It’s all about effort

It’s all about effort
By Andrew Howard
The Daily Bruin
Jan. 21, 2010 at 12:48 a.m.

In the two-and-a-half-hour film session the UCLA men’s basketball team underwent following its humiliating loss to USC on Saturday, one thing stood out more than anything else to freshman forward Tyler Honeycutt.

It was not the UCLA turnovers, inept shooting or an inability to stay in front of the athletic USC players that got Honeycutt’s attention. Rather, it was the effort, or lack thereof, shown by the team as a whole, and the problem only became more noticeable during a grueling film study.

“I think everyone’s giving their effort; it’s just a matter of how much they’re giving,” Honeycutt said. “Some guys are maybe not taking this as seriously as others.”

The Bruins look to rebound from Saturday’s loss to USC when they host Washington at home today.Honeycutt, who stayed in the gym after Monday’s practice until 1:30 a.m. working on his shot, said that he could not speak for the team as a whole.

If the Bruins (7-10, 2-3 Pac-10), who sit just 1.5 games out of first place in the Pac-10 despite a difficult start to the season, wish to erase the memory of Saturday’s game, they must treat tonight’s game against Washington (12-5, 3-3) as the most important game of the season.

“If there’s ever a time to respond, we need to respond (tonight),” senior forward James Keefe said.

Washington, despite a 1-3 start to conference play, is coming off routs of Stanford and Cal. At one point in last Thursday’s win over Stanford, the Huskies led the Cardinals by 41 points.

Suffice it to say, the Bruins cannot afford to have another effort like last Saturday’s dismal loss. Keefe also noticed what Honeycutt pointed out in the film review of the game, saying that he believed some players were not giving their full effort.

“I wouldn’t put it on one guy in particular,” Keefe said. “It’s a team thing. You watch the film and there’s lots of areas that we could have made the extra play, given the extra effort.”

One player who was asked by coach Ben Howland this week to give an extra effort is senior forward Nikola Dragovic. Howland asked, in particular, for improvements in rebounding, pointing out that in the Bruins’ first game this season Dragovic had 14 rebounds, compared to 16 total rebounds in five conference games.

“He’s got 13 regular season games left in his career at UCLA,” Howland said. “The main thing is just to bring a great level of energy to everything that we’re doing and to really try to do the tough things.”

Dragovic, who failed to make a field goal on Saturday, understood what Howland asked of him.

“I need to be more aggressive off the glass, get some rebounds, get more rebounds,” Dragovic said.

One player the Bruins will have to focus on is Washington’s senior forward Quincy Pondexter, who is averaging a team-high in points (20.3) and rebounds (7.9). Howland praised Pondexter’s ability to beat defenders in a variety of ways, whether it’s off the dribble, posting up, or facing up.

“He’s arguably the best player in our league,” Howland said.

Last weekend the Bruins were given an opportunity to bounce back from a tough loss with a game at Pauley Pavilion, and failed to do so. As Keefe put it, the Bruins can not afford to suffer the same result.

“I hope we respond,” Keefe said. “We have a great team coming here Thursday and we have to respond.”

NOTES
Sophomore point guard Jerime Anderson is listed as day-to-day with a hip flexor injury. Anderson played just nine minutes in last Saturday’s game. ... Senior guard Michael Roll (bruised abdominal muscle) said he feels better and expects to play.