Before the UCLA men’s basketball season got underway, a conversation with Larry Drew II turned to the NBA. It’s a subject that Drew can speak about at length, since he has spent his entire life watching his father play and coach in the NBA. He follows the professional game closely, takes notes and harbors dreams […]
Author Archives: Ryan Menezes
Pac-12 Power Rankings: Feb 5
1. No. 19 Oregon 18-4, 7-2, Last week No. 1 Unlike a certain Super Bowl coach, these rankings will not replace the incumbent due to an injury. Yet the Ducks’ starting point guard Dominic Artis went down more than a week ago with a foot injury and the team has suffered tremendously since, losing its […]
Court Visions: Figuring out the Bruins’ act
Have you ever seen that act called “Quick Change”? It’s mesmerizing. A suited man comes out with a pretty lady. She’s wearing a bright dress. They dance together across the stage before stopping at a curtain on the floor. He pulls it up, obscuring her from the audience for no more than a second, then […]
Court Visions: UCLA men’s basketball picks up pace with revamped offense
It seems like an aberration. It charts as an outlier. To watch the Bruins play an up-tempo style of basketball this season is unusual, from an entertainment and numerical standpoint.
PAC 12: Power Rankings
Not only are the Ducks still undefeated, but they’re the only Pac-12 team without two losses after they swept the Washington schools at home and Arizona and UCLA both lost this past week.
Court Visions: Shooting for speed over strength
TEMPE, Ariz. — It doesn’t matter that the Bruins, despite having three forwards on the roster, are not a very tall team, or one that uses its height in an effective way. What’s more important is how they handle the bigs of the opposition. We saw a team that matched up well with UCLA last […]
Court Visions: Basketball manages win over Arizona in impressive fashion
No practice drill can ready a team for what the Bruins went through the last few days, and there is no way to measure how much adversity UCLA was dealt before beating Arizona on its home floor.