SB Nation User Blog: jjreicher

Love schooled by Kosta Koufos

jjreicher — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 16:23:27 -0000

Love schooled by Kosta Koufos

Who?? Exactly. Apparently this guy is thought to have just worked his way above KLove as a PF in the draft. I have to imagine Love may have similar problems in 1-on-1 in the NBA, against the likes of PF's Elton Brand, KG, Tim Duncan, etc...

UCLA on the football recruiting "cusp" for 2009

jjreicher — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 01:22:31 -0000

UCLA on the football recruiting "cusp" for 2009

Not much more information than that, but UCLA is now listed as "on the cusp" for early reports of 2009 football recruiting, according to ESPN. The top 10 are listed--it's a pretty familiar group. An extra 5, including UCLA, are looking to break into the list.

CRN's contract

jjreicher — Sat, 24 May 2008 14:11:52 -0000

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3410625

UCLA football coach Rick Neuheisel can earn up to $1.75 million a year in salary and bonuses under the terms of a five-year contract that was finalized last week, the Los Angeles Times reported.

By comparison, KD made in the range of $850,000 + some in bonuses. Carroll makes in the $2-3 million range. So this is a pretty good chunk of change for CRN.

LSU's Johnson confirms release of Morgan

jjreicher — Wed, 14 May 2008 22:05:40 -0000

From The Daily Bruin:

Louisiana State men’s basketball coach Trent Johnson confirmed Tuesday that star recruit J’Mison Morgan will be released from his commitment to the school.
...

The Bruins can finally contact Morgan now that LSU has released him from his letter of intent.

Not much to say that hasn't already been said at BN about this situation. Hopefully Morgan does indeed come to UCLA and hopefully he can be at least a part-time impact player next year, considering our lack of big men.

Gordon, and potentially Morgan, would receive ample opportunity to start next season as the Bruins must replace Love and center Lorenzo Mata-Real. Junior forward Alfred Aboya may also leave the team to focus on academics, which would open another spot on the roster for the incoming post players.

This last bit is what I'd like to call the "Love Effect." Rare is it that a freshman, especially a freshman big man, comes in and contributes immediately. Rarer still is it when that player wins the POY award in the Pac-10. I have big hopes for Morgan, sure. But Alfred Aboya is a seasoned veteran, a vastly improved player in his time here, a key to our success next year, and a great Bruin, a true representative of our university. I'm sure the author did not intend a slight at Aboya, but it came out sounding that way.

To next year! Go Bruins!

Coach Wooden Feelin' It

jjreicher — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 01:25:57 -0000

Bumped. Goodness, gracious. Monday is not even over but the bloggers here are already on FIRE! GO BRUINS. -N

Now, normally when I visit the WWL website, I do it so that I can check up on scores and of course, read the ridiculous opinions that so many of the "experts" spew out. It's entertaining! It's what makes being a fan so great! The debates, the predictions and ultimately--the resolution. Do I take it the opinions seriously? Well, no, not really. Heck, some of em saw UCLA goin down to WKU.

This opinion, however, is one I think we all value.

"[Two] years ago, we were in the Final Four and we finished second. Last year, we were third. Seems logical to be first this year, don't you think?" [Coach Wooden] told The Associated Press by phone Monday.

....

North Carolina and Kansas play the other semifinal, marking the first time all four No. 1 seeds have reached the Final Four.

"That is remarkable," Wooden said. "Any one of the four could win, but I wouldn't trade UCLA's chances for any of the other teams."

See the rest of the article for some great quotes from both CBH and legendary Coach Wooden. As we know so well, in the end, we play the game. But coming from a man that's taken 10 teams all the way, and coached the greatest college (and later NBA) player of all-time, I'd say this opinion is one worth noting.

This week is going by so slowly! How is it still Monday!?

K-Love, AP All American

jjreicher — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:45:08 -0000

Not that we didn't already know it to be inevitable, but Kevin Love has been named to the AP All America team:

The 6-10 Love led the Bruins to their third straight Final Four appearance, averaging a double-double in their tournament run after getting 17.1 points and 10.6 rebounds and shooting 55.7 percent in the regular season.

Love received 52 first-team votes and 318 points to become UCLA's second All-America in as many seasons as Arron Afflalo was chosen last year. Love said he followed Beasley closely this season.

No seniors made this year's team, for the first time ever. Love follows AA as the Bruin representative, and we're proud to put those two in the same sentence.

Darren Collison is not in that top 5, though he is listed on the Second Team. Of course, we all know that he's the best college point guard in the country, but hey they can't just put all 5 starting Bruins on that list...right? In any case, he is recognized and I believe would be first team if not for the fact that we've got Love on that list already and they don't want 2 Bruins there.

I'd like to reiterate one thing that I'm sure has been stated on BN before, but is just driving me nuts. You watch the "expert" analysis on WWL, and all you hear about is how K-Love is the only reason we're any good. We could never be here without him. Umm, yes he is a great player, but did anyone notice our trips to the final four and to the championship without him? Perhaps a guy like Luc should be getting some credit? Or 2-straight-years starting PG, clutch performer, and final four leader Darren Collison? I'm glad to see that Love hasn't bought into that garbage. I only hope that it's motivation for all our guys to come out with some extra fire and passion on Saturday, not that any extra motivation will be necessary.

Sidebar:
I went to class today, but man....it is TOUGH to have any focus at all. I also saw some players around campus, so I guess they're getting their new schedules before they head out to San Anton. Tension, excitement--good to be a Bruin.

CBH as the BCNTHWANC

jjreicher — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:05:24 -0000

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=3312457&sportCa t=ncb

The article is a must-read. To be honest, the thought of calling Coach Howland the "Best Coach Never To Have Won A National Championship" is not something that really had crossed my mind. I mean--he's only been at UCLA for 5 years. Usually guys with that title have been at it for a long time. Like Phil Mickelson in golf, or Kevin Garnett in the NBA. But I think what puts him on that list is that first word--"Best." He is such a GREAT coach, that despite the fact that he hasn't actually been at it for that long (on the Div I championship level at least) he merits consideration for that list. I see it as a positive thing. Basically it's this--he's such a great coach, that people EXPECT a championship w/ in 5 years. Which is of course a RIDICULOUS expectation--that of course he might achieve!

What does all this mean? Nothing really. He's a great coach and has no national championship, but of course we already knew that. And we're all hoping he'll be off that list in a few weeks here. Nevertheless, the article is worth a look, as it describes the intricacies of our great CBH (like the water bottle) and the path that brought him to the well, almost, top.

I am completely out of my mind right now w/ excitement for tomorrow's game. I know our Bruins are feeling confident and ready to show the nation that against a flying team with a funny mascot, we can still play our style of ball and come out w/ a win. GO BRUINS!

Protests in Cameroon

jjreicher — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 04:51:19 -0000

I've always been amazed by the ability of student-athletes to maintain a high level of athletic performance while navigating the curriculum. Certainly they have help--tutoring, scholarship, coaching, trainers, etc.--but it is a difficult path despite this help, especially at a top-notch academic/athletic university like UCLA. Now take our international athletes. They travel thousands of miles from their homes to a place most of them have never even seen before, and then deal with the stresses mentioned above. The movement from home to college is difficult for many students--even those from nearby cities with family and high school friends only a few hours' drive away. Frankly, I can't imagine how our inter. athletes adjust as quickly and as well as they do.

I try to keep up on politics, but I know only as much about this story as is shown in the brief NYTimes article (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/world/africa/29briefs-protestsmount.html?_r=1&ref=world&or ef=slogin). I saw it and it brought to mind our fan-faves, the Cameroonian duo. Apparently there have been some fairly widespread and violent protests on the streets of Yaounde, causing businesses city-wide to be forced to close doors until things calm down. The President has made a movement to alter the constitution in order to extend his presidency: not the type of thing we like to hear, and this is part of the motivation for the protest. I have no idea if/how this affects AA2 and LRMAM, but I certainly hope it is not something they or their families will be affected by. It's hard enough to move to a new country and be a top-level student-athlete--I imagine it's even harder when you hear of problems back at home. Hopefully the situation will improve in the coming days and weeks.

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute

jjreicher — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 00:06:17 -0000

After watching this afternoon's basketball game, if that is what you will call it, I found myself unable to get these words out of my head:

Luc
Richard
Mbah
A
Moute

At first, I was not sure why they were pinballing around in my brain. Yes he's a player on this basketball (really?) team. Yes he's out with injury today. But so is Mike Roll. He could help out too. Heck, if we could just drop in a couple threes, we'd be ahead in this game.

Post-gametime came and the words just wouldn't leave. So I started to search around for what they meant. Here's what I've come up with:

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute = UCLA Basketball
(Keep in mind this is not meant at ALL as a slight against any other player on this team. And I also do not feel that effort had ANYTHING to do with our loss today. These guys try hard every single day.)

Reasoning:

Hard-working.
Solid, rather than flashy.
Winner. Let me expand on this one. UCLA has 3 losses this year. One came when UCLA was down late and Luc Richard brought us all the way back, then missed two vital FT's that cost us the game. Or wait, not really cost us the game, because we would not have been in it had he not brought us back there first. Another loss came to U$C when Luc was KO-ed and missed most of the game w/ a concussion. Our final loss came today in a game that he missed with an ankle injury. Yes there are other reasons we can go into. Look at some close victories too. Clutch shooting in the preseason tourney down to the wire, from a guy who's not even mainly a shooter. How about some past games against, say, Gonzaga?

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is UCLA Basketball.

As of now, I am willing to simplify my notion about how far this team can go. This team can go all the way: provided that Luc plays every game of the NCAA tourney.

Den Behavior

jjreicher — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 09:30:46 -0000

As a graduating senior I have been regularly attending UCLA sporting events for four years. This has truly been one of the greatest aspects of being a Bruin.

But fans, I have a bone to pick.

As mentioned in today's LA Times, the Oregon fans at Thursday's game were spitting out some rather awful chants that went far beyond basketball. Cheering and booing I have no problem with. Calling players fat or ugly--this has no place in the stands or on the court. If fans are part of the game, they should be expected to behave as such.

I am proud to be a Bruin, and one of many reasons for this is that I believe we hold ourselves to a higher standard. Yes we're college students, yes we get carried away sometimes. I'm not going to say I've never blurted out expletives at a football/bball game. But more and more I am realizing that chants like "F*CK SC!" in place of "Fight, fight, fight!" do nothing but reflect badly on our students, our university, and our teams. I am certain that the venerable Coach Wooden would agree. And I know for a fact that Howland has brought up this issue a number of times.

Attending games, I do not get the sense that many fans agree, especially students. There is a level of enjoyment acquired through being obnoxious. Chanting "Bullsh*t!" repeatedly after every slightly questionable call seems to be a real winner among fans.

I want to know the following:

What's your outlook, BNers?
Should we hold ourselves to a higher standard as fans?
Can we?