UCLA loses to Fullerton State

[Russ Smith]

Ugly opener but not unexpected UCLA isn't that good right now and frankly the game was closer than it should have been.
Fullerton won 68-65 in double OT. UCLA was called for one foul in the first 19 and a half minutes of the 2nd half which allowed them to stay in the game as Fullerton drove to the hoop and missed and never got any calls.

Terrible shooting, Lee was 7-23 while dealing with leg cramps, 2-14 for Dragovic, 1-11 for Jerime Anderson, Roll at 6-15 was the only guy who looked like he knew he could shoot. Reeves Nelson had 11 points and 6 boards in 12 minutes off the bench, why he didn't play more is anybody's guess, even Howland apologized after the game for not playing him more. Keefe played 40 minutes had 2 points and took 3 shots.

They'll be better when they get Honeycutt healthy and when Lane catches up(missed 10 days with an ankle), but make no mistake, UCLA is NOT a top 25 team this year and I honestly think it'll be tough to finish in the top half of the pac 10. Jerime ANderson is the key to how good they are and last night he was terrible.

I can't even imagine what Kansas will do to UCLA.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Honeycutt and Lane aren't going to help the point guard issue of UCLA not having one. Jerime Anderson looked like he's never played basketball in his entire life. I saw a bit of the game and that guy somehow made Howland's offense even more dreadful to watch. UCLA won't do much this season if their two biggest offensive threats are the one-dimensional Mike Roll and Nikola Dragovic.

 

[Russ Smith]

Honeycutt and Lane aren't going to help the point guard issue of UCLA not having one. Jerime Anderson looked like he's never played basketball in his entire life. I saw a bit of the game and that guy somehow made Howland's offense even more dreadful to watch. UCLA won't do much this season if their two biggest offensive threats are the one-dimensional Mike Roll and Nikola Dragovic.

Yeah I'm not a big believer in Anderson but at this point you almost have to because I know Lee is not a PG and he's the only other option. Roll has to be more selfish, he was 6-15 but passed up a bunch of open looks, he played 49 minutes, on this team right now he HAS to force some shots because of the other guys around him. He's a smart player but right now they need him to score more.

Lee had cramps in both legs all game, twice he was carried off the floor because of it, so his shooting line doesn't surprise me, his legs aren't there yet. Anderson my goodness, they're daring you to shoot a 12 footer and you go 1-11?

Honeycutt is good, he will allow Ben to get Anderson off the court without moving Drago tothe 3. The problem is Drago can't guard college 3's(hell he can't guard 4's) and when he plays the 3, it's tougher for him to get shots because he's being guarded by a guy used to guarding a shooter not guarded by a 4. Honeycutt can play the 3 so Drago stays at the 4, with Lee and Roll at guard for a few minutes.

It's going to be a LONG season, hell UCLA fans may have to take up a collection to pay Ray McCallum under the table as badly as we need a PG.

 

[Russ Smith]

One other point, ESPN had Dave Pasch doing play by play last night, he does all the Cards games on radio. I really like him on Cards games.

He was NOT good last night. The whole game he was saying Drew Gooden instead of Gordon.

And at the end of regulation he got completely confused and never seemed to figure it out. UCLA had 1 foul with 18 seconds left in the game. They were up 1, Fullerton had the ball. Howland said he told the kids to run a few seconds and then foul to make it harder on Fullerton to setup for a shot. For some reason it didn't happen and Fullerton drove in and drew a shooting foul.

While all that was going on, instead of asking why isn't UCLA fouling on purpose, Pasch kept saying if Fullerton scores, UCLA is in trouble because they will have to foul 6 times before they can force Fullerton to shoot a FT.

Now why in the world would a team down 1 or 2 points, with the ball, be fouling trying to catch up? But he said it over and over. Doris Burke was the color person I have to assume during the dead period before the first OT she explained to him that he wasn't making any sense.