Jrue Holiday News

UCLA suffered its biggest loss of the Coach Ben Howland era with a 79-47 thumping by the Portland Pilots in the first round of the 76 Classic in Anaheim.

Today Nicholls State vs. Washington State, Anchorage, 5 p.m. Coppin State at USC, 7:30 p.m. Butler vs.

After landing a number of NCAA tournament bids over the last two seasons as well as shipping off a number of outstanding prospects -- Kevin Love, Brook Lopez, Demar DeRozan and James Harden immediately, among others -- to the NBA, the Pac-10 has definitely been on a roll.

Aaron Thompson scored a career-high 22 points and Cal State Fullerton upset UCLA 68-65 in double overtime Monday night, snapping a nine-game losing streak against the Bruins.

With the Bruins playing their opener against Cal State Fullerton at Pauley Pavilion tonight, Ed O'Bannon sees positives and negatives to the coming season.

Eric Maynor and Jrue Holiday had been here before. Virginia Commonwealth vs. UCLA. "Ended my college career," said Maynor, the Utah Jazz rookie from VCU who made his first start last night, filling in against the 76ers for Deron Williams, who left the team to attend to a personal family matter.

The UCLA basketball team more than relies on Jerime Anderson. The Bruins depend on the sophomore.

In the wake of UCLA's close call against Concordia -- a 62-61 victory at Pauley Pavilion Wednesday -- Coach Ben Howland and his team had some thoughts about backcourt play, perhaps the most troubling aspect of a bumpy night.

Some of the finest players in college basketball gathered near Dallas this August for a five-day camp sponsored by adidas, and many in attendance agreed that the best guard in that group may have been UCLA sophomore and former Riverside North star Malcolm Lee.

'Others receiving votes' in Thursday's release of the preseason Associated Press basketball poll ... UCLA.

California was picked on Thursday to win the Pac-10 basketball title, marking the first time in more than 10 years that UCLA or Arizona wasn't the top choice.

If a theme has to be attached to the Sixers since getting ousted in six games by the Orlando Magic in the playoffs last season, call it "Extreme Makeover: Sixers Edition." In is new coach Eddie Jordan with his much-talked-about Princeton offense.

Ben Howland has all the financial security he needs, and he is beginning his seventh year of his dream job.

The pregame warmups were done, and Sixers rookie Jrue Holiday took his seat on the bench as the starters took the floor at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night against the Knicks.

The Pac-10 has churned out NBA guys at an alarming rate over the past couple of years.

Rotokingdom has published their NBA Player Rankings. A handful of knowledgable, experienced fantasy GMs ranked 30 at each position, and 150 overall.

The Sixers can't stand one another on the basketball court right now. Elton Brand is sick of being guarded by Jason Smith, who is sick of getting banged around by Brand.

Jrue Holiday walked slowly off the practice floor the other day with ice bags around each knee.

Eddie Jordan, like many NBA coaches, believes in young players having to earn their minutes.

Ben Howland's right side had been bothering him for about a week. But it wasn't pressing enough to keep him from traveling during a recruiting period.