SB Nation User Blog: silverlakebruin

Is the UCLA defense really worse than last year?

silverlakebruin — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:17:45 -0000

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

I was working under that premise, as I have been very disappointed in the way the defense has given up big plays and seemed lost early in games. One thing Bruinsnation has taught me, though, is to actually look at facts before drawing conclusions. So, I looked at the stats (2009 stats are through the Cal game) , and this is what I found:

Year	Rank Total Defense	Yards per Game	Rank Scoring Defense	Points per game

2007	29	343	29	22.3

2008	47	337	85	29

2009	33	320	45	21.8

Source: 2009 FBS Football Statistics (NCAA)

So, what does this tell us? A few things to keep in mind:

1) Last year we turned the ball over so much, and were so offensively inept, I am not sure that it is really a fair comparison

2) Offenses tend to get better as the season wears on, so I am not sure that looking at totals tells you much, but I do think looking at rankings does, and we are a slightly above average defense relative to the rankings.

3) I think the real question is: Is the defense performing up to capability if we are slightly above average?

I would argue we are not giving up as many points as last year, but much of that is due to not turning the ball over, not the defensive play. I would further argue with our talent, we should expect to be in the 20s in defensive stats, like we were in 2007, not the 30s or 40s we are today. The defense is underperforming, but it is not a disaster, and I don't believe it is hopeless.

The game today will show us whether 1) The players are going to continue to work hard and improve and 2) The coaching staff is going to be creative against a qb in Arizona with little game experience. If we allow him to sit back and pass we are in for a long day and a long season.

Poll

How would you categorize the defense compared to last year?

Much better

3 votes

Somewhat better

21 votes

About the same

80 votes

Somewhat worse

55 votes

much worse

14 votes

173 votes | Poll has closed

Trojans biggest booster defends Pete Carroll

silverlakebruin — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 06:10:03 -0000

Trojans biggest booster defends Pete Carroll

Pete Carroll screws over another (former) player

silverlakebruin — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 02:46:08 -0000

Pete Carroll screws over another (former) player

Player calls pete for coaching opportunity, Pete says he will call him in two weeks, but never calls back.

USC football: Kenechi Udeze says 'Purple is the color of loyalty'

Udeze, who retired from the NFL after a bout with leukemia, joined Washington's program as an assistant strength and conditioning coach, a position made available to him by Husky Coach Steve Sarkisian.

"Purple is the color of loyalty," Udeze said before the game.

That statement came as a bit of a shock from a player who starred for USC and helped lead the Trojans to the Associated Press national title in 2003.

But Udeze said he contacted Trojans Coach Pete Carroll in July with interest in finding a position in USC’s program.

"He said ‘Give me two weeks,’" Udeze said. "I still haven’t heard from him.

Bill Plashke's 3rd SC column in a week

silverlakebruin — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 02:15:33 -0000

and fourth since August. Not a word about UCLA. There is absolutely no way any bruin can in good conscience support the LA Times when their coverage is so clearly slanted towards USC. I would love a sports editor of the LA Times to come on here and explain why their coverage is either about how great USC is, or how terrible and irrelevant UCLA is. Do they really think insulting the large contingent of bruin faithful is the way to sell papers?

Boycott the Times until they start offering positive coverage of UCLA athletics. Cancel your subscriptions and tell them why you are canceling. Send letters to the sports editors. Go to the daily news for your UCLA coverage until the Times pulls its head out of its behind.

Go Bruins!

Matt Barkley gives USC one to grow on

September 13, 2009

The word kid is gone, vanishing within a pack of bouncing, braying teammates who rode him through a stomach-dropping Saturday night.

Recent columns

No complaints from Stafon Johnson
September 11, 2009

The story was dead. The story came alive.
Baseball's most obscure coach
September 9, 2009

Bob Schaefer sits in a quiet dugout on one of those glorious baseball afternoons in Chavez Ravine, staring out at a gleaming stadium slowly filling with the clatter of dirt-caked groundskeepers, smiling peanut hawkers and grim security toughs.
Matt Barkley gets the USC party started
September 6, 2009

His first downfield pass was strong and straight, hitting a USC teammate between the numbers.
Dodgers' Hiroki Kuroda will face fears head-on
September 4, 2009

For days now, people have talked in amazement about Hiroki Kuroda's last pitch.
Despite GM's hot hand, Dodgers not playing with a full deck
September 2, 2009

Amid the rows of chilled, sparkling luxury suites at Dodger Stadium, one is not air-conditioned.
Dodgers' Matt Kemp shows his tremendous upside
August 31, 2009

He strolled coolly out of Cincinnati on Sunday night hauling a weekend stash of two homers, five runs batted in and a game-winning fly ball.
Dodgers' Juan Pierre playing, and acting, like a pro
August 30, 2009

In this summer's strange journey of swift Juan Pierre, the most compelling moment occurred when he was standing still.
The reason isn't clear, but Manny Ramirez isn't right
August 29, 2009

He used to own this kind of moment, circling it with his giant swing, swarming it with his giant smile.
Dodgers' bullpen sees a role reversal
August 23, 2009

Eighth inning, Dodgers leading Chicago Cubs by two swings, phone rings in the Dodgers' bullpen for their setup reliever.
Golf doesn't need a hurry-up offense
August 12, 2009

Gentlemen, start your Titleist Pro Titaniums!
Scout's honor: It's Phil Pote
August 8, 2009

The old scout has a shuffling gait from years of chasing prospects, deep wrinkled skin cancer from doing it in the sun, declining vision from describing it all in tiny handwritten notes on crumpled paper.
Pete Carroll is pushing it
August 8, 2009

As the USC football team opens fall practice today for the ninth season under sprinting and shouting Pete Carroll, somebody needs to ignore him.

Virtual seating chart for Neyland Stadium

silverlakebruin — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 01:15:12 -0000

Virtual seating chart for Neyland Stadium

the link is to section GG row 20, which is the midpoint of the UCLA section for the game. The seats don't seem as bad as I thought.

Wasserman donates $20-25M to New Pauley

silverlakebruin — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 05:56:48 -0000

Wasserman donates $20-25M to New Pauley

Wasserman makes huge pledge of 1/5 to 1/4 of total private funds needed.

Dan Guerrero gets NCAA to change summer rules

silverlakebruin — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:38:24 -0000

Dan Guerrero gets NCAA to change summer rules

Good to see Dan working to get CBH more time with the student athletes...

The Pauley Letters

silverlakebruin — Tue, 19 May 2009 22:33:43 -0000

The Pauley Letters

Dohn posts an excellent letter from former chair (and now major critic) of the project and UCLA's response. Read these documents if you want to understand the issues surrounding this project.

The Pauley Problem & How To Solve It

silverlakebruin — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 21:55:56 -0000

Bumped. silverlake brings up an interesting idea which I think is worthy of more attention and discussion. GO BRUINS. -N

We are entering a time of great importance in the future of UCLA basketball and the athletic department as whole.

The greatest weakeness of the Athletic Department in the past two decades has been an unwillingness to change and embrace new things, an aversion to risk, and a desire to do things on the cheap. We have seen this play out in the hiring of cheap inexperienced coaches, the retention of staff and coaches who don't get the job done, allowing Pauley to age ungracefully, and various other shortcomings.

Dan Guerrero has done a lot to address these problems, and I commend him for it. However, I am greatly concerned that the current plans for Pauley Pavillion will be a significant error that will set the athletic department back decades.

While the plans haven't been publicly released, word has filtered out from those in the know that the plan is to remodel Pauley with minimal structural changes. Seating in the 300 section will be as bad as it has always been, and there will only be minimal improvement in the 200s with a centering of the court, and angling the seating. The bottom section should see some improvements and additions of seats.

To do this, and make some other necessary improvements (locker room, donor room, facilities, etc) the athletic department needs $160M. For comparison, that is roughly the cost of building the Galen Center. Spending that much money on something that does not address the greatest weakness of the facility for basketball (the distance of most seats from the court and poor sightlines) is a huge mistake.

I would suggest rather than this plan, the University move forward with a new basketball only arena and keep Pauley where it is for other sports and as a practice and multipurpose facility for other sports.

What we should do is build a new basketball only facility at lot 32. The benefits are you don't have to tear anything down, you are within walking distance for students, you keep Pauley operational for non-basketball activities, you bring some life into the businesses in westwood, and you have an arena visible from Wilshire Blvd and the 405, with signage and naming rights to sell to help pay for the arena.

This would be a savior for businesses in Westwood, provide a state of the art facility without the limitations facing Pauley, and still allow practice and other sports to be done at Pauley so Student athletes are not disadvantaged. Also, we would build a building with state of the art seating, restrooms, and amenities, and would make Westwood a destination before and after games.

Why isnt' this being seriously considered? We need to dump the stale thinking of the Morgan Center and think outside the box on this one. The greatness of UCLA is boldness and forward thinking, yet the Pauley project is wrapped in decrepit fearful thinking.

For those of you who don't know, Lot 32 36 is bounded by Wilshire to the south, Gayley to the east, Kinross to the North, and Veteran to the west. There wouldnt be any significant structures that would have to be raised, and being bounded by Willshire would mean easy access for vehicles and public transportation, including eventually the subway. Here is where lot 32 36 is on a map.

Lot 32 36 Map

We need to demand the same excellence in this project we would for the product on the field and court. I am asking every real true bruin to consider whether a $160M remodel of Pauley that doesn't address the core issues is really the right way to do this, and if not, we should make our voices heard that a new arena is the way to go.

Another Pete Carroll recruiting violation

silverlakebruin — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:57:35 -0000

Another Pete Carroll recruiting violation

the times documents PC picking up another player in a limousine (remembe their denial of doing so with Price?)

"Right now it's SC," said Boyd, who has also visited Oregon State. "Washington has to come with a miracle."

USC picked up Boyd in a limousine during his visit and put him and other recruits up in the downtown L.A. Marriott.

"He had the five-star treatment," Jordan Coach Elijah Asante said.

The relevent NCAA regulation Pete broke:

13.5.2.1 General Restrictions.
A member institution may pay the prospective student-athlete's actual round-trip transportation costs for his or her official visit to its campus from any location, provided the prospective student-athlete returns to the original point of departure, or if return transportation is provided to the prospective student-athlete's home, educational institution or site of competition, the cost does not exceed round-trip expenses from the prospective student-athlete's original point of departure. Use of a limousine or helicopter for such transportation is prohibited. (Revised: 1/9/06, 5/26/06)