Drago distracted

Bruins' Dragovic tries to regain focus
By AL BALDERAS
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
December 14, 2009 7:59 PM

The UCLA senior has the team's worst field-goal percentage.

LOS ANGELES -- UCLA basketball coach Ben Howland was at a loss after the Bruins lost to Mississippi State by 18 points Saturday at the Wooden Classic.

It wasn't solely because the Bruins dropped their fifth consecutive game, but also because senior Nikola Dragovic played one of the worst games of his career.

In 29 minutes, Dragovic was 0 for 9 from the field, with a rebound and an assist.

"He took two or three shots where he actually air-balled them," Howland said after the 72-54 loss. "That's not something you see out of Nik. Maybe it's a confidence thing. I don't know."

After Monday's practice, Howland was hopeful he found the solution to Dragovic's problems.

"One thing I've been talking with Nik about all the time is that I don't want him watching the ball when he shoots," Howland said. "I want him keeping his eye on the target. This has been a four-year thing."

Dragovic put Howland's advice to the test when he showed up an hour early for practice, and the results were good.

"He focused, doing it how I wanted him to do it and I think it's going to really help him," Howland said. "It's something that I believe in. You don't watch the ball, you watch the target."

When Dragovic takes the court for tonight's game against New Mexico State, he'll do it with a team-worst 24.1 percent success rate on his field-goal attempts.

Dragovic's best game this season came in a 69-67 loss to Butler in the 76 Classic the day after Thanksgiving. He scored a team-high 14 points, with six rebounds, in 26 minutes.

Though his poor shooting has been obvious, Howland said Dragovic's entire game needs to improve.

"I think Nik really knows that he's played an all-around poor game," Howland said. "It's not just his shooting but his defense and his rebounding, especially against Mississippi State, was definitely subpar.

"If he continues to play at this pace, or the pace he played against Mississippi State, obviously he's going to play less minutes. I don't expect that to happen. I expect him to bounce back here now and to really play well in these next few games. I believe that he will."

Dragovic, who was suspended two games this season after being arrested on an assault charge, conceded the off-court distractions hurt his school work and that he had to devote more time to catch up. Now that the quarter is complete, he can turn his attention back to basketball.

He is scheduled to be arraigned later this month.

"I've been worrying about it for awhile," Dragovic said. "Now it's out of my hands and I'm waiting to see what happens in court. It did cause a little trouble at home but I can't worry about it anymore. There's nothing besides basketball."