Wheels almost come off at Honda Center, but Luc, Russell, and Bruins torque it up to escape 18-point bitch-seat and be 75-63 Davidson-Choppers; Meanwhile, sc gets Irritable Bowl Syndrome, as Rose Bowl says “No, no, no;” and a new Reggie Bush expose says “Ho, ho, ho!”
For anyone who’s been paying attention, it’s no surprise that the Davidson Wildcats gave a Top Ten team a hard time on Saturday. After all, Davidson had already extended Duke and North Carolina this year. The SURPRISE, was that they were able to open up an EIGHTTEEN-POINT LEAD on UCLA.
The Bruins came out flat and cold, and without their trademark tenacity on Defense. That, plus two early fouls on Kevin Love allowed the Cats to shoot a slew of open three’s and build a 32-14 lead. But the Bruins snapped out of it with about 5 minutes to go in the half, when they exploded for a 15-0 run. They still trailed by 4 at the Half, but they never gave Momentum back. They came out strong in the Second half, got the lead, gave it back a couple of times, but then slowly expanded their lead. Davidson kept it close until the final minutes, but there was no doubt who was in control, thanks to the efforts of Luc Mbah a Moute and Russell Westbrook. Luc got 21 points from all over the floor, grabbed 8 Rebounds, and dished out 3 Assists. He made some smooth outside shots, and continued his recent improvement at making aggressive moves to the hoop. He also found the loose balls like he did as a Freshman.
Russell Westbrook was the ignition on an Offense that once again struggled early. He was the early catalyst, before Point Guard Darren Collison got into the groove later. Westbrook was able to make his own shot, when everyone else was struggling to get open. Not having Love in there early definitely took the Bruins out of their rhythm. But Love came back in with two fouls, Josh Shipp started to heat up, and the Bruins started to roll… But not Roll. Michael Roll looked confident with the ball, but his shot still showed rust, as he missed shots that he never misses in practice. The good news is that most of his misses were in-and-out, so he’s probably getting ready for a breakout game. In the meantime, Westbrook is filling in the nets nicely. His 14 Points (and 6 Assists), along with Shipp’s 15 and Collison’s 10, were all needed, on another day where Kevin Love’s double-double-netting performance was still not up to Love’s own expectations. He got 12-and-12, but did not take over the game the way he can. The Bruins are still working on their execution of feeding him the ball underneath.
We keep talking about Offensive issues, but the difference in the Bruins’ resurgence was DEFENSE. They definitely kicked up the intensity a notch, and started double-teaming with the ferocity that was commonly seen during their Final Four runs during the last two years. That took care of Davidson’s Inside Game, while Westbrook shut down Stephen Curry (son of NBA Star Dell) on the perimeter. Curry is one of the Nation’s best Guards, and has scored in Double-figures 35 straight times, but when the Bruins made their monumental run, Westbrook totally took Curry out of the game. Curry scored 15, but it took him NINETEEN attempts to get it.
The bottom line is that the Bruins have a lot of heart and character, and never say die. Of course, SLOW STARTS are starting to give this team a rep that they don’t want, so hopefully, they can find ANOTHER way to show their heart, without giving fans heart attacks.
Speaking of attacks to the heart, sc took one to the chest this week, when it was disclosed that the Rose Bowl is not interested in hosting the trOJans for a year. It is not known (by us) whether the Bruins’ veto power was a factor, but we heard a rumor that sc’s non-negotiable demand that O.J.’s gigantic jersey be displayed in the stands during their games was the Dealbreaker.
And speaking of Dealbreakers, a new book is coming out called “Tarnished Heisman,” that confirms all the damning evidence against Reggie Bush in the Bushgate SCandal. The authors present documentation and interviews with involved parties who all corroborate the accusations against Bush. It was also recently disclosed that the NCAA has just recently interveiwed more people about Bush’s violations – people who insist that the rumors are true.
What does all of this mean? That by this time next year, Tim Tebow could own two more Heismans than Bush will own.
P.S. Sorry for no articles or photos the last two days. We have been absorbed in a secret little private project (for a very sweet individual) that takes complete and total priority. If all goes well, one day we may even get to tell you what the heck we’re talking about. In the meantime, thanks for your patience and understanding.