Tonight's game against Just SC's basketball program is huge in terms of implications on the race for regular season Pac-10 title. We got a huge unexpected gift last night from the Sun Devils of ASU beating up on the Bears up in Berkeley. Washington won handily. So at this point UCLA (10-3) is a half game up on Cal (10-4), 1 up on Stanford (9-4), and 1.5 on Washington (10-5). So if we can pull out this win tonight at our last game at Sports Arena, we can open up a little breathing room going into final two weeks of the regular season. To check out the expanded Pac-10 standings as of this morning, click here.
BBR has the preview for tonight's game. Ced and Arron are going to draw the key defensive assignments for the night:
Sophomore forward Nick Young is the Trojans leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 17.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. He is also hitting on 39.6 on three-pointers. Without a strong presence on the Trojan frontline, he has had to play power forward all season. Young is a tough, heady player who can shoot well from outside and slash into the middle to create his own shot.
Bruin senior forward, Cedric Bozeman will most likely get the assignment against the 6'6 Young. Bozeman's combination of size and speed is a good defensive match-up against Young. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute should also see time against Young as well.
Young has struggled against the Bruins. In his last two games against UCLA, he is shooting 4-20 for a total of only 8 points. "I've just got to go out there and have fun this week and look at it like I'm playing against Jordan [Farmar] or Arron Afflalo at the park."
Junior forward Lodrick Stewart is the third leading scorer for the Trojans, behind Young and Pruitt; he is averaging 12.3 points per game and shoots 41.1% from beyond the three-point arc.
On the injury front - news keep coming. Aboya apparently suffered a mildly strained groin injury in practice this week and is going to be a game time decision today. Not the news I wanted to hear just after Aboya had the best game of this season last Saturday. Oh well. And, Jordan is still hurtin':
Bruin senior forward, Cedric Bozeman will most likely get the assignment against the 6'6 Young. Bozeman's combination of size and speed is a good defensive match-up against Young. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute should also see time against Young as well.
Young has struggled against the Bruins. In his last two games against UCLA, he is shooting 4-20 for a total of only 8 points. "I've just got to go out there and have fun this week and look at it like I'm playing against Jordan [Farmar] or Arron Afflalo at the park."
Junior forward Lodrick Stewart is the third leading scorer for the Trojans, behind Young and Pruitt; he is averaging 12.3 points per game and shoots 41.1% from beyond the three-point arc.
Guard Jordan Farmar, who was two of 13 shooting from the floor and had seven turnovers in a loss to Washington last Saturday, says his two sprained ankles have severely limited him.
"Neither one is close to 100%," Farmar said. "Right now, the right one [sprained and then re-sprained three times this season] is the stronger of the two. It's tough moving around, tough starting and stopping."
By the way that Jordan blurb was I think only the second UCLA basketball related report from the LA Times this week, while they have had pretty much something on USC (their basketball program, not football) almost every day. Something truly bizarre is going on over at the LA Times."Neither one is close to 100%," Farmar said. "Right now, the right one [sprained and then re-sprained three times this season] is the stronger of the two. It's tough moving around, tough starting and stopping."
Anways - moving on - Dohn has a great article on Ced Bozeman this morning. Ced of course has been one of my favorites for a long time. And Dohn as usual is on point writing about how Ced has made the best out of his difficult circumstances in Westwood, thriving under the role given by his new coach, after almost having his career be destroyed by his former poser coach:
For much of Cedric Bozeman's UCLA career, he appeared to represent what was wrong within the program.
He couldn't make the open shot. He couldn't run a half-court offense, or find the open guy all the time. As the program crumbled after his freshman season, he was a central figure in the blame game.
But it might have been the program wronged Bozeman. As his UCLA career winds down and the Bruins are again on the national radar, Bozeman is being praised for being the non-statistical glue holding the team together during this injury-riddled, yet promising, season.
Furthermore, Bozeman is doing it while shedding another label - that of being soft - by playing with a torn labrum in his left shoulder. That comes after he missed last season because of reconstructive right knee surgery.
Good stuff. Make sure to read the whole piece.He couldn't make the open shot. He couldn't run a half-court offense, or find the open guy all the time. As the program crumbled after his freshman season, he was a central figure in the blame game.
But it might have been the program wronged Bozeman. As his UCLA career winds down and the Bruins are again on the national radar, Bozeman is being praised for being the non-statistical glue holding the team together during this injury-riddled, yet promising, season.
Furthermore, Bozeman is doing it while shedding another label - that of being soft - by playing with a torn labrum in his left shoulder. That comes after he missed last season because of reconstructive right knee surgery.
Again a huge game tonight. Lets hope we come out in sync, on fire, burying the Trojans right out of the gate. GO BRUINS.