More on the Montana loss

Freshman center Joshua Smith (right) tries to get back on his feet with the help of junior guard Lazeric Jones. The Bruins were unable to establish their footing in Sunday’s game against Montana, losing 66-57 to the Grizzlies. Photo Isaac Arjonilla, Daily Bruin.


UCLA fails mid-major basketball exam before finals week

After coming close to knocking off fourth-ranked Kansas on the road Thursday, the Bruins lost what should have been an easy matchup against Montana on Sunday.

By Ben Bolch
The Los Angeles Times
7:30 PM PST, December 6, 2010



Playing Montana the day before finals week was supposed to be the equivalent of an open-book test for UCLA's basketball team. But the Bruins looked as if they hadn't been to class all semester and showed up for the exam without so much as a No. 2 pencil.

What made UCLA's 66-57 loss to the mid-major Grizzlies on Sunday at Pauley Pavilion all the more galling was that it came only three days after the Bruins nearly aced the challenge of fourth-ranked Kansas on the road.

"It shows you that on Thursday we can play with anybody in the country and then come back on our home floor and be capable of being beaten by anybody," Bruins Coach Ben Howland said Monday.

This can be the nature of a young team, baffling fans but not so much former players who say steps backward are to be expected and can sometimes be a positive.

"When you have a game you feel you should win, like Montana, and you don't, it calls for some serious soul-searching on each player's part and it tends to bring you together closer as a unit," said Lucius Allen, who won two national titles as a Bruin in the 1960s.

A lack of cohesiveness was a big part of the problem against the Grizzlies, said former UCLA forward Tracy Murray. When Bruins guard Tyler Honeycutt scored 33 points against Kansas, Murray said, it was in large part because his teammates had set good screens and had passed him the ball in the right spots.

That didn't happen against Montana, particularly after the Bruins fell behind by double digits. Players struggled to attack the Grizzlies' zone defense and settled for jump shots that missed with alarming regularity as UCLA shot a season-low 31.3%.

"Everybody is trying to do too much when things are getting out of hand, so things break down," said Murray, who is also the Bruins' radio analyst. "They have to adopt a family mentality of playing basketball if they're going to be successful, because there's no one good enough to take control of a game by themselves."

It could be argued that at least for one night, Montana had better players at the center, power forward and point guard spots after Brian Qvale, Derek Selvig and Will Cherry pretty much had their way with Bruins counterparts Brendan Lane, Reeves Nelson and Lazeric Jones.

"Those three [Montana] guys definitely outplayed ours at those three positions," Howland said.

Howland said he regretted not having junior guard Malcolm Lee defend the super-quick Cherry, who repeatedly burned the Bruins off the dribble on the way to a game-high 18 points.

Lee played 35 minutes even though he strained a tendon in his right knee early in the second half, gutting out a team-high 13 points. He underwent an X-ray afterward, though results were unavailable Monday.

Murray could almost sense UCLA's letdown coming after watching lackluster performances by the football team in defeat and the women's basketball team in triumph earlier in a weekend preceding final exams.

"It just seemed like none of the three teams had any energy, and I think it had something to do with finals week," Murray said. "I've been through it. Being up all night writing papers and studying for finals, it can be draining."

Indeed, it seemed like the perfect setting for a collapse considering there was also a small, low-energy crowd and some UCLA players had been out late the night before supporting the football team at the Rose Bowl.

"None of that was good," Howland said.

The Bruins were scheduled to take Monday and Tuesday off before resuming practice Wednesday. Their response in the coming days could determine whether the Montana loss ultimately qualifies as a minor setback or something reflective of a larger problem.

"They have to shrug it off, play hard in practice," Murray said. "If they don't push forward and buy into what Coach Howland is telling them to do, it can be a domino effect."
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Loss to Montana is a Big One
By Tracy Pierson
BruinReportOnline, Scout.com
Posted Dec 6, 2010


It was actually a huge loss for the Bruins, getting beat by Montana Sunday, 66-57. Without many chances to earn RPI points this season, the loss to Montana has huge ramifications on UCLA's post-season chances...

If you’re a UCLA football and basketball fan, you are going through some tough times.

As we’ve said before, it looks to be the toughest era in both sports combined in our lifetimes.

With UCLA’s basketball team losing to Montana Sunday night, 66-57, it capped what is perhaps the worst 12-day stretch for UCLA football and basketball fans in as long as anyone can remember.

Not to depress you, but UCLA football and basketball teams have lost 6 games in 12 days, and it’s been done in amazingly poor style. You have just about every kind of loss you possible could have in that grab bag of futility: The heart-breaking, got-robbed, 1-point loss to a highly-ranked team (Kansas); the under-achieving two losses to mid-major programs (VCU and Montana), with one being a pretty decisive one; a blow-out by an average conference opponent on the road that took the football team out of bowl eligibility and a potential winning record (ASU), and then the tragic loss to your cross-town rival in a game that ended the football season on a sour note.

Wow. And I say this seriously when I advise to back away from the razors and the window ledge.

The low point very well could have been last night in Pauley Pavilion at about 8:45 p.m. UCLA had been trailing Montana by as many as 17 points in the second half and there were only a few minutes left in the game. There weren’t many fans in attendance to begin with (stat sheet says 5,391), and less than 100 students (it’s finals week). Late in the game, when it looked like the game was well in hand for Montana, UCLA fans streamed out of Pauley, and at about 8:45 there were probably less than a thousand remaining. Rick Neuheisel was in the stands with a couple of recruits still on their official visits, having to try to put a spin on the scene before him. And then the P.A. announcer, actually during the game, did a mic check, saying “Joe, Joe, Joe, test, test, test…”

It was rock bottom.

The basketball game itself is painful to analyze. It ranked right up there with the bad non-conference losses from last year.

It’s strange to consider, too, for a game so early in the season, but that was an incredibly big blow to UCLA’s potential NCAA tournament chances. With the Pac-10 being particularly down and not probably giving UCLA much chance of building a strong RPI through conference wins, it’s dependent on non-conference opponents. This, then, would be considered a very bad loss that could keep a team out of the NCAA tournament. If UCLA loses to BYU in the Wooden Classic December 18th, it can pretty much say goodbye to any NCAA tournament chances, unless it wins the Pac-10 or the Pac-10 tournament.

Man, it has been a bad 12 days.

The game was the epitome of everything that could potentially go bad with the team, all spread out for everyone to see over the course of 40 minutes.

It, first, exposed UCLA’s weakness in trying to beat a zone. UCLA was actually ahead in this game with 9 minutes left in the first half, 19-15, but then Montana went exclusively to a zone. UCLA scored only 9 points the rest of the half, and then UCLA could score only 9 more points by the 7:20 mark of the second half, and Montana had built its 17-point lead. Over that stretch of 23 minutes, UCLA got outscored 39-18. The zone did it, not only limiting UCLA’s ability to get the ball inside, but when UCLA did get it inside, Montana’s size neutralized UCLA’s ability to put the ball in the basket. UCLA, so far this season, has had a clear advantage in its frontcourt match-ups, even against #4-ranked Kansas, but not against Montana’s two huge bigs, in particular 6-11 center Brian Qvale. The big Grizzlies either blocked UCLA’s shots attempted in the paint or altered them. At one point during the second half, UCLA was shooting 27% for the game (it finished at 31%, which might be the lowest shooting percentage for a UCLA game in as long as I can remember; last year, in its embarrassing blow-out loss to Portland, UCLA shot 32.7%).

It definitely exposed UCLA’s primary weakness, facing a team with formidable bigs. UCLA’s advantage over every opponent, and every future opponent this season, is in in the frontcourt. Luckily there aren’t many frontcourts in the Pac-10 that come even close to that of Montana. Reeves Nelson has a history of getting shut down by front lines with size, and that was the case in this one, with Nelson finishing with 5 points and 6 rebounds. He had 3 points and 0 rebounds at halftime. Brendan Lane perhaps had the best overall success among UCLA’s posts against Montana, but it wasn’t much to speak of. He couldn’t physically stay with Qvale defensively, and then looked very tentative trying to shoot, obviously intimidated by Montana’s bigs. Freshman center Josh Smith, who showed against Kansas that he can simply bull his way to the basket with little or no post moves, attempted it in this one very unsuccessfully. He went 1-for-8, with 4 points and 5 rebounds. He only played 17 minutes, which, in hindsight, was probably a big factor in UCLA not being able to find a solution inside for Montana; Smith, even though he struggled some, looked like the only Bruin who could physically match up with them inside.

One of the on-going issues with this team is identifying really who should be the focal point of the offense. You might think it would be Tyler Honeycutt, especially coming off his 33-point scoring outing against Kansas. Or even Nelson, who is averaging 15 points a game. But it really should be Smith. He’s the one who, in the long-term for the season, will have the best match-up advantages. The ball first should always go through Smith in the post, to see if he has a seal and can score. But also because getting him touches inside will create for others, especially since Smith is such a good passer. Honeycutt is, of course, very talented, but will be inconsistent scoring, especially if he thinks he needs to score and hunts for shots, like he did in this game, and then shoot 3 for 12, and 2 for 8 from three. After his explosion in Kansas, opponents aren’t going to allow him to get so many open looks, exactly what Montana did, in fact. It’s key that the ball go down inside to create better looks for Honeycutt on the perimeter.

Montana then also did an excellent job of taking away all opportunities for UCLA to get points in transition. UCLA got one lay-up on a break late in the second half when the game was already decided, getting 0 points in transition for most of the game. Montana was, first, a good rebounding team (it led UCLA for most of the game, but finished tied, 39-39), but also rotated back in a very disciplined manner to not allow UCLA to get any kind of numbers in transition.

With UCLA struggling offensively to find a good look against the zone, it then tried to force things, which created turnovers, which has been the primary bane of the early season for the Bruins. It was particularly so in this one. Montana established its dominance in this game after UCLA went on a phenomenal turnover trend toward the end the first half. It committed 8 turnovers in 8 minutes.

Defensively, well, there’s a laundry list of issues for UCLA. So far this season, we’ve pretty much asserted that UCLA’s offense was doing pretty well, but its defense was struggling. This is an example of what happens when a team with a struggling defense gets its offense put off its game, which is what always inevitably happens. There are going to be games for any team when its offense is out-of-sync; the good teams are kept in those games by defense. But if you have a team that is relying on its offense and doesn’t have a defense to fall back on, you get the Montana game.

It was pretty much a Power Point presentation on what’s wrong with UCLA’s defense. UCLA’s perimeter defenders couldn’t stay in front of the ball. Lazeric Jones struggled against Montana’s Will Cherry. Jerime Anderson did a little better, but not by much, at one point falling over when Jordan Wood took him off the dribble. So, as we’ve pointed out before, when you have an opponent who’s able to get dribble penetration, UCLA’s help defense is slack, and it was in this game. Then, with Montana, you have to throw in another dimension – a formidable post game. The Grizzlies try to get the ball inside, see if Qvale has an opportunity, and then kick it out to shooters or find a cutter. UCLA tried to double Montana’s posts, and was generally unsuccessful at it, allowing too much room or not sealing him on the baseline. But then also, if you’re doubling, your defense needs some sharp rotation, which this young Bruin team seems very incapable of doing just yet (the reason why Howland hasn’t doubled much this season), and didn’t do well against Montana.

Montana had very good offensive execution, setting nice screens that UCLA’s defenders generally didn’t work hard enough to push through. With so much ball movement, the ball going inside and then being kicked out, and effective screening, Montana had a huge amount of open looks, which they knocked down. They shot a whopping 61% in the second half from the floor, and finished the game shooting 52%. As everyone knows, defense is mostly effort, and it was very clear in the first few minutes of this game that UCLA wasn’t bringing it. Whether it was finals, the letdown after the heartbreaking Kansas loss, an over-confidence because they played the Jayhawks close – whatever. UCLA had little energy, especially on defense. Since the UCLA staff had been showing the team tapes of previous UCLA players under Howland playing defense, you’d like to see them split in a half-screen next to the Bruins in the Montana game. You’d probably swear that these Bruins were playing in slow motion comparatively.

Most of the issues with the Bruins will get glossed over during the next 2 ½ weeks of the season. UCLA plays mostly cupcakes, and will probably head into Pac-10 play either 8-4 or 7-5. But throw out the record, and throw out how the team looks against Cal Poly, UC Davis, Montana State or UC Irvine. Focus on its performance against Brigham Young in the Wooden Classic December 18th. It not only presents the only real competition over the next five games that can give you a real indication of what kind of team this is, but it pretty much decides UCLA’s NCAA Tournament fate (again, unless UCLA wins the Pac-10 or the conference tournament). And whether UCLA makes the tournament or not will pretty much decide if this basketball season is deemed a successful one.

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Bruins lay down in 66-57 loss to MT
December, 5, 2010 Dec 511:47PM PT
By Peter Yoon
ESPNLA.com

The UCLA basketball team turned in its biggest dud of the season Sunday night at Pauley Pavilion, struggling mightily in front of a mostly silent and very small crowd during a 66-57 loss to Montana.

After taking No. 4 Kansas to the wire on Thursday, this was a classic letdown. The Bruins played with little energy on both ends of the court, and paid the price on the scoreboard.

“I’m just so disappointed in our effort,” Coach Ben Howland said. “I thought our effort out there, after coming off a great effort Thursday at Kansas, we just had such a poor effort.”

Here are five things to take from this Bruins loss.

Don’t take any opponent for granted

Montana isn’t exactly a pushover. The Grizzlies (4-3) went to the NCAA tournament last season, but after playing two games at Madison Square Garden and a game at Allen Fieldhouse, Montana didn’t exactly get the Bruins competitive juices flowing.

“I think we took this team too lightly,” said UCLA guard Malcolm Lee, who led the Bruins with 13 points. “I think it was kind of like a hidden feeling that we almost beat Kansas and then two days later we’re playing Montana. Not taking nothing from them, but we just played a No. 4 ranked team and we just came out slow and lazy.”

But this UCLA team is not good enough to think it can succeed without maximum effort every night. The Bruins must use this as a learning experience going forward.

“I think our sense of urgency is going to be a little bit more,” Lee said “We can’t take no team lightly I guess now. Our first three losses were really good teams. I’m not saying nothing against Montana, but now we can’t take no team lightly. That’s embedded in our minds.”

UCLA needs to work on attacking a zone

The Bruins faced a team playing primarily zone defense for the first time, and it was a complete failure. They shot 31.3% for the game, including 27% in the second half. They were four of 18 on three-points shots and had difficulties penetrating and getting the ball inside.

“We did a very poor job of attacking their zone without a lot of patience,” Howland said.

Montana came out in a man-to-man, but switched to a zone about halfway through the first half. UCLA had only one turnover prior to the switch but had eight in the final eight minutes of the first half and finished with 16 for the game.

“I think that zone just stifled us,” Lee said. “It threw everything off. We were prepared for it, but our zone in practice wasn’t nearly as good as theirs was in a game.”

Size matters

Montana center Brian Qvale and forward Derek Selvig are 7-feet and 6-11, respectively. They comprised the biggest tandem UCLA has faced this season and the Bruins had problems dealing with them.

Qvale was especially effective on the defensive end. He had two blocked shots but altered many others. Bruins center Joshua Smith made only one of eight field goal attempts, with most of those misses coming on close-range shots that were altered by Montana’s big man.

Reeves Nelson, UCLA’s other main inside presence also had a poor shooting night, going 2-9 from the field. That’s three of 17 (17.6%) combined for UCLA’s two inside players.

qvale finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds while Selvig had eight points and eight rebounds.

“Josh seemed rushed,” Howland said. “He was 0-5 in the first half. Trying to move too quick. Their size inside bothered us defensively and Qvale did a good job offensively when he got the ball in there on the block.”

The Bruins hurt their chances at making the NCAA tournament

Let’s face it, UCLA is lacking in the quality wins department and playing in a weak Pac-10 isn’t going to help their RPI come selection time.

So, barring a Pac-10 title or winning the conference tournament, UCLA needs to win games like this in order to find a way into the brackets in March.

This loss will haunt the Bruins and puts extra pressure on upcoming games against Cal Poly and UC Davis. The only chance UCLA has left for a quality win before Pac-10 play starts will come Dec. 18 against Brigham Young in the Wooden Classic in Anaheim.

“It’s early, but yeah, it’s a bad loss. No question,” Howland said. “We’ve got to control our future by having better practices and playing harder. It’s frustrating that it’s not always a given.”

Lazeric Jones echoed Howland’s frustration, saying coming off a three-game losing streak should have motivated UCLA to come out with more energy against a pretty good opponent Sunday night.

“You might not win every game, but we should have come out with more urgency,” Jones said. “We just lost three in a row and we should have come out and really wanted to give this team our all. Right now we’re in a fight to win as many games as possible, trying to make the NCAA tournament.”

The timing for this game wasn’t ideal

The atmosphere for a Sunday game in Pauley Pavilion was flat. It didn’t help that finals begin Monday leaving the student section only about a quarter full.

Plus, there is just an overall down vibe around UCLA with the football team’s loss to USC the night before and the basketball team suffering three tough losses in a row before this game.

Add in the travel that the basketball team has endured—New York and Kansas in the span of nine days—and it added up to all around bad timing for this game.

“This was a nightmare deal,” Howland said. “Just this whole environment tonight was bad for us. But we’ve got to be mentally tough and be able to fight thorough that and not let that affect us.”

Lee acknowledged that the atmosphere wasn’t ideal, especially when the remaining fans booed the team, but he said the fans deserve better than what they got, no matter how difficult the situation.

“We deserved the Boos,” Lee said. “Our fans came to watch us play and we didn’t give them a good showing. I thought a lot of people anticipated us to play hard especially after our showing against Kansas and we did the exact opposite.”