UCLA BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK: LSU DOESN'T KNOW BRUINS.Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX has an unprecedented 11 national championships in men's basketball, but LSU LSU Louisiana State University LSU Large Subunit LSU La Salle University (Philadelphia, PA) LSU La Sierra University LSU Link State Update (OSPF) LSU Learning Support Unit coach John Brady said his players are more familiar with Duke's accomplishments. Brady lauded the achievements of legendary Bruins coach John Wooden, who won 10 national titles, but also questioned the balance within the college game at the time Wooden's teams were so dominant. ``College basketball College basketball most often refers to the American basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA. History
Brady's LSU team, the No. 4 seed coming out of the Atlanta region, takes on No. 2 seed and Oakland region winner UCLA in the Final Four on Saturday in Indianapolis. UCLA has won all seven meetings against the Tigers, including a 20-point win in Baton Rouge Baton Rouge (băt`ən r  zh) [Fr.,=red stick], city (1990 pop. 219,531), state capital and seat of East Baton Rouge parish, SE La. during the 1994-95 season, when the Bruins won their last national championship. But Brady said his players know more about Duke, which LSU defeated in overtime in the Sweet 16. ``In today's time, no disrespect, but our players are probably more familiar with the Duke program in the last 10 years than they are UCLA,'' Brady said. ``The reason I parallel that is we approach Duke like we did, we played against Mike Krzyzewski Michael William Krzyzewski (ʃəʃɛfˈskiˌ; in American English transliteration "shuh-shef-skee"; born February 13, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois), often referred to as Coach "K" , who is a Hall of Fame coach, and a Duke program that in today's world is probably the top of college basketball.'' --Arron de Nostredame: In the preseason, days before UCLA began their season with New Mexico New Mexico, state in the SW United States. At its northwestern corner are the so-called Four Corners, where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah meet at right angles; New Mexico is also bordered by Oklahoma (NE), Texas (E, S), and Mexico (S). State in the NIT Season Tip-off The NIT Season Tip-Off is an annual college basketball tournament that takes place in November of each year, around the beginning of the season. The first two rounds are held at campus sites and the semifinals and the finals are held at Madison Square Garden. , Bruins guard Arron Afflalo Arron Agustin Afflalo (born October 15, 1985) is an American professional basketball player, currently with the Detroit Pistons. He recently completed a three-year career at University of California, Los Angeles in the Pacific Ten Conference of the NCAA as the starting shooting did his best Nostradamus imitation in predicting what was in store. ``Our first little team meeting (coach Ben Howland Ben Howland (born May 28, 1957 in Lebanon, Oregon) is an American college head coach of men's basketball. He has been the head coach of the University of California, Los Angeles since 2003, and recently signed a contract extension through 2013. ) pretty much said that we're settling for nothing less than making the tournament, and at least the Sweet 16,'' Afflalo said in early November. ``With a little luck, getting further.'' Following UCLA's win in the Oakland regional final against Memphis, Afflalo revisited that moment. ``A lot of people probably snickered at that or wrote a few comments about that,'' Afflalo said. ``It's just very gratifying grat·i·fy tr.v. grat·i·fied, grat·i·fy·ing, grat·i·fies 1. To please or satisfy: His achievement gratified his father. See Synonyms at please. 2. for all that to play out and come true. ... I didn't say national champions, but that's what you strive for. You don't strive to make it to the Final Four. You strive to win it all.'' --Security measures: Howland, who is making his first Final Four appearance, said he spoke with several coaches with Final Four experience, including former Bruins coach Jim Harrick Jim Harrick (born July 25, 1938 in Charleston, West Virginia) is a former college basketball head coach who coached at Pepperdine University, UCLA, the University of Rhode Island and the University of Georgia. and Memphis coach John Calipari, about what to expect in Indianapolis. One thing Howland said will be taken care of is security on the players' floor of the team hotel. ``We had a problem in Berkeley the night before we played Memphis,'' Howland said. ``We had autograph seekers up on the floor knocking on the players' doors, late at night, trying to get them to sign stuff at midnight. Ryan Hollins was saying someone was knocking on his door at all hours of the morning.'' Hollins, though, had arguably the best game of his career, scoring 14 points and grabbing nine rebounds. ``The way he played,'' Howland said, ``I'm going to have someone knocking on his door most of (Friday) night, before we play Saturday.'' --Keepsake: UCLA senior wing Cedric Bozeman ended up with the basketball at the end of Saturday's defeat of Memphis, and it's doubtful he will relinquish it. ``It's mine,'' Bozeman said. ``I'm going to take it home and put it on my bed. I'll probably sleep with it.'' --Final(ly) free: After taking exams and writing papers during the first two weeks of the NCAA Tournament, UCLA is on spring break this week. It means no campus celebration, but also fewer distractions. ``We're not going to miss any class,'' Howland said. ``Hopefully, the students that can get back to Indiana, it's great for them because they're not missing any class. That's good.'' Staff writer Ramona Shelburne contributed to this report |
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