Official UCLA Bruins thread

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1/25/04 update: 72-67 Cal wallops our ™™™

I can accept getting blown out by Arizona and Stanford

They are good; we are not.

but, boy, to not be able to play a competitive game vs Cal

that's disappointing!!

Ben Howland is shooting for 3rd place in Pac-10, which probably would assure us a NCAA bid

next up = USC!

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1/28/04 update: UCLA 69, USC 76

in a game that wasn't really close, USC came out blazing, destroying the Bruins at Pauley by a halftime score of 24-40

My Bruins made a gutty rebound in the 2nd half, but we just aren't good enough.

our 4th straight Pac-10 loss after going 5-0

boy, we look EXACTLY like UCLA Football -- start hot, then go ice cold

here's hoping we somehow get into the tourney!!

[skyracer3]

<peeks in the UCLA thread>

Woo USC Woo!

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lolol...that's it, Harris!

YOU'RE BANNED!!

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just kidding ya!

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2/5/04 update: Bruins lose 55-48 to Wash. St. at home

boy, 6 straight losses!!

someone take away my shoelaces, knives, guns, etc before I take myself out of my misery!

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2/20/04 update

it's been awhile since I've updated the events of UCLA basketball

let's just say that after a 5-0 start inPac-10 play, we showed our true colors en route to a 6-game losing streak

(SIGH)

I thought we were headed to the NCAA tourney; but after sh*t like blowing a 7 point lead to Arizona St (who?!?!?!) in the last 1 minute and 2 seconds, then scoring a measly 2 points in OT to blow that game, and getting bashed by Stanford and Arizona..

it looks like we'll have to pray for a shot at NIT tourney

we play #1 Stanford at Pauley this Saturday, after getting our heads bashed in at Maples Pavilion

currently 6-6 in Pac-10 play, still qualifying as one the top 8 (or is it, one of the bottom 8) teams for the Pac-10 tourney

we're giving coach Howland a mulligan for this year. He's got sh*t to work with, and you can make a Caesar salad out of it

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78-77 USC over UCLA on 2/25/04

very very disappointing loss.

We were down 18 points, clawed back to tie the score, had the late lead, had the ball for the last second shot to win the ball game in regulation, and promptly turn the ball over

in OT: Ariza scored the first 5 points...then USC's Farmer got hot, and that was it.

Dijon Thompson had a chance to tie the game in OT, with 2 free throws with 004 seconds remaining. He missed the first free throw, tried to miss the 2nd in the hopes of getting a tip-in...and promptly banked it in

our season is lost.....................................

(SIGH)

it's one thing to lose to USC in football -- that is not acceptable, but it is understandable.

but we CANNOT CANNOT CANNOT lose 2 f*cking games to USC in basketball!!!!!

(SIGH)))

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3/8/04:

well, thanks to USC Trojans (holy cow!!), and their win over Oregon St this past Saturday, my Bruins back-pedaled their way into the Pac-10 Tourney, starting this Thursday vs. Washington, whom we've beaten twice this 2 meetings this year

it's tough to beat a team 3 times in the same year.

chances are we're likely to lose, but hey, it's one more game that we're alive for (seeing as how we're not going to NCAA or even NIT). You can't win if you aren't allowed to play.

Last year, in the 1st Pac-10 tourney since the 1970s or 1960s, we were #8, and played #1 Arizona, and beat them!!

so, anything can happen

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3/11/04 update: well, our miserable season finally ended, as the Washington Huskies mercifully euthanized us.

We had an 8-point lead with about 5 minutes to go, and promptly got outscored by 16 points in the last 5 minutes to lose by 8.

How bad is UCLA??

Brian Morrison, injured for most of the year, was HOT HOT from the 3-point line, haviing made 5 or 6 of them. Then, with the Bruins down by 3 with about 1 minute to go, and needing to foul, which player fouls Washington?

Brian Morrison, who already had 4 fouls. So, rather than one of the other Bruins committing a foul, it's Morrison, and we lose our only 3-point thread.

UCLA had a terrible year.

We had athletes who were prima donnas in their high school (a la Cedric Bozieman, who I thought had the makings of Magic Johnson when he came to UCLA as a freshman), never improved, and thought their talent would take them to the NBA

but, these "star" athletes (Bozieman, TJ Cummings - son of NBA player's Terry Cummings) stunk, showed no fundamentals, and will have a tough time finding a seat on the bench in the NBA.

Much like JaRon Rush (who played for us in the mid 1990s, at the same time I attended UCLA), these players showed no heart, played with no passion, demonstrated no skills (shooting, dribbling, rebounding , defense).

The good thing is we have Trevor Ariza, a freshman who shows tremendous promise, and we have a star-studded cast of players incoming --- players picked by Ben Howland, who are tough, rugged and talented players.

They may or may not be McDonald's All-American, a la JaRon Rush, but they'll play with more determintation, and passion.

I cannot wait for next year, and am relived that this godforsaken season has finally come to an end.

oh, what a sad sad sad sad season.

We played 4 Pac-10 games this year where we had 5-11 point leads with 6 or less minutes remaining, and got blown out in the final minutes ---- a sure sign of losers