The task at hand just got a little more difficult for UCLA men’s hoops thanks to a rash of injuries incurred in just the season’s first week of practices.
As of Tuesday night the Bruins have six players out with injuries. Most recently added to the list, sophomore center J’mison Morgan experienced swelling in his left knee. Results of Tuesday night’s MRI will be released today.
Projected starting point guard, sophomore Jerime Anderson, has yet to practice with the team due to a strained left groin muscle and is expected to miss the next five practices, coach Ben Howland said.
Malcolm Lee, who is also expected to log a majority of minutes at the guard position, was taken out of practice on Monday after a hard screen left the sophomore light-headed. Lee will sit out practice today.
“You never want to mess around when it comes to a potential concussion,” Howland said.
Also leaving practice on Monday were freshman forwards Mike Moser and Brendan Lane. Moser is now day-to-day after straining his lower back. Lane sprained his left ankle coming down from a rebound and will likely be out for one to two weeks.
Senior forward James Keefe is still out with an injured left shoulder.
Due to all the injuries, the Bruins were forced to modify their scrimmaging and finished Monday’s practice with just seven scholarship players left on the court.
“We’re supposed to be in five-on-five, and we’re doing stuff four-on-four because we didn’t really have a five-on-five group that would make sense,” Howland said.
The most distressing aspect of the injuries may be the damage done to an already limited supply of point guards. Besides Anderson and Lee, the only other player able to run the position is walk-on Mustafa Abdul-Hamid. The redshirt junior has logged just 82 minutes in three seasons as a Bruin.
“Everybody should be worried,” Howland said. “I am most of all.”
Anderson has dealt with the same injured groin for a few seasons dating back to high school. Given that history, Howland said he would make sure not to rush the sophomore’s recovery.
“We cannot afford to have it be a chronic thing throughout the season, so I’m going to bring him along very slowly,” Howland said.
The early absence of UCLA’s point guard may negatively affect the team’s learning process, an essential factor for such a young squad’s chances at success.
“(Anderson’s) going to get off to a slower start to begin our season,” Howland said. “But that’s just the way it’s going to have to be, and it really hurts us.”
On a positive note for the Bruins, Keefe, whose shoulder injury was supposed to keep him out for at least a month, is healing faster than expected. UCLA’s trainers have cleared Keefe for some moderate contact in practice. Keefe may be ready for full practice as early as next week.
Freshman forward Tyler Honeycutt was also forced to deal with an injury the last few months as a lower back fracture slowed his summer progress. Finally back on the court, however, Howland is impressed with his first looks at the highly touted rookie.
“For a guy who had to miss the whole summer, he’s done a nice job in his first four practices, and so I was very pleased with that,” he said. “His future at the offensive end of the floor shows a lot of promise.”
Despite the obvious adversity, Howland said he actually felt good about Monday’s practice from those players that managed to stay out there.
“We still have to keep moving forward with the guys that are healthy,” he said. “We’ve got to continue to do what we can with who can go out there and help us.”