lol I'm not sure anybody could beat us by 20 points right now

(03-18-2017 11:47 AM)Lush Wrote:  

(03-18-2017 09:57 AM)mptnstr@44 Wrote:  

(03-18-2017 09:54 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  The double OT battle in 2002 was 15 years ago yesterday. Fitting second round opponent and it's time we stole one from them.

Leonard Stokes (and his valiant 35 point effort in defeat) agrees.

i can't believe that was 15 years ago. and i think he had 39

46 mins and 39 points. He gave everything he had.

UCLA averages about 90 PPG ranking first in the nation. Their games scoring under 80 points with result and opponent:

74 W TXAM
75 L Arizona (P12 Toruney)
76 W USC (P12 Toruney)
76 L @ USC
76 W @ Oregon St
77 W Washington St
77 W @ Arizona
78 W Oregon St

UC averages about 75 PPG, but to my surprise, have 15 games scoring 80 or more points. Cats were 15-0 in those games but some of the teams we played were bottom feeders. How do we slow down UCLA/Ball? Full court pressure? Force half court tempo feeding Kyle and Gary?

(03-18-2017 12:50 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  UCLA averages about 90 PPG ranking first in the nation. Their games scoring under 80 points with result and opponent:

74 W TXAM
75 L Arizona (P12 Toruney)
76 W USC (P12 Toruney)
76 L @ USC
76 W @ Oregon St
77 W Washington St
77 W @ Arizona
78 W Oregon St

UC averages about 75 PPG, but to my surprise, have 15 games scoring 80 or more points. Cats were 15-0 in those games but some of the teams we played were bottom feeders. How do we slow down UCLA/Ball? Full court pressure? Force half court tempo feeding Kyle and Gary?

It's going to be tough to slow them down. They can flat out score the ball and they are physical and big. Maybe zone instead of man, but they can probably shoot it apart. That big kid for them, I think he's their center, he can hit three's.

I doubt they have faced a defense like ours. Another thing we have going for us is we don't turn the ball over much which UCLA likes because it allows them to run and score in transition. So if we are hitting shots and not turning it over it reduces their transition offense points making them score on us in the half court which is never easy vs a Mick Cronin team.

Gonna be a tough one. But we can win.

They make scoring look easy. Best passing team in the game this year.

I think the keys to the game will be:
1. Transition Defense- UC cannot allow this to become a track meet. Get back and make UCLA score against our set defense.
2. Rebounding - Can't give UCLA extra possessions. Rebound their misses and crash the glass on offense.
3. Interior touches- Get Clark/Washington the ball around the rim.

If UC does these things they'll have a great chance to win.

(03-18-2017 01:01 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  I think the keys to the game will be:
1. Transition Defense- UC cannot allow this to become a track meet. Get back and make UCLA score against our set defense.
2. Rebounding - Can't give UCLA extra possessions. Rebound their misses and crash the glass on offense.
3. Interior touches- Get Clark/Washington the ball around the rim.

If UC does these things they'll have a great chance to win.

Especially #1. I am confident we will do well in rebounding, and hope the Bearcats continue Friday's trend of getting the ball inside and not settling for outside shots.

As Cronin says, don't let them get comfortable.

Hey we will also get the Round Mound of Rebounds full support. Plus he will be wearing one of UC's jerseys. Said he will wear all the teams that play UCLA until they lose.

(03-18-2017 11:04 AM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  Screw Campus Insiders. According to them, we're no better than Kent State (with all due respect to the Golden Flashes). I hope we use this underdog state to our advantage mentally. Again, that physical, tough AAC tourney game against UConn and the UConn friendly home crowd may have been just what we needed for the NCAA's.

Quote:UCLA vs. Cincinnati prediction and game preview, as the No. 3-seeded Bruins and No. 6-seeded Bearcats face off in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Despite suffering a bruised right hip, star freshman Lonzo Ball played in the Bruins’ first-round matchup against Kent State, and they had absolutely no problem. No. 3-seeded UCLA came up just shy of the century mark when it took down the Golden Flashes, 97-80.

Now, the Bruins will move on and will be tasked with going up against No. 6-seeded Cincinnati Bearcats. In their first-round matchup, the Bearcats went toe-to-toe with No. 11 Kansas State and also took home a double-digit victory. Cincinnati sent the Wildcats home with a 75-61 loss.

UCLA vs. Cincinnati

Date: Sunday, March 19
Venue: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, Calif.
Region: South

UCLA wins if …

If Lonzo Ball is on the floor and healthy. He didn’t shoot much against Kent State, but he was highly effective. Ball drained 6-of-7 from the field (15 points), including 2-of-3 from behind the arc. As long as he’s running up and down the hardwood, he’ll help get the rest of the Bruins open looks at the bucket. And if T.J. Leaf gets more open looks, that will be a tremendous help, as he hit 8-of-12 from the floor to rack up a team-high 23 points.

If the Bruins continue to share the basketball and play unselfishly, the Bearcats will be in trouble. UCLA totaled 25 assists against the Golden Flashes and shot 62.7 percent from the floor. Find the open man. Trade a good look for a great look.

Cincinnati wins if …

If it continues to crash the glass and own the paint. The Bearcats outrebounded Kansas State, 31-23, in their first-round win. But they have to do a better job of playing the passing lanes and having active hands on the defensive end of the court. The Wildcats won the turnover battle, turning over the ball seven times compared to Cincinnati’s 11. The Bearcats have to turn defense into offense and get some easy buckets in transition.

Along with that, they need to keep feeding Troy Caupain. The senior guard went off for 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting, but he was 2-of-4 from beyond the three-point line, and he hit all seven of his free throws. If he gets going early, the Bearcats can ride his hot shooting — or whoever else develops a hot hand.

UCLA vs. Cincinnati Prediction

The Bearcats won’t be able to slow down the Bruins offense, and they won’t be able to stop Ball. The freshman star will rest up and will drop 20-plus points on Cincinnati, but he’ll also tack on five assists to go along with it. UCLA will play with great ball movement, excellent spacing, and rhythm, and it will take down the Bearcats by double digits to move on in the tournament.

UCLA vs. Cincinnati Score Prediction: UCLA 95, Cincinnati 77

Campus Insiders Game Preview

That's fine. Let's hope the Bruins believe their own press...

I want them to be looking past UC.

This is going to be one helluva game. Take every advantage you can get!

Man, it's hard watching all these other games. Ready for ucla!

What Mick has in front of him in these possible next 2 opponents is an opportunity to redefine UC basketball for a generation. It's not likely but he has a team that is capable.

(03-18-2017 04:50 PM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote:  What Mick has in front of him in these possible next 2 opponents is an opportunity to redefine UC basketball for a generation. It's not likely but he has a team that is capable.

They are capable! I have a good feeling about this game..UCLA is by far the toughest game they will have all year to this point. By watching the press conferences with the UCLA players, I see them as being very over confident, and looking past us. They probably think a rematch with the big blue is in the future for them...They havent seen D like they are gonna see tonight. Lonzo will have his worst game tonight, and picture this for tomorrow, espn and all the media will Just talk about lonzos daddy and not how we took them down!! lets get this W, and bring on the big blue or the shockers!

UCLA needs/wants transition buckets.

Good news is, UC doesn't turn the ball over and we can rebound. If we do those two things and can hit our shots (like we did vs Kstate) we force UCLA to beat us in the half court. They could still do that. But it gives a great shot to win too.

Im concerned about their 7footer...they say he is automatic from 15-17 feet out. If Gary or KW get in early foul trouble we are in big trouble. Moore will have zero shot at defending this kid and Mick won't be able to go small because UCLA has giants.

Foul trouble, while always a bad thing, would be a mortal wound in this one due to match ups and if we do get in foul trouble UCLA will blow us out of the water.

KEY NOTES ABOUT UCLA
- Through games played Friday, March 17, UCLA continued to lead the nation in scoring (90.6 ppg), overall field goal percentage (52.2%), assists per game (21.6), total assists (734) and assist-turnover ratio (1.90). No UCLA team has ever had an assist-turnover ratio as high as 1.90 or totaled as many as 734 assists in one season (on record).

UCLA has gone 14-3 away from home this season, including a 6-1 record in neutral site games. The Bruins became the only team to have ever won games in the same season against Kentucky at Rupp Arena (Lexington, Ky.) and versus Arizona in the McKale Center (Tucson, Ariz.). Kentucky was ranked No. 1 in the nation, while Arizona was ranked No. 4.

From Mostly UCLA HOOPS blog

more from Mostly UCLA Hoops blog:

- The Bruins went 7-0 through the month of February and were the Pac-12's only program to have logged a perfect record that month. No UCLA team had gone undefeated in February since the 1994-95 squad went 9-0. UCLA's 1995 team finished the season with six consecutive NCAA Tournament wins to secure the NCAA Championship.

- The Bruins have averaged a nation-leading 21.6 assists per game, the highest per-game average of any NCAA Division I team since 1996, when Kentucky captured the NCAA Championship while tallying 21.8 assists per game. UCLA has dished at least 20 assists in 21 of 34 games, including a season-high 30 against Arizona State (Jan. 19).

Hopefully history repeats....playing UCLA AP #8 tonight on neutral? court in California.

1965 Cincinnati unranked at time beat UCLA AP #8 on neutral?? court in Los Angeles.

UCLA has weapons at every position. Some have suggested shutting Ball is the answer, but
They have Leaf, Hamilton, Holiday, Alford, Welsh. The bottom line is unless UCLA has an unusual bad shooting night they are going to put up points. If If the Cats are going to win, they need need to make shots, especially open ones. We are not going win a 60-58 slugfest like we are playing Temple.

Are we winning in our red or black uniforms tonight?

(03-18-2017 04:50 PM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote:  What Mick has in front of him in these possible next 2 opponents is an opportunity to redefine UC basketball for a generation. It's not likely but he has a team that is capable.

Totally agree which is why I'll be rooting for UK today. I want some huge F*CKING wins. This is the year to change the perception of UC nationally.