# Game Thread: LSU vs. UCLA



## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

One semifinal is set. Some great names associated with these two schools. Names such as Alcindor, Walton, Bibby, Goodrich, Wilkes, Maravich, Petit, O'Neal, and the Wizard himself, John Wooden. And even now some players that we might someday look back on and include in such lists - Farmar, Afflalo, Davis, and Thomas. Who will help send his team to a Monday night finale in the national title game?








vs.


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## jworth (Feb 17, 2006)

Going to be a tough, tough game. LSU has a certain advantage down low in Davis and Tyrus Thomas, while I feel UCLA is stronger (offensively) on the perimeter with Jordan Farmer and Arron Affalo. Both teams are very strong defensively and are very athletic, but naturally I expect Thomas and Davis to continue delivering the big plays and dominance inside that will give LSU the win. If the past few games have been any indicators, this should be another close one.


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## Geaux Tigers (Apr 26, 2004)

Im scared of UCLA's great guard play. Then again I was pretty scared of Duke's and Texas'. Im not sure if UCLA has anyone to guard Davis and Thomas. If Thomas has another game like he did tonight it'll be hard for LSU to lose. The main thing for LSU is turnovers. They are rather turnover prone and they can't turn the ball over vs UCLA because the Bruins will kill them.


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## Ghost (Jun 21, 2002)

LSU, Thomas is playing his way into the Top 10.


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## DaBruins (Jul 30, 2003)

LSU really really scares me. I think we can handle Davis going off, but if Thomas is having one of his A games, i just dont know how we will be able to pull it off. At least LSU cant shoot 3's, so we're definitely going to be packing it in down low. I expect a hard hard battle, and if the refs let both teams play (which they should - this is the final four!), then i think we have the advantage in that sense because we need our toughness on defense to combat their athleticism. 

I think we'll end up sticking Luc Richard Mbah a Moute on Thomas and he should do a pretty decent job. Luc is 6'7, has the wingspan of a 7'2 guy, and is very athletic, quick, and a very tough-nosed player. We'll probably stick Hollins on Davis with the way both of them have been playing lately, but we're definitely not guarding him one on one IMO.

Go Bruins! (who of course i have to vote for)


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## redz (Jan 23, 2006)

I'll take LSU. They match up well with anyone. They have incredible athletic ability and defense. They have two legit inside threats. They have rebounding. They have some scorers on the wings. Plus, i've never really been a fan of UCLA, don't know why tho.


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## Kirk64 (Oct 19, 2005)

I've got $40 on UCLA at 16-1 to go all the way, so I am rooting for them, but LSU is awfully good.


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## bruindre (Jul 18, 2004)

Of course I like UCLA (biasly, of course). The way this tournament has unfolded, though, I hate being the top seeded team in the Final Four. 

I think LSU gives us fits inside, but we scrap out another win. I only hope we have enough left in the tank to finish the task at hand against a very scrappy (and talented) Florida team.


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## BlueBaron (May 11, 2003)

It will be an all SEC championship game. LSU will win in a close one. If Tyrus Thomas can keep playing at the level he played against Texas, LSU will be hard to beat. LSU by 5. :banana:


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## Geaux Tigers (Apr 26, 2004)

Im going to the Final Four!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got some tickets for 170 bucks through the LSU Student Ticket Office...Im driving to Indianapolis on Friday! Anyone else going?

:banana: :vbanana: :banana: :vbanana: :banana: :vbanana:


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

I think I might be looking to make a profit if I had two tickets at face value Jsimo.If they were halfway decent seats you could probably make a big profit.Looks like they are going for around 250$ each on ebay.


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

congrats, Jsimo... i'm sure it'll be a great experience. pack warm clothes. my family said it was snowing up there several days ago.


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## apelman42 (Apr 8, 2005)

TM said:


> congrats, Jsimo... i'm sure it'll be a great experience. pack warm clothes. my family said it was snowing up there several days ago.


Haha, "Snowing up there". I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, playing basketball outside in Wisconsin all day today. It's a beautiful 55 degrees outside, but that probably is warm-clothes weather for you southerners .


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## Geaux Tigers (Apr 26, 2004)

apelman42 said:


> Haha, "Snowing up there". I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, playing basketball outside in Wisconsin all day today. It's a beautiful 55 degrees outside, but that probably is warm-clothes weather for you southerners .


Yeah 55 is a bit nipply...I much prefer 70...


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## Geaux Tigers (Apr 26, 2004)

Good article on LSU 

:laugh: I really love how the leave off David Fleshman when they say there are 4 players that are from Baton Rouge. Fleshman doesn't get any minutes but he's on the team and from Baton Rouge for crying out loud!

Congratulations David Fleshman! Your total 4 minutes for this season were wonderful. :banana: :vbanana:


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

apelman42 said:


> Haha, "Snowing up there". I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, playing basketball outside in Wisconsin all day today. It's a beautiful 55 degrees outside, but that probably is warm-clothes weather for you southerners .


maybe it's been longer than i thought since i talked to them :laugh:


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

bttt


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## DaBruins (Jul 30, 2003)

injuries have plagued us all year and we've been able to deal with 'em. Looks like we'll need to do it again with Mata breaking his nose (for the 2nd time this year, along with also breaking his leg) and Hollins suffering a knee contusion. We're not going into this game with a full head of steam.


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## SmarterThanUrAvgBear (Feb 28, 2006)

DaBruins said:


> injuries have plagued us all year and we've been able to deal with 'em. Looks like we'll need to do it again with Mata breaking his nose (for the 2nd time this year, along with also breaking his leg) and Hollins suffering a knee contusion. We're not going into this game with a full head of steam.


I disagree. The injuries tell me we're revved up and ready for a rumble. We're UCLA, man. It's the Final Four, every kid on this team believes a title is their destiny.


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## DaBruins (Jul 30, 2003)

well we're practically the only team going full contact and full speed in our practices. It will help us get ready and hopefully start the game on a good note, but Aboya injured a couple of our centers in the process. I wish he would wait for the game to start to start playing so physical.


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## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

I hope UCLA pulls this one out but I'm pretty sure LSU will win.


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## GNG (Aug 17, 2002)

Dan Bonner looks ridiculous. He's either a living, breathing bobblehead or he's just getting jiggy with it.

Seriously, why does he shake when he talks?


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## GNG (Aug 17, 2002)

I'm also predicting that LSU and Florida square off for the third time this year, and as an SEC student, I'll love watching it.


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

ya, i have a feeling this will be yet another ugly game involving, unfortunately, a SEC victory


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## Thuloid (May 12, 2004)

UCLA looking quick and plenty strong enough inside so far.


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## Yoyo (Oct 16, 2005)

SmarterThanUrAvgBear said:


> I disagree. The injuries tell me we're revved up and ready for a rumble. We're UCLA, man. It's the Final Four, every kid on this team believes a title is their destiny.


Definitely! UCLA for the win!


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## Like A Breath (Jun 16, 2003)

I am shocked. I didn't think UCLA had a chance. They could double them up with a 3 right now, that's incredible.


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## Hoopla (Jun 1, 2004)

UCLA outplayed LSU so badly in that first half that LSU is _fortunate _to only be down by 15.


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## GNG (Aug 17, 2002)

UCLA's got this thing in the bag. This is a dissection. LSU is looking like Memphis looked last week.


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

I would like to hear comments about the over-hyped Tyrus Thomas.


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

I've seen about 20+ UCLA games this year and their defense is incredible. I sometimes feel Howland doesn't let his players play a fun style of basketball, but man their defense is sick.


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

they're so sloppy on the offensive end - they make silly mistakes, dumb turnovers, and ridiculous shots, but they're defense is so good that they usually get the ball right back.


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## The 6ft Hurdle (Jan 25, 2003)

Damnit I want to see Kelvin Kim on the floor represent our student population already.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

This was surely a disappointing semifinal saturday.I knew that LSU was offensively challenged,but I expected them and GMU to make the games a lot closer.I figured LSU had a good chance in this game.


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## GNG (Aug 17, 2002)

This was like Muhammed Ali beating up Ghandi.

UCLA just might take this thing...teams just can't get anything around the rim.


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## jworth (Feb 17, 2006)

TM said:


> I would like to hear comments about the over-hyped Tyrus Thomas.


Played horribly.

Can't say he's overhyped since he's only been projected to be a top 5 pick in what will be a very questionable draft class. It's not like he's being projected to go ahead of any superstars since this draft should be rather thin.


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## jworth (Feb 17, 2006)

That UCLA team had the quickest defense I've seen in a while.


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## DaBruins (Jul 30, 2003)

yeah baby!!!

This was the best possible first half we could have had, and in the 2nd half we just cruised and made the final score look closer than the actual game. Our defense was incredible and our team came out firing in the 1st half shooting 60%. Florida is a combo of what memphis has (guards and wings) and what lsu has (bigs). It'll be tough.


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## jworth (Feb 17, 2006)

LSU shot 32 percent from the field, 46 percent at the free throw stripe, and 0-for-8 from behind the arc. UCLA, meanwhile, couldn't seem to miss ANYTHING. The combination of the two provided us with a sub-par contest to say the least. Very good UCLA team, though.


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## CbobbyB (Feb 16, 2006)

defense is a bit*h....


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## DaBruins (Jul 30, 2003)

funny how every team we play just happens to be missing all their shots from the field. We must be very lucky.


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## Thuloid (May 12, 2004)

It's all luck, clearly. Either that or some sort of black magic. Probably the latter--that Mbah a Moute guy is from Africa, so I bet he knows all kinds of evil spells to put on opponents. They teach that stuff in Africa--for thousands of years they've been working to develop the proper witchcraft to make a man miss layups.


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## jworth (Feb 17, 2006)

DaBruins said:


> funny how every team we play just happens to be missing all their shots from the field. We must be very lucky.


There's no question that UCLA has a VERY good defense, but when a team misses layups and free throws as much as LSU did tonight it just adds to it.


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## DaBruins (Jul 30, 2003)

jworth said:


> There's no question that UCLA has a VERY good defense, but when a team misses layups and free throws as much as LSU did tonight it just adds to it.


there is a reason, because we are a physical ball club and that takes its toll on the body. How good of a FT shooter is big baby on the season? Just curious. I thought it was very telling how lsu said they were just shocked really. I'm surprised your ball handling was as poor as it was. I'm also surprised that tyrus thomas disappeared in this game. He took what, like 4 shots?


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## Thuloid (May 12, 2004)

DaBruins said:


> I'm surprised your ball handling was as poor as it was.


This didn't surprise me in the least--it was why I thought UCLA would surely win (though in a close game). LSU's ball handling was bad all tournament--it's just that other facets of the game were good enough, until last night, to compensate.


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

Bottom line is that UCLA's defense is very very good. BUT... Davis missed more shots than I've ever seen.


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## FastbreaK (Mar 25, 2006)

DaBruins said:


> How good of a FT shooter is big baby on the season? Just curious. I thought it was very telling how lsu said they were just shocked really. I'm surprised your ball handling was as poor as it was. I'm also surprised that tyrus thomas disappeared in this game. He took what, like 4 shots?


Davis shot 69% FT this year. Those who know about LSU, know that their ball handling is average and at times have poor decision making, which leads to turnovers. One thing this team has missed all year was a true PG. This team has _over-achieved _ w/o the use of one all year. TT better develop a outside shot pretty soon if he expects to play in the NBA for a while since he probably be playing a 3 on the perimiter. LSU's biggest breakdown last night I thought, was on defense. They allowed too much penetration in the paint either by dribble or with the pass. That and they just got outplayed and outhustled. Hey at least the Tigers won the second half. :rofl:

Last night reminded me of the way LSU lost to Wisconsin in the Sweet 16 back in 2000 against Dick Bennett's "The Pack" defense. Another very tough and physical, but not as athletic, defense. I think the team that comes to mind when I watch UCLA is Michigan State. Izzo plays mainly a non-pressing/non-trapping defense, but a hard-nosed 1/2 ct man defense, except on a BLOB (basline out-of-bounds) they go to a 2-3 _and_ they push the ball up the floor after a def rebound/steal.

Hats off to UCLA. :clap: I don't get to see _that_ many west coast games and when I do they are soo late, but I have seen a couple. Not surprised about their defense. One question I had, was about UCLA offensive transiton. I see they don't run a fastbreak after made FG/FT like Carolina does, but they run off of a defensive rebound and of course a steal. Is this part of Howland's philosphy? I think Howland will start putting out those videos now and his speaking at clinics will definitly increase. Have they been running like that all year or what or do they usually just walk it up? 

Good luck Bruins against the Gators. Monday night should be be a _very_ good game. :greatjob:


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## bruindre (Jul 18, 2004)

TM said:


> Bottom line is that UCLA's defense is very very good. BUT... Davis missed more shots than I've ever seen.


To add to why Davis missed so many shots--especially from the line; did it not seem that Davis was practically gasping for air every time he was shooting free throws? The physical nature of the Bruins defense, the way Howland rotates players in and out of the game as if it were shift changes in hockey, all that adds up and takes a toll on players.

I was worried we'd (UCLA) get creamed yesterday. Not that I lack faith in Howland or our players, but merely that (1) we hadn't faced a front court like LSU (especially one that's been as hot at Thomas and Davis) and (2) that we're such a young team. Save Hollins and Bozeman, this team is a bunch of freshman and sophmores. I'm shaking my head still, telling myself we can't be this good this fast...or could we?


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

Helps when you've got a guy like Bozeman who's been there for 15 years. :laugh:

Speaking of him, it's a huge plus having him out there. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't he their PG the first 8 years he was there? 1) Helps having 3-4 guards out there, especially when a team like LSU throws a press against ya. 2) Helps having a 6-6 PG who can also match up against the other team's 3's and small 4's.

You're right about Davis. Kinda looked a little bit like both George Mason and LSU both came out with the deer in the head lights look. Not that they physically looked scared, but they just didn't play well. They didn't play well - kind of an obvious observation, but anyway. I also think UCLA's big men had a lot to do with Davis' fatigue. He's proven he can go against a team with multiple bigs (see UConn), but UCLA's big men seem to have played even faster and more physical.

They're good. Aside from Farmar, they're all long, tall, and athletic. I was also really impressed with Collins. He beat LSU guards over and over. And lest I forget Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. I got sick of hearing Packer talk about how few years he's played, but that's still pretty impressive.


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## DaBruins (Jul 30, 2003)

TM said:


> Helps when you've got a guy like Bozeman who's been there for 15 years. :laugh:
> 
> Speaking of him, it's a huge plus having him out there. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't he their PG the first 8 years he was there? 1) Helps having 3-4 guards out there, especially when a team like LSU throws a press against ya. 2) Helps having a 6-6 PG who can also match up against the other team's 3's and small 4's.
> 
> ...



collison*


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## TM (Jun 30, 2003)

sorry. that's what i get for watching them twice and acting like i'm an expert. :biggrin:


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## Geaux Tigers (Apr 26, 2004)

I just found a picture that summarizes exactly what happened during this the UCLA game:


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