From: rsmith@strobe.ATC.Olivetti.Com (Russ Smith)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.college
Subject: Re: UCLA wins/loses/wins
Date: 23 Nov 92 20:09:31 GMT
Organization: Olivetti ATC; Cupertino CA, USA

In article <1992Nov23.192608.5233@u.washington.edu> crs@stein.u.washington.edu (Cliff Slaughterbeck) writes:
>Russ, I don't know what game you were watching, but thw one that ESPN was
>showing didn't resemble these observations at all.  Petruska was not 
>"legit" in the least.  He makes Brian Williams look more fluid than water.
>He had a number of fouls that he picked up because he was slow on defense.


I thought he played well early but as soon as he picked up his 2nd foul he
sort of disappeared. I think he is a pretty good athlete, but because UTEP
is so small, he was defending small forwards who were too quick for him.
Teams with big guys will not have as easy a time with Petruska as they
have the last few years. He blocked some shots, but basically his fouls
came because somebody else let their man get position, he needs to learn
in these situations to bother the shot but not attack it because they
need him on the floor.
>consistently outrebounded on the defensive boards by thin guys who were at
>least three to four inches shorter than he was.  Tarver, Edney and O'Bannon
>can all finish on the break, but the half court offense was absolutely
>pathetic.  Rebounding, we don't need no stinkin' rebounding!  Petruska
>is no better than the fourth best center in the Pac Ten, with OSU's Haskins,
>UW's Manning, and UA's Stokes all much better than he is.  The Bruins almost
>got beat at home by a team that had nobody taller than 6'8" on the floor.
>The Bruins have talent on the floor, but unless Harrick figures out how
>to coach, this team is headed for no better than fourth or fifth in the 
>Pac Ten.  My pick is Seton Hall by 20+.

Totally agree about rebounding, I mentioned they owned the boards most of the
night. Yes the half court offense sucks, but I knew it would, we have no
outside shooting so teams will just pack it in on us all year. A few plays
designed to get Petruska the ball inside might be something Harrick should
think about. Petruska likes to shoot jumpers, Harrick wants him inside, so
he better design some plays to get it to him in there. I agree about Haskins,
but I am not sure about Manning and Stokes yet, Manning is not as strong
as Richard, and Stokes turned into a real stiff after hitting the weights,
I would take Petruska over him, and Manning is probably a wash, but I
might favor Petruska.

I would say that Tarver is clearly the best player on this team, but
Edney and Petruska are the most important because there is a significant
drop off if they have to leave the game.

I am certainly expecting Seton Hall to give us a tough game, and frankly
I would give them the edge, but I was very impressed with the way the
Bruins played the last 2 minutes of the UTEp game. They showed more guts
in those 2 minutes than they have in a few years.

I would say UCLA will finish no higher than 3rd in the Pac, but no lower
than 5th.




Russ Smith
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"I went to a movie with Nostradamus last week and I asked him, what did you
think of that ending? He said, what you didn't see that coming from a mile
away?"  
                                            Gilbert Gottfried
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