Men’s basketball plan to pick up the pace earlier on

Super soph Reeves Nelson hopes to channel his aggression towards more productive outcomes.

Men’s basketball plan to pick up the pace earlier on

Men’s basketball intends to step up the energy earlier on in the game

By MATT STEVENS
The Daily Bruin in Men's Basketball, Sports
Published January 5, 2011
Updated: January 6, 2011, 12:23 AM


The UCLA men’s basketball team rang in 2011 with a little film study two days after its loss to Washington.

It may be a new year, but coach Ben Howland made the Bruins relive every second of their last game of 2010.

And after the team watched the game in its entirety, it had a laundry list of resolutions: Improve transition defense, set better screens and box out – just to name a few.

The team also emerged with a single resolution that could act as a silver-bullet cure-all.

If the Bruins’ effort simply gets better, they think the rest of their problems will resolve themselves.

“We played good when we got down,” Howland said. “We’ve got to come out and play with that same enthusiasm and that same sense of urgency at the beginning of games.”

In the second period, the Bruins fought back from a 17-point deficit to pull within four points of the Huskies on Friday afternoon. When they were on their 20-7 run, sophomore forward Reeves Nelson looked unstoppable in the post: The screens were crisp, the box outs solid.

Nelson ended up with 19 points and 10 rebounds after a slow start, helping to fuel the Bruins’ run. But against Washington, the effort came too late.

“When I feel that our team needs a spark, maybe I amp it up a little bit,” Nelson said. “But I do just need to play harder earlier and more often.”

Junior guard Malcolm Lee played in a fashion opposite that of Nelson. As the game wore on, Lee said he wore down. He played 39 minutes against the Huskies, which Howland admitted was too much. Perhaps as a result, Lee scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half only to become invisible on the offensive end as the Bruins tried to close the gap.

Lee said that battling back from big deficits takes energy – extra energy that an undermanned squad can ill-afford to give up.

“We’re already short on scholarship players, so we’ve got to do everything we can to control the deficit,” Lee said.

Effort is something sophomore forward Brendan Lane said the Bruins can fix in 2011, and it’s something they will need to fix fast now that conference play has arrived.

“Everyone wasn’t playing as hard as they can the whole game,” Lane said. “When we get down we say, ‘Oh, we have to turn it on,’ and it doesn’t really work every time. We can’t just turn it on and off like that.”

If this resolution goes by the wayside, the Bruins could be in for a long year.

Smith to stop hedging

Howland said Tuesday that he has instructed freshman center Josh Smith to stop hedging out on screens.

Smith was whistled twice for bumping the ball handler on hedges against the Huskies and fouled out after playing only 22 minutes. *
Jones to play against USC*

Junior guard Lazeric Jones shot the ball well during practice Tuesday, according to Howland.

Jones ruptured a tendon in his right middle finger against Washington and has been wearing a split on his finger full time since then.

Howland added that he expects Jones to play against USC Sunday night.