Injuries Piling Up In Howlandwood

Sounds like the warrior season is in full swing. News of bumps and bruises coming out of Howland's practices are stacking up (poncho had a fanshot on this yesterday). Of course this is leading to reports in the local papers with the usual concerned tones:

Add center J'mison Morgan to the list of the walking wounded, the sophomore waiting for MRI exam results this morning after his left knee swelled.

Even more troubling is point guard Jerime Anderson, expected to miss another week with a groin injury that has persisted off and on since high school.

That's not good for a Bruins squad short on backcourt depth.

"Everybody should be worried," Howland said. "I am, most of all."

The coach insisted he will not hurry Anderson back onto the court: "We cannot afford for this to be a chronic thing, which means he's going to get off to a slower start."

When the Bruins resume workouts this afternoon, the team will rely on seldom-used junior Mustafa Abdul-Hamid to handle the point because off guard Malcolm Lee is still out with a concussion.

Among other injured players, freshman Mike Moser (sore lower back) is doubtful for practice and freshman Brendan Lane (ankle sprain) could miss one to two weeks.

So we have no have 6 scholarship players struggling with injuries. Not sure what has been going on because I thought PAA was no longer practicing with the team. :-)

Some good news though. JK has been "cleared for moderate contact" per the LAT report linked above. So that's positive.  Honestly like everyone else I am worried about the injuries too. However, it seems par for the course not just for UCLA but for all basketball programs where coaches hold tough, hard nose practices (perhaps Bullough should consider attending these practices to take notes of how to mold tough defenses ... hey but that's another story).

Going back to the injury notes, I am glad Howland is not rushing back JA. I don't think there is any need to. Let him get completely healthy and healed up for the season. We are going to be all right. Remember how the team turned into a total mash unit during 06-07 season.

IIRC something like 8 players missed substantial time due to one injury or another. It worked out ok. Not saying we are going to win the Pac-10 or end up the NC game. Just saying with Howland in charge we will get the best effort from our team as the kids get healthy and toughen up through hard nosed practices. We call them "warriors" for a reason around here on BN.

GO BRUINS.