- Kyle Anderson might not be the most talented freshman on the UCLA Bruins, but he’s arguably been the most important for Ben Howland this year. Although he was originally projected to play point guard, his ability to play seemingly every position has been a major key to UCLA’s success this year. He’s been very successful on the glass so far in leading the Bruins with 9.1 rebounds per game. Since he has assumed the role of power forward he hasn’t had a game where he’s had fewer than five rebounds, which is great considering the other starting big man, Travis Wear, is only averaging 5.9 rebounds per game. More importantly, Anderson has had nine or more rebounds in a game 10 times this year. Anderson doesn’t bring the same scoring punch as Shabazz Muhammad or Jordan Adams, but he’s providing a necessity for Ben Howland and might just be the most important player come March if UCLA wants to make a national title run.
- Oregon is now the only undefeated team in the Pac-12 and Dana Altman believes that his team is very different from how it looked at beginning of the season. There is now a flow in practice and the Ducks are clicking on their way to a seven-game winning streak. They’re also rising in the polls by coming at #16 in the AP Top 25 this week. Altman is keeping his team in check and they all know that there are a lot of games left in the conference season, but all starters are averaging double figures in points and the bench has been excellent, fueled by good post play from the 6’11” Waverly Austin and hustle play from guard Johnathan Loyd. It’s hard to find a flaw with this team right now and that’s not good news for the rest of the Pac-12.
- Sean Miller is all about being direct. Miller preaches the truth and is a no-nonsense guy. His postgame speech after the Wildcats’ victory over Arizona State on Saturday was just plain honest. A notable quote from the talk to his team: “Wow, is it this hard on the road? Yes, but it’s also that rewarding.” It wasn’t a long speech not even topping two-and-a-half minutes, but it was engaging and got the point across. Miller doesn’t waste time and you can see his team is always motivated to play and it’s in certainly in part because of how well he communicates with his players.
- Larry Krystkowiak was very pleased after Utah’s win over Washington this weekend, as the Utes picked up their first-ever road conference win in the Pac-12 and first win overall in the conference season. During practice, Krystkowiak has been stressing urgency. The Utes have been playing every possession as if it is “game point” no matter if the team is on offense or defense, and that urgency was evident as Utah sparked out to a 12-2 lead early in its game against Washington. There is certainly a positive vibe surrounding this squad now, but they cannot let this win distract them with Cal and Stanford coming to Salt Lake City to play on Thursday and Sunday, respectively.
- Although Craig Robinson’s Oregon State team has struggled this year once again, now last in the Pac-12 at 0-5, at least off the court Robinson is still enjoying himself. Robinson was at President Barack Obama’s inauguration yesterday and was caught at one point photo-bombing his famous brother-in-law. It might not have been intentional, but at least Robinson is making news that happens to not be about the Beavers’ poor play.