SB Nation User Blog: Tydides

Westbrook is an OKC Sonic

Tydides — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:15:32 -0000

Westbrook is an OKC Sonic

The team and the city reached a 75 million dollar settlement. I wonder if the name will remain the same.

Extending our Predraft coverage with Kevin Love on PTI

Tydides — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 06:06:16 -0000

Extending our Predraft coverage with Kevin Love on PTI

NBA Execs Weigh In on the Bruins

Tydides — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 20:15:42 -0000

SI.com's Ian Thomson asked unnamed NBA Executives on their thoughts on who will be the draft dark horses defined as "a player who will turn into a formidable pro".

Not surprisingly, both Russ and KLove make the list.

On Kevin:

"There are a lot of questions in this draft, but there are very few uncertainties regarding Kevin Love. You know he's going to rebound, he knows how to play, he's a good passer, he has good hands and he plays hard. There's value in knowing exactly what you're getting in a draft pick. He'll be a 4, and in today's [smaller] NBA he can guard some 5s. I haven't mentioned his shooting, which is a wrinkle to his game. He'll be a solid starter in the league.''

To be honest, I don't see him guarding 5's where he'd be severely undersized, but to put confidence in him as starter material should bode well for his draft stock.

On Russell:

"I like Westbrook because of his scoring ability, and he's able to handle the ball some too. His defensive ability is an obvious strength, as he demonstrated against some of the better players. Watch the Pac-10 semifinal game and the last UCLA [regular-season] game vs. Southern Cal, and you'll see that Mayo wanted no part of attacking him. So far he's relied on his athleticism offensively, but the underrated part of his game is that Westbrook can make shots. His shot looks good, and he's a guy who is going to work hard to keep improving it. He has a chance to be a guy who can score and handle the ball enough to play as a 1. He'll be a very solid player."

I agree with this exec that the shot looks good. I'm just not sure it's NBA level consistent, although I will say that since that is the main knock on him as repeated by many scouts, that this particular weakness is rather overblown. As a coach, he's consistent enough that you wouldn't necessarily mind him taking the open shot, and it's not as if his development has peaked in that department.

Edit: Thomsen's Mock Draft has Russell going at #4 to the Sonics and Love at #9 to the Grizzlies. While predraft speculation is often the result of GMs messing with each other, the real news is that there is confirmation that the GMs with the high picks really dig what Russ brings to the table.

The big shock here is the possibility of the SuperSonics' taking Russell Westbrook at No. 4. Many in the league would criticize this high territory as too rich for Westbrook, who must grow into the new role of NBA point guard after filling in at the point part-time as a UCLA sophomore, but he is in the Sonics' mix because of his athletic potential, character, work ethic and defensive ability. The Sonics are willing to give their draft pick a couple of years to develop, in hopes that he'll be ready to contribute to a winning program as Kevin Durant begins to peak. In that context Westbrook makes sense, as do Jerryd Bayless and Brook Lopez.

Remember that Russell was a late signing after the departure of Farmar for the draft. The way he has shot up the draft boards reinforces our mantra: Trust In Howland.

President Clinton Cancels Commencement Appearance

Tydides — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 05:34:49 -0000

President Clinton Cancels Commencement Appearance

Former President Bill Clinton had been scheduled to deliver his remarks to this years graduating class but the appearance has been canceled due to a labor dispute.

Given the current political climate and considering the demographic of the group he was to deliver his speech to, this news will probably be received with mixed reactions.

Edit: Given that we are so close to commencement, I'd like to FP this and generate some potential discussion.

Forbes' Billionaire Universities

Tydides — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 17:43:28 -0000

Forbes' Billionaire Universities

UCLA ties for Ninth in most billionaire graduates with Cornell, MIT, Northwestern, Cal, and yes, $UC. Although in the last case, I'm not sure a school should get credit for being a diploma mill for Trust Fund Babies, unless there are classes on how to ~~spend~~ not piss away Daddy's money. In any case, the picture should look pretty familiar.

Lakers Gameweek Part II: Bruin to Bruin connection. Jordan Farmar to Trevor Ariza delivering...

Tydides — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 05:12:33 -0000

Lakers Gameweek Part II:
Bruin to Bruin connection.
Jordan Farmar to Trevor Ariza delivering a sweet Xmas gift to Grant Hill

"I know your work, Get In My Poster"
"Merry Christmas to YOU"

Friday Doubleheader: Baseball/Softball Open Thread

Tydides — Fri, 30 May 2008 20:13:50 -0000

Let's start the good vibrations by mentioning that the men's golf team has already finished up the third round and will take a 3 stroke lead into tomorrow's final round. Someone fire up Alec Baldwin's Glengarry Glen Ross speech that Phil Jackson used to remind his players before Game 5 Thursday night that you must Always Be Closing.

We've got big time action coming up for our Bruins first in Baseball at 4 PM, where they will take on Virginia. After the must-win situations they've faced over the last couple of weeks, I don't think they'll be overlooking anyone, even if Cal State Fullerton looms large in their bracket.

Photo Credit: UCLA Athletics

After what is hopefully a Bruin victory, the Softball team will continue their march toward 103 against Arizona State at 6 PM (tentatively if last night was any indication). Our ladies will need to play their best ball, and come with passion, intensity, and unity to beat ASU tonight. This season, they have shown that they are up to the task.

Photo Credit: UCLA Softball Photostream

The wait is just about over. Let's get this started with an Open Thread.

GO BRUINS

Touch 'em All: Friday Roundup

Tydides — Fri, 30 May 2008 09:08:54 -0000

Yesterday, the Softball Bruins took down Arizona 1-0 in a pitchers duel between Anjelica Selden and Taryne Mowatt to get one step closer to #103. Mowatt gave up only three hits but the one run she gave up in the first inning was enough to put the Bruins over the top on the back of Selden's three hit shutout.

The official site gives the details as the Bruins continue their quest for #103 today:

UCLA improves to 51-7 on the season and will face another Pac-10 rival, Arizona State, on Friday at 6 p.m. PT on ESPN2. Arizona falls to the loser's bracket and will play Alabama on Saturday at 1 p.m.

For the 44th time this season, the Bruins scored first, also crossing home plate in their first at-bat for the 30th time to remain undefeated when doing both. Freshman Katie Schroeder chopped a pitch to Arizona's Taryne Mowatt in the circle, but she threw it high to first, allowing Schroeder to reach and advance to second. After senior Krista Colburn bunted Schroeder over to third, Kamekona singled to center to bring in the first run of the game.

Staying on the diamond, Savage's Baseball Bruins begin their own quest for a national championship. In what can only be described as a tumultuous year for the Bruins, they still find themselves in a regional with a shot at the big prize. After coming on strong at the end of the season, the baseball Bruins are feeling good about their chances.

In their final eight games, the Bruins averaged nearly seven runs a game and the pitching staff has a 2.78 earned-run average, including three shutouts.

Their late-season surge got them into the playoffs for the third consecutive season -- the first time in UCLA history that has happened.

"I hope people are overlooking us," said pitcher Gavin Brooks. "We're playing our best baseball of the season right now so if somebody overlooks us, that's just going to benefit us."

The players say they never lost confidence through the season and that performing well the last two weeks in what were essentially must-win situations has encouraged them.

It's a new season for the baseball team, and while their regular season did not match their preseason #1 ranking, their postseason can. In order to do so, they must go through their nemesis of late, Cal State Fullerton. With the competitive spirit they showed in being comeback kids over the past two weeks, I'm sure our boys wouldn't have it any other way. For today, their focus must be on Virginia, which will be shown on ESPNU at 4 PM PDT.

#103 could yet come from another team in the midst of a title hunt. Men's golf finds itself one shot off of the lead entering the third round behind Clemson and one shot ahead of SUC at the NCAA Championship.

Before we completely leave Thursday behind, I'd like to extend congratulations to Jordan Farmar and his Lakers for taking down the defending champion San Antonio Spurs last night at Staples Center and advancing to the NBA Finals (and condolences to those of you who were screwed by Sasha after putting money on the Spurs +7.5). Bruin partisans may have an interest in seeing the Detroit Pistons prevail in the Eastern Conference Finals as that would (symbolically) set up a Farmar vs. Afflalo matchup. Should that come to pass, I'm sure Ben Howland will be smiling (hint to all the top prospects out there, UCLA is where Amazing Begins).

Best of luck to ALL of our Bruins in our Friday Tripleheader.

GO BRUINS

Former Bruin point guard Jordan Farmar points east, as the Lakers punch their ticket to the NBA F...

Tydides — Fri, 30 May 2008 09:52:42 -0000

Former Bruin point guard Jordan Farmar points east, as the Lakers punch their ticket to the NBA Finals with teammate Kobe Bryant.

SI's Top High School a Pipeline To UCLA

Tydides — Wed, 21 May 2008 07:28:48 -0000

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

Okay, full disclosure here: I am an alumnus of the school under discussion, so I realize some may feel that this is self-indulgent, but I feel there is a strong Bruin angle here, I swear.

SI.com recently named their top athletic high school for 2008: Punahou School of Honolulu Hawaii. After perusing the article I couldn't help but notice that UCLA is featured quite prominently throughout what is obviously a fluff piece. This is, of course, a double source of pride for me as a double alumnus, but I've provided the money quotes that relate to our Bruins to illustrate the depth of UCLA's tradition.

As many of you may recall, our 101st title came via our Women's Water Polo team (congratulations again to our ladies). One of the seniors on the team is a Punahou alumnus as well as another member of the men's team. These are not isolated incidents as the article shows:

How else to describe the dynasty over which water polo coach Ken Smith presides? In addition to the girls' 10 ILH and three state championships, the boys' team has won 32 of the last 35 league titles and produced 12 high school All-Americas. There's been at least one former Punahou player on every U.S. Olympic men's water polo team since 1988, and Brandon Brooks ('99) is expected to be the goalie in Beijing. Smith is himself a former All-America at UCLA, the preferred destination for Buff 'n Blue water polo standouts. Four of the top 10 scorers in Bruins history are Punahou grads; in '82, five of UCLA's seven starters had played for Punahou.

By the way, Brooks is also a UCLA alum ('02), was a part of 2 national championship teams in '99 and '00, and is now an assistant coach for the men's and women's teams under Adam Krikorian.

Bruins Nation should also be familiar with another alumnus:

"When I was there, Punahou was known as a school for rich white kids," recalls UCLA offensive coordinator Norm Chow ('64), who is of Chinese descent. "If you know anything about the history of this state, you know those passions and prejudices can run pretty deep."

I'm just hoping that maybe that connection will help us bring in Manti Te'o (2009 LB Recruit).

Any article like this would be incomplete without mentioning academic successes:

Over the last four years Punahou placed 85 students in Ivy League schools, 29 at UCLA, 23 at Stanford, 13 at Pepperdine and 10 at Notre Dame.

Of course, I'm not surprised to hear that with its reputation, UCLA hobnobs with the Ivy's and Furd. Our inclusion as one of Newsweek's 25 New Ivies seems to support that. I do happen to know for a fact, however, that SUC also got at least 50 and probably many more students from this school over the same time period, and yet I see no mention of them. So much for building the academic reputation across town.

The bottom line in all of this is that I found it amusing and appropriate that one cannot mention the top athletic high school in the country without talking fairly extensively about UCLA. Most of the articles we post are centered around our Bruins, so it is no surprise that UCLA is mentioned. When UCLA is getting name dropped in a high school piece to lend legitimacy to a puff piece, you know the Bruin brand has cachet.