It seems like at the end of every UCLA game, the mood in the
conference room is gloomy. Not because the Bruins are 14-2 and
leading the Pac-10, but because after every game, something
unfortunate occurs to lower their spirits.
Thursday night was no different after Lorenzo Mata, who finally
seemed to be coming into his own, seriously injured his right knee
during the end of the game.
If you think the players are as frustrated as the fans are, just
consider the reaction of freshman forward Mike Roll after he saw
the Mata injury.
“Wow, another one,” Roll said. “You ask
yourself, “˜What do we have to do? What are we doing
wrong?'”
The frustration is understandable. If the injuries occurred to
role players or were only temporary, it would be tolerable. But the
Bruin injuries are happening to key players such as Mata, Cedric
Bozeman and Josh Shipp, and they are debilitating the players for
the rest of the season.
Frankly, I just feel sad.
Thursday, Bruin fans could clearly see the effect of not having
Bozeman and Shipp in the lineup. Both Jordan Farmar and Arron
Afflalo were playing way too many minutes and showing obvious signs
of fatigue toward the end of the game.
The players admitted the burden themselves, and wondered whether
maybe just once, everyone could be healthy together.
“Yeah, I mean, it would be awesome for everyone to be out
there,” Afflalo said. “But those things happen, and we
just have to move on. Coach (Ben Howland) already told me that he
is going to try to have me play less minutes.”
However, it’s not just the Bruins’ two main scorers
who are being affected.
Roll and senior guard Janou Rubin were playing in roles they
were not accustomed to, and they seemed very hesitant out there on
the court. Replace them with veterans like Bozeman or scrappy
players like Shipp, and who knows how good the Bruins could be.
On Saturday, the Bruins are moving to face an extremely talented
Washington team, and the first thought in everyone’s mind is
how the Bruins will even compete.
Well, if the first half of Thursday’s game was any
indication, I understand a lot about how the Bruins are going to
compete. They held the Cougars to 32 percent field-goal shooting
and 17 points, and this was all after learning two days earlier
that their third-leading scorer would be lost for the season.
This team has shown incredible resilience through all its
injuries this season, and although I believe these injuries will
eventually catch up with the Bruins in the long run, it is amazing
to see these guys consistently battle the adversity.
Roll, who has been thrown into the middle of the situation,
summed up the Bruins’ situation best.
“Even though there is not a lot of guys out there, we
still go through practice hard and focused.”
“There is not much else you can do,” he said.
Something tells me the Bruins will even have a little something
extra for the game on Saturday.
E-mail Parikh at sparikh@media.ucla.edu if you also think
the solution to the Bruins’ injury problems is to play Kelvin
Kim more often.