UN-LUC-KY…BUT NOT TOO UNLUCKY — BRUINS DISPOSE OF TROJANS, 57-54

get well soon, luc

UCLA misses you already

Kevin Love spurs Bruin spurt at start of Second Half with 11 Points in 4 minutes, and UCLA withstands a late Mayo-led comeback, to overcome Luc’s injury and beat sc again (thanks to Mayo’s last-second choke)

Pro Scouts, pay attention:  O.J. Mayo should be getting paid to play.  Make that, getting paid more than just courtside Laker tickets and other perks like free rent at luxurious Condo complexes and tricked out Pimpmobiles.  Hey — He’s not ALWAYS going to choke when the chips are down!

With time running out and the trOJans down by 3, O.J. Mayo didn’t involve the rest of his team, he just went one-on-one, against Josh Shipp.  Then, he waited too long to shoot, passed up an open Three, double-clutched, and heaved up a brick.  Daniel Hackett tried to get another one off, but since Mayo waited too long, Hackett’s prayer, which might not have even beaten the buzzer, fell woefully short.

So, it’s nice to know that Mr. Mayo is NOT Mr Clutch.  Because he is potentially Mr. Everything Else.  With 4 minutes left, Mayo took over the game and made about four plays in a row that all belong in an NBA Highlight Reel.  There is NO DOUBT that Mayo could be effective, playing in THIS YEAR’S NBA Playoffs.  He should be a lottery pick, because the raw talent is there.

The only problem is his head.  He lacks Basketball Intelleigence, and he lacks heart.  The FSN Announcers were marvelling at how Mayo completely disappeared for about the first 15 minutes of the Second Half, not making a single Field Goal, while the rest of his team could muster only four themselves all together.  He obviously has the ability, ala Kobe, to get to the hoop on every possession.  So why would he take a half an hour off in an important postseason game?  Attitude.  What Mayo lacks is the work ethic of Kevin Love.

Love started the game with a putback Slam Dunk, and was steady in the 1st Half while the rest of his teammates were struggling.  The Bruins were down 22-18 with 6:11 left when Luc Richard Mbah a Moute landed on a trojan’s foot and re-sprained his left ankle.  At that point, the demoralized Bruins, who were ALREADY getting outhustled and outboarded, looked like sure losers.  They played stunned for a few minutes, and fell down by 8 before a Darren Collison fallaway jumper at the buzzer cut it to 6.

Bruin Head Coach Ben Howland must have really lit into the Bruins during Intermission, because they came out of the Locker Room with a new intensity.  James Keefe started the 2nd half for Luc, and the decision worked.  He played hard, got some HUGE Rebounds, and his REPUTATION for being able to shoot from outside was enough to loosen up the tough trojan D, which had held the Bruins to 36% shooting in the 1st half (again).

With Love (19 Points, 10 Rebounds) leading the charge, the Bruins opened the Half on a 15-2 run, and held the lead the rest of the way.  With Alfred Aboya’s energy – occasionally too MUCH energy – the Bruins were the inspired team in the 2nd Half.  Even Nikola Dragovic got a big Offensive Rebound, as he contributed positive, crucial minutes.  Dragovic played BEFORE Luc got injured, which leads us to believe that Howland didn’t feel that winning this game was mandatory.  Perhaps he felt that keeping his team fresh during these back-to-back-to-back games was more important.  But by losing Luc, the whole strategy is moot.  For the Bruins to get back to the Final Four without Luc, Keefe will have to have a Career Month.

We rarely if ever criticize Howland, but we do have a question about the final play of the game.  With the Bruins up by 3 and time ticking away, and with Mayo shooting 58% from behind the arc over the last couple of months, WHY DIDN’T HOWLAND HAVE SHIPP FOUL MAYO BEFORE HE COULD ATTEMPT A GAME-TYING SHOT?  O.J. would have gone to the line shooting one-and-one, and would have had to make the first and intentionally miss the second for sc to have a chance.  Perhaps Howland was afraid that the Refs would mistakenly fall for a Mayo fake-out continutation, and give him THREE Free Throws.  Thanks to the fact that Mayo choked, despite Shipp giving him way too much room, the whole thing is moot, but that same situation could easily come up again in the Big Dance, and we hope Howland considers the other strategy.  Not everyone is going to choke like Mayo did.

   

Comments

6 responses to “UN-LUC-KY…BUT NOT TOO UNLUCKY — BRUINS DISPOSE OF TROJANS, 57-54”

  1. Josephine Bruin Avatar
    Josephine Bruin

    BRUINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! have heart BABY!
    LUUUUUUUUUC! hope you’re feeling okay….hope you get better! WE LOVE YOU!
    KEefe, LOVE, all the boys played hard and it was a great win!

  2. UCLADal Avatar
    UCLADal

    The boys pulled it off against the trojans. Hopefully Luc can recover quickly but we have to take the attitude that he’s done for the season. Let’s see what the other guys can do.

    As for some of our infamous trojans, the Girls Gone Wild guy got out of jail in Florida and of course, his attitude was it wasn’t his fault. Hopefully he’s still on good terms with his attorney because he’s being charged with Federal tax evasion plus some GGW related issues in Nevada. The spirit of troy! Please add any additional details T-H!

    GO BRUINS! DESTROY troy!

  3. xavier Avatar
    xavier

    Is the C on the basketball uniforms yellow for a reason or is it just a design?

    [Editor’s Note: It represents a Roman Numeral “C” for “100,” as in “First to 100,” as in, UCLA is, and will always be, the First University to win 100 NCAA Titles]

  4. xavier Avatar
    xavier

    Wow, that is some obscure symbolism. It’s been driving me crazy not knowing what it meant. Thanks for clearing it up. Now I’ll sound smart when I tell my friends.

  5. Jon Avatar
    Jon

    what a great game that was. Went down to the wire.. fantasic.

    the girls also looked great as well 🙂

  6. jp Avatar
    jp

    Yeah, the men’s team won the tournament.

    But let’s get to the real blowout…UCLA Dance Team also won the best cheerleader group award in the Pac 10. No other school even came close.