M. BASKETBALL Thursday, 7:30 p.m. v.Humboldt
State Pauley Pavillion
With Lorenzo Mata’s injury still lingering and Nikola
Dragovic’s recent ineligibility ruling, the Bruins will have
plenty of adjustments to make as the beginning of the season
approaches. The Bruins will have a chance to showcase how they plan
to go about making those adjustments in their final exhibition game
tonight against Humboldt State. Although Dragovic is allowed to
play tonight, coach Ben Howland said he will limit Dragovic’s
minutes considerably in order to get his eligible players ready for
the season opener against BYU next week. Howland has been impressed
by Dragovic in the early going and planned to give him a solid
number of minutes in the first games of the season before Dragovic
was ruled ineligible. “It’s all new for him, how we
play compared to how they play (in Serbia). …He’s got a lot
to learn, but he’s doing a good job,” Howland said.
“If he’s open, he’s gonna knock it down;
he’s definitely one of our top shooters, if not the
best.” The news of Dragovic’s ineligibility hits the
Bruins at a tough time, as they face some of their toughest
non-conference opponents in the early going of the season. It is a
huge blow to the Bruins’ depth, and Howland will have to get
creative to spread out the minutes Dragovic would have gotten.
“Mike Roll is going to play a significant part to our team
this year,” Howland said. “Arron (Afflalo) and Josh
(Shipp) will probably play more minutes, Roll will play a number of
minutes, and we can even play Russell (Westbrook) at some
two.” The good news for the Bruins is that Mata has been
progressing well, and Howland hopes to be able to have Mata’s
full participation in practice this Saturday. Howland said that
when Mata returns, he may even try to work sophomore power forward
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute in at small forward. Even if Mata can
return by the time the season starts, it could take him awhile to
get his conditioning back to a level at which he can be counted on
for big minutes. In the meantime, the Bruins’ other post
players are battling to show that they deserve playing time when
the year starts. Sophomore forward/center Alfred Aboya started in
Mata’s absence last Thursday against Cal Poly Pomona and will
likely continue to do so until Mata can get back. Behind Aboya and
Mata, sophomore center/forward Ryan Wright and freshman power
forward James Keefe will be battling for minutes. “Losing
Lorenzo for a couple of weeks, we lose some size inside, so
it’s really up to me and Alfred to hold down the five
spot,” Wright said. “We’re looking to go out and
defend the five position well because we’re going to be
playing against some really big bodies.” Wright, who was
highly regarded as a recruit coming into last year, had to step in
and play significant minutes last season when UCLA’s top big
men were ailing. This year, Wright feels he is much improved, and
he is looking to take his game to the next level. He will be
looking to showcase his improvement against Humboldt State tonight.
“It’s a big opportunity just to get adjusted to playing
a lot more minutes than I played last year,” Wright said.
“To get the first couple of exhibition games out of the way,
to get the adrenaline out, and just get more comfortable on the
floor, being a bigger part of the team …the exhibition games are
really important for that.” Keefe will also get an
opportunity to show his versatility. Although Howland sees him
primarily as a four, Keefe had to fill in at five during last
week’s game at Cal Poly Pomona when the other post players
got into foul trouble. Although that scenario is unlikely to replay
itself too often in the regular season, Keefe will have a chance to
show that he can mix it up inside and hit shots outside against
Humboldt State.
LOVE, STANBACK OFFICIAL: Kevin Love and Chace
Stanback, both 2007 recruits, signed their letters of intent to
come to UCLA. Love, a center, is a five-star recruit as rated by
scout.com and is expected to have a tremendous impact in his first
year as a Bruin. He is largely considered to be the biggest recruit
of the Ben Howland era.