Superman will play in Pac-10 tourney

"Christopher Reeves Nelson! He'll save us all!" by Sophia Danica Española posted on someone's Reeves' Facebook account (not Reeves') under "Reeves Nelson's Photos - These are a Few of my Favorite Reeves."

UCLA's Reeves Nelson will play in tournament opener

Freshman forward who had surgery on partially torn retina checks with family before rejoining lineup. Bruins will face Arizona.

By Chris Foster
The Los Angeles Times
March 09, 2010

UCLA has lost three of its last four games and six of its last eight, so the Bruins could use any kind of boost heading into their first game of the Pacific Life Pac-10 tournament on Thursday against Arizona.

And on Tuesday they got one.

Freshman forward Reeves Nelson will be back in the lineup.

The 6-foot-8 Nelson has sat out the last four games following two laser surgeries to repair a partially torn retina in his left eye. He was cleared to play last week, but chose not to because of concerns about a family history with retina problems.

His grandmother has two detached retinas.

Nelson spoke with his grandmother and mother Monday and his mother. Sheila, spoke with Dr. Steven Schwartz, who performed the surgeries. Nelson said his mother is now "more at ease" with him playing and "if she's OK, I'm OK."

"It was difficult to watch the team lose a few games in row," Nelson said. "It wasn't necessarily because I was out, I'm not going to flatter myself that much, but I think with me playing we have better chance to win."

Nelson, who averages 11 points and 5.5 rebounds, injured the eye against Washington State on Feb. 18. He will wear goggles in practice and possibly in the game.

"Reeves is our best and only consistent low-post scorer," Coach Ben Howland said.

Nelson's demolition-derby style has been effective this season, but it has also brought injuries. He was poked in the right eye, suffering a corneal abrasion, against Kansas in early December. He also suffered a concussion butting heads with Markhuri Sanders-Frison, California's 6-8, 265-pound center.

And in the same Washington State game he sustained the injury to his left eye, Nelson also suffered a gash over his right eye that required 15 stitches.

Howland against expansion

Saying he understands the driving forces behind the push to expand the NCAA tournament to 96 teams, Howland said he was against the idea.

"Adding another weekend to the tournament would be very difficult," Howland said. "Also, the interest and intrigue, how much excitement goes into every week of the season, and how hard it is to get those at-large bids would be something that would be missed."

Still, Howland seemed certain that expansion is coming.

"Expansion is about television and about more money," he said. "That being said, there's a chance it will happen in the near future."

Keefe update
Senior forward James Keefe underwent shoulder surgery last Wednesday and will be in a sling for six weeks. He expects to regain full range of motion in approximately four months.

"I still hope to continue playing basketball somewhere," Keefe said.
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UCLA basketball: Reeves Nelson to play against Arizona
By Chris Foster
The Los Angeles Times
March 9, 2010 | 2:19 pm

Forward Reeves Nelson, UCLA’s best inside player, will return to the lineup against Arizona on Thursday in the first round of the Pacific Life Pac 10 Tournament.

Nelson has missed the last four games after a partially torn retina was discovered in his left eye. He has undergone laser surgery twice and Wednesday was cleared medically to play. But Nelson’s family was concerned, as his grandmother has detached retinas in both eyes and is legally blind as a result.

But Nelson cited senior forward Mike Roll as the reason he has decided to play.

Nelson is averaging 11 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
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UCLA forward Nelson to play in conference tournament
By Jon Gold, Staff Writer
LA Daily News
Updated: 03/09/2010 10:52:29 PM PST


UCLA freshman forward Reeves Nelson said during Tuesday's press conference that he would play in the Pacific-10 Conference Tournament, after sitting out the regular season-ending road trip to Arizona and Arizona State because of apprehension about further injuring his left eye.

Nelson, who along with teammate Tyler Honeycutt was named to the Pac-10 All-Freshman team, had surgery in late February to repair a slight retinal tear which caused him to miss matchups with Oregon and Oregon State.

He was expected to return for the Arizona swing, but fears about hereditary retina problems - Nelson's grandmother, a pivotal figure in his life, has two detached retinas and is legally blind - kept him sidelined despite being medically cleared.

Nelson discussed the situation with his mother early during the week and she gave him the go-ahead.

"She talked to the doctor one more time over the phone, and she just feels more at ease with it, and if my mom's OK with it, I'm OK with it," Nelson said. "There's always a risk I guess. After talking to my mom, (I realized) you can't really be scared of things. You have to stand up to your fears."

In Nelson's absence, the Bruins struggled, losing three of four games, including a 78-73 loss to Arizona in which they blew a 14-point lead.

"It was difficult to watch the team lose a few games in a row," said Nelson, who averages 11 points and 5.5rebounds. "It wasn't necessarily because I wasn't playing -
I'm not going to flatter myself that much. But I think with me playing we have a better chance to win."

Nelson, who said one of the reasons he is returning is because of his admiration for senior guard Michael Roll, knows he'll have to be worked back in as he rebuilds his stamina.

"I'm sure I'll be a little winded when I first go in there because no matter how much you run in practice it's always a little different in the game with all the adrenaline and whatnot," Nelson said. "I'll just try to get through that and get to my second wind as soon as possible."

Long range?

UCLA sophomore guard Malcolm Lee is shooting just 13 percent from 3-point range during the conference schedule, having made just 6 of 46 attempts.

Last season, Lee made 6of20 3-point tries, but he dedicated himself in the offseason to refining his shot.

"He's a better shooter than that," UCLA head coach Ben Howland said. "There's no question. He's a better shooter than 13 percent. Some of it I'm sure has to do with confidence. Confidence is such a big part of being a good shooter. I fully expect he'll shoot much better than that in the future."
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Wildcats will have to contend with UCLA’s Nelson in Pac-10 tournament
by Anthony Gimino on Mar.09, 2010, Tuscon Citizen, under Sports

Arizona had a hard time beating UCLA at home last week, overcoming a 14-point second-half deficit to win 78-73. And that was when the Bruins were playing without starting big man Reeves Nelson.

Now, the teams meet again Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 tournament in Staples Center in Los Angeles. And Nelson is back from an eye injury that kept him out for four games.

Nelson, a freshman, is averaging 11.0 points and 5.5 rebounds and is shooting 63.3 percent from the field (107 of 169).

“Reeves Nelson is one of the most talented young players in our conference,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said.

“His field goal percentage is striking. What he does is he gives UCLA that option on the block, and he’s a physical player who can get to the free throw line. To me, he makes them a much better team on offense and on defense. Just really a physical, aggressive player that all coaches love to have on their team.”

UCLA was 1-3 in the games Reeves missed. He and UCLA forward Tyler Honeycutt were selected to the Pac-10’s five-man All-Freshman team. Arizona forward Derrick Williams is the league’s Freshman of the Year.

When the teams met last Thursday, Arizona and UCLA battled to a standstill on the boards, each team grabbing 33 rebounds.

“It was difficult to watch the team lose a few games in a row,” Nelson was quoted as saying by the L.A. Daily News. “It wasn’t necessarily because I wasn’t playing — I’m not going to flatter myself that much. But I think with me playing we have a better chance to win.”

Added Miller about Reeves:

“He makes a difference, particularly that field goal percentage because they do such a good job of getting their good payers the ball in position score. You get him the ball in position to score, he really finishes it well.”
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Arizona Wildcats bench beefs up as Kevin Parrom returns
by Bruce Pascoe - Mar. 9, 2010 08:56 PM
Arizona Daily Star

TUCSON - With the pre-Pac-10 Tournament talk largely centering on California, Arizona State and Washington this week, Arizona coach Sean Miller quietly stashed another able body in the weeds.

Miller said Tuesday he would have hard-nosed freshman forward Kevin Parrom available in some form for UA's quarterfinal game against UCLA on Thursday, beefing up what may be his strongest bench of the season.


Parrom has missed UA's past four games with a stress reaction in his left foot.

"We're optimistic Kevin will be available for the game. How effective, I'm not sure," Miller said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. "I'm sure we'll give him an opportunity. It won't be a big one but maybe he can add some depth to what we already have."

Miller has received stronger efforts off the bench lately from wing Brendon Lavender, and centers Alex Jacobson and Kyryl Natyazhko, while top reserve guard MoMo Jones has been on a tear lately. With the Wildcats likely needing to win the tournament to make a 26th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, the extra help could become critical.

"I think for us to beat UCLA and have any postseason success, we'll all be able to point to numerous players coming off the bench and doing well," Miller said.

"I don't think it will happen for our starting five. We'll have to do it as a team. We've done that here recently, when you think about some of the minutes our bench has given us."

Having a deeper bench also could reduce the wear and tear on heavily used starters such as Nic Wise during what could become three games in three days, though Miller said he did not plan to change his substitution patterns.

"I don't think you can plan for the future because when you lose, there is none," Miller said.

"We're just going to do the best we can, play with great effort and energy. If we can add Kevin to the mix and make our team a little bit deeper, great."