Ben Ball Roundup: Everyone Is Back, Well Almost
by Nestor on Nov 3, 2009 5:45 AM PST
Email
PrintWe are getting very close. The season gets started with an exhibition game tomorrow night at Pauley (more on that below). Coach Howland is getting close to having his full squad of Ben Ball warriors back in practice. From the LA Times:
With the team preparing for its first exhibition game against Concordia on Wednesday night, Howland had a relatively large contingent of healthy bodies on the court for Monday's practice.
Only freshman forward Brendan Lane sat out the entire session, because of a sprained ankle.
Guard Michael Roll took part in noncontact drills before wrapping his sore ankle in ice. Point guard Jerime Anderson did even better, lasting about two-thirds of the way.
"The groin's feeling real good, real healthy," Anderson said. "I think they're just easing me back in."
That abundance of caution will continue through the week, with Howland already deciding that Anderson, Roll and Lane will sit out the Concordia game.
The news about JA is definitely encouraging. ML was excited to have almost everyone back at practice:
"This was the first practice that we had where everybody felt really good," sophomore guard Malcolm Lee said. "At one point we only had 10 people practicing, and there were no subs. If one person was about to get hurt, you had to tell them to just suck it up, because we had no more bodies. It felt really good today to have almost everyone out here."
Well apparently ND had a little case of food poisoning (per the Times he hate "pasta that had been left out too long") as he left practice about half way through. He should be fine. ND is still going to be serve a "punishment" and be benched for the opening tip off tomorrow night for missing a team-meeting this week. Howland sounds really serious about it:
"He might have got out of the discipline for missing the mandatory meeting by getting food poisoning," Howland said. "Anything's possible."
LOL. Gotta love Howland.
As for practices RN has made his presence felt early on as a freshman by leading the team in rebounds (no doubt that has Howland's attention). But he sill has lot to learn:
"Just the game speed," he said. "I think all the freshmen are used to dominating on their high school teams. This has been really similar to what I went through my freshman year of high school."
On defense, the 6-8, 228-pound forward has worked on covering opponents along the perimeter, focusing on footwork and lateral quickness.
On offense, he's simply trying to be more patient.
"Instead of dominating the ball and getting the majority of shots, I'm just trying to make good plays when I'm open," he said. "Just trying to play solid."
If you can't wait to see RN and rest of the warriors, you can check them out online tomorrow against Concordia. UCLA All-Access, UCLA Athletics' online multimedia platform, will carry exclusive online video of the games against Concordia on November 4, Humboldt State on November 10 and Delaware State on December 27. You can get more details here. We will throw up an open thread for that game right around tip off so that folks who are following it online or via radio can post away.
GO BRUINS.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.
18 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
It runs on Silverlight which is Microsoft
but it should still work. If you tried watching the Summer Olympics, it was the same deal. I’ve heard that there are some compatibility issues, but Microsoft claims Silverlight is compatible with Mac so it should work.
I was the same way.
I had to go online and look up the roster to see who we where talking about.
A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment. John Wooden
Our opponents can't all be Kansas
Concordia, Humboldt State, and Delaware State? Sounds like the out-of-conference football schedules for Florida and Michigan!
To be fair, the Concordia and Humboldt St games don't count
They are actual pre-season games (as opposed to non-conference games) that do not count in our season standings, nor accru official statistics. Essentially, they take the place of the games that were once scheduled against post-grad barnstorming teams, such as Branch West and the EA sports All-Stars (damn you, CHP!!!).
Also CBH's scheduling philosophy has been well documented here
The basketball season is so long and there is such high player turnover every year (especially at UCLA), that CBH uses an easier non-conference schedule to get his team properly prepared and in sync for what really matters—Pac-10 play. Of course there are a few big games every year courtesy of tournaments, the Wooden Classic, and the Pac-10/Big-12 challenge, but this isn’t the same situation as football. College basketball has a playoffs, so you don’t need to worry about being one of the top few teams by regular season’s end. You just need to make it in (preferably with some momentum), and that is what CBH excels at.
In my opinion, we have a pretty tough non-conference schedule this year
Kansas, @ Notre Dame, Miss St, and some tough matchups in the 76 Classic. It’s going to be quite a test for our young guys. I can already see some articles being written in December around the theme of “has Howland lost his touch?” or questioning whether this group of players is to UCLA’s standards and discussing how other teams have “closed the gap.” Then sometime around late Jan or early Feb, this team will start to gel and then the articles will change to how we’re a “sleeper” to do some damage in the tournament.
by insomniacslounge on Nov 4, 2009 10:59 AM PST up reply actions
Let's hope it turns out
like Larry Brown’s team…
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
The good ol' days...EA Sports All-Stars and Athletes in Action
Yes, the scheduling of a few cream puffs is a longstanding tradition in virtually every big basketball program. A few years ago (Lizard years in particular), we struggled mightily with a few of them. I’m glad we have a few games like these to work out the kinks in our team’s play and develop a smooth-flowing approach. As long as we don’t go overboard with schedule padding (see: Georgetown basketball) and we keep some tough early games on the schedule, we will be in fighting shape for the Pac-10 season.
My favorite early-season UCLA game of all time was against Kentucky when freshman J.R. Henderson hit the winning free throws in the final second. That was an early indication of great things to come, as the clutch victory set the tone for our 1995 championship season.
That Kentucky game...
Ed O’Bannon put the fear of God into J.R. as he was stepping up to take those free throws! LOL!
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
Based purely on the eyeball test, the freshman I'm most excited about is
Anthony Stover. I think ultimately, he could be a defensive beast down in the post- kind of like a much stronger version of Ryan Hollins (once the light went on for him). And as we’ve seen in the not so distant past, Howland’s teams really shine when there’s someone protecting the paint.
by insomniacslounge on Nov 4, 2009 11:10 AM PST reply actions
He's a looooong ways off
I do really like his potential though and he’s a great guy.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Nov 4, 2009 5:42 PM PST up reply actions
If Stover is a contributor this season
I’d have to revise my expectations for the season upwards, because he was supposed to be the biggest project on the team.
Given that he didn't see any time in a game when we really needed a spark
I’m going to guess that you’re right.
by insomniacslounge on Nov 4, 2009 10:20 PM PST up reply actions
As I said
he is looooong ways off. he does have a very high ceiling though so he can be a major factor a year, two or three down the road.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Nov 5, 2009 12:41 AM PST up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
