With no football game to prep for this weekend, this week is shaping up to be our first major Ben Ball game week of 2008-09 season. Bruins have a huge game coming up this Thursday night against Michigan Wolverines. Even though because of our high pre season ranking, we will probably head into this game as “favorites” in the eyes of many casual basketball observers around the country (who are probably already looking ahead to a possible UCLA-Duke matchup in the finals), I think this game is a huge question mark for our Ben Ball warriors.

Let’s just get this out of the way. I hope no one here on Bruin Nation is thinking about Duke after this post. This week should be all about Wolverines.

Given our recent history against John  Beilein, I think this game will be a toss-up against a much improved Wolverines team. They will be fired up and ready to go all out to make a national statement in Beilein’s second year in what at least in my book is the marquee All Sports school in the Big-10 (in essence UCLA’s twin brother from the Midwest). Kevin Pearson from the Press Enterprise has a brief capsule on Bruin’s familiar opponent:

This will be the seventh straight season that UCLA has played Michigan, so there's no lack of familiarity. But the connection goes deeper than that.

Second-year Michigan coach John Beilein, who came to Ann Arbor a year ago, also faced UCLA when he was leading West Virginia with his unusual 1-3-1 attack the two years before that. So these teams really should know the score.

"Well, Josh (Shipp) does and Darren (Collison) and Alfred (Aboya) do," Howland said.

"You have to stay focused on what they're doing," Shipp said. "They do a lot of backdoor cuts. They're just waiting for you to break down."

Twice with West Virginia, Beilein's teams beat UCLA. Then last year the Bruins turned it around in Ann Arbor, thanks to a 41-18 run over the final 14 minutes for a 69-54 win.

"They're a much-improved team," Howland said of the Wolverines, led by 6-foot-5 sophomore guard Manny Harris, averaging 28 points in his two starts.

We will have more on other Michigan players later this week. But one immediate question Coach Howland will have to answer is who will be guarding Harris. Given Howland’s comments in the Daily Bruin, it seems like JH might get a shot:

Just two games into his college career, Howland said that he has a huge role defensively in store for Holiday: the task of guarding the other team’s best player. It is the role that former Bruins Arron Afflalo and Russell Westbrook played during their time at UCLA, and it is the assignment Howland said Holiday will draw this season due to the physical gifts he possesses.

“For us to be the team that we want to be, bottom line is (he’s going to have to do that),” Howland said. “There’s going to be games where he’s going to be guarding great players, and there’s going to be times where it’s going to be hard. But he’ll figure it out.”

Howland noted that it is not an easy task for the young freshman to undertake, and there will be a learning curve, as was the case with both Afflalo and Westbrook early in their careers.

Howland said that during Afflalo’s first season, the freshman struggled with the assignment and had some off nights defensively. The same was said of Westbrook, who evolved from an average defender to the Pac-10 defensive player of the year.

Yet, Howland cautioned that Holiday’s learning curve will be much shorter than the other two Bruins and that much of the experience and learning will have to be done on the fly.

“It’s always hard when you’re changing levels, whether you’re going from high school to college or college to the NBA,” Howland said. “It’s just different. There’s no doubt that Jrue’s going to end up being a really good player for us. He’s thrusted into a very difficult role right away, and I think I alluded to this after the game – I’m expecting him to come in here and guard their best player on the other team.”

For many of us this will be our first opportunity to see JH and rest of the freshmen. That’s some treat if we get to see JH taking on Manny Harris in our first true national telecast (ESPNU doesn’t really count) of the season. At this point given what I have read on paper, it seems like a scary proposition for us. If any of you have a different thought on it and want to talk me down, would love to hear your takes in the comment threads.

Meanwhile, JH and his team-mates have been going through grueling film sessions following the (expected) not so polished performances in their first two games of the season:

Gordon said before the film session, he thought UCLA's five freshmen played well against the Redhawks. And after the film session?

"We've got a lot of work to do," Gordon said. "You can see it come together on some plays, but on other plays you'd just be like, `It's the beginning of the season.' "

Howland is a detail-oriented coach who sweats every little morsel, including reminding players to wear sweat shirts if the weather is chilly.

So, when it comes to watching tape after a mistake-filled performance, which comes in the second college game for UCLA's freshmen, the rewind button gets a workout.

"You have the rewind button. Horrible," Gordon said. "When he sees something he doesn't like, he will let you know about it. And you will see six, seven, eight times.

"I got it coach. Rewind. I got it. I got it, coach. Rewind. We'll just watch this one more time. Rewind. Actually, you know what? Rewind. All right coach. We're good. It's tough. You definitely know what you did wrong."

And I am sure this constant drilling down of details will be relentless on CBH’s part through rest of this season with his young warriors.

Hope our kids are paying attention and focused with a sense of urgency because if they aren’t ready, they will be playing for third place after Thursday night is over. Hey, it won’t be the end of the world because it’s the same experience we went though in 2005-06.  We took it in the chin against Memphis at MSG and then barely got out alive against Drexel courtesy of last second free throws from Jordan Farmar. We went through few more ups and downs during that regular season with a team featuring a mix of veterans and young players who gelled later in the season culminating in a memorable run. I expect us to go through same growing pains this season and will not be surprised at all if we run into a massive challenge this Thursday night.

Let’s just hope our guys are taking in all the lessons Howland is relentlessly teaching this early in the season.

GO BRUINS.

So the Ben Ball opening night is here. Many of you who are lucky to live in Southern California have already gotten a little taste of this year’s version of Ben Ball warriors in our first two exhibition games. Tonight few more will join the party via ESPNU as the season gets underway for real against Prairie View A&M. For the game preview please head over to Bruin Basketball Report.

The big question in everyone’s mind is whether the Bruins of this year will be running and gunning a little more given all the talent we have in our back court. Well, in the world of Ben Ball, that will only happen if the Bruins can (wait for it … wait for it … wait for it) REBOUND and play DEFENSE at a consistent level. David Wharton from the LA Times has a delicious article today on how our Ben Ball warriors this season will need to hit the boards to get the fast breaks started:

Blue-collar ethic has carried UCLA to three consecutive Final Four appearances. Asked if the 2008-09 Bruins will undergo a style makeover, Howland answered firmly in the negative.

Until players take care of the dirty work, he said, "everything is wishful thinking."

No Bruin is likely to replace Love's 10.6 rebounds a game last season. Instead, the team will need a coordinated effort, everyone pitching in.

It's a message the coach drives home with physical rebounding drills.

"Everyone's just getting knocked around," forward James Keefe said.

Keefe has been the team's best rebounder in practice. He should get help from Drew Gordon and J'mison Morgan, the two big men in UCLA's top-ranked recruiting class, who are expected to contribute immediately.

There is also senior center Alfred Aboya -- if he can overcome a tendency for early foul trouble.

"I don't know how else to say it, that has got to stop," Collison said. "We need Alfred out there."

AA2 is a huge factor. He needs to stay in the game to help out his current team-mates make up the lost production due to departures of KL, LRMAM, RW and LMR:

A year ago Love, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Westbrook and Lorenzo Mata-Real combined for 24 rebounds per game.

The starting lineup of center Alfred Aboya, Keefe, wing Josh Shipp, point guard and preseason All-American Darren Collison, and Holiday, combined to averaged 10.7 rebounds per game last season, or 0.1 rebounds more than Love averaged by himself.

Shipp is UCLA's leading returning rebounder at 3.2 per game, and with teams shooting 41.8 percent against the Bruins last season and defense to be a key staple again, there should be plenty of opportunities for rebounds this season.

"We have to have all five players rebounding," Howland said. "Darren Collison has to average four rebounds per game on defense for us this year. Alfred has never been a great defensive rebounder. He is a great block-out guy. We need to get all our players going to the glass. Everything is wishful thinking until you get the rebound and get stops."

Collison, a two-year starter, averaged a career-best 2.6rebounds per game last season.

However, Howland's insistence on rebounding dominance does play dividends. The Bruins were 29-1 when winning the rebounding edge last season, but 4-3 when outrebounded.

But the bigger team commitment to rebounding likely means less transition baskets.

"Will there be a lot of deep outlets?" Howland said. "It will be more difficult because our point guard has to get his nose dirty and be in there for us to win."

And if you are wondering, whether CBH’s message is getting through, here is JH in PE.com:

What Holiday envisions himself doing is not what you'd expect of a highly touted blue-chipper.

"One of my goals is to play good defense -- to be the defensive player of the year," Holiday said, sounding not unlike Arron Afflalo on his arrival five years ago in Howland's first class.

And the LAT:

"Playing defense -- that's the main thing," said Holiday who, on top of everything else, appears to be a quick study. "Blocking my man and helping my teammates."

Somewhere AA and RW must be smiling. LET’S GO!

We will an open thread tonight with a link for those who want to follow the game through online streaming.

GO BRUINS.

Let’s follow up on the recruiting fall out from Lute Olson’s tragic retirement from Arizona. We all wish Lute well. It didn’t take that long though for three Arizona high profile recruits – Abdul Gaddy Jr, Mike Moser, and Solomon Hill – to decommit from next year’s class. Right now UCLA is going to get involved with two of these kids: Gaddy and Moser. For Gaddy, per Dohn’s report today it might come down between Washington and UCLA:

The father of highly regarded high school point guard Abdul Gaddy Jr. said his son could decide between UCLA and Washington within a week, and added the family learned Arizona coach Lute Olson was retiring from a UCLA assistant the night before the story broke.

Gaddy, a 6-foot-3 senior at Bellarmine Prep of Tacoma (Wash.), twice committed to Arizona, and de-committed for a second time when Olson announced his retirement last week. A few weeks ago Gaddy pared his college choices to UCLA and Arizona, but Abdul Sr. said what transpired with Olson made the family re-evaluate Washington.

"How (Washington) got back involved was after the Arizona situation, I think (Abdul Jr.) thought, 'You know what, maybe this is a sign to stay close to home?' " Abdul Sr. said. "He works out with some of the players at Washington, including Isaiah Thomas, one of the freshman that came in this year. And the location being 40 minutes from our home plays into it."

Abdul Sr. said he believes his son wants to sign with a school during the early period, which begins Nov. 12. He added the decision to de-commit stems from the uncertainty enveloping Arizona's program.

Reading the tea leaves it seems like right now Washington is probably the favorite to get a commitment from Gaddy. On paper arguments for Ben Howland and UCLA basketball program are overwhelming.

We don’t need to lay out the specific stats. concerning our national championships, our appearances in the Final-4, and the recent amazing run under Ben Howland (dominating the conference for last three seasons). Those numbers speak of themselves.

Also, the evidence can’t get any clearer in terms of CBH’s ability to develop elite point guards at UCLA. I don’t see any need to rehash what Howland has done with JF, AA, RW and DC last few years in Westwood.

A Gaddy commitment to UCLA also makes sense in terms of UCLA’s current roster. Even though getting Gaddy will be icing on the cake for the great recruiting class Howland has put together this year (following last year’s number 1 recruiting class), he still would fit in well in terms of roster needs. If JH and ML have great seasons in next two years, one of them could explore the option of leaving early. Having Gaddy in the fold would enable Howland and his coaching staff to have a seamless transition in terms of roster movement.

So with that and the fact that UCLA just barely missed out with Gaddy last time around, it seems like a no brainer argument for Bruins. However, as we all know recruiting can be an interesting world. The allure of staying close to home can be very strong for recruits and their parents. In addition given the fact that they have now gotten jolted twice by a major program in this process, I can see how the Gaddies would want to think about staying close to home. That is why I think right now it will not be a surprise (to me at least) if Gaddy decides to stay close to home. Then again, we know how tenacious Howland and his staff can be (Howland is already up in Tacoma, WA to recruit Gaddy), so we are not going to count them out.

Meanwhile, as mentioned above there is another elite Arizona recruit who has opened up his recruiting process. 6-7 wing Mike Moser from Portland (Ore) is looking at other options, which might include UCLA. From what I hear Moser could wait till Spring to make his final decision. A key data point, I am sure Howland and his staff will point out in their pursuit of Moser will be the following news coming out of Milwaukee this week. LRMAM is in serious consideration for breaking into the starting line up for Milwaukee Bucks:

The Bucks open their home season on Saturday night against Toronto.

Skiles said he had made a decision on whether to start rookie Luc Richard Mbah a Moute in the opener, but he declined to reveal it. On Friday after the Bucks lost in overtime to the Bulls, Skiles said he was considering putting the second-round pick in the starting lineup.

If Mbah a Moute starts, it would likely be at the power forward spot, with Charlie Villanueva coming off the bench. But the 22-year-old from Cameroon also has played at small forward and shooting guard and displayed a remarkable versatility.

"In the exhibition season, he has shown he can defend at a very high level in the NBA, at multiple positions," Skiles said of the 6-foot-8 forward from UCLA. "He also rebounds it; he also takes good care of the ball. And he's a very smart player.

"He's going to be a guy that's going to help us. Now, the problem is, you can base decisions on exhibition season and sometimes be wrong, because it's not the regular season. That would surprise me if that's the case with Luc, because he has such a level head, and because he can defend.

"Defending doesn't change. I played him at the 2 in the game when Michael (Redd) was out, and he acquitted himself very well. So we'll see."

None of that should be a surprise to any here on BN.

I don’t know whether or now Howland and his staff will be successful in getting either Gaddy or Moser or both of them. What I do know is that whether or not if those kids come in, UCLA is already sitting pretty with this year’s class, and getting those kids will be gravy at this point. As for those kids, if they come in, they are guaranteed to get coaching from one of the best if not the best in America, giving them a serious shot in shining at the next level.

The evidence at this point is overwhelming … in favor of Ben Ball warriors.

Trust in Howland.

GO BRUINS.

UPDATE (N): Gaddy decides to commit to Washington. Not a surprise at this point. Good luck to Gaddy. We wish him well. GO BRUINS.

So are you guys getting ready?

While UCLA football for the first time in almost a decade keeping all of us interested on a week to week basis, the Ben Ball party is about to get started here in Westwood.

Bruins will have a media day on Wednesday as practice will officially get started this Friday.

So with that in mind wanted to share some snipets from what I consider to be the best pre season analysis available anywhere in the traditional media: Blue Ribbon College Yearbook preview, which is currently available free on ESPN.

There are not a lot of surprises here. The folks at Blue Ribbon concludes UCLA basketball program is in tip top shape thanks to who we believe is the best coach in this game:

Last season, Howland became the third coach in NCAA history to have won at least 30 games in three consecutive seasons, along with Adolph Rupp and John Calipari, who also joined the exclusive club on the strength of his NCAA runner-up team. Yes, John Wooden never did so.

As for life at UCLA, in what has become an annual summer occurrence, Howland signed another contract extension. This one guarantees him $1.97 million this season, not including incentives. And Howland makes no bones about this being his dream job; it would surprise few if he retired here, although many coaches have that urge at some point to test the NBA waters.

The program couldn't be in better shape, that despite the host of early departures the last three seasons. UCLA continues to draw the nation's top recruits -- this season's class ranked by the majority as the country's best.

As for our players, of course it all starts with DC, who Coach Howland believes (and we agree) is the best pg in the country:

"I have no doubt, no one does, that Darren would've been a first-round pick in the NBA draft," Howland said. "He gives us an All-American at the point. To me, he's the best point guard in the country.

"He's a next-level player coming back for another season. The leadership and veteran presence he brings is hard to explain. And he's stronger than ever; he's been lifting since the season ended, he might be 175 pounds for the opener.

"Darren's going to have the ball in his hands a lot, and he's always been our defensive point guard. This is a kid that could lead the conference in three-point and free-throw percent-age, assists and steals."

Providing DC with veteran leadership will be JS, who for the first time since his freshman year is coming into a season totally healthy:

Shipp was 100 percent healthy this spring and summer.

"This is the first summer Josh was able to work out and play basketball in three years; he could actually focus on his game rather than recovering from surgery," Howland said. "I'm counting on a big year from Josh, we haven't seen his best basketball."

It will be very interesting to see what kind of season we get from JS this season. I think if this kid is finally feeling totally healthy can show us that defensive aggression and nose for the ball that made him a fan favorite way back in his freshman season, he could leave Westwood with a memorable legacy. If Josh can bring defensive intensity evey game and play within Howland's offensive scheme, it is going to be fun to watch him.

Speaking of fun, it's Holiday time Westwood:

"First of all, with Jrue, he has a good body, he's going to be around 200 pounds this season and he's very athletic," Howland said. "And he has the potential to be outstanding defen-sively once he learns the schemes. For a high school kid, he's solid defensively; he doesn't gamble.

"He has a great left hand, not only dribbling wise but he can shoot with it, and not just layups, either, he can shoot from 8-10 feet with his left. For a right-handed player, he has as good of a left hand as I've ever seen at this level."

The 2008 Gatorade Player of the Year, Holiday would have played the point if Collison had departed for the NBA, but as it is, he'll probably see limited minutes at the one, which is no problem; he's a natural scorer but more than willing to pass when penetrating the lane.

We are getting so spoiled under Howland. After being treated to JF and AA, he transitioned us into DC and AA, which evolved into DC and RW. Now we get to have DC and JH with all the talented guards waiting in the wings. And yet there are some people out there who tried to claim with a straight face Howland can't develop guards. lol

Anyway, there are lot more good stuff in the Blue Ribbon preview. You can read rest of it here.

I did find it interesting that they have AA2 and JMM (BoBo) pegged as starters in the front court with AA2 at 4 and JMM at 5. My hunch is that we will have JK getting the starting nod at 4 with AA2 at 5.  Should be more than interesting how it all shapes up when practice gets started at the Cathedral of College Hoops this Friday in Westwood. Besides the (much deserved) glowing preview, I do have lot of questions around our team, which I will try to lay out in next few days. Still despite those questions, with Howland in charge we can look forward to another fun year at UCLA.

So after a long season ... once again time to get started dreaming about more shining moments in blue and gold:

We are ready for the Ben Ball party.  Are you?

Thank God for Ben Howland.

GO BRUINS.

I still miss this kid:

To show what it's like to scrap with Richard Hamilton every day, Arron Afflalo held out his arms.

"Look at this," he said. "I have the most scratches of all-time in Pistons history."

One of the highlights of the daily scrimmages is the physical and verbal jousting between the two shooting guards. On Wednesday, Afflalo knocked Hamilton hard to the floor and when Afflalo went to help him up, Hamilton angrily waved him away.

A few plays later, Hamilton aggressively forced Afflalo out of bounds, causing a turnover. What he said to Afflalo could not be printed in a family newspaper.

"I try to talk to him and I talk bad to him sometimes," Hamilton said. "But that motivates him. He never backs down. I love that from him. He ain't never going to back down and if he does, I am going to be disappointed in him. I tell him, 'In a  game if somebody hits you, you hit him back. We all got your back.'

Where again did AA honed that ferocious mentality?

Afflalo, in his second year out of UCLA, figures to play a more consistent role off the bench this season. His rugged and fearless defensive play might be his calling card and his ticket to more playing time, but he has worked hard to improve both his ball-handling and shooting skills.

That is from a profile in the Detroit News, which starts with these two words: “Bruisin’ Bruin.” Just a little example of why blue chip recruits like Anthony Stover are flocking to Westwood and high profile alums are constantly working in that magical four letter word in their hoops discussion.

I have written this before … I don’t think Bruin Nation has felt this jazzed about our basketball program since the days of Coach. Okay 66, Fox 71, we will never get back to the level of hanging 10 Banners and the streak of 88 wins .. but right now … this is a pretty damn good feeling.

It feels even more special, when recalling the struggle and growing pains we all went through during Howland’s first two and half seasons in Westwood. Just something to keep in mind, when you take in all the football actions tonight and rest of this first season of CRN.

I hope all the talented football players in our football program such as Harwell, Bell, Carter, ATV, Ayers, Coleman, Moore, Baca, Dye, Dean and incoming recruits such as Brehaut and Todd Golper read up a little on AA, JF, RH, CB, DT (non bandwagoners should have no problem figuring out the last three initials). If those kids can capture the same spirit of the legacy AA and his team-mates left behind in Westwood after helping Howland rebuild this program in his first three seasons, we are going to be all right.

Even though AA et al. didn’t bring home a banner, I will always remember those kids with the same reverence I have for Ed O and Tyus Edney. They are the ones who formed the foundation of the Ben Ball in Westwood. Hopefully the kids who are now playing under CRN and his new staff will work to build this program with the same sense of passion, dedication, and fiery competitive spirit that facilitated Howland’s masterful rebuilding efforts at UCLA.

Anyway, sorry for getting a little sidetrack from the AA story. But reading about AA, BDiddy’s quote, and the news of our latest high profile commit just drove home the point for me how good it feels when everything starts clicking for our program, after going through the growing pains under a competent head coach. When everything starts clicking in the world of Bruin football in next few tears, it will feel better than more than I can write in any blogpost.

GO BRUINS.