Every time UCLA’s Ryan Hollins goes up for a dunk or
plucks a rebound out of the air in traffic, he notices the
difference ““ he no longer winces when he comes back down.
“Night and day,” he said.
Hollins, a senior, struggled mightily in recovering from
off-season surgery on his right knee last season, though he was
often reluctant to admit it.
But with next Wednesday marking the one-year anniversary of his
surgery, Hollins is none too shy in insisting that he’s
slowly but surely made it back to 100 percent, daring anyone to not
believe him.
“I’m all the way back now,” Hollins said.
“With my knee finally back under me and being able to work
out, I’m taking a huge step toward next year. It finally
feels good going up and down and running the floor
again.”
Like most of his UCLA teammates in the upcoming 2005-2006
season, Hollins is participating in the Nike College ProCity League
for the summer at West Los Angeles College.
And among his chief objectives are honing his game for his final
collegiate season and accumulating playing experience on a knee
that led to one of the most frustrating years of his basketball
career.
While the injury to his right knee was not caused by any
specific incident, it nonetheless required surgery and drastically
hampered Hollins’ explosiveness, perhaps his greatest
attribute.
Pegged as UCLA’s starting power forward before the
2004-2005 season began, Hollins was relegated to the bench for all
but six games last year at tip-off, which, combined with his
reduced athleticism, contributed to an-ever growing sense of
frustration and a decline in confidence.
“My explosiveness not being there really hurt my
game,” Hollins said. “After that, everything just
seemed to go bad last year.”
“I could tell (Hollins) was a bit frustrated last
year,” teammate Josh Shipp said. “I know he’s
really excited to play this year. We definitely need him healthy
this year.”
To the more than 200 onlookers packed into West Los Angeles
College’s gymnasium on Saturday, though, it appeared Hollins
was making his case that his explosiveness, and perhaps more
importantly his swagger, had returned.
During the second half of Hollins’ Hank’s Big Time
team’s 88-61 runaway victory over Hank’s Team, the UCLA
senior snatched an offensive rebound in traffic and towered over
three defenders with a rim-jarring jam, not exactly a common sight
at Pauley Pavilion last season.
“I am not feeling as fatigued, I am getting to balls I
couldn’t get to before, and I can feel the difference when
running,” Hollins said.
The other main difference he sees is in his strength.
Often criticized for allowing opponents to push him around in
the paint, Hollins has noticeably put on weight, especially in his
arms and upper body.
The goal last season was to get the 7-footer up to 225 pounds
before the season, but because of the nature of his knee injury,
his weight training was markedly limited.
This summer Hollins has already eclipsed the 230-pound mark, and
plans to top off between 235-240 pounds before preseason practices
begin.
On one possession in the second half of Saturday’s
contest, with Hollins trapped under the basket, the Bruin senior
leaned in and floored his defender en route to a dunk. Though he
made it easy for the officials to whistle him for an offensive
foul, the force with which his defender fell was partially
indicative of his increased size.
“I have definitely gotten a lot stronger,” Hollins
said.
Though he is not guaranteed a starting position at center, which
he ceded to Michael Fey last season, nor is he assured of being
named the starting power forward with heralded 6-foot-9 Ryan Wright
arriving in Westwood, Hollins doesn’t let the uncertainty
surrounding his position on next year’s team dissuade
him.
Given playing time, Hollins believes last year’s
lackluster averages of 4.5 points and 3.4 rebounds per game will
only improve in his senior season.
And earning that time should be a lot easier now that Hollins is
healthy, confident and eager to put last year behind him.
“Whatever I need to do to get back on the court, I
will,” Hollins said.