Bruins are playing in the Wooden Classic today against a very good Nevada team. Here is Diane Pucin going ga-ga over Nevada. Mark Fox (who is a protege of Stanford's Trent Johnson) is bringing in a 6-0 Wolfpack team, which is ranked no. 16, winning 14 consecutive road game, and (gulp) a great player inside. Here is a preview from UCLA Bruins Basketball:
The Wolf Pack are undefeated at 5-0 (at the time posting, ed.) and recently beat Kansas in Lawrence 72-70. They are led in scoring and rebounding by a pair of excellent forwards: Nick Fazekas and Mo Charlo.
2005 WAC player of the year junior forward Nick Fazekas (6'11 230) averages 22.4 points and 8.8 rebounds a game. He has a good low post game and can step out to hit the mid-long range jumper. Fazekas scored 35 points to key the Wolf Pack victory over Kansas.
Mo Charlo a 6'7 senior slashing forward (15.2 ppg 7.6 rpg) can get to the basket and finish or end up at the foul line. He went 11-11 from the line against Pacfic last weekend. Charlo is also the Wolf Pack's most tenacious defender.
Nevada also gets good scoring from 6'5 sophomore guard Marcelus Kemp who is the second leading scorer on the team (16.6 ppg).
The Wolf Pack have a tough defense which has allowed only a 39.% FG% in the five games this season; and they have also outrebounded opponents +6.2 on the boards.
The Bruins toughest defensive match up will be against high-scoring power forward Nick Fazekas. Most likely the Bruins will start freshman Luc Ricahrd Mbah A Moute (6'7) against Fazekas. Alfred Aboya (6'8), who played 16 minutes in his return to action last week, will also get a turn at him. If Fazekas's size is too much for either Mbah A Moute or Aboya, we may see 7-footer Ryan Hollins match up against Fazekas during the game.
Regardless of who will gaurd Fazekas - expect coach Ben Howland to direct his other players on the court to give as much help defense as possible. Although Howland does not like to play zone defense, he will have his Bruin guards and forward sag down to help out the low post defender on Fazekas. The Wolf Pack don't shoot from the outside exceptionally well although they do shoot 39% from the 3-point line, but they don't shoot often from the arc (74 3-point attempts through 5 games while the Bruins have taken 125).
Make sure check that new blog out. They have some great stuff inclduing a preview on Wooden and links to all other UCLA basketball related articles. Also, as usual don't forget to check out updates from Bruin Hoops Scoop. Great to see the UCLA blogosphere growing. GO BRUINS.
2005 WAC player of the year junior forward Nick Fazekas (6'11 230) averages 22.4 points and 8.8 rebounds a game. He has a good low post game and can step out to hit the mid-long range jumper. Fazekas scored 35 points to key the Wolf Pack victory over Kansas.
Mo Charlo a 6'7 senior slashing forward (15.2 ppg 7.6 rpg) can get to the basket and finish or end up at the foul line. He went 11-11 from the line against Pacfic last weekend. Charlo is also the Wolf Pack's most tenacious defender.
Nevada also gets good scoring from 6'5 sophomore guard Marcelus Kemp who is the second leading scorer on the team (16.6 ppg).
The Wolf Pack have a tough defense which has allowed only a 39.% FG% in the five games this season; and they have also outrebounded opponents +6.2 on the boards.
The Bruins toughest defensive match up will be against high-scoring power forward Nick Fazekas. Most likely the Bruins will start freshman Luc Ricahrd Mbah A Moute (6'7) against Fazekas. Alfred Aboya (6'8), who played 16 minutes in his return to action last week, will also get a turn at him. If Fazekas's size is too much for either Mbah A Moute or Aboya, we may see 7-footer Ryan Hollins match up against Fazekas during the game.
Regardless of who will gaurd Fazekas - expect coach Ben Howland to direct his other players on the court to give as much help defense as possible. Although Howland does not like to play zone defense, he will have his Bruin guards and forward sag down to help out the low post defender on Fazekas. The Wolf Pack don't shoot from the outside exceptionally well although they do shoot 39% from the 3-point line, but they don't shoot often from the arc (74 3-point attempts through 5 games while the Bruins have taken 125).