Go back to the basics.
That’s what UCLA coach Ben Howland claims his team needs to do in order to maintain past success with one of the least experienced Bruin squads in recent memory.
UCLA ushered in its 2009 men’s basketball season on Wednesday with its annual Media Day, where players and coaches milled around the floor of Pauley Pavilion in fresh white jerseys, discussing all the potentials of the coming year.
But with the noticeable absence of several of the Bruins’ old standards, the topic on everybody’s lips was youth.
“This is going to be a team that’s going to have to make up for a lot,” Howland said.
Of the Bruins’ 13 scholarship players, there are a total of nine underclassmen and just three seniors. And after the departure of four of last year’s starters, including NBA first round draft picks Jrue Holiday and Darren Collison, there are plenty of shoes to fill.
To help in that process, Howland recruited a five-man freshmen class, which ESPN ranked No. 9 in the country. But to be included in the game plan they will be expected to make a quick transition to the college game.
“We’re going to have some growing pains early in the season,” Howland said “But we’ve got to get our players to constantly improve. That’s the key to being a good team.”
Senior forward James Keefe, one of just a few remaining players who participated in UCLA’s run of three straight Final Fours, will be called upon to provide leadership for a wholly untested group.
“I think we have a lot of talent,” Keefe said. “I think we have enough talent to go as far as we did last year. But it’s going to be an important first couple weeks of practice to really establish that. We’re going to have work hard.”
Some of the young Bruins have already shown their awareness of that obligation and are eager to jump at their chance to make an impact.
Sophomore Jerime Anderson will be handed the reigns to the offense at the starting point guard position despite averaging just 8.6 minutes per game in his lone collegiate season.
“I feel like this is my opportunity to take grasp and use it to the best of my abilities,” he said. “I’m going to have a lot of time on the floor, and I just want to play my best.”
There was also a visible change in the physical preparedness of the team’s underclassmen as well.
Sophomore J’Mison Morgan looked significantly slimmer and more toned after hearing complaints last year from the coaching staff that the 6-foot-10 center was not conditioned enough to play significant minutes. Howland claimed Morgan had trimmed down from 17 percent body fat down to just seven percent over the summer.
Furthermore, Howland said both freshmen forwards Brendan Lane and Mike Moser had put on muscle since starting team workouts in June.
As is often the case for UCLA basketball teams, its successful recent history will weigh heavily on the public expectations of the current group. For the Bruins, they see their ultimate finish as a product of their own desire, dependent on the work ethic of a team without much collegiate credentials.
“It’s the expectations that we place upon ourselves that are most important,” Howland said. “And we expect to be very good and always competitive. We expect to win every game that we go into.”
TOUGH(EST) ROAD AHEAD: Even before starting its Pac-10 season, UCLA will be seriously tested by one of the hardest fall season schedules in the country.
“It will be very competitive,” Howland said. “The non-conference (schedule) that we’re playing this year is probably the toughest we’ve played that I can remember since I’ve been here.”
The Bruins’ premier date will be against probable pre-season No. 1 Kansas when they visit Pauley Pavilion at the start of fall quarter finals week.
As part of its annual participation in the John Wooden Classic in Anaheim, UCLA is scheduled to play Mississippi State, a team that is likely to be ranked in the top 15.
The Bruins will also travel to South Bend, Ind. for a rematch with Notre Dame and the reigning Big East Player of the Year Luke Harangody.
All of this is not to mention a Thanksgiving weekend trip to Anaheim for the 76 Classic, which Howland believes to have “the best field by far of any preseason tournament in the country without question.”
Of the eight teams in that field, seven are coming off NCAA tournament appearances, including Big East power West Virginia.
Howland hopes to use the schedule as a way to mature his young team.
“We have a young team so we’re going to get a lot of experience against big-time talent right away, which I think will be good for us.”
KEEFE FAST ON THE MEND: James Keefe said he is feeling fine after reinjuring his left shoulder last week.
An MRI came back negative, but it was first reported that he would not be able to practice in full for 4-6 weeks.
Howland added that the senior is doing well and is ahead of schedule.
“I think he’s a lot better off than maybe what was first feared, I know by me,” Howland said. “I was very depressed because we had to wait a day for the MRI. (It was) just the anxiety of knowing whether or not one of your best players is going to be okay.”
Keefe had previously torn a labrum in the same shoulder in 2007, the surgery for which caused him to miss the first 12 games of his sophomore season.
“We want James to be healthy as soon as possible,” Howland said. “But yet we’ll be conservative and wait till it’s appropriate.”
WOODEN CELEBRATED: As the Media Day event happened to fall on the 99th birthday of John Wooden, good wishes and congratulations for the legendary UCLA basketball coach were abundant.
At one point, the entire team was persuaded to sing a round of “Happy Birthday” to the coach in front of multiple television cameras.