Thursday, February 26, 2009

Bruins pull it out

I still don't expect a Final Four four-peat this year, but it was gratifying to get a win tonight over a Stanford team that played very well and jumped out to an early lead that looked pretty commanding for a while. At this stage I would just as soon not see the kinds of games that would be exciting to watch if you didn't have a particular favorite, which this game was, but I'll take a win of any kind. I'm afraid the Cal game Saturday (they beat USC tonight) will be another nail-biter. (I don't know why I use that cliche; I have never bitten my nails.)

I think Marcia Smith, a Register sportswriter whom I don't know, had a pretty good assessment of this year's UCLA team in today's paper. The short story: they still haven't quite gelled as a team (I'm still hoping), perhaps because it's built on three seniors (and Dragovich) and a bunch of freshmen who, not surprisingly, have shown talent but haven't been consistent, having more defensive lapses than you'd like to see. Doesn't seem to be dissension or anything, just not quite the cohesion you'd like to see.

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