Pre-@ Arizona news

Up next for UCLA: Thursday at Arizona

Reeves Nelson is cleared to play for the Bruins and J’mison Morgan is suspended for the game.

The Los Angeles Times
March 3, 2010 | 10:46 p.m.

UCLA at Arizona
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: McKale Court.
On the air: TV: FS West; Radio: 570.
Records: UCLA 13-15 overall, 8-8 Pacific 10 Conference; Arizona 14-14, 8-8.

Update: Forward Reeves Nelson, who had a partially torn retina, was cleared to play in this weekend's games after an eye examination Wednesday. J'mison Morgan, the Bruins' reserve center, was suspended for one game for a violation of team rules. He will not travel to Tucson but is expected to rejoin the team for Saturday's game at Arizona State. The Wildcats are in full youth-movement mode, with seven of the nine players they use either freshmen or sophomores — and that doesn't include guard Kevin Parrom, who was starting before suffering a season-ending foot injury. A strong case can be made for Derrick Williams as freshman of the year in the Pacific 10 Conference. The 6-foot-8 forward from La Mirada High is averaging 15.8points and 6.8 rebounds.
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UCLA forwards Dragovic, Nelson cleared to play
By Jon Gold, Staff Writer
The Los Angeles Daily News
Updated: 03/03/2010 10:35:00 PM PST


Wednesday was just another day at the office for the UCLA.

The doctor's office, that is.

Freshman forward Reeves Nelson and senior forward Nikola Dragovic had evaluations for various ailments Wednesday and came out unscathed.

But the news wasn't all good.

Nelson was medically cleared to play after having laser retinoplexy on Feb. 22 to repair a slight retinal tear in his left eye, although he will have to wear protective goggles. Nelson missed last week's games against Oregon and Oregon State after the surprise injury, which doctors suggest could've occurred after injuring his right eye after a painful fall following a slam dunk against Washington State on Feb. 18.

The Bruins survived without Nelson who is averaging 11 points and 5.5 rebounds and leads the team in field goal percentage at 63 percent — in a 65-58 win over Oregon State on Thursday, but he was sorely missed in their 70-68 loss to Oregon two days later.

Minutes before that game began, Dragovic stumbled on an errant basketball during pregame layup drills and sprained his right ankle. He returned to full-contact drills Wednesday, although his shoulder — which required a pre-game shot Saturday — remains sore after he hurt it early against Oregon State.

It showed against the Ducks. Dragovic had no points and no rebounds in the first half and finished with seven points and one rebound.

UCLA (13-15, 8-8) also announced Wednesday that sophomore center J'mison Morgan was suspended for today's matchup at Arizona for a violation of team rules. Morgan played just two minutes in Saturday's loss to Oregon.

Award season
Former UCLA point guard Darren Collison won NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month honors for February after averaging 21.6 points, 8.3 assists and almost two steals in the place of star guard Chris Paul, who is out with a knee injury.

The honor was not lost on UCLA head coach Ben Howland.

"That was great to see Darren win rookie of the month," Howland said. "I just talked to Darren (Monday), not knowing they had a game last night. He had 15 assists. He's playing great and what was nice, and I forgot who told me that, is ESPN did a great piece on him, about how his four years prepared him. There's no question he's helped himself as an NBA player."

Tyler torn
Tyler Honeycutt is conflicted.

He is a passer at heart, wants to find the open man and is unselfish to a fault.

He sees four points on four attempts against Oregon — after 18 points and 10 attempts two days before against Oregon State — and he knows neither is enough.

"I think I should've scored more than four points against Oregon, but I still helped get us back into the game, passing, rebounding," Honeycutt said on Tuesday after his 13-rebound, nine-assist performance Saturday. "Sometimes I kinda question myself why I didn't take more shots. I was playing on the inside a lot, and they were kinda switching zones, so there weren't as many high-post touches. When I was playing the perimeter, I made some passes. I probably should've scored more."

He stops short of lamenting his nine assists, though.

"I definitely look at that as a good thing," the Sylmar High product said. "If they're assists, someone's scoring off them. I only had one turnover, which is pretty good, after averaging two, three, four over the last couple games. It was good to have that many more assists than turnovers."
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Nelson, Drago cleared; Morgan suspended
By Jon Gold
Inside UCLA blog
The Los Angeles Daily News
on March 3, 2010 6:16 PM

UCLA freshman forward Reeves Nelson was medically cleared to play in UCLA's regular season-ending roadtrip this weekennd at Arizona and Arizona State. Nelson had retinal surgery on Feb. 22 to replace a retinal tear in his left eye. He was fitted for eyewear and practiced today in his new goggles.

UCLA senior forward Nikola Dragovic, meanwhile, practiced today without issue after playing through a sprained ankle and sore shoulder that required a pre-game shot on Saturday.

Also, sophomore center J'mison was suspended for the Arizona game for a violation of team rules.
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UCLA gets more from center Brendan Lane as J’mison Morgan plays less

Basketball Coach Ben Howland is impressed with Lane’s production and how hard the freshman tries. Sophomore center Morgan’s struggles include a suspension.

By Chris Foster

The Los Angeles Times
March 4, 2010

Sometimes, actions speak louder than words.

Other times, words do just fine.

Center J'mison Morgan made only a two-minute appearance in UCLA's loss to Oregon on Saturday, even though the Bruins basketball team is woefully short on big players.

Asked why, Coach Ben Howland was blunt: "Brendan Lane was back in the lineup and he gave us, uh, more."

Morgan, a 6-foot-10, 240-pound sophomore, was considered a steal for UCLA in 2008 when he was released from a scholarship commitment to Louisiana State after a coaching change. Scout.com ranked him as the fourth-best high school center in the nation coming out of state champion Dallas South Oak High.

But in his second season with the Bruins, Morgan is averaging less than two points and two rebounds in a little more than eight minutes a game, and it got worse for him Wednesday when UCLA announced that he would not accompany the team on its flight or play Thursday night at Arizona because of "a violation of team rules." A UCLA sports information official said Morgan would rejoin the team in Tempe for Saturday's Arizona State game.

Lane, a 6-9, 210-pound freshman, had taken most of Morgan's playing time anyway. The reason: production, plain and simple.

For example, while Morgan's box score line showed one turnover in his two minutes against Oregon, Lane made all four of his shots, finishing with eight points and five rebounds in 23 minutes on a sprained left ankle.

"Brendan, in retrospect, should have played more minutes" this season, Howland said this week. "He did a great job on a sprained ankle. He tries hard. He makes mistakes, but when the mistakes are from trying hard, you can't fault the kid."

No excuses are made for Morgan, who has lost 30 pounds since arriving at UCLA overweight at 270.

Asked why he was out of shape, Morgan said, "We were mostly a zone team in high school and they'd wait for me. I'd take my time and the team would slow it down and wait for me and we'd go from there." He also said he had corrective knee surgery when he was in eighth grade.

Said Howland: "We knew there were some issues, but we didn't know the extent."

Morgan's best chance at having an effect this season came two weeks ago, when forward James Keefe opted for shoulder surgery and forward Reeves Nelson suffered a slightly torn retina after a fall against Washington State.

Morgan played a season-high 21 minutes against Washington State, contributing three blocked shots and three assists.

It was, Morgan said last week, "a big opportunity to prove I can help the team, in the coaches' minds. It's not going to get any worse than this. It can only go up from this point. I can only progress."

Instead, there's been a Lane change. Having arrived at UCLA from Rocklin (Calif.) High with his own weight issues — he was a slight and not very sturdy 205 pounds — Lane played only 37 minutes in the Bruins' first 11 Pacific 10 Conference games. Lately, however, he has surged.

During a blowout loss to Washington on Feb. 20, Lane made five of six shots, scoring 11 points in 18 minutes. After missing the Oregon State game because of the sprained ankle he sustained in a practice, he was equally effective against Oregon.

There seems little doubt UCLA will need all Lane can give during this final regular-season trip to Arizona and Arizona State. Even before Morgan's suspension, the Bruins (13-15) were short in the front court as they try to avoid their third losing season since 1947-48. Keefe had shoulder surgery Wednesday, the same day Nelson was cleared to play again. Also, Nikola Dragovic has shoulder and ankle injuries, and even when he's healthy the 6-9 senior is not a dominant inside player.

So Lane is needed, though he can also see beyond this week's games.

"This has definitely made my future look a lot better," Lane said. "I know now that I can step in and contribute. That is going to make me work even harder during the off-season. I know what I need to focus on to get better. Now I can see where I fit with this team."