Wow, a lot of material here, including an informative farewell Q & A session with Miller himself.

With all of the talk about renovating Pauley and what it might mean for the UCLA program, I thought this article on Louisville considering a new arena might be relevant. First, it shows just how prevalent new arenas are becoming - it seems like every school is renovating or building arenas (or at the very least, considering these types of projects). Perhaps more interesting, the article provides many financial details about Louisville and its athletic department. For example, the Louisville men's basketball team generated $17 million from Freedom Hall this past year (twice as much as it did four years ago), which makes up about half of the entire athletic budget. And this is only from the facility itself, so revenue from things like media fees and sponsorship deals are not included in this figure. A couple other interesting tidbits: first, if you want courtside season tickets to Louisville games and you have not had them before, you have to pony up $150,000 payable over five years (plus pay $1500 per seat plus the cost of each ticket). and secondly, it turns out that because Louisville is jumping to the Big East next year, the school is in negotiations with Conference USA to determine how much money Louisville should receive for its run to the Final Four - theoretically, the school could end up being paid nothing. ouch.

First, he discusses some issues pertaining to competition in the Pac-10 next year. Then he mentions how James Keefe will be making his official visit to UCLA at the same time as Chase Budinger's, as was addressed earlier here. He also talks about the performance of the Southern California All-Stars (the AAU team featuring Budinger, Keefe, Taylor King, and others) in the Memorial Weekend Tournament of Champions in North Carolina. The squad won the tourney and Budinger was the MVP. Burlison discusses some other high school prospects, and then gives some info on the Pangos All-America Camp, taking place next weekend at the Southern California Basketball Academy in Cypress.

The piece takes us through the writer's memories of past Bruin athletes, mostly from basketball and football. The point of the article is that you don't have to be a Bruin student or alum to be a Bruin fan; I wholeheartedly agree. While my time as an undergraduate at UCLA was a unique experience that solidified my love for the Bruins, I realize that Bruin fans who never attended UCLA have their own memories and experiences that are just as meaningful. How one develops an affinity for the school and its teams is much less important than the fact that the affinity exists in the first place. And what about folks who went to a different college but are still Bruin die-hards? What more could you want from them?

Known as Jiri in his native Czech Republic, Zidek now plays for a club called Nymburk in his home country. His team won the Czech championship in 2004, and he was voted one of the three best Czech players in 2004. Before returning to play in the Czech Republic, he made several stops in Europe after bouncing around the NBA. This is a link to his current game log; you can see why he was considered our best pure shooter on the 1995 squad - he is shooting 47.6% from 3-pt land and 88.8% from the charity stripe.

Here is a picture of Zidek on his current team. Is it just me, or does he look EXACTLY the same as he did at UCLA ten years ago?

Photo credit: www.basket-nymburk.cz

His childhood club, Sparta Prague, has a brief summary of his career:

...[Zidek] is the first player in the history of Czech basketball to have played in the American NBA, in the years 1995-98. The participation of the first Czech player in the NBA undoubtedly contributed to the popularisation of basketball in the Czech Republic. In the season 1998-99 he played an outstanding season for the Lithuanian team Zalgiris Kaunas, which won the Euroleague (the European Clubs’ Championship) and played an important role in the qualification of the Czech national team in the European Championships in France 1999. 2000-01 he played for Real Madrid, then was transferred to ALBA Berlin (2001-02) and Prokom Trefl Sopot (2002-03). Since the season 2003-04 he come back to the Czech Republic and played for BK Nymburk (Czech champion 2004).

And here is an article from the Prague Post featuring him. It is an excellent read despite being from 2003.

Zidek, though less popular among fans than others from the 1995 team, was a key ingredient in our run to the title. He created problems for man-to-man defenses as he often required double-teaming in the post, and he also forced the man guarding him (almost always the opposing center) away from the basket by handling the ball at the top of the key. Defensively, he was less of a factor, but I'll never forget his performance against Scoreless Williamson in the championship game.

Oh, and if you're wondering, he still loves to shoot that infamous hook shot:


Photo credits: www.basket-nymburk.cz

No, this is not a joke (but yeah, I guess I'm stretching a bit here). NBADraft.net has a two-part interview with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. In part one, the topic of Kareem's role in the Bruce Lee film "Game of Death" is mentioned. Kareem is asked if any of Lee's martial arts techniques helped with basketball. Abdul Jabbar's response:

Well, he told me I needed to get stronger, work out more. So I worked out a lot the following season. The movie came out after my first year with the Lakers, and we won the Championship the following year. So you could say he definitely had an affect [sic].

Hmmm, too bad Bruce Lee wasn't around to tell "Shaq-Fu" that he needed to lose 100 pounds or so.

Anyway, the interview also reveals that Kareem still believes the ban on the slam dunk was directed at him, but the true victims were the fans, who missed out on a lot of excitement. He also talks about how one of his books is being made into a movie. And part two has comments on a variety of other items: the best NBA centers in history, the best two-man tandems in the league, and Kareem's thoughts on Magic Johnson.

The piece features the big redhead's success in learning to talk without stuttering. Walton says that "of all the things I've done in my life, learning to speak, without question, is my greatest accomplishment." Certainly, going from having a major speech problem to calling games on national television should be a source of pride for him. The article also has his thoughts about being a broadcaster and who he feels the best player in the NBA is.

The two are now playing together on JR's Japanese team, the Aisin Sea Horses. Johnson had been playing in Lebanon. During a recent game in Taiwan, JR scored 34 and shattered a backboard with a dunk (way to go JR!). Johnson added 18 points of his own, and the team won 100-93.

Former Pac-10 freshman of the year Leon Powe has been cleared for basketball activities after recovering from knee surgery. It will be interesting to see just how effective he is next season, and whether Cal will be as improved as many people are expecting.

With LeBron James recently turning over his management to childhood friends, this San Francisco Chronicle takes a look at the relationship between Baron Davis and his agent Todd Ramasar. Ramasar, as you might know, is a former Bruin and is good friends with Davis. I've also read that Ramasar also represents Jelani McCoy, Trevor Ariza, and now Dijon Thompson (although players can change agents at any time, so I'm not sure if all three of them are still Ramasar's clients). Anyway, the article takes a look at the benefits and challenges of Davis and Ramasar having a professional relationship while still being friends.

The review discusses how John Wooden's latest book provides a blueprint for leading others to success. It mentions, among other things, Coach Wooden's emphasis on acting morally, his lack of focus on just winning, and his attention to detail. This book is one of the few by Wooden that I haven't read yet, but getting hold of a copy and reading it is certainly on my to-do list. Anyone had a chance to read it yet? Comments are definitely welcome.

The Utah Jazz page at NBA.com (the source of this picture) has some remarks about and by Thompson after his workout with the team:

...Thompson tested the NBA waters last year, only to decide on another year in school. Thompson is an extremely diverse player who can do a lot of things well, but maybe not one thing great. Thompson had a great senior year though, throwing in 18.4 points and 7.9 rebounds a night.

On what he foresees for his rookie year:
"I consider myself coming in, playing right away. Being some type of contributor, whatever they need me to do. I’m working out, preparing myself for the season, to be able to come in and play right away."

On possibly playing for the Jazz:
"It’s a very disciplined organization. I think I fit well here. UCLA coach Ben Howland uses a lot of discipline. I think I’m well prepared if I do end up here."

This is rather odd timing considering it might not be until June 21 that we know who exactly is coming back for next year, but here is a rundown of what the rosters are likely to look like in the conference next hoops season.

I guess this is supposed to make buying tickets more convenient, but with Ticketmaster, there might be new "handling" fees involved. Something to keep an eye on...

at least according to this writer, who says Diogu is projecting to go somewhere between 16 and 25 in the first round. If Diogu does remain in the draft, just how bad will ASU be next year? Maybe I'm giving Tim Floyd at U$C too much credit, but I think the Sun Devils could fall to 10th place in the conference without Diogu.

The article also mentions that Steve Kerr wouldn't mind taking over for Lute Olson some day, and at the end of the piece, the writer throws in some pretty significant ripping of Charles Barkeley.

Although the first round matchups of the Preseason NIT came out awhile ago, now the entire bracket is set. If we win our first round game against New Mexico State, we would play the winner of Temple vs. Army. If we win that game, we would get either Memphis, Alabama, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, or Miami of Ohio in the semifinals at Madison Square Garden.

Also of note is that our first-round game will be on ESPN2 at 7pm PT: set your Tivos!

Although he has not yet even signed an official letter of intent, it appears Bruin commit James Keefe is already trying to give UCLA a boost by scheduling his official visit at the same time as Chase Budinger's, a small forward prospect highly coveted by the Bruins. According to the BruinReportOnline article, the Bruins would like to sign Budinger plus a low-post player to go with Keefe.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a brief interview with Coach Howland. Besides explaining that some of his players' musical tastes rub off on him, he also says that he doesn't mind being stuck in traffic here in LA, and he believes that East Coast Bias exists.

SI.com has a somewhat entertaining feature matching up sports figures with Star Wars characters. Among several others, John Wooden is compared to Yoda. An excerpt:

It’s no wonder that the national player of the year honor is called the Wooden Award. If there were a Jedi of the Year prize it would be the Yoda Award. Like Yoda in the prequels, there is little doubt that if hoops needed Wooden he would drop his cane, pick up a light saber and go to work.

Follow the link to see the full write-up plus pictures. And check out the other pairs as well; I personally think the Chewbacca one is pretty funny (well, at least the picture).

BruinReportOnline says the two schools are UCLA and U$C.

Miller's final shot (credit: Associated Press)

It's the end of an era as Miller's Pacers played their final game of the 2004-05 campaign last night. Even the Detroit Pistons had to cheer for him as the game came to an end. It's a shame that Artest's suspension pretty much guaranteed that Miller would end his career without a ring, yet without the suspension, Miller might not have had the year he had, showing that he could still be a prolific scorer in this league. And it's pretty cool that he went out with a good game, scoring a team-high 27 points on 11 of 16 shooting. Reuters has a nice write-up of the game, and the Indianapolis Star has plenty of Miller coverage. Locally, the Press-Enterprise has a brief article.

Here's a preview of the Preseason NIT with all of the first round matchups. The games are as follows:

Nov. 14
Boston University at Duke
Manhattan at Seton Hall
Sam Houston State at Missouri
Drexel at Princeton

Nov. 15
Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Memphis
Miami of Ohio at Alabama
Army at Temple
New Mexico State at UCLA

The second round will be Nov. 16 and 17. I haven't seen a full bracket yet, but reports have been that our second round opponent is likely to be Temple. I assume we would play Army if they beat Temple, and I also assume that our second round game would be at Pauley - i can't imagine Howland agreeing to play on the road in this event.

Again, winning the first two games in this tourney would be huge for our postseason seeding and national profile. I know, we need to take it one game at a time, but an appearance against a top team at Madison Square Garden would be pretty enjoyable, and it would raise our strength-of-schedule and RPI. So let's hope that our still-young Bruin squad can take care of business.

Only 181 days til tipoff (gulp). I'm not sure how i'll be able to wait that long :).

At least that's the opinion of Mike DeCourcy. He suggests that those hopeful draftees who don't mind going in the second round are making a big mistake if they still have college eligibility. He overlooks some factors, perhaps the biggest being that some kids just don't want to be in college, but overall, his point makes a lot of sense. There is just such a huge difference between being picked in the first versus the second round: 3 years guaranteed at no less than 700K per year versus less than 400K for a year (or nothing if you don't make the team). Things should be okay for Ariza, but most second round picks aren't going to become productive players, and if a draftee thinks otherwise, he simply is fooling himself.

meaning he won't be suiting up for the Washington Huskies next year. This just makes official what most have been expecting all along.

One from the Daily Bruin, and one from the LA Times. Common themes are the lack of local non-conference opponents and no out-of-conference road trip during Beat $C week.

Also, the OC Register confirms that the other matchup in the Wooden Classic will be Washington vs. New Mexico.

First, the article mentions plans for renovating Pauley. Based on comments from Dan Guerrero, we are a LONG way away from getting started. First we have to figure out what renovations are possible, then decide which ones we want. Then we have to raise the money - well, actually, first we have to hire a fundraiser. Then we can start the work.

Speaking of fundraising, Guerrero mentions that selling naming rights to the facility is an option to raise cash. Now, if this topic is being broached at this early stage, then you have to figure it's a virtual certainty that it's going to happen (why else bring it up?). The article says the school wants to keep "Pauley Pavillion" and "Wooden Court" in the title, but no company is going to shell out millions of dollars to be part of a name that isn't used - unless attorneys for the city of Anaheim draw up the contract :). So it is quite possible that within a few years, the building will no longer be referred to as Pauley Pavillion on a regular basis. I hope I'm jumping the gun here, but we all know cash rules.

The article also mentions some recruiting news: center Spencer Hawes cancelled his official visit last weekend due to a sprained ankle, and he rescheduled for September. Chase Budinger, a highly touted small forward prospect, is slated for a June visit.

There also is discussion of the schedule, with the only new news being that Temple is a possible opponent in the second round of the preseason NIT. The game would be November 17, and I assume it will be at Pauley.

Finally, the article mentions that the off-season weight-training is going well, with Jordan Farmar and Josh Shipp singled out as examples of players putting on weight.

The official UCLA site has the schedule and press release. It's pretty much as expected. One change to note: as I suspected, the USC game at Pauley marked for Saturday, January 21 on the Pac-10 release was moved to Thursday, January 19 so we can host West Virginia on the 21st instead. Here's the schedule (I like the way we're told "All times Pacific" but there aren't any times given):

Fri., Nov. 4 Exhibition (TBD with Basketball Travelers)
Thurs., Nov. 10 Cal State Monterey Bay (Exhibition)
Tue., Nov. 15 New Mexico State (Pre-Season NIT First Round)
Thurs., Nov. 17 Pre-Season NIT Second Round
Sat., Nov. 19 Delaware State
Wed., Nov. 23 Pre-Season NIT Semi-Final @ New York
Fri., Nov. 25 Pre-Season NIT Final @ New York
Tues., Nov. 29 Albany
Sun., Dec. 4 Coppin State
Sat., Dec. 10 Nevada @ Wooden Classic
Dec. 12-16 Final Exams
Sat., Dec. 17 at Michigan
Wed., Dec. 21 Wagner
Fri., Dec. 23 Sacramento State
Thurs., Dec. 29 Stanford
Sat., Dec. 31 California
Thurs., Jan. 5 @ Arizona
Sat., Jan. 7 @ Arizona State
Thurs., Jan. 12 Washington
Sat., Jan. 14 Washington State
Thurs., Jan. 19 USC
Sat., Jan. 21 West Virginia
Thurs., Jan. 26 @ Oregon
Sat., Jan. 28 @ Oregon State
Thurs., Feb. 2 Arizona State
Sat., Feb. 4 Arizona
Thurs., Feb. 9 @ Washington State
Sat., Feb. 11 @ Washington
Sat., Feb. 18 @ USC
Thurs., Feb. 23 Oregon State
Sat., Feb. 25 Oregon
Thurs., Mar. 2 @ California
Sat., Mar. 4 @ Stanford
Mar. 9 - Mar. 11 Pac-10 Tournament @ Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Mar. 16 - Mar. 19 NCAA First and Second Round
Mar. 23 - Mar. 26 NCAA Regional
Apr. 1 - Apr. 3 NCAA Final Four
All times Pacific.
All games broadcast on XTRA Sports 570 and the Bruin Network.

Since I don't follow the college football as closely as I follow hoops, perhaps this is old news, but I recently read a short blurb stating that our football game against $C on December 3 will be sandwiched between telecasts of the Big-12 and ACC Championship games. Since the article is from a New Orleans-based newspaper, I assume this means the game will be broadcasted nationally. This seems huge to me. I mean, our game is going to be the lead-in to the first ever ACC Championship game. I'm not sure we could ask for anything more in terms of exposure. This would be the perfect time for us to actually get a win against the private school across town.

The LA Times has a feature on the former Bruin commit. Most of the article is old news, but there are some telling quotes:

"[UCLA is] still recruiting me...I might still go there. I'm looking for up-tempo teams, fastbreak teams, just run. That's what I want to do. Just run."

And from his high school coach:

"I think, in Taylor's case, he's concerned about some of the other people UCLA is recruiting, they'd guard the same people he would guard, they'd play the same spot Taylor would play. He is a little concerned about the personnel situation and he wants to take a step back."

So he just wants to run, and he doesn't want competition for playing time - doesn't exactly sound like a perfect fit with Ben Howland's philosophies. Reading his comments gives me a completely different impression of him than when I read about our other recruits, James Keefe, for example. It seems like our other guys at least acknowledge the importance of the team and the need to be well-rounded players. In all fairness to King, though, he still is only a sophomore, so perhaps he has some significant maturation ahead of him. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next two years.

Yesterday, I listed all of our opponents for next year and had some comments on their average 2005 RPI. To add to the analysis, here are some of the teams slated to participate in the Preseason NIT: Boston University, Duke, Memphis, Alabama, Missouri, and Temple. In addition, the tournament rules state that only one team from each conference can participate, so I assume all of the major conferences will have representation. This means that most likely, the field also will include a Big-10 and Big East squad. So it is possible that our non-conference schedule will include one or more of these teams above, and/or a school from the Big-10 and Big East. This certainly would strengthen the collective RPI of our opponents. Undoubtedly, doing well in this event will help our postseason seeding and improve our national profile. I will try to keep my eyes open for news on the identities of the remaining participants.

Also of note (sort of), Andy Katz reported that a 3-pt line of 20-feet, 9 inches will be used in the Preseason NIT - I assume, then, that we'll see this longer line on the floor at Pauley. That should take a little getting used to. I'm not sure it will affect the game too much, though.

Finally, both the OC register and LA Times have confirmed that Nevada, not Georgetown, is our likely opponent in the Wooden Classic.

FoxSports recently caught up with Dijon Thompson after his workout with the Clippers. Through the MSN site, the approximately 90-second clip can be viewed online. You will need to use Internet Explorer, and I can't link directly to the video, but there are a couple of ways to get there. First, you can go to the FOXSports.com UCLA Bruins team front page and look for the link to the video. A second option is to go to video.msn.com and do a quick search for the term "ucla" (without the quotes). One of the results should be the Thompson feature. This method also allows you to see other UCLA-related video segments, including the Ed O'Bannon feature mentioned here a few weeks ago.

Based on what's been reported, here is a tentative schedule for your UCLA Bruin men's basketball team for next year. RPI numbers are from Ken Pomeroy's site.

Date	Opponent	2005 RPI
?	at Michigan	157
?	vs Albany	195
?	vs Sacramento State	279
?	vs Wagner	221
?	vs Delaware State	128
?	vs Coppin State	151
?	at/vs West Virginia	34
11/15/05	vs New Mexico State (Preseason NIT)*	292
12/10/05	Nevada (Wooden Classic at Anaheim Pond)	32
12/29/05	vs Stanford	40
12/31/05	vs California	127
1/5/06	at Arizona	8
1/7/06	at Arizona State	68
1/12/06	vs Washington	3
1/14/06	vs Washington State	95
1/21/06	vs USC	130
1/26/06	at Oregon	81
1/28/06	at Oregon State	103
2/2/06	vs Arizona State	68
2/4/06	vs Arizona	8
2/9/06	at Washington State	95
2/11/06	at Washington	3
2/18/06	at USC	130
2/23/06	vs Oregon State	103
2/25/06	vs Oregon	81
3/2/06	at California	127
3/4/06	at Stanford	40
3/9/06	Pac-10 Tournament (at Staples Center)**

*Preseason NIT could be a total of four games, including two at Madison Square Garden.

**Pac-10 tournament could be a total of three games.

If you're wondering how strong our non-conference schedule is compared to this past season, the average RPI for our 2005-06 opponents (based on final 2005 numbers) is 165.44. Our 2004-05 non-conference opponents had an RPI of 151.56 (based on final 2005 numbers) and 148.44 (based on final 2004 numbers). Obviously, measuring next year's opponents' strength based on the previous year's RPI is a crude approach at best, but that's all I'm going to do :). This "analysis" indicates that the upcoming season's non-conference opponents are notably weaker than this past year. This certainly is true for the top teams, as the trio of Boston College, Michigan State, and Notre Dame were miles ahead of the top three of 2005-06 (presumably West Virginia, Nevada, and Michigan). That said, winning at Michigan and against Nevada in the Wooden Classic would be extremely significant for us with the current emphasis by the NCAA tourney committee on doing well away from home. Advancing in the Preseason NIT also would be a big deal, as it would give us opportunities to play tough competition, perhaps on a neutral court. And I don't mean to overlook our conference games - it's just that we have no control over those, unlike the non-conference schedule.

As a Bruin fan, I would like to see us play against some higher profile schools in our non-conference matchups. Perhaps Ben Howland doesn't believe we're ready for that yet, or perhaps he couldn't find any takers. Either way, come Nov. 20, 2006, we will be in the Maui Invitational with several other marquee teams - I'm already looking forward to it.

If you haven't heard, we pummelled U$C in the annual Lexus Gauntlet competition this year. For that, the trophy will be on display at UCLA's Athletic Hall of Fame for the next 12 months. According to this Daily Bruin article, Ben Howland is one of many UCLA coaches who will be in attendance at Monday's 2pm presentation, although I didn't see Karl Dorrell's name on the list - maybe one's team needs to actually contribute points to the effort for the coach to be invited (and no Coach Dorrell, you don't get any points for "only" losing by 5 points to $C).

"NorthBruin40" at the BruinZone basketball message board says that Nevada has replaced Georgetown as a participant in the Wooden Classic, so the Wolfpack is who we will be playing.

And if our major non-conference opponent really is West Virginia, i'd have to say i'm a little disappointed. True, with our program still without the prestige of the top teams in the country, a matchup with us is not overly attractive to most other top schools. However, despite West Virginia's run to the Elite Eight last year, they certainly don't have the name recognition that other schools would provide. I'm not sure how much we gain by playing them.

This short article from Brian Dohn states that the non-conference opponent from a major conference for next year will be West Virginia. However, I'm a little wary of the accuracy of the report, since the article also says we will be playing Nevada in the Wooden Classic, while this Seattle Times article lists the four participants in the Classic as UCLA, Washington, Georgetown, and New Mexico. Anybody know the real deal?

He has worked out with the Clippers and Sacramento, and he has sessions scheduled with Denver, Utah, New York, and Memphis. Right now, most expect Thompson to be a second-round pick - it sure would be nice to see him develop into a solid NBA player.

I saw this a couple of days ago, and I didn't think it was a big deal, but Coach Bob Burton of Cal State Fullerton is saying that Ben Howland refused to play against the Titans in the first round of the preseason NIT. Now a couple of papers, the OC Register and Daily News are reporting on it. Burton and Howland are friends, and Burton admits his comments were tongue-in-cheek, so there is no big controversy or anything. Obviously, though, the chance for Fullerton to play UCLA in a nationally televised game would be a great thing for their program. However, Ben Howland would have to be an absolute idiot to agree to the game - UCLA would have nothing to gain and plenty to lose by taking on Fullerton. Fullerton, even with as good a season as they had last year, has no prominent standing as a basketball school (i'm trying to be kind here), especially on a national level. Add the fact that Fullerton is located within UCLA's recruiting base, and it's pretty clear why Howland wants no part of this matchup. Burton also said that he's tried to set up games against schools all over the west coast, but pretty much nobody is willing to play them, so it's not just UCLA avoiding them.

i guess this shows how difficult it can be for a team from a small conference to build a program into a major power these days. maybe Fullerton can raise its profile by having its most famous basketball alum, Cedric Ceballos, come out with another rap album. That should help with recruiting in the Lake Havasu area.

The conference schedule was set awhile ago, and most of our non-conference matchups have been established. As noted earlier, the Bruins will play at Michigan and host Albany, Sacramento State, Wagner, Delaware State, and Coppin State. UCLA also will play in the preseason NIT, opening on November 15 against New Mexico State at Pauley Pavillion. We also are in the Wooden Classic at the Pond, most likely playing against Georgetown (but possibly New Mexico). The only question mark remaining is one matchup (as part of a home-and-home) against a school from a major conference. It will not be Notre Dame. I think the identity of this last opponent is probably what we are all most eagerly waiting to find out.

As mentioned earlier, Coach Wooden and former Bruin Andy Hill spoke at the high school last night. This Pasadena Star-News article features Coach Wooden and his talk.

Brandon Rush, younger brother of JaRon and Kareem, is declaring for the NBA draft straight out of high school, though he hasn't hired an agent.

The Josephson Institute of Ethics, a nonprofit membership organization established "to improve the ethical quality of society by advocating principled reasoning and ethical decision making," is planning to launch the Nell & John Wooden Legacy Center (WLC). Although a "Center", it will have no physical location: it will exist only virtually. It basically will be a website that celebrates the relationship shared by Nell and Coach and promotes the coach's teaching philosophies. Among other items, the site will contain a virtual library with plenty of material by and about Coach Wooden. The general idea behind the project is to help preserve Coach's legacy while also educating and inspiring future coaches.

To be frank, i know nothing about the organization itself, but the concept of the center sounds truly remarkable. It hopefully will turn out to be a great way to honor Coach Wooden by doing what he loves to do: teach. And by having it all online should make it accessible for an extremely wide audience.

Also, the head of the Josephson Institute, Michael Josephson, wrote an article that explains some more about the WLC, as well as sharing about his experience of meeting with Coach Wooden.

Coach Wooden and Hill will speak at 7pm on Tuesday. Tickets are $10 each, with money going to the school's Booster Club and athletic department.

The three teams besides the Bruins in the two-game event are the Hoyas, Lobos, and Washington Huskies, and we won't be playing UW. This article claims that Georgetown likely will be our opponent. Certainly there is more to gain for us by playing the Hoyas, since they are a well-known Big East team, and last year, they showed signs of perhaps returning to prominence sometime soon.

I'm looking forward to finding out who else we will play in our non-conference games next year; hopefully, we will have at least a couple of high-profile opponents.

Keefe, a junior who has verbally committed to UCLA, answers questions submitted by BRO readers in this article. He comments on possible positions he will play as a Bruin, how solid his commitment to UCLA is, and the importance of academics. And you will probably find his answer to when UCLA will be in the final four amusing, although it seems he forgot that although he will be joining the Bruins in 2006, he won't have an opportunity to play in the final four until 2007 (either that, or he already plans to leave school after his junior year).

Chris Rodgers has declared for the draft but has not hired an agent. Why shouldn't he with the stellar numbers he put up last year: 5.5 points (on 37% fg shooting!), 2.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game. I guess this shows that any senior-to-be who can keep the option of returning to school might as well go ahead and declare for the draft - you've got nothing to lose, right? Any day now, I expect to see a joint press conference from Michael Fey and Ryan Hollins announcing their plans to enter the draft...

Andy Katz is reporting that although a change will most likely happen soon, the college 3-pt line will remain the same next year. Right now, there is no consensus on far to move it back, and what type of corresponding change, if any, is needed for the 3-second lane. From a Bruin perspective, I suspect the current, closer 3-pt arc probably benefits us next year, as we remain a perimeter-oriented team. of course, had the lane been widened, it probably would have benefited us by reducing physical play under the hoop, so it's quite likely that this lack of rule changes is a wash. In any event, the width of the lane is no big deal to me, but the 3-pt line needs to be moved back. The 3-points should serve as a reward for making a relatively difficult shot, which clearly is not the case right now. another change that i would like to see, but will NEVER happen, is the widening of the entire court. with players getting bigger and more athletic, they take up more space and cover more ground than ever before. a wider court would allow a freer flow on offense, leading to less contact and more scoring opportunities. athleticism and basketball skills would be more valuable than just brute strength and size. the nba needs to institute this change as well. but widening the court would mean less highly-coveted, extremely expensive courtside seats available, so this is one idea that will remain 100% theoretical, in both college and the pros.

but he hasn't hired an agent, leaving the door open for him to play for Washington next year, as unlikely as that might be.

Here's an in-depth look at Reggie Miller and his NBA career, including a brief recap of his contributions this season. The article also provides a link to an nba.com page where you can download video of many of Reggie's clutch shots.

Thanks to poster JTL over at the BruinZone message board for the heads up on this article. The story is from May 4, 1965, and it centers around Alcindor's decision to come out west. The piece summarizes Kareem's many individual and team accomplishments in high school, and there's also a picture of him making the announcement.

at least according to Gregg Doyel. Doyel gets in several digs at Floyd, who apparently has snatched up three basketball recruits that had committed to other schools. Based on what I hear about Floyed, this surprises me pretty much not at all. Anyway, the article also mentions Taylor King decommitting from UCLA - among his other comments, Doyel calls King a left-handed Jason Kapono.

The UCLA athletic director will join this "influential committee" that is supposed to "improve and promote the game of college basketball". Is this significant news? To be honest, I don't know. I doubt Guerrero's participation on this committee will have a direct, meaningful impact on the Bruin hoop program. However, the news release has some other interesting information, specifically the affiliations of other members of the group, which highlight the tremendous influence television has on college basketball. There are three representatives from CBS, one from ESPN, and one member described as a television analyst on the panel. Conspicuously absent: representation from Fox Sports. I think we all know that FSN is not a major player in the college basketball broadcasting landscape. so the question to ask is whether the Pac-10 and UCLA are being hurt to a large degree by having their weekday conference games only on FSN? Lute Olson certainly believes the conference is being hurt by it. For UCLA, it's not so much the exposure for the school. If UCLA goes back to being a top ten team, everyone will know about it, regardless of which station shows our games. However, in recruiting, there are going to be plenty of players looking at college as just a step to the NBA. these recruits want to be seen nationally, and playing for a Pac-10 school limits that due to its TV contract. In reality, the problem isn't so much with FSN - the problem is not being on ESPN. Right now, ESPN is the only TV source for college basketball programming, news, and analysis on a national basis. without games on its network, ESPN has little or no reason to show Pac-10 highlights, and certainly has no incentive to give the conference respect. and ESPN's popularity isn't going to wane any time soon, especially now that they have the Monday Night Football contract starting 2006.

As you might know, the Pac-10's contract is up with FSN after next season. This obviously is a great opportunity for the conference to improve its situation. I see two clear options: 1) give in and get at least some games on ESPN, or 2) continue as we are without games on "the worldwide leader in sports". Option 1 makes some sense - we could keep most of our weekday games on FSN, but have one featured game on ESPN. Olson supports this, and he cites the Big 12 as an example - they have a contract with FSN but also take part in Big Monday on ESPN. If the Pac-10 goes this route, though, we need to make sure we get our games on when people across the country can watch them, otherwise the purpose of this strategy is defeated. ESPN typically wants west coast games that start at 9pm PT / midnight ET - they come on after their main sportscenter showing. This would be terrible - instead, perhaps the games can start at 6pm PT / 9 ET. this would be a little early on the west coast, but assuming a 2-hour game, the 8pm PT sportscenter could start right after the game ends.

Option 2 is probably the riskier option, but it is viable. The conference would just need to demand more national telecasts and promotion from FSN. The schools themselves would have to also be proactive in publicizing the conference and the quality of its teams. Even with all of this, FSN still has nowhere near the national presence of ESPN - however, this could change: Rupert Murdoch, with his acquisition of DirecTV complete, is looking to start a national sports network that might be available only through the satellite service. he was hoping to get either sunday or monday night football to anchor this new channel, but he might go through with the venture anyway. if he does, he might be willing to pay a hefty price for any piece of college basketball, especially for a conference with no affiliation with ESPN. The cable company Comcast is also thinking of starting a new channel, so they would be looking for programming material as well. Both Murdoch and Comcast are looking into acquiring rights to the NFL's thursday night games. Yes, competing directly with ESPN currently is a dicey situation, but a truly national network with an NFL agreement in place has a much better chance of thriving than the regional FSN concept or (gulp) cnn/si (how bad was that?). If either of these channels came into existence and were willing to fully back and promote the Pac-10, while picking up some other basketball conferences and additional sports programming, this would not be a way to go.

Anyway, I don't think the TV situation is necessarily holding back the UCLA basketball program, but it certainly is a situation that can be improved. hopefully, we will do just that when the contract runs out after 2005-06.

Ken Pomeroy gives an eye-opening look at the present state of college basketball in relation to past years. It should come as little surprise to most college hoops fans that game tempos are slowing down and more three-pointers are being taken (and made), but there are some other interesting trends that Pomeroy notes. If you are a stats junkie, you will probably enjoy his post (and his other work as well).

This is a little old, but Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution gives us his predictions of the top college hoops teams next year. UCLA is at #17, and is the third highest ranked team from the Pac-10. His comments about the Bruins:

The Bruins returned to the NCAA tournament behind freshman point guard Jordan Farmar. There are other sophomores-to-be ready to mature along with him. Give Ben Howland another year or so and he'll be in the top 10.

This sounds reasonable to me - but if we somehow get above-average play on the inside, we could be even better.