Pump fake (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times / March 11, 2010)UCLA forward Reeves Nelson gets Arizona center Kyryl Natyazhko to leave his feet with a pump fake before taking a shot in the first half Thursday.
Reeves Nelson is a sight for sore eyes, and UCLA fans
Freshman returns after suffering a torn retina and leads Bruins over Arizona in Pac-10 tournament opener.
By Bill Plaschke
The LA Times
March 12, 2010
On his face were broken goggles. In his heart was a broken promise.
But it was OK, because back home in Modesto, Reeves Nelson's grandmother was breaking eardrums.
‘'Oh, my God!'' shouted Marilyn Sieferer, her cheers echoing off a giant television a few feet away.
Three weeks after suffering a torn retina in his left eye, UCLA's Nelson returned to the court Thursday to lead the Bruins to a 75-69 win over Arizona in the first round of the Pacific Life Pac-10 basketball tournament.
He did so amid the fear that he was genetically disposed to suffering the sort of detached retinas that changed his grandmother's life. He did so after promising his beloved ‘'Granny'' that he would not play basketball again this season.
But it was OK, because he not only broke that promise, he broke up the Wildcats with 19 points and 10 rebounds while helping force five turnovers by Wildcats freshman forward Derrick Williams.
And it was OK because Granny was hollering in support of every move, her eyesight forcing her to sit close to the TV, her love for Nelson allowing her to step back.
"This is about him,'' Sieferer said. "He loves basketball, and if doctors say he is going to be fine, then he needs to keep playing.''
He not only kept playing, but so now does UCLA, this nightmare season extended one more day, next season's prospects sunnier by one serious beam.
"The guy is a stud,'' UCLA Coach Ben Howland said of Nelson, a 6-foot-8 freshman who looks like a wrestler, plays like a linebacker, and possesses the heart of a child.
Seriously, after he injured his eye against Washington State, he comforted his grandmother by vowing that he was finished for the season.
‘'I saw what she went through, and I thought about how she would feel if that happened to me,'' Nelson said. ‘'I promised Granny I would not play.''
Nelson grew up in a house with his grandmother, so he saw how her cloudy vision prevented her from driving a car or pursuing her dreams.
"He was scared, we were all scared,'' said his mother, Sheila.
Two laser surgeries later, Nelson was cleared to play last weekend in the two games in Arizona. But shortly before the first game, still worried about his grandmother, still stuck on that promise, he couldn't do it.
Said Nelson: ‘'I just needed more time.''
Said Howland, who has perhaps mellowed with all the losing: "I totally understood. You have to understand. I put my arm around him and said it was OK.''
By early this week, doctors had convinced his mother that the eye was fine and risked no further damage. She finally gulped and phoned Nelson and told him that, indeed, some promises are truly made to be broken.
"I told him, ‘This is going to show who you are as a person, as a man,' '' said his mother. ‘'I told him, ‘How you handle yourself here will tell everything about you to your teammates.' ''
Nelson listened. He waited for his mother to pass along his grandmother's approval. He listened some more.
‘'Basically, she told me that I had to stand up to my fear,'' he said. ‘'So I did.''
That fear was soon transferred to the Wildcats, who couldn't seem to figure out how to handle the hulking guy with the seven tattoos, the seemingly permanent black eye and, now, goggles.
‘'I hated those goggles," Nelson said. ‘'But they won't let me play without them.''
The eyewear, a gift from the Lakers, fogged up during the game, at times forcing Nelson to stay clear of the ball. Shortly after the game began, the nose piece fell to the gym floor, his embarrassment saved by a timeout.
As if this wasn't enough eye drama, Nelson also should be wearing contact lenses when he plays. He refuses because he claims they're always getting knocked out.
"I guess I can see good enough,'' he said.
On Thursday, he was certainly impossible to miss, screaming at teammates, stopping one Arizona fastbreak by kicking a Wildcat while lying on his back, and ending the game with a thundering dunk.
You could see why his teammates named him ‘'Rage.'' At one point, his rebounding and defense so unsettled Arizona that its coach was the one who was raging, Sean Miller loudly screaming to his players that they had turned it into a "playground game."
"I guess I just go and do what I do,'' Nelson said. ‘'I do anything to help the team win.''
While he plays in the post now, he is not a natural center, and will move to the power forward spot next season. In a dreadful season full of Howland recruiting mistakes, he is the perfect Howland player, a solid foundation for the rebuilding that must happen immediately.
From making promises to becoming one, Reeves Nelson seems ready to take this program on a ride that even a granny would love.
‘'Great game,'' his grandmother said Thursday evening. ‘'Going crazy.''
No comments:
Post a Comment