Oregon knocks of UCLA

[Russ Smith]

Tough game on the road. oregon shot 70% in the first half, UCLA got 1 point from Collison and Afflalo combined in the half, 4 guys with 2 fouls, and trailed by 10. They trailed essentially the whole 2nd half, finally tied it up on a Collison 3, but Brooks(played unreal) hit a tough 2 and then Shipp missed an off balance 3 and UCLA lost 68-66.

Oregon did a nice job spreading out the UCLA defenders all game and then taking them off the dribble. I thought Howland made a huge mistake, freshman guard Russell Westbrook was brilliant, 9 points and terrific defense, but Ben took him out and put Collison back in with 4 fouls. Mata had been struggling all game and sure enough he had 2 critical turnovers right after that. Oregon is so small I really think they should have just sat Mata and played 3 guards the way Westbrook was playing. That's one thing with Ben, he doesn't really pay attention to who's hot who's not.

Great game for Oregon, what a tough conference this year.

See how far UCLA falls in the rankings.

 

[PAQ77]

Well that's unexpected. After Oregons loss the other night I didn't think they'd come back and play as well as they did today. I say UCLA stays in the top 5 but UA will leapfrog them.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Not playing a road game until Thursday definitely hurt the Bruins, it seemed like they were caught off guard by the Mac Court crowd in the first half and didn't recover until it was too late.

 

[Russ Smith]

Not playing a road game until Thursday definitely hurt the Bruins, it seemed like they were caught off guard by the Mac Court crowd in the first half and didn't recover until it was too late.

Of course that's because they played in Maui so they used up their road games on neutral courts but yes I agree they took awhile to adjust to the intensity of the crowd.

 

[Diawsome]

On top of Oregon beating UCLA...
#5 Duke lost @ home to V. Tech
#8 Albama lost to Arkansas
#17 Notre Dame lost to Georgetown

 

[Absolute Zero]

Just got back from the game. It was UNBELIEVABLE. The place was going nuts everytime UCLA had the ball, everone stomping and yelling. Ya gotta love Mac Court! In the fourth quarter when UCLA was shooting freethrows, it even looked like the backboard was shaking. The Ducks led most of the game, and by 10 at half time. UCLA tied it up late, but the Ducks came through. It was a total mobscene at the buzzer. Look out for the Ducks this year, they are 14-1 and very talented.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Of course that's because they played in Maui so they used up their road games on neutral courts but yes I agree they took awhile to adjust to the intensity of the crowd.

In 2005 Arizona played in Maui and still played road games in Utah and Houston. Howland likes playing easy OOC schedules, he did at Pitt and is doing the same at UCLA.

 

[Russ Smith]

In 2005 Arizona played in Maui and still played road games in Utah and Houston. Howland likes playing easy OOC schedules, he did at Pitt and is doing the same at UCLA.

Agreed he likes the early schedule to get his younger players ready. Last year they played at Michigan early, this year it was at Pauley.
Lot of Bruin fans are complaining he should have played Keefe more early in the season because it's obvious that Mata and Aboya lack offensive output(because they can't catch the ball) and Keefe is the most skilled offensive bigman, just not ready to go defensively because he's still green. Starting to play a lot more though now.


Man this conference is loaded, WSU up 3 with under 30 seconds, could have like a 5 way tie for first.

 

[Absolute Zero]

Its over, Cats lose by 4. Wow.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

After two weeks all of Oregon, USC, Arizona, UCLA, and Wazzu have legitimate arguments for being the best team in the Pac. And UW will probably make the tourney as well. Hasn't been like this since the late 90s.

Also, James Keefe is not nearly big or experienced enough yet to play the low post for an extended period of time in the Pac-10. Not yet anyways.

 

[Russ Smith]

After two weeks all of Oregon, USC, Arizona, UCLA, and Wazzu have legitimate arguments for being the best team in the Pac. And UW will probably make the tourney as well. Hasn't been like this since the late 90s.

Also, James Keefe is not nearly big or experienced enough yet to play the low post for an extended period of time in the Pac-10. Not yet anyways.

Depends on the opponent, against Oregon, with Leunen their biggest guy and 4 guards, Keefe might be able to get away with it. Obviously against bigger teams I agree he needs to get stronger and more experienced.

the problem yesterday was mata couldn't guard Leunen, or make him pay at the other end(kept losing the ball), so there was no real point to playing a true C since he wasn't doing anything.

the lineup I wanted to see yesterday was luc, shipp, Afflalo, Collison and Westbrook, much better to matchup with oregon's spread out offense.

 

[Skkorpion]

On top of Oregon beating UCLA...
#5 Duke lost @ home to V. Tech
#8 Albama lost to Arkansas
#17 Notre Dame lost to Georgetown

This last week, Notre Dame's freshman point guard, who was the key cog on the team, was arrested for posession of marijuana. Penalty? Expulsion from the University. Season over.

 

[Assface]

This last week, Notre Dame's freshman point guard, who was the key cog on the team, was arrested for posession of marijuana. Penalty? Expulsion from the University. Season over.

Notre Dame rules are crazy strict. It's amazing that they've been as successful at sports as they have been.

 

[Renz]

This last week, Notre Dame's freshman point guard, who was the key cog on the team, was arrested for posession of marijuana. Penalty? Expulsion from the University. Season over.

At Cincinnati or Kansas St. he probably would have been suspended for about a half or so against a team like Sacred Heart.

 

[Skkorpion]

oops, I jumped the gun. The ND point guard has been suspended indefinitely but school is not in session so he hasn't appeared before the disciplinary board yet for his hearing. The review board will decide his fate.

I know nobody here cares, I just wanted to be accurate.

 

[Russ Smith]

oops, I jumped the gun. The ND point guard has been suspended indefinitely but school is not in session so he hasn't appeared before the disciplinary board yet for his hearing. The review board will decide his fate.

I know nobody here cares, I just wanted to be accurate.

I wondered just because I know when it happened at UCLA they had to jump through hoops to boot Jelani McCoy years ago. He and buddy Darrell Russell got stopped for a traffic violation, and the cops found pot in the car. Turns out the search was ruled unwarranted, one of them had a lawyer who got the police to release them that night. USC did nothing to Russell, UCLA immediately suspended McCoy. Jelani's dad got a lawyer and UCLA reinstated him. It took months before they finally booted him, I know someone who was close to the whole thing he said it was horrible nobody wanted to play him because they knew he was gone if they got legal clearance to boot him, but they were terrified of a big lawsuit since the only evidence they had was the illegal search found pot.

IIRC he failed a random test for pot later and that's how they finally booted him.