The UCLA men’s basketball team is trying to adjust to life without Kevin Love.
Just two games into the season, the Bruins (2-0) are trying to improve their rebounding, entry passing and low-post scoring, three areas in which Love excelled last season.
“Kevin was a big part of our success,” said senior guard Josh Shipp. “He was that guy who could get you 10 rebounds per game, and we don’t have that this year. Everyone has to take it upon themselves to get in there and get a lot more rebounds.”
Love averaged 17.5 points and 10.4 rebounds and was named Pac-10 Player of the Year. He left for the NBA after one season in Westwood.
Coach Ben Howland has turned to senior forward Alfred Aboya, junior forward James Keefe and freshman center J’mison Morgan to replace Love. But so far UCLA’s offense has been almost completely based on the perimeter, where the team’s top scorers, Shipp and senior point guard Darren Collison, handle the ball.
Howland praised Aboya for his defensive prowess and for having committed only one foul in the team’s first two games. Yet Aboya has only scored 10 points total so far in two contests against Prairie View A&M and Miami (Ohio).
“Hopefully we can get him to score a little more and get him the ball more with a chance to score,” Howland said.
It starts with entry passing. Howland said the team’s guards have not been able to find post players often. Those types of entry passes would give players like Aboya more opportunity to score and force the defense to collapse.
“Even if they’re not scoring you have to get the ball in there to collapse the defense and not just be perimeter-oriented,” Howland said.
Shipp said that entry passing was a major focus during practices following the Bruins’ close win over Miami (Ohio) on Thursday.
“For us to be successful, we need a post presence,” Shipp said. “We can’t just be all guards, so we’re definitely going to try to get that post presence going.”
Howland is hoping that Morgan will soon be a viable second option. So far the highly touted, 6-foot-10-inch freshman is averaging only seven minutes per game.
Morgan played only sparingly against Miami (Ohio) because there was no true center for him to defend. Howland demands that all five of his players play superb defense.
Even Love played only 24 minutes in one of the first big games of the 2007-2008 season, a matchup against Texas. Howland chose to play Lorenzo Mata-Real down the stretch against the Longhorns because of Mata-Real’s defensive skill and conditioning.
“That’s where I think (Morgan) can give us the most ““ his ability to score around the basket,” Howland said. “But my whole thing is that those freshmen have to go into the game and not be detrimental to the team’s defensive effort.”
Howland added that he also wants Keefe to do a better job scoring in the paint. Keefe missed an easy layup on the very first play of the game against Miami (Ohio).
And unlike last year, when the team relied on Love’s dominant rebounding, Howland has asked all his players to focus on rebounding. Players such as Shipp and Collison won’t be leaking out to start a fast break so often this season.
Howland specifically asked freshman guard Jrue Holiday to focus on rebounding. Holiday has zero defensive rebounds in his first two games.
“We can’t depend on one guy. … We don’t have Kevin in there to get all those rebounds and outlet pass,” Shipp said.
Love is having problems adjusting, too. He’s scored just 20 points in his last four NBA games, and his new team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, has lost all four of those contests.
ROLLING: Howland seemed especially pleased with the play of redshirt junior guard Michael Roll.
Roll injured his foot last season and appeared in only six games. But he has returned strongly to start this season, his fourth in Westwood.
He scored nine points against Miami (Ohio) and, more importantly, defended the Red hawks’ star Michael Bramos very well. Roll played 22 minutes in the game against Miami (Ohio) and 17 the previous night against Prairie View A&M.
“He really took the challenge on, and I was really pleased with him,” Howland said. “Mike Roll has become a better defensive player.”
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