CBB Summer Buzz: UCLA After its worst season in years, UCLA can begin to rebuild with young talent

Thanks to stlouisbruin for sharing on BZ.

CBB Summer Buzz: UCLA After its worst season in years, UCLA can begin to rebuild with young talent

By Matt Meyers
ESPN The Magazine
Archive
Updated: August 9, 2010, 4:12 PM ET

Insider knows you're hot for hoops during the summer, so we're bringing you a closer look at a few of the big-profile schools before most freshmen have even moved into their dorms. We continue today with UCLA.

UCLA Bruins
14-18 -- Pac-10 6th place

For Kentucky fans who think their run atop the recruiting rankings (and the college basketball world) will last forever, take a look at UCLA as a reminder to enjoy success while it lasts. The Bruins made three straight Final Fours from 2006 through 2008, and it seemed like the Pac-10 would be theirs forever. But when you're constantly losing elite talent to the NBA lottery, it's hard to stay on top, and UCLA's drop has been fairly precipitous. The Bruins were bounced in the first round of the 2009 tourney, and last year they suffered their first losing season since 2003-04, coach Ben Howland's first year at UCLA. "It was definitely embarrassing," says junior guard Malcolm Lee. "Particularly since it was the last season Coach [John] Wooden got to watch the team. It was way below the expectations of our school."

A crisp half-court offense was the hallmark of those Final Four teams, and the Bruins finished in the top 30 in offensive efficiency in Division I in all three of those seasons, and third in 2009. Last year they were 104th. It's hard to be efficient when you turn the ball over (240th in turnover percentage) and can't grab offensive boards (270th in offensive rebound percentage). In addition, Drew Gordon (transfer) and J'mison Morgan (dismissed), two of the Bruins' top recruits over the past two seasons, left the program. That means UCLA will again field a very young roster that does not include any seniors. "We have a hard time getting seniors, because usually if a guy is any good he leaves," jokes assistant coach Scott Garson.

But even with another young squad, things should be a bit better in Westwood this season.

Welcome to campus
Josh Smith, 6-foot-9, PF
(No. 20 in ESPNU's top 100)
This pivotman might just be the cornerstone to Howland's rebuild. Though he pushes 300 pounds on the scale, Smith is extremely nimble. He's blessed with soft hands and a deft touch, and the sky's the limit for this kid if he can stay in shape (see below). Last year, the Bruins couldn't get to the line (202nd in the nation in free throw efficiency) and having a bruiser like Smith on the blocks could change that. However, the Bruins are warning fans not too expect too much from him right away. "The only freshman who really scored a lot for us in recent years was Kevin Love," says assistant coach Scott Garson. "Josh is very talented, but it's not fair to expect him to do what Kevin did right away. But we expect him and Tyler Lamb to contribute right away, even if they're not scoring."

Tyler Lamb, 6-foot-4, SG
(No. 28 on ESPNU's top 100)
Smith's size makes him more noticeable, but Lamb is just as important to the Bruins' turnaround. Lamb earns high praise for his all-around game, and he always plays in control. His jump shot, however, needs some work. Lamb had his left knee scoped this summer, but he should be 100 percent by the time practice starts.

Lazeric Jones, 6-foot-2, PG (transfer)
Turnover-prone incumbent Jerime Anderson didn't prove himself last year (he had as many TOs as field goals made), and Jones, a juco transfer, will likely be starting at the point from Day 1. Jones averaged 14.5 ppg, 5.7 apg and 3.5 spg for John A. Logan College, and he can really defend on the perimeter, which might have been the team's biggest weakness last season.

Hole to fill: Perimeter defense
Ben Howland teams usually pride themselves on aggressive man-to-man defense, but last year, Howland was forced to play zone because his club lacked perimeter quickness. It should be a different story this season. "Jones, Lamb and Malcolm Lee can really guard the ball," Garson says. "All of a sudden we have a team that can defend on the perimeter. Last year we played zone out of pure necessity. Coach hated doing it but thought it gave us a better chance to stay in games. When we had Darren Collison, Russell Westbrook and Jrue Holiday, we used to create so many easy points off of turnovers and deflections, and we should be able to do that again with these guards."

New role: Malcolm Lee
Lee is naturally a 2-guard, but last year he was forced to play the point because the Bruins didn't have anyone else they trusted to bring the ball up. Coaches believe Jones and a more mature Anderson can handle the point guard duties, and Lee will be primarily on the wing. In preparation, he's been honing the mechanics on his jumper. "Sometimes I don't complete my follow-through," Lee says. "Kind of like Dwight Howard at the foul line, I don't finish my shot. And I have a tendency to ball-watch." Ball-watching was particularly detrimental for Lee a season ago, as he shot just 25.2 percent from deep. If you're going to miss that many J's, you have to follow your shot. And UCLA needs him to figure out those mechanics, as Garson says flat-out: "We need him to score."

Summer school
Depending on where you look, Josh Smith is listed at anywhere from 270 to 320 pounds. So yeah, conditioning is an issue for the frosh. For the Bruins to compete in the Pac-10, they'll need a fit Smith, and he's been doing three-a-days this summer to keep in shape. He rides an exercise bike for an hour at 8 a.m., and then comes back for subsequent workouts at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. "He's trying to get into the best shape of his life," Garson says. "And the better shape he's in, the more minutes he's going to play. The game is a lot more up and down at this level."

Joe Lunardi
The sense here is that we're looking at a two-year rebuilding effort. Just as it took two seasons for early entries, transfers, defections and injuries to drop the Bruins into the Pac-10's second division. Let's figure on 2011 as the "rebound" year so 2012 brings a return to legitimate contention for Ben Howland's crew.

It's not like the Pac-10 is impossible to navigate between now and then. It's more a matter of Howland needing to rely on an excessive number of young guys. UCLA has no other choice at this point. In the meantime, Bruin fans can forget about the Final Four -- much less three in a row like we saw from 2006-08.

Doug Gottlieb
How bad was UCLA's 2009-10 season? The Pac-10 got just two teams in the field of 65, and UCLA was never in consideration. It lost two of its top three scorers and six of its last eight games. But consider last year the exception to the Ben Howland rule.

Howland and UCLA have purged their roster a bit, and though it may take 12 more months, they will be the better for it. But with Travis and David Wear sitting out, Tyler Honeycutt still probably a year away from being a complete player and Josh Smith and Tyler Lamb good -- but not dynamic -- freshmen, the Bruins will once again rely on Malcolm Lee to carry them, a task he hasn't been up to so far.

As the Pac-10 recovers from the NBA raiding its coffers two and three years ago, the conference should still be down. UCLA does have some young unproven talent that will be better in February and March, but how much so depends on the leadership of Lee, the weight loss of Smith and the improvement of the thin but talented Honeycutt. Plan on UCLA being an NIT team again this year and a favorite to win the league next year.