Looking Ahead to UCLA

[TheRealUW]

I've been watching some of UCLA's games recently and I honestly believe we match up with them pretty well. Here is my position by position breakdown of UCLA.
Guards
This is the strength of UCLA. Darren Collison is hands down one of the best players in the nation. He has to be our main focus defensively. He has one of the nicest three point shots I have ever seen. I believe he is shooting somewhere around 55% from behind the arc on the year. He also is very good at getting to the rim and drawing fouls, and when he gets to the foul line he rarely misses (96% from the FT line so far this season). Schroyer needs to challenge one of guards to shut this guy down a bit. How well we do defensively on Collison will be the key to how this game turns out. If he has a big game, we lose. If we hold him around his season averages, we have a chance to win this game. If we can somehow shut him down, I think we have a good chance to pull this game out. Jrue Holliday is the other guard we will see the most of. He is a promising young athlete, but he is a freshman and does make mistakes. He isn't a huge threat from three point range.
Forwards
Josh Shipp is a damn good basketball player. He is a very consistent performer night in and night out for UCLA and provides a lot of senior leadership. I think Thiam would be a good choice defensively against Shipp as I'm a bit worried about Muojeke's ability to defend a player of the caliber of Shipp. He sat out UCLA's last game with a thumb injury and nobody seems to know when he is expected to return. If he is unable to play against us that will be a HUGE advantage for us. James Keefe is the other starting forward. He doesn't produce very much offensively, but plays hard and contributes when he gets the chance. He should be matched up against Tyson and I like that match up for us. I'll be looking for us to get the ball into Tyson early and often to see if we can't get him going early. Michael Roll will be another player we see a lot of and he will probably start alongside Keefe if Shipp is not available. He's a good, but not great player. If Shipp is out, I think our forwards can outplay the forwards UCLA has. Muojeke, Thiam, and Tyson need to be on top of their games if we want to win this game.
Center
Alfred Aboya will see the bulk of the time at the center position for UCLA. He's not the biggest guy (only 6'9) but is a very good athlete for a center. Thus, Linskens would be a horrible choice to defend Aboya. Aboya would run circles around Linskens. He is far more athletic than Linskens or any player Linskens has sen this season. Waddell should be able to hang with Aboya, but he has to stay out of foul trouble. Thiam is another viable option to go up against Aboya. I know Aboya was very prone to getting into foul trouble last season, but he seems to have improved on that considerably this year. Hopefully, we can get him to revert back to his old ways and we can get him out of the game.

We will have to play a very good game offensively and defensively to win this game. I know our guys will be hungry for this one. I think there might be some very surprised UCLA fans when this game is all said and done.

 

[Cowduck]

All I know is that they damn well better have a TV in the locker room with highlights from the 87 tournament game vs. UCLA running on a loop. Nothing like watching Dembo, Leckner, et. al. making Reggie Miller and the Bruins their bitches to get the team pumped for this one.

Seriously, though, this team should go into this thing feeling like it has something to prove. I think our improved athleticism across the frontcourt should help us stay in this game. But it will be up to our senior guards to hold things together by stopping runs and making big shots late. They both have to know that winning on the road against teams of UCLA's caliber requires poise and determination.

 

[one-smooth-poke]

RealUW....how did that matchup thing work for ya? Schoyer barely matches up with a division 2 school.

 

[TheRealUW]

Actually, the matchups went about as I expected them to besides how well Roll played. I was a bit worried about his ability to shoot the ball and that proved to be a back breaker. I knew our defense was a weak spot on the team, but I had no idea it was this weak. 64 points against UCLA in their own place isn't a horrible offensive night, but giving up 113 is absolutely ridiculous no matter who the team is or where we are playing. We were definetely out manned in this game, but no team in our conference is as good as UCLA. I honestly still believe our offense will keep us in almost every single conference game we play this year. Defense is one of those things that can only be marginally improved by coaching. Defense is more about what is inside the player and how bad they want it. That could mean trouble on that side of the ball for some time to come. That said, I was very disappointed in the offensive adjustments that Schroyer had. They didn't seem to address the problems we were having. Your sure as hell not going to convince me that we have a bad team because we got blown out by UCLA in their place. Basketball is a relatively long season. Now if this was football, I would be preaching the end of the world as well, but not with basketball. I've seen bad teams get good and final four teams be on the bubble because of a single injury. This season is far from over and this team is far from down and out.

 

[McPeachy]

Actually, the matchups went about as I expected them to besides how well Roll played. I was a bit worried about his ability to shoot the ball and that proved to be a back breaker. I knew our defense was a weak spot on the team, but I had no idea it was this weak. 64 points against UCLA in their own place isn't a horrible offensive night, but giving up 113 is absolutely ridiculous no matter who the team is or where we are playing. We were definetely out manned in this game, but no team in our conference is as good as UCLA. I honestly still believe our offense will keep us in almost every single conference game we play this year. Defense is one of those things that can only be marginally improved by coaching. Defense is more about what is inside the player and how bad they want it. That could mean trouble on that side of the ball for some time to come. That said, I was very disappointed in the offensive adjustments that Schroyer had. They didn't seem to address the problems we were having. Your sure as hell not going to convince me that we have a bad team because we got blown out by UCLA in their place. Basketball is a relatively long season. Now if this was football, I would be preaching the end of the world as well, but not with basketball. I've seen bad teams get good and final four teams be on the bubble because of a single injury. This season is far from over and this team is far from down and out.

The adjustments were horrible...agreed. We threw in the towel in this game, about 5 minutes into the second half if not sooner. Not very "Wyoming-Like" if you ask me. Cowboy tough? Hmmmm.