SportsLink

UCLA win, the day after

Posted by Vince Grippi

Feb. 22, 2009 8:47 a.m. • 15 comments

COUGARS

It’s the morning after WSU’s upset of the Bruins in Westwood, something that’s happened just once before in Cougar basketball history. And it came less than 48 hours after they sleepwalked through the first half of a loss at USC. We have our usual next-day post, with links to all the Pac-10 winners and some quotes that didn’t make the story. Read on.

••••••••••

• We’ll start in the beautiful Inland Northwest, which really is pretty today, with blue skies, a few high clouds and a breeze that’s cold enough to cut your nose off. But back to the links. Leading off is our game story, a longer version of which, with some extra notes, you can find here. Next up is Bob Condotta’s story in the Times. Bob stopped by Pauley to watch before the UCLA game with the idea if it got out of hand he would head over to USC. He had to stay until it was over, and beyond. Batting third is freelancer Howie Stalwick’s piece in the News Tribune and other West Side papers. The rest of the lineup consists of the LA Times’ story, one from the Daily News and this piece in the Orange County Register.

• As I said, Condotta pulled double duty with his usual Husky coverage. Their win, along with WSU’s and USU’s, puts UW in the driver’s seat for the regular season title. … Oregon State has won three consecutive games after handling Cal. … And Oregon, yes, Oregon, won a game, stopping a reeling Stanford team in Eugene. … The Oregonian has its usual Pac-10 wrapup.

• Finally, here are other comments that didn’t make the paper …

• Rochestie on how well the Cougars played: “I think this is the best team game we’ve probably played in the Pac-10 and that’s what’s exciting.”

• UCLA and its defense and the 3 he took late in transition: “I know they are a scrappy team, really scrappy, a lot of pressure, great defense. To get an open shot like that, I just felt confident to shoot it. I’m just fortunate it went in.”

• On their motivation: “Our coaching staff hung with us through the last couple games, losing, it’s meant a lot to us.”

• The family in attendance: “Basically we had a family reunion. It was just real special to me.”

• Losing Baynes to fouls: “Baynes gives just as much to the team when he’s off the court as when he’s on. He was the first one off the bench, motivating us, talking to us, getting us going.

• The effectiveness of the WSU offense: “We moved the ball. Against UCLA you’re not going to get good shots off one pass, one dribble. Outside of me, we handled the ball pretty well. We just kept hunting shots, just played tough. That’s what it takes to win a game like this.”

• Next week: “We can’t have any dropoff. … I’m looking forward to going home. We’ve lost too many games at home and that gets under my skin.”

• Bennett on the Cougars first-half defense and playing zone for one possession: “We couldn’t handle the ball screen. … They were just shredding us. … Now teams have to prepare for that, right?”

• UCLA and its defense, after saying the Bruins might nor be as good as they were last year: “They still pressure you. Klay got us off to an unbelievable start and we were tough offensively.

• Rochesties’ turnovers (six): “He more than made up for them with just the clutch plays.”

• Caleb Forrest on the difference in this win and other games in Pauley: “We would have desperation runs to get back into at the end. … In this game, to play good the whole game, it was huge for us.”

• The message the win sends: “I think it says a lot about the Pac-10 and how it’s changing, how it’s become more and more equal. … We’re kind of proving … the bottom teams can beat the top teams if they don’t come to play.”

• Rochestie’s tip-in and whether that was the turning point: “It was a great tip. There was still so much time left, anything can happen.”

• Klay Thompson and whether he was trying to make up for his poor shooting night at USC: “I guess so. It was a makeup for the team because we came out with a win.”

• Baynes on Rochestie: “We know he can do that. We put a whole lot on his shoulders tonight and he carried us.”

• His foul trouble: “They’re going to get some calls going their way and they definitely got a few (today). But that’s what happens in a game, we get some good ones, we get some bad ones and luckily, towards the end, they fell our way. … We got the end result, which was a win. That’s what we came here to do. … I was dying to be out there and help the boys out.”

• What the win meant to the seniors: “All the seniors were very emotional about this game. It was our last chance to beat UCLA. All of us were pumped up and Taylor was no exception. He was frothing at the mouth to go out and get this one.”

•••

• That’s it for this morning. We’ll be back as news warrants. Until then …

15 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

RobE on February 22 at 9:27 a.m.
Vince, it seemed we shot earlier in possessions, and didn’t eat as much clock. Our accuracy and pace I thought really contributied to our unusually high point total. I read where Tony said it was nice to see us score like that. Do you get the impression he may be leaning towards speeding up our offense as a result of yesterday?
coug79 on February 22 at 10:20 a.m.
Taylor absolutely has to be Pac-10 player of the week. He got jobbed by the Pac-10 earlier in the year against Oregon/OSU. It’s make up time. A completely clutch performance. I hope our freshmen are watching and learning his intensity.

Vince—looked to me like the officiating crew swallowed their whistles in the second half…at least until late—which was fine given what we saw in the first half. Libby and company kept UCLA in the game by nailing the Cougs with fouls at a more than 2-1 ratio in period one. How refreshing in the second half to just see the guys play.
garlandcoug on February 22 at 10:54 a.m.
WSU got some great bounces on scramble plays under pressure. It’s about time. It seems that down the stretch most of those bounces (or calls) have gone the other teams way, resulting in turnovers rather than out of bounds WSU.
OlyCoug on February 22 at 11:05 a.m.
garland, no kidding. How many games have we seen where our guy gets called for the charge, or possession is given up on a controversial loose ball, or we get hit with a five second count, etc. against us?

The end of the game was a string of *good things* that happened to the Cougs—three or four loose balls out of bounds that went to WSU? Unheard of!

However, the Cougs almost got screwed by the timekeeper. First you beat the other team’s All-Americans, then you have to beat the refs, THEN you beat the ghost of Pauley (who obviously hates Cougars)—and who’s left? The timekeeper!

Some of you may have noticed at the 9.9 second mark (it ticked inexplicably to 9.8): UCLA had the ball and was dribbling up court for at least a full second—probably two—before the clock started!

When Nik went to the line, there should have been virtually nothing left on the clock (less than a second—maybe even 0.1 seconds left). UCLA would’ve had no choice except to throw it full court and hope for a foul. Instead, the had enough time to get a real shot off which, if the Pauley ghosts had any say in it, would provide way too many opportunities for UCLA to make a desperation three, or get fouled.

Thankfully, the ghosts took the day off, and the shot was blocked. Or maybe Klay Thompson is just that good.

Anyway, for those with the game DVR’d, check out the 9.9 second mark. It would’ve been a crying shame had UCLA won on a last second shot, because I don’t think anyone on the court noticed the time discrepancy. Luckily, the win’s in the books and they can’t take it away from us!

TR for Player Of The Week! It’s a no-brainer.
Leo_Z on February 22 at 11:27 a.m.
I love this from the LA Times:

“The boos that cascaded down from the stands made it clear that fans were unhappy with some of the late officiating.”

That crowd boos every call that doesn’t go the Bruins’ way, correct or not, but especially when they’re losing. Hearing LA fan complaints about officiating is getting old!
dickkenn on February 22 at 12:55 p.m.
Great win. I liked how the cougs defense around the basket was’nt giving up any easy points. Taking charges and blocking fouls really showed a physical toughness, to make ucla earn there points, i feel was a big reason the cougers won. Also the offense working for and taking all there shots in rhythm and not forcing contested shots up. Looks like the whole team is really working together on both offense and defense. The freshmen whom are getting playing time are progressing by leaps and bounds. The cougs have a good chance to win their last three games this season. GO COUGS
bson25 on February 22 at 1:40 p.m.
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=3913726&categoryid=3286128

Check out this Outside the Lines piece on “package deals.”

Tim Floyd is quite the sleeze… USC is seriously a crooked school.
coug79 on February 22 at 3:11 p.m.
Bson25—nice post. I wasn’t aware of “package deals”. However, when we were playing USC the TV announcers were talking about how Dwight Lewis’ dad was hired as the strength and conditioning coach at USC. My first thought was that couldn’t be a coincidence. But I had no idea that more than getting the kid to commit to a school, the package deal gives the team a free pass on the scholarship limits…so USC can carry two extra guys on the team, Lewis and the other kid who chose USC after his Dad became “Director of Basketball Operations.” Gee, there sure are a lot of coincidental hires at USC.

Hey Vince—how about a follow up story on this during the Pac-10 tourney. It would be interesting to hear Coach Floyd comment on if he thinks it’s fair for USC to get extra players beyond the scholarship limits based on hiring the Dads.