A common foe between UCLA and Arizona State this young season is Delaware State. UCLA beat Delaware State 66-49 (by 17) while ASU beat Delaware State 76-34 (by 42).
Josh Shipp's younger brother, Jerren, plays for ASU. So far this season, Jerren is playing backup minutes and is averaging 4 points and 1.8 rebounds per game.
Up next for UCLA: Thursday vs. Arizona State
Tipoff of Pacific 10 Conference opener is set for 1:30 p.m.
By David Wharton
The Los Angeles Times
December 31, 2009
VS. ARIZONA STATE
When: 1:30 p.m.
Where: Pauley Pavilion.
On the air: TV: Prime Ticket. Radio: 570.
Records: UCLA 5-7, Arizona State 10-3.
Record vs. opponent: 56-16.
Update: The Bruins are hoping forward James Keefe is sufficiently recovered from a dislocated left shoulder to provide at least a few minutes along a thin front line. The Sun Devils can look to senior guard Derek Glasser, who is averaging 19.7 points in three road games. One more statistic: Over the last three seasons, Arizona State is 10-1 when it has at least five days to prepare.
_____________
Bruins look at Pac-10 opener as fresh start
Team is told by Coach Ben Howland to forget preseason struggles.
By David Wharton
The Los Angeles Times
December 31, 2009
The start of the Pacific 10 Conference season means one thing to a UCLA basketball team that has struggled through its first dozen games.
Forgetting.
Forgetting about the missed shots and defensive breakdowns. Forgetting about seven losses against only five wins.
"Coach told us we've got to start 0-0 right now," forward Nikola Dragovic said. "We have a chance to just start from the beginning. Start a whole new season."
The Pac-10 opener comes against Arizona State at Pauley Pavilion this afternoon.
The Sun Devils no longer have James Harden or Jeff Pendergraph -- both are in the NBA -- but UCLA Coach Ben Howland still sees a strong resemblance to the conference rival that swept his Bruins last season.
Start with senior Derek Glasser, averaging 11.8 points and 5.7 assists.
"He's a difficult matchup because he's so smart," Howland said. "He makes very good decisions as a point guard and really reads defenses well."
Arizona State likes to set screens for Glasser, then roll or slip the screen for a quick pass. Glasser has responded with 74 assists against 27 turnovers.
When he does make the pass, he can look to scorers in swingman Rihards Kuksiks and center Eric Boateng, averaging 11.8 and 8.3 points, respectively.
"They really shoot the ball well from all perimeter positions," Howland said. "That makes it difficult to defend them because they really stretch you out."
Hoping for a repeat
While Dragovic continues to struggle offensively, making only 31% of his shots, Howland cites history as an argument for sticking with the senior.
Last season, Dragovic had a similar cold stretch during the nonconference schedule, then heated up when Pac-10 games came around.
After playing only 13 minutes in the 2008-09 opener at Oregon State, he scored in double figures in four of the next five games.
Dragovic is ready for a similar revival this winter, saying, "I'm feeling really good."
Honeycutt coming on
Another player who may be rounding into shape is freshman Tyler Honeycutt, sidelined the entire summer and half of the games this season because of injuries to his back and right leg.
"I missed four months, five months of shots," he said. "And just having the ball in my hands."
The 6-foot-7 forward still cannot lift weights, which may limit his explosiveness off the wing, but he has done plenty of endurance work and is feeling stronger.
Against Delaware State this week, he had 11 points and four rebounds in 27 minutes.
The turning point may have come when the Bruins reconvened after a short holiday to practice on Christmas night.
"That was the best I've felt since I've been here," he said. "Everybody was kind of dragging about practicing on Christmas, but I was excited."
________
ASU to tip-off Pac-10 slate at UCLA
By Alex Espinoza
FOXSportsArizona.com
Posted Dec. 30 2009
After a brief holiday hiatus, the Arizona State men's basketball team returned to an empty campus this week to prep for the start of Pac-10 play.
The Sun Devils wrapped up their non-conference schedule with a 61-52 win over South Carolina Upstate on Dec. 23, moving their record to 10-3 on the year.
"I'm sure most of (the players) were extremely happy to see me again after the difficult few days away," said ASU coach Herb Sendek, tounge-in-cheek.
Though his players took some time off to be with their families, it appears Sendek kept himself busy over the break.
"(Sendek) is a 20-hour-a-day guy, it seems like," ASU junior guard Jamelle McMillan said. "Looks like he didn't get any sleep last night."
Presumably, Sendek has been spending his days in the film room breaking down UCLA, who the Sun Devils will face Thursday at Pauley Pavilion at 2:30 p.m. The game will be televised by FOX Sports Arizona.
UCLA (5-7) is off to its slowest start since coach Ben Howland took over in 2003 and has become a poster child for the Pac-10's perceived drop off this year.
The Bruins feature some familiar faces (i.e. Nikola Dragovic, Michael Roll and James Keefe) from years past, but make no mistake, Howland's rotation is laden with underclassmen.
Keefe, a senior forward, has been out since Dec. 15 after dislocating his left shoulder and is questionable for Thursday. His absence, however, has allowed for the emergence of 6-foot-8-inch freshman Reeves Nelson. In his three starts since Keefe has been sidelined, Nelson has averaged 15.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game while shooting 75 percent from the field.
According to ASU senior guard Derek Glasser, it will be paramount for the Sun Devils to win the rebounding battle, something ASU has stuggled with all year. Currently, ASU ranks dead last in the conference in rebonds per game (31.3).
Glasser also said it will be key to slow down Roll and sophomore guard Malcolm Lee, UCLA's leading scorers so far this season.
"Malcolm - who I think they're looking for to be their guy - is really starting to come into his own now," Glasser said. "And Michael Roll is one of the best shooters - not only in the conference - but in the country."
Sans James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph, this year's ASU team has forged a defensive-minded identity. The Sun Devils boast the conference's best scoring defense (54.5 points allowed per game) and the league's best average scoring margin (plus 15.8).
While Sendek's praise for his defense was predictably lukewarm, McMillan offered a bold assessment of the team.
"We have the personnel in order to be an elite defensive team," McMillan said. "Defense is what's going to win us games."
For more on the Bruin-Sun Devil matchup, see previous post by clicking here.
No comments:
Post a Comment