the outside, our three very strong rebounders can dominate the defensive boards.    With five potent offensive players, I think we can beat teams who do not get easy baskets against us. 

While we are all feeling good about the Bruins, I think it is time to give CBH props for adding three really good players to the program. 

CBH saw something in Zeke Jones many teams across the country did not see.  He handles the ball well, plays really hard defense, has a really nice jump shot, and loves to take it to the hole on big players.  He plays team basketball, which accounted for his 11 assists last night.  When we needed offense with TH against UCI, he scored 20.  He does what CBH asks him to do.  His only weakness is on the defensive end, where big guards can take him to the hole, and quick guards can drive around him.  He is getting better on defense, and team help defense is helping to reduce the impact of these weaknesses.

Joshua Smith is a game changer.  He has great basketball instincts, great hands, and unlike many big men, loves to play 3 feet from the basket.  His free throw stroke is quite good, even if his percentage is not.   He is a man among boys on the court.  He not only makes shots for himself, but teams need to double team him, leaving open shots for TH and ML.    With RN and TH, this is a dominant front line that can score, rebound and block shots.  JS clogs the lane all by himself.   I predict that the NBA will take JS either this year or the next.  He will get better with every game.

Tyler Lamb is a very good athlete with very good basketball skills.  He plays valuable minutes and can be relied upon to play extended minutes when RN and JS are in foul trouble, allowing us to play TH, BL and TL as the front line.  I predict that he will be a very good player as he gets more experience.

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Merry Christmas Bruins Nation. 

At the risk of taking flack from some naysayers, I will fanpost my comments on the game over UCI.

The UCI actually had some terrific positives. The biggest positive was the play of Malcolm Lee, whose offensive game I have maligned repeately. Malcomb was 7-12 from the field and 4-8 from 3 pts. He scored 20 and guarded Moore, UCI’s best player, for most of the game. He also looks like he has refined his shooting stroke. He definitely shot with confidence in this game.

Zeke Jones took command of the team, with Honeycutt out, and scored 20 on 7-15 shooting, and was also 4-8 from 3pts. Zeke looks like a scorer on the court. He continues to improve and plays with total confidence. While I continue to question whether he can defend against the quick Pac 10 guards coming up, he looked like a solid division I player in this game.

Joshua Smith was 6-9 from the field. Unfortunately, he was only 2-5 from the free throw line. The continued high performance from three vital starters was an extremely good sign.

So this game provided evidence that we have three very good puzzle pieces in a five man game, with TH out, is good news.

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Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding conflicting ideas simultaneously.   Our basketball team, and particulary the Kansas game, causes Cognitive Dissonance to the entire Bruinsnation.  Here's my take:

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Considering that Zeke is the key to a great upcoming season, I am going to throw all caution to the wind and declare him as my favorite current player.  zeke  comes off great in this recent interview.   If he plays as great as he sounds, we are off and running for the 2010-2011 season. 

Below is an excerpt of the interview given after his second year at John A. Logan College:

What do you feel are your strengths on the basketball court?
“My strengths on the court to me are my shooting ability and my ability to get to the basket and create for my teammates.”

What do you feel are some things you need to work on?
“I need to work on my off the ball defense and deep 3 point shooting.”

What schools did you considered before choosing UCLA and what led you to choosing your school?
“I liked Nevada, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Alabama. I choose UCLA because I really liked the coaching staff and how they work. They have always produced great point guards so I am hoping to be the next one they produce. It’s also a great academic school.”

As we all know, junior college players are expected to contribute immediately. What do you think will be your role for the Bruins next season?
“Coach Howland has said he wants me to not only create for my team but look for my own shot too. He also wants me to be a leader for this young team and he is really big on my defense.”

I predict that we will be pleasantly surprised with how good this kid is.  Go Bruins!

In a rather predictable article about the inconsistency of Bruins Football, these two Register writes show their Trogan Bias.

Maya: Bruins fans are louder on message boards and blogs than they are at their home stadium. I don't know where these expectations come from.

 Reid: From across town. Trojan envy

The disquiet among Bruins fans is based solely on the teams inability to compete against good Pac-10 teams.  The Trogans don't have a quality win, and we certainly don't envy anything about them.  

IMO our inability to compete lies with the offense and defensive lines.   When we controlled the line of scrimmage, vs. Houston and Texas and against Washington State's defense, we dominated.  Against Cal and Stanford, we were blown off the ball on both sides. 

You can't win when you are being sacked 7 times. 

Until our younger lineman mature, we will be in the same boat. 

There is more pro-Bruin happy talk in this Register article than I've seen in quite a while.  The writers basically think the Bruins have what it takes to beat any Pac-10 team on the schedule.   Per Maya:

  The program took a major step forward this past weekend. A year ago, despite having talent comparable to what they have now, the Bruins would have never won at Texas. You just knew going in they wouldn’t beat the Cals, the Oregons, the USCs. Now, I wouldn’t be shocked if they beat any of them. Everyone on their schedule is fair game.

They remember Prince's 300+ yd. performances from last year, and don't jump on him for the paltry passing yards so far this season. 

 Prince can throw the ball. He had 300-yard games last season. The passing numbers tell only a small part of the story. I actually think he might be the most underrated QB in the Pac-10. He has done a great job of running this offense, he has a presence in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage that gives his teammates confidence. In practice he has looked very sharp passing. The larger question with the passing game is, if UCLA does have to throw it against Cal or Oregon, will the receivers catch it?

They could, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, go 8-4. At the same time they’re an injury at quarterback or center away from disaster.

I  have the same concern about our receivers' ability to catch the ball, and share their concern about back up center Greg Capella.

Maya: At quarterback, yes. At center, I’m not so sure. That was a lot of people’s contention when Kai Maiava went down. His replacement, Ryan Taylor, was just selected the Pac-10’s offensive player of the week, the first lineman since 2003.

Reid: That’s my point. Backup center Greg Capella has been a complete disaster. I don’t think I’ve seen Neuheisel as angry at a player this year as he was toward Capella during the week after Maiava’s injury. And even the couple snaps he had Saturday in Austin were an adventure.

 Maya doesn't agree with Reid, who thinks that the UCLA running backs are better than the Trogans', but he does think we are playing better football than $UC.

Reid: I will say this UCLA has better running backs than Tailback U.

Maya: Hope you’re prepared for the scorn of USC’s uber-sensitive fans for that one. I don’t agree in the slightest but I’m hardly offended. Last week I had the nerve to suggest UCLA’s and USC’s records might be flipped if their schedules were. But forget about hypotheticals. I’ve been watching both teams and, as of late September, 2010, the Bruins are playing better football than the Trojans. I don’t think that’s been true since October of 2001.

What a great week to enjoy our program.   Sure, I am concerned about Prince's ability to play this week and complete the season, and there is no guarantee that we won't regress to the team that was stomped by Stanford, but this week it doesn't feel that way.  It really feels that we took major strides over the last three weeks and we are ready to compete every week.   There's no harm in being optimistic.  Go Bruins!

Adam Maya reported in OC Register that CRN was high on a number of freshman in the early going.

"The game's not too big for them," Coach Rick Neuheisel said. "It's a bunch of guys trying to get to the front of the line. They're learning and even though they're making mistakes, they're making them fast." 

Among the standouts Neuheisel mentioned were offensive guard Chris Ward (Mater Dei), linebacker Jordan Zumwalt (Edison), tailbacks Malcolm Jones and Jordon James, F-back Anthony Barr, defensive tackle Cassius Marsh and safety Dietrich Riley.

"This class from top to bottom is absolutely excellent," Neuheisel said. "If we can continue to put these classes together, UCLA football's going to be on the map before much time passes."

CRN singled out Chris Ward as one freshman who might be ready to step right in and get some playing time.

One player who has especially caught Neuheisel's eye is 6-foot-4, 318-pound Ward, who has been lauded for holding his own against the Bruins' sizable defensive line. He even has gotten the best of defensive end Datone Jones on occasion. [The confrontation with DJ must have been on day one.]

"I think Chris Ward can be a possible contributor (right away)," Neuheisel said. "He's a smart young guy, and he's really physical and he's got a great anchor. You always worry about strength with young offensive linemen. Can they anchor when they're getting bull-rushed? He's been able to do that."

OL Coach Todd Howard also has a big body who might be ready to play.

UCLA also has a freshman defensive lineman who might be called upon soon.

"I think Cassius Marsh is going to surprise some people in his freshman year," defensive line coach Todd Howard said. "He's showing some fire and urgency. He's an excellent athlete and he has that desire. I anticipate him being in the mix."

Howard said the 6-4, 285-pound Marsh already cleared one of the biggest hurdles for a freshmen: "I think he's physically able to play as a freshman, just like Brian Price was.

It is nice to see that players have come in right away with Division 1 size and strength.   These kind of players can make a big difference in the success of the program, adding football talent, depth and competition to the program.

Go Bruins.

Scott Reid of the OC Register shows the comparative full year stats for the two quarterbacks, but made the point that Prince finished stronger.    

Over the second half of the 2009 season Prince’s passing yardage, touchdowns-to-interceptions ratio and quarterback efficiency rating were actually better than Barkley’s.

For the entire 2009 season, Barkley completed 211 of 352 passes for a 59.9 completion percentage, 2,735 yards, 15 touchdowns, 14 interceptions and a 131.3 QB efficiency rating. Barkley missed one game with a bruised shoulder. Prince, who missed two games with a broken job and parts of two other games with injuries, was 173 of 308 for a 56.2 per cent, 2,050 yards, eight TDs, eight interceptions and a 115.5 rating.

But a case can be made that Prince finished stronger than Barkley.  Over the last six games of the season Prince completed 103 of 175 passes for a 58.8 completion percentage, 1,321 yards, six TDs, four interceptions for a 129.0 QB rating. Barkley was 114 for 191 for a 59.6 per cent, 1,195 yards, eight TDs, nine interceptions, and a 116.63.

CRN is characteristically positive about his quarterback. 

And among the positive things Neuheisel says he’s seeing is the emergence of Bruin redshirt sophomore quarterback Kevin Prince as a threat to USC’ sophomore Matt Barkley’s claim as Los Angeles’ top college quarterback.

"If you look at Kevin Prince’s numbers they’re comparable to Matt Barkley’s numbers," Neuheisel said. "They’re not that far apart."

Over the second half of the 2009 season Prince’s passing yardage, touchdowns-to-interceptions ratio and quarterback efficiency rating were actually better than Barkley’s.

With his mouthpiece in, a more experienced OL, and more offensive weapons than last year, Prince may be ready to break out. 

From the OC Register:

As UCLA sophomore tailback Johnathan Franklin woke up each morning, he would reach for a football, squeeze it tight, and hold it close for the remainder of the day, his most prized possession and a painful reminder of a promising season he let slip away.

"I carried it to class. I carried it to workouts," Franklin recalled before UCLA's opening preseason practice Monday. "I took it everywhere."

Franklin's teamates tried to strip the ball from him, but to no avail.

So Franklin made holding onto the ball his top priority, toting it around the clock in the offseason, constantly on guard. He had to be on his toes because UCLA defensive players were instructed to try and sneak up on Franklin and strip him if they saw him on campus. If a defender was able to deliver a lost ball to one of the Bruin offensive linemen, Franklin had to do 200 extra up-down exercises at the next workout.

"They tried all day, every day," Franklin said. "But they never got it."

Franklin was averaging five yards a carry before fumbilitis sent him to the bench.   Jetski, as he is known, showed great potential as a Freshman, averaging 4.5 per carry 5 touchdowns, including a 74 yard burst against Cal.   CRN hopes he has learned to hold on to the football so he can reach his potential.

"Johnathan's well aware that while he thinks he has tremendous promise as a back and has certainly shown the ability to be great, we can't afford for him to be in the ball game if he can't take care of the ball," Neuheisel said.

Go Jetski.  Go Bruins.  

After reading the commentaries on Coach Wooden in the Sunday Times, and thinking about all that has been said and written about Coach in the week past, I come to the conclusion that Coach was a better man than ever I realized, and that his influence was much greater than I had supposed.  

As a basketball coach, he was fantastic.   It is boring to repeat his 10 national championships and 88 wins, 38 consecutive NCAA wins and that he won both with and without the most dominant players of his generation.  We need to keep in mind that he coached for 16 years at UCLA without winning the NCAA title.   You might think that he was frustrated in those years by not winning it all, but I seriously doubt it.   Coach first and foremost loved being a teacher.   In those years, he had the opportunity to teach young men the game he loved, and his relationship with the players from the non-championship era was probably as strong as those from the other years, but not as well publicized.  

Coach was loving, loyal and true to UCLA throughout his life.   He was the most recognizable name and face associated with the University from the mid 60's until his recent death.   His basketball accomplishments made him known, but the way he lived reflected so well on the University.   His death has brought positive reflections on his life and the university in a way that is reserved for Kings and Presidents, not coaches.  

He was a humble fan of the basketball program from the time he stopped coaching, sitting in his seat behind the bench, giving full support to every coach that followed him, and remaining a draw in recruiting because he was still around.  Players like Jordan Farmar and Kevin Love were drawn to UCLA, in part, to continue Coach's legacy and because of his influence on them. 

But Coach wasn't only for the basketball program.  He attended most football home games and influenced the entirety of the UCLA sports program.

If you have spent any length of time associated with the UCLA Athletic Department, chances are very good that you at least met John Wooden. In fact, as recently as November 2007 at the age of 97, Coach Wooden spoke to the entire UCLA student-athlete population at the inaugural event for The Wooden Academy, a comprehensive leadership and development program for the whole department.

Coach Wooden and his Pyramid of Success heavily influenced all Bruins, and UCLA Softball is no exception.

"I got to UCLA right around when Coach retired," said Hall of Famer Sue Enquist, who originally arrived on the UCLA campus as a student-athlete in 1975, eventually joining the coaching staff in 1980 and serving as sole or co-head softball coach from 1989-2006. "I knew so much about him even before I met him, and that was intimidating until I met him. That all dissipated in the first 30 seconds. He had this disarming charm about him."

If we catalogued all he did for the University, it would run hundreds of pages.

What I am learning on reflection, was that not only was he both a brilliant man, and a good man - but that combination made him the superior person that he was.  He would never agree that he was a superior person, but in fact he was.  His life was a metaphor for love and loyalty.  My words are insufficient, but Coach's words ring true.

http://ballhype.com/video/john-wooden-love-letters/  

One of Coach'e maxims was  Make Every Day Your Masterpiece, and understood that "You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for a person who has no ability to repay you."  Were these just words, or did he live it?  Well, in this he was most certainly superior.

He was superior in that he had good sense to appreciate the values his father had taught to him, and the he was superior in his confidence and self control to live those principles, in world that emphasized and rewarded different values.   His number one value was that Love was the most important value, and he lived it.  Reflections of dozens of Bruin faithful communicate the same theme - whenever Coach met anyone, he treated them as if they were as important as any other person on the planet, remembered their names, and remembered them again when he met them again on a different chance meeting.   There are literally dozens of stories about this in the tributes given, which means that there were probably hundreds, if not thousands of instances where he showed uncommon love and friendship whereever he went. 

In this, he "made friendship a fine art" which was also one of his father's maxims.  He had the ability to be a friend to all in an unusual way, an uncanny memory for names and faces, and a desire to use it in a way that benefitted both him and the person with whom he was dealing.   In this way he effused love for his fellow man, and was able to drink it in for his entire lifetime, as he was repaid over and over with deep love from all who came in contact with him.   Most older people live lonely lives hoping people will visit them.   Coach constantly had to turn away friends and admirers, as the demands upon him exceeded his ability to meet them.

He was superior in his integrity, coming to UCLA despite a more attractive offer from the University of Minnesota because he had given his word.  Not leaving UCLA for his alma mater, Purdue, because the University pointed out that he had asked for the 3 year contract that had 2 years to run.   He refused an offered raise at that time, because he said he would honor the contract he had made.  This was done outside of the public eye.  It is what you do when no one is looking that shows character, and in this, Coach showed his character.  

He also had the tremendous ability to inspire people, in the same vein as a Tony Robbins or a Deepak Chopra.   In this world, people are hungry for ways to lead them to ways to improve their lives.  However, Coach's teachings were primarily designed to benefit the recipients, not him.  Coach's life proved he was not in it for the money.  Coach turned away opportunities to coach in the NBA, never commanded a salary of more than $35,000 from UCLA and lived modestly in what Bill Walton calls the Mansion on Margate for his entire post UCLA life.  He was encouraged by others to write and publish.  He did so for the good of others.  He realized that: "Talent is God-given; be humble. Fame is man-given; be grateful. Conceit is self-given; be careful."   His modesty made his message all the more powerful. 

Coach's values radiate from him like a warm sun.  Bill Walton is like a walking advertisement for Coach Wooden and his ways.  Keith Erickson extols Coach's maxims as a motivational speaker.  Virtually every player - Kareem, Jamaal, Gail, Sidney, John Vallely, Andy Hill, and on and on, are walking disciples of Coach's way of life. 

I will miss him because I know he is gone, but he remains with us in ways that few who have passed remain.  On his website, we can still sit as his knee and get an explanation of the seven maxims, or get an explanation from him, in his own words, of the Pyramid of Success.   http://www.coachwooden.com/index2.html

 We can watch the hundreds of video interviews he has given, or read from one of his 10 books.  We can give our children or grandchildren, "Inch and Miles," his children's book founded on his values.   

http://www.coachwooden.com/index2.html

So the essence of Coach has been left behind for us and for generations to come.  It is up to us to pass this legacy on to those who will not live during his lifetime.  If we do so we will live with love for our fellow man, our society will be better, and as Coach says, our problems will not be as serious as they would otherwise be.   Pay it forward.

Rather than being excessive,  the sanctions are an inadequate penalty for the semi-professional atmosphere at USC that brought the program from the outhouse to the penthouse, created a resurgence in alumni contributions, and brought the program to national prominence for recruiting purposes. 

Per Simers:

It was worth it, wasn't it — an entire nation focused on the Trojans' march to glory and the domination it enjoyed.

Much like what performance-enhancing drugs, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa did for baseball, the same can be said for USC.

In both cases, the surge in excitement worked wonders, baseball rebounding from a strike and USC attendance swelling from 50,000 a game to 90,000.

Retroactively taking away wins and championships are mild penalties.  They lose a trophy, but Trogans will still believe that they won the games and the titles.  Loss of Bowl eligibility costs money, but not nearly as much as they made.  Recruits still are drawn to the school.   The most significant penalties are the lost scholarships, because this handicaps them on the playing field. 

While most of the penalties are phrases as "lack of institutional control,"   no one believes that Pete Carroll lacked direct knowledge that Bush had a deal with his agent.   There was direct evidence that running backs coach Todd McNair was confronted by Lake.  No one would believe that McNair would not have informed the head coach of this huge problem.   The only way McNair wouldn't have told Pete, was if Carroll laid down a rule that he not be informed to maintain deniability, which would justify sanctions even more.  

Moreover, everyone knows that student athletes have very limited resources.  When a top running back is tooling around with a new car or truck, the truth is apparent.

Mark Whicker, columnist for the OC Register says that Garret should step down because the major criticism of the program is lack of institutional control.  As Orange County is an USC hotbed, it was surprising that the columnist would call for Garrett's head.

The first consequence of the USC sanctions should be the removal of athletic director Mike Garrett, shortly after that national championship crystal ball disappears.

Silly NCAA rules are still rules. For Garrett to ignore the football and basketball shenanigans would require severe sensory deprivation on his part. That's unlikely for such a micromanager.

The phrase is "institutional control." Garrett fired basketball coach Tim Floyd because O.J. Mayo happened during Floyd's tenure. The same logic should cost Garrett.

 

 

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According to an unreliable source, the Daily Trogan, " News outlets are reporting that the sanctions will be released this week, citing an anonymous source in the athletic department."   I also heard an unsubstantiated rumor that the report is 173 pages long. 

The Daily Trogan expect that the allegations will focus on the Bush and Mayo controversies. 

The allegations surrounding Bush stemmed from his relationship with sports marketing firm New Era Sports & Entertainment during his time at USC. Bush recently settled a civil dispute with New Era co-founder Lloyd Lake to avoid submitting a public disposition on the matter.

Mayo’s one year at USC has also stirred controversy because of the relationship among the former Trojan point guard Mayo, confidant Rodney Guillory and the university.

Bruins followers have been waiting with great anticipation to learn whether the Trogans will be given their just desserts.   The release of information may come within the next 48 hrs. 

http://www.coachwooden.com/

At Coach Wooden's website, coachwooden.com, you can watch and listen to Coach explain his philosophies, including the seven point creed. 

John Wooden's Seven Point Creed, given to him by his father Joshua upon his graduation from grammar school, is as follows. 

• Be true to yourself.
• Make each day your masterpiece.
• Help others.
• Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.
• Make friendship a fine art.
• Build a shelter against a rainy day.
• Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day.

I can't think of a better way to honor Coach is to strive to follow his father's advice, and it wouldn't hurt us to do so either. 

The OC Register has a story marking the progress of Bruin Golfer Alex Kim, as he leads the golf team into the NCAA Tournament that begins on Tuesday. http://www.ocregister.com/articles/kim-251198-season-golf.html 

"In the course of one season, Kim trampoline-jumped nearly 400 spots in GolfWeek's national rankings (from No. 438 to No. 41). He machete-chopped nearly four strokes off his freshman season scoring average of 75.5 in 28 rounds to 71.6 in 31 rounds."

Go Bruins.

After Pau Gasol led the Lakers with 29 pts and Kobe Bryant had a playoff's personal best of 13 assists, Kobe credited Bruins great Jordan Farmar with changing the game momentum with a crucial three pointer and a steal to open the fourth period and break a 90-90 tie.  Kobe was interviewed by Vic the Brick Jacobs on KLAC am. 
Jordan was 4/5 from the field and 3/3 from 3pt range, helping the Lakers shoot 56.3 from 3.  Farmar was humble in his post game interview. 

Jordan had a near perfect game, and was one of several Lakers who combined to hold 2 time MVP Steve Nash to only 11 pts.

My Top 5 Plays in Bruins History are:

1.  Tyus Edney's dash that dashed Missouri.

2.  Jordan Farmar's steal vs. Gonzaga and Luc's finish.  [This is not the best video, but it comes from the Band section, and adds celebration by the Bruin faithful.]

3.  Barnes to Stokes to beat USC. (Barnes or Dow as the greatest replacement QB in Bruins history, you make the call.)  

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JhlDp2MZJ8

4.  Freeman McNeil's tipped pass to beat USC.

I could not find a video of this one.   However, I do have Freeman's description of the play from a Sports Illustrated article.

McNeil had been projected as a high draft pick all along, possibly even a first-rounder, but the pro scouts wanted to know if he could catch the ball. The question was answered in the USC game, the next to last of the season. Third and long, UCLA trailing 17-13 with a little over two minutes to play, ball on the UCLA 42. Jay Schroeder, the quarterback, was flushed out of the pocket and he threw to McNeil, running down the left sideline, but he didn't get much on the ball, and Jeff Fisher, the USC cornerback, stepped up to go for the interception.

"People have written that the ball bounced off Fisher's pads," McNeil says. "Anyway, that's what he told everybody. But I'd like to get the record straight. He had intercepted the pass, and I tipped it out of his hands. Dennis Smith, their free safety, dove for the ball; Ronnie Lott, the roverback, was coming from the other side. He'd come clear across the field. I tipped the ball from my left hand to my right and kept going."

Fifty-eight yards for the winning touchdown. It was one of those plays that will live forever in scouting lore, a little triangle of extreme talent battling for a football, three first-round draft choices—Smith (Broncos), Lott (49ers) and McNeil (Jets)—in one frozen tableau. McNeil won, and in their little notebooks the scouts wrote, "Has hands. Feet. Ball adjustment. Concentration."

"That play," says the Patriots' director of player development, Dick Steinberg, "was probably worth $300,000 to McNeil." Instead of a first-round draft he was now a high first-rounder, very high. The Jets chose him No. 3, after New Orleans had taken Rogers and the Giants Lawrence Taylor. Most scouts had McNeil rated higher than Rogers on speed and pass-catching.

5.  Wendell Tyler's touchdown run to beat Ohio State in 1976 Rose Bowl.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x8YZNKFf0M

1976 Rose Bowl (via

What are yours? 

The (obviously pro-Mathews) Husker website featured Mathews major talent as a developer of guard play.

Working primarily with the guards, Mathews helped Sadler turn Nebraska into one of the top ballhandling teams in 2008-09. NU ranked fourth nationally in turnover margin with a +5.8 margin. NU was 18th nationally in turnovers per game, averaging a Big 12-low 11.5 turnovers per game. The Husker guards also helped Nebraska post at least 200 3-pointers twice in the past three years, each time ranking among the top five totals in the Husker record book.

Mathews has also helped the Husker point guards become some of the most efficient assistmen in the league. During the past three years, NU's point guard has ranked among the top seven in the Big 12 Conference in assists per game and assist-to-turnover ratio. In his first year at NU, Mathews helped senior Charles Richardson Jr. rank second in the Big 12 and 14th nationally in assists per game (5.77) while his 179 assists were third on the Nebraska single-season chart.

 

http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=563764

An article during his stint as head coach at USF focused on his role as taskmaster, which certainly makes him compatible with CBH's style. 

IT'S 6:15 a.m. and Phil Mathews is demanding more. He wants more pressure on the ball and more attentive weakside defense. He wants more hustle and more court awareness and more toughness. 

                                                                                        . . .

"It was time," Mathews says. "It was time to crack the whip and keep it cracking."

Because, if you're particularly unlucky, you're going to find yourself on the ugly end of Mathews' running commentary, with the words curling around you like razor wire. Yesterday morning the recipient was junior-college transfer Terrence Moore, a vaunted recruit who hasn't played to Mathews' expectations.

Moore got it for a wide array of infractions -- most of them in the wrong-place- at-the-wrong-pace tradition of basketball offenses. Told that it appeared he was picking on Moore, to the point of relentlessness, Mathews said, "Oh yeah, I was. I told my assistants before practice, 'This is Terrence Moore day.' "

http://articles.sfgate.com/1998-12-18/sports/17739362_1_phil-mathews-stanford-usf-rhode-island

 

It remains to be seen whether he also has what it takes to be the Pied Piper of West Coast talent, and whether he can be develop the kind of rapport with players that keeps morale high, so that players not only stay in the program, but are motivated to give their all.   

Here's an alphabetical listing of schools that have won Men's Basketball National Championships

School	Titles	Years
Arizona	1	1997
Arkansas	1	1994
California	1	1959
Cincinnati	2	1961, 1962
CCNY	1	1950
Connecticut	2	1999, 2004
Duke	3	1991, 1992, 2001
Florida	2	2006, 2007
Georgetown	1	1984
Holy Cross	1	1947
Indiana	5	1940, 1953, 1976, 1981, 1987
Kansas	3	1952, 1988, 2008
Kentucky	7	1948, 1949, 1951, 1958, 1978, 1996, 1998
La Salle	1	1954
Louisville	2	1980, 1986
Loyola (Chicago)	1	1963
Marquette	1	1977
Maryland	1	2002
Michigan	1	1989
Michigan State	2	1979, 2000
North Carolina	5	1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009
North Carolina State	2	1974, 1983
Ohio State	1	1960
Oklahoma State	2	1945, 1946
Oregon	1	1939
San Francisco	2	1955, 1956
Stanford	1	1942
Syracuse	1	2003
UCLA	11	1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1995
UNLV	1	1990
UTEP (Texas Western)	1	1966
Utah	1	1944
Villanova	1	1985
Wisconsin	1	1941
Wyoming	1	1943

Today's OC Register features a front page article on Tyler Lamb, wherein he is compared to Miles Simon, former NCAA Tournament MVP.  

Lamb, a 6-foot-5 senior guard, was consistently spectacular, and spectacularly consistent. He led the Monarchs with 18.5 points a game, was second in rebounding at 6.8 rebounds a game and tied for the team lead in assists at 3.6 a game. Lamb scored a team-high 22 points in Mater Dei's 68-65 victory over Etiwanda in the CIF-SS 1AA final at Honda Center, and scored a season-high 32 points Saturday when the Monarchs lost to Westchester of Los Angeles, 71-63, in the CIF Southern California Regionals Division 1 championship game at USC's Galen Center.

 The online article also includes video of Tyler Lamb's play for Mater Dei. 

Tyler looks like the real deal, and will definitely add to the core of TH, RN, BL and  ML.   I can't imagine that he won't be a starter, any more than I could imagine TH not winning a starting position this year.  Hopefully, with Zeke Jones, JS2 and a rejuvenated JA (after a hardworking offseason)  we'll have a team that will challenge for the Pac10 title and get back into this NCAA thing.  Go Bruins.