MONTANA TAKES A CHAINSAW TO BRUINS

Grizzlies Scar face of UCLA:  sTony Montana buries Bruins like cock-a-roaches in 66-57 carve-up;  Now UCLA can Say Hello to a Little Friend:  A losing record

The Bruins are “so polluted.”  “Every day above ground is a good day,” but when the Bruins aren’t above .500, it’s not a good day for Ben Howland or his team.  And the Bruins, after starting the season 3-0, are now 3-4, after “getting high on their own supply” of accolades, and “underestimating the other guys’ greed.”

After just missing at #4 Kansas, the Bruins got slayed in Pauley Pavilion by unranked Montana.  The Bruins played with no life, no energy, no heart, and no skill, as the Grizzlies out-executed UCLA in every facet of the game.  The Bruins have a couple of excuses, but you won’t like either one of them:  1) This is Finals Week at UCLA, so the players are getting less sleep and are under more pressure; And 2) The Bruins went to the UCLA-u$c Football game late last night, which was a demoralizing, emotionally-draining, and abusive late night experience.  Well, the Bruins certainly played like they were hungover from the Rose Bowl bender.

UCLA got beat in Points in the Paint, Fast Break Points, Defensive Rebounding, Turnovers, Steals, Assists, and Shooting.  The Bruins shot only 31% for the game, compared to 52% for the Griz.   The Bruins missed 14 of 18 Three-pointers, while the Grizzlies fattened up on repeated unguarded lay-ups.  Halfway through the 2nd half, the Bruins still had ZERO Fast Break Points.  So much for the new strategy of Transition Basketball.  At least on this night, no energy = no running game.

The only guy who shot the ball well, going 3-for-3, was Tyler Lamb, who had (probably) the worst percentage coming in.  Lamb had two very nice moves, and hit a late, meaningless (for this game) outside  jumper.  Lamb’s three moments were the only silver lining that can be culled from this game.  Tyler Honeycutt, coming off his best game ever, shot only 3-for-12, mostly from outside, while Reeves Nelson and Joshua Smith (also coming off his best game) combined to go 3-for 17, ALL from inside.

Not only could the Bruins not shoot, but they continued to turn the ball over with constant unforced errors.  And the trouble didn’t stop with the Offense — The Bruin D was atrocious too, as the Guards got beat off the dribble routinely, and the help/interior Defense didn’t exist.

The Grizzlies led for most of the game, except for one sequence in the 1st Half when the Bruins made their only run of the night.  The Grizzlies led by 4 by Halftime, and ballooned the lead to 17 after THEIR huge spurt.

On the heels of the “good loss” at Kansas, the Montana game must be looked at as just one bad game.  Every team has a game or two where they just come out totally flat.  The Bruins will just have to bounce back, to get back to .500, and then get back OVER .500.  One game does not ruin a season… unless it’s a Football game against your arch rival.  THAT game was SO bad, that it not only hurt the Football team, it apparently hurt the Basketball team too.