At Thursday’s Pac-10 men’s basketball media day,
most of the conference’s 10 coaches chose to start their
opening statements by proclaiming how excited they were for the
upcoming season.
UCLA men’s basketball coach Ben Howland, however, opted to
begin his address with a reluctant admission.
“It’s been a rocky start for us,” Howland
said.
The third-year Bruin coach’s excitement has been tempered
by a slew of injuries that have temporarily decimated UCLA’s
roster, which seems to have transformed Pauley Pavilion into an
infirmary.
All four returning starters from last year’s NCAA
Tournament team ““ Arron Afflalo (quadricep), Josh Shipp
(hip), Jordan Farmar (groin) and Michael Fey (groin) ““ along
with freshman and potential starter Alfred Aboya (knee), have not
participated in the team’s last three practices. The laundry
list of injuries has left only seven scholarship players to
participate in drills this week.
While Afflalo is expected to return today and Farmar by next
week, the other players’ absence has left many lingering
questions heading into the season, such as the increased maturity
of last year’s freshmen or a conclusive starting lineup,
which will likely remain unanswered as UCLA opens up its exhibition
schedule tonight at Pauley Pavilion against Carleton (Canada).
“We need to get healthy,” Farmar said. “Roles
aren’t defined, but as we get healthier, everyone will start
learning what their role is and what their contributions should be.
That will take longer this year because some of the injuries.
“I can’t blame (all the injuries) on anything. It
just happened to be more than usual for us at this time of the
year. But it’s just a matter of time until we get healthy and
get rolling.”
When they do, the Bruins, who were picked by the media to finish
third in the Pac-10 this season behind Arizona and Stanford
respectively, will be looking to improve on last year’s 18-11
record and first-round NCAA Tournament appearance.
On Thursday, Howland specifically noted his team’s depth
and increased athleticism as areas where UCLA most dramatically
improved during the summer.
Farmar and Shipp both returned to Westwood this fall having
gained nearly 20 pounds each. Senior center Ryan Hollins enjoyed
his first summer completely committed to basketball without having
to battle injuries. Redshirt senior Cedric Bozeman is expected to
provide the senior leadership Dijon Thompson did last season.
And with the addition of five freshmen to the roster, the Bruins
have multiple options at each position, most significantly at point
guard, where they relied heavily on Farmar a year ago.
For the aforementioned reasons, Howland and Farmar believe that
UCLA could place higher than its third-place predicted finish,
provided that the team stays healthy.
“I sure felt that way going into the year and I still do,
but we have to stay healthy,” Howland said. “I am
hoping we get all the pieces back in place by Dec. 29 (start of the
Pac-10 season.)”
“Nobody’s safe,” Farmar said.
“We’re not just going to lie down and say we’ll
take third. We’re headed for the top spot.”
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If Afflalo does start in tonight’s exhibition game, the
rest of the projected starting lineup would consist of freshmen
Darren Collison and Luc Mbah a Moute and seniors Bozeman and
Hollins … Carleton is the three-time defending Canada collegiate
national champion and has gone 28-0 in its last two seasons.