It is the general consensus of basketball analysts that UCLA is
slowly returning to the elite levels of recruiting. No more are the
Bruins losing out on the high-impact recruits of the West
Coast.
Kevin Love’s being the most important UCLA recruit since
Bill Walton is not just a turn of phrase by these analysts; it is a
statement of expectation for a return to the hallowed years of UCLA
basketball, when a future NBA center (Walton) was backed up by
another future NBA center (Swen Nater).
That is why the situation with freshman recruit Russell
Westbrook is so interesting.
Westbrook is a natural shooting guard, which, in coach Ben
Howland’s offense, means he would be playing most of the time
without the ball in his hands. But Westbrook will likely not be
playing much shooting guard this year. Because of the lack of depth
at point guard after the loss of Jordan Farmar to the NBA Draft,
Westbrook will probably be thrust into the primary backup role for
sophomore starter Darren Collison. In the future, a situation like
this is unlikely to happen. If UCLA continues its recent trend of
success, the Bruins will be in a position to have elite-level depth
at every position, much like Duke and North Carolina. There will be
no need to turn a shooting guard into a point or a small forward
into a power forward.
But this is now, and Westbrook, playing in the SayNo/ProCity
Summer League playoffs this weekend for Sinclair’s Bruins, is
not fighting the switch.
“(Howland) just told me to be ready,” Westbrook
said. “I’m ready to play the point. I played mostly
(shooting guard) in high school, but I played a little
point.”
The SayNo league is probably not the ideal format to work on the
finer points of Howland basketball. Defense does not take
precedence. High-percentage shots are mostly a secondary option to
the fast break. And very rarely is there a play called from the
bench, something Howland does on every half-court possession. But
this does not worry Westbrook, who feels his high school experience
prepares him for the Howland structure.
“I played with a little bit of a structured offense in
high school, so I think I’ll be fine,” Westbrook said.
“(UCLA) is going to be a lot more structured than this,
especially defensively.”
Westbrook has the physical tools to excel defensively in
Howland’s system. At 6-foot-3 with long arms, Westbrook has
the ability to be one of those terrorizing on-ball defenders that
Howland loves.
And Westbrook, who shot up three inches in his senior year of
high school, thinks he might still be growing.
“I can feel it in my knees,” Westbrook said.
“I’d like to be 6’6″ or so by the time
I’m done.”
The future point guard has used his time in the SayNo/ProCity
league not only to work on his dribbling and passing, but also to
familiarize himself with how summer league and future UCLA
teammates James Keefe and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute like to
play.
“It’s a great experience to be able to play with
these guys (before the season starts),” Westbrook said.
“I’ve just been learning how they like the
ball.”
Which is probably important to learn for the guy who will be
giving it to them.
DRAGOVIC ENROLLED: Nikola Dragovic, the Serbian
recruit who committed to UCLA and was cleared by the NCAA to play
college basketball, has enrolled in UCLA’s summer Session C,
which starts on Monday. According to Scout.com, there is still no
guarantee that Dragovic will play for UCLA, as he has not signed a
letter of intent and it is still unclear whether he has been
accepted by UCLA admissions.