UCLA guard Michael Roll draws a crowd of Humboldt State defenders as he drives down the lane during an exhibition game Tuesday night. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Michael Roll goes off for 17 points in his 2009 debut. Jerime Anderson working out kinks...Drew Gordon chalks up another double-double (11 pts, 10 rbds)...Tyler Honeycutt sits this one out with a "stress reaction" (???). Next up, Cal State Fullerton.
Bruins look better in final exhibition
UCLA beats Humboldt State, 74-57, as Michael Roll scores 17 points. Bruins open the season Monday against Cal State Fullerton.
By David Wharton
The Los Angeles Times
November 11, 2009
After last week's scare against Concordia, UCLA Coach Ben Howland was searching for signs of improvement from his team.
On Tuesday night, he got a few.
With a healthier Jerime Anderson and Michael Roll in the lineup, a calmer and more organized-looking Bruins team cruised past Humboldt State, 74-57, in the final exhibition before next week's season opener.
"A lot of people might be second-guessing us after last week," Roll said. "We wanted to play better."
The senior guard led his team with 17 points, one of four Bruins in double figures before a crowd of 6,852 at Pauley Pavilion.
Forward Drew Gordon had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Anderson, sidelined by injury for much of the preseason, played 29 minutes battling leg cramps.
While the offense looked smoother, the defense again struggled to stay in front of the ball, there was no double-team in the post and Humboldt State won the rebounding battle, 46-38.
"Obviously we're concerned about the rebounding," Howland said. "Our offensive rebounding's just not very good right now."
Humboldt State did not look as quick or as confident as Concordia. The Lumberjacks, ranked 21st in the Division II Coaches Poll, were led by Brian Morris' 19 points and Kyle Baxter's 15.
Starting with the opener against Cal State Fullerton on Monday night, UCLA faces a stretch of six games in two weeks, a point that Howland made clear to his players in the locker room.
"We'd better be ready," the coach said, "because it's coming."
Trip West
Harrison Barnes, the top-rated prospect in the nation, is not expected to choose UCLA when he announces his decision on Friday, but he apparently enjoyed his recent visit with the Bruins.
In a diary at HighSchoolHoop.com, the 6-foot-7 forward from Ames, Iowa, talked about staying at the Century Plaza, walking around Santa Monica and having dinner at Howland's home.
"I have to say that he knows his way around the grill," Barnes wrote. "He made a very good steak!"
But the recruit said the highlight of his trip was breakfast with John Wooden.
"That was an unreal experience!" he wrote. "Just sitting in front of Coach Wooden, who in my opinion is the greatest coach in sports history, was awesome. I was just listening to him quote literature and quote other great leaders . . . it was exciting."
Best wishes
UCLA officials responded to news that former Bruins star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been diagnosed with leukemia.
Athletic Director Dan Guerrero said the university was shocked to hear about the illness. Howland sent along his best wishes.
"Kareem is the ultimate competitor and with the fight he has, he'll beat this thing," the coach said in a statement.
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Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times
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Honeycutt out after stress reaction in leg
By AL BALDERAS
The Orange County Register
2009-11-09 20:45:06
The UCLA basketball team thought its health problems were in the past until Tyler Honeycutt started feeling pain in his right leg this past weekend.
Further examination revealed a stress reaction in the tibia. The Bruins shut down the freshman forward and don't expect to see him back on the practice court for at least two weeks.
"It's a precursor to a stress fracture," Coach Ben Howland said of the injury. "If he were to continue to play on that without taking time off, it would eventually become a stress fracture.
"We had one of these happen to (former Bruin) Arron Afflalo. He had a stress reaction because of the kind of shoe he was wearing, but it was in the summertime. He had to miss six weeks, but we were able to be real conservative because there was no season to return to."
The Bruins won't know the severity of the injury until Honeycutt sees a doctor, which he was scheduled to do later Monday.
"It's like shin splints," Howland explained. "It's just a lot of pain in one area."
Honeycutt played 21 minutes in Wednesday's exhibition game against Concordia, recording three rebounds and three assists. Howland was pleased with Honeycutt's passing in the 62-61 victory. (Read more at The Orange County Register).
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Drew Gordon trying to get some finesse
By Jon Gold
LA Daily News
November 11, 2009 11:10 AM
UCLA center Drew Gordon has long maintained a reputation as an enforcer. A 6-foot-9, 230-pound, broad-shouldered totem pole, Gordon had back-to-back double-doubles in the Bruins' two exhibition games.
Coming off the bench in a 62-61 win over Concordia, Gordon had 17 points and 11 rebounds; starting against Humboldt State, he had 11 points and 10 boards.
Against the Lumberjacks, Gordon displayed both tremendous power in the paint, at one point backing down Humboldt State's adept center Brian Morris for an inside layin. At another, Gordon went up for a rebound came down with it and immediately leapt back up.
"That's what this season is about - trying to find that fine line between being the enforcer and getting that finesse game,"Gordon told me after the post-game press conference. "I want to definitely improve on that finesse game, but I've made my name as the enforcer. I'll probably ease up on that a little bit, try to get around people instead of go through people. But it's my game. It's who I am. It's who I would be.
"It's going to be a fine line, and I'm eager to find out how it plays out."
So is Ben Howland.
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