SoCalHoops College News

Double Pump California All-Stars
Win One, Lose One To UCLA--(Nov. 10, 1998)

Tonight was a really big night for the California All-Stars squads.  No, they didn't beat the Bruins.  But they did beat Syracuse.   That's right, you heard us: The California All-Stars "South" team beat the Syracuse Orangemen.  We don't knw what the final score was, and we're still looking for it, but we do know that Jim Boeheim is probably doing a lot of explaining to the Syracuse faithful right about now.

The California All-Stars "West" team, after losing to New Mexico by only a single point yesterday, took on the UCLA Bruins, but lost to the young UCLA team, and the Bruins put on a pretty nice display finishing with the win at 95-89.

As promised, Mitchell Butler played for the Cal All-Stars, and while he looked a bit heavier than we remembered him from his Bruin days (which was, after all,  five years ago) he still put Ray Young (6'-5" Fr. SG/SF) through the wringer.  Butler had 14 points for the All-Stars, third highest, right behind Damon Crump with 18, and Andy Bostick who led all scorers in the tame with 27 points. 

The Bruins themselves looked a whole lot better than this past Sunday during Fan Appreciation Day.  Dan Gadzuric suited up but didn't play, suffering with tendonitis.  But Jerome Moiso was tremendous, scoring with his great soft touch from just about anywhere within 15' of the basket, finishing with 13 points and 7 rebounds.  Actually, the scoring for the Bruins was very well balanced:   Jaron Rush led all Bruin scorers with 17 points, 2 assists, 4 turnovers and 2 steals in 25 minutes. Travis Reed, who started with Earl Watson, Moiso, Todd Ramasar and Jaron Rush, had 15 pints, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 3 steals in 18 minutes, and he played stronger than we ever remember seeing him last year. He's more comfortable in the post, and bodies up well, setting picks and screens.

Ramasar, a walkon who gave up a full ride scholarship at UC Riverside, scored 6 points, going 3-4 from the field in 15 minutes of play. He has a great body, exhibits quickness and skill and is one very tough young man.   Matt Barnes had 11 points, 2 assists, 1 blocked shot and 3 turnovers (ouch) in 19 minutes of play.  Brandon Loyd showed that his shooting touch is back, and he hit for 6 on two three-pointers, and got one steal during the second half.  Ray Young and Billy Knight seem to be the odd men out:  Ray seems to be getting frozen out by his teammates, and he only hit one three pointer out of three attempts, but could have had many more shots.  For some reason unknown to us, neither Bailey nor Watson seems to want to give him the ball much, and other than a bruise to his shin on a great defensive play, Young only played 13 minutes.  Knight, on the other hand, also only had 3 points, a field goal and a free throw, but it just seems like he's not getting very big-time minutes, playing for only 11, and while it was the same amount Brandon Loyd got,   there's a difference in the quality of those minutes.  Brandon was the first one subbed into the game after about 4 minutes;  Billy didn't play until way into the first half with only a few minutes, and then he only saw action during the second half, very late in the game after the score was fairly lopsided.  He just doesn't seem to be a favorite with the coaching staff, and it's affected his confidence and his shot.

At the point, Watson is the man.  He played for 31 minutes, including being in at the end of the game when the score was so lopsided it didn't matter any more (even if the All Stars did make a run and hit a three at the buzzer to make it look fairly close).  Watson makes passes and finds the open man better than anyone, including Baron, and while he doesn't have the athleticism of a Ryan Bailey (6 pts on 3-5 shooting from the field and 4 assists, 3 turnovers and a game-high 4 steals) who may actually be a more fundamentally sound one man, Watson is clearly the favorite of the coaches, and he'll get the most playing time this year.    Watson finished with 15 points and an incredible 13 assists, 11 in the first half alone.  Watson's biggest problem though, and this may hurt him when the season really gets underway was his turnovers, and he had a game leading 10, not a very happy statistic.

Overall, the Bruins showed that while they are a young team, and occasionally play sloppy ball, they are pretty much a sound group which is beginning to gel and play together.  And best of all, even if there are some clear favorites and some who may be in the doghouse right now, the players are all playing as a group, high-fiveing, whooping it up, and generally having a good time.  But hey, it's still early.  Very, very early.  We'll see if they have what it really takes when the real college games get going, which unfortunately for the Bruins won't really happen until they get their first real test until they get to the Puerto Rico Shootout, and maybe not even then.

The Bruins will next play on Thursday, when they'll meet the Taiwan National Team at Pauley at 7:30 p.m.
See you there.

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