Exhibition game against Westmont is glimpse rather than an indication of upcoming season Ranked No. 3 in the Pac-10 Preseason Poll, UCLA debuts at home against Westmont.
By BRANTLEY WATSON
The Daily Bruin
Published November 4, 2010 in Men's Basketball, Sports
Updated: 1:10 AM
Men’s basketball
Westmont
Tonight, 7:30 p.m.
Pauley Pavilion
Many Bruin faithful came under the pretense that it was going to be a long season for the UCLA men’s basketball team after its opening exhibition game in 2009.
Thanks to a late three-pointer by then senior Mustafa Abdul-Hamid, UCLA narrowly pulled out a victory over Concordia, sending the masses of Bruin fans into a bit of hysteria.
Now, coming into the first exhibition game of the season Thursday night, Bruin fans will get a glimpse of the team that hopes to reverse the disappointment of last season, where the Bruins failed to make the tournament and finished with a record below 0.500.
But in coach Ben Howland’s eyes, Thursday’s game against Westmont College should not serve as an indicator of how the season will go.
It is simply an exhibition, just like the game against Concordia was last season.
“They played really well, and we were lucky to win,” Howland said, looking back on the near defeat at the hands of Concordia. “Win or lose … whatever happens Thursday doesn’t determine how we’re going to do the rest of this year. The whole thing is to continue to improve and get better and stay healthy throughout the season.”
One area of concern for the Bruins coming into Thursday’s matchup could be lack of preparation. Westmont, a private liberal arts college that is not forced to operate under the rules of the NCAA, has been practicing for months, according to Howland.
The Bruins, however, have been officially practicing for less than a month, accumulating fewer than 20 practices.
“We’re so young, one is to get our young guys experience,” Howland said of the Bruins’ goals for Thursday. “We’re playing against a team like Westmont, they started official practice back in August. … They’re going to be in midseason form in terms of their execution.”
The Bruins have held two inter-squad scrimmages so far, and Howland remarks he saw some good things offensively in both, namely with the Bruins’ transition offense and inside scoring.
“I think the guys have really done a good job of trying hard to really push each other competing,” Howland said. “We’ve done a good job in terms of scoring the ball offensively, especially around the basket. We’ve done a good job of being unselfish.”
But as far as the defensive side of the ball, Howland is adamant that drastic improvement needs to be made before the regular season begins.
“Our defense really has a lot to be desired. Right now, my biggest concern is how we are defensively.”
According to Howland, in the team’s latest scrimmage, the squad combined to shoot a whopping 64 percent from the field, a percentage Howland classified as “too high.”
“That’s our biggest need right now,” Howland said of the need to improve on defense. “(Our defense) really worries me, where we are with these games coming up.”
“Obviously, if we’re going to have a successful season, we’re going to have to play good defense,” freshman Josh Smith added. “Right now, we’re still learning. This is only our second or third week of practice. So in the game, we’re going to do a lot of things well, but there will be a lot of things we have to work on.”
Despite the defense, another cloudy area – at least for the outsider looking in – is who will be getting the starting nod at point guard for UCLA. Much of the offseason talk was centered on the competition between junior Jerime Anderson, who started half of the games at the point for the Bruins last season, and junior college transfer Lazeric Jones.
But Howland has refused to tip his hand.
“We’ll find that out on Thursday,” Howland said when asked who would start at point guard.
Jones, a former high school teammate of Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose, was also mum on the issue, maintaining that regardless of who wins the position, both he and Anderson will have to play vital roles if the Bruins hope to be successful this season.
“I’m not sure yet,” Jones said when asked if he thought he would get the start. “We still haven’t had that discussion … regardless if I start or not, I feel pretty confident about what’s going to happen this season.”
“Both me and Jerime have been working really hard. … Both of us have been going at each other. The level of athleticism between both of us and conditioning is really kind of equal. Whoever starts, it will be good and whoever comes off the bench, it will be good.”
Howland also made it clear that there will be opportunities for Jones and Anderson to share the floor on certain occasions.
“I don’t know that,” Howland said when asked if Jones and Anderson’s minutes will be split equally. “Like I said before, I’m sure there will be a time when they are in together. It won’t always be one of them in, one of them out necessarily.”
Another area of interest coming into Thursday’s game will be the role of the freshman Smith.
Last week, during the UCLA basketball media day, Howland commented that Smith will play a large role for the Bruins this season, as the team is lacking depth inside. But Howland has also been insistent regarding Smith’s conditioning, remarking that the freshman’s conditioning has increased dramatically, but that Smith still has a ways to go.
“We’re going to prepare for Westmont, who runs some Princeton stuff,” Howland said. “So they’re going to have a big drawing him away from the basket. He’s usually used to guarding guys close to the post, so that will be a new experience for him.”
“I would say it’s pretty good,” Smith added of his physical conditioning. “There’s more room for improvement but I feel like I’m running a lot better now. I can just tell in every practice, when we’re running our lines and when we’re scrimmaging, I can feel those things get easier.”
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UCLA BASKETBALL FYI
UCLA basketball trying to avoid another close call
Bruins, who play Westmont on Thursday in an exhibition game, were nearly upset last season by Concordia, another NAIA school.
By Ben Bolch
The Los Angeles Times
8:20 PM PDT, November 3, 2010
A year ago, the four letters most feared inside Pauley Pavilion weren't UCLA but NAIA.
Tiny Concordia nearly upset the storied home team in an exhibition game, the Bruins needing a late three-point basket to pull out a one-point victory.
It would have been easy to shrug it off as a bad game against an inspired opponent, except for the little matter of what transpired the rest of the season. UCLA finished 14-18 and did not reach the NCAA tournament for the first time in six years.
"It was kind of an early viewing of how the year went," junior guard Malcolm Lee said.
So it's no surprise that sophomore forward Reeves Nelson said he was treating the Bruins' exhibition game against Westmont on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion like a Pacific 10 Conference game.
"We're going to play as hard as we can and try to win by as much as we can," Nelson said.
If the early practice reports hold up, the Bruins might also play as fast as they can. During a 20-minute intrasquad scrimmage Saturday in which the teams utilized a new up-tempo attack, they combined for 123 points and shot 64%.
Of course, the flip side is they didn't play much defense.
"Right now, my biggest concern is how we are defensively," Coach Ben Howland said.
What, exactly, was lacking?
"Hedging screens, extending screens, trailing cutters, blocking out, staying in front of the ball, contesting every shot, not letting the ball in so easily on post defense.… There's a million areas," Howland said.
The Bruins are lagging defensively in part because they spent much of last season playing zone and have only two players — juniors Lee and Jerime Anderson — who have experienced a full year of Howland's trademark man-to-man scheme.
Howland has talked for years about quickening the pace on offense, only to revert to what some observers consider a plodding attack. This season, players said, the coach is finally loosening the reins.
"We've all wanted to play that" style, sophomore forward Tyler Honeycutt said. "A lot of people have criticized us for being too slow. I doubt they'll have anything to say about us being too slow. If anything, they'll say that we're too fast now."
UCLA will show off its new look against Westmont, an NAIA team coached by John Moore, the brother-in-law of former Bruins Coach Steve Lavin. The Warriors, who run a Princeton-style offense, opened their exhibition season last week with an 88-68 victory over Cal State Maritime.
For the Bruins, the hope is that Thursday's exhibition game portends a return to respectability instead of another descent into basketball oblivion.
"If we want to do the things we want to do this year and beat the teams we want to beat," Anderson said, "we just need to start taking care of business from the get-go."
For starters
Howland declined to divulge his starting lineup for the exhibition game, but based on his continued praise of Lazeric Jones, it appears likely that the junior college transfer will start at point guard alongside Honeycutt, Lee, Nelson and freshman center Joshua Smith. "He has some pretty good toughness," Howland said of Jones, who did not commit a turnover during two recent scrimmages. "He's physical, strong, a good defender. He does a good job of taking care of the ball."
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