After a preseason filled with injuries, missed practice time, and two overall uninspiring exhibition games, the 2009-2010 UCLA men’s basketball season begins tonight.
In a hurry, at that.
Tonight the Bruins begin a stretch of six games in 13 days with a nationally televised game against Cal State Fullerton at Pauley Pavilion.
“We better be ready, because it’s coming,” Howland said. “There’s a lot of action coming up here in a short amount of time.”
Tonight the Bruins will have their hands full with a supremely athletic Fullerton squad looking to make the most of playing a nationally televised game on ESPN.
Titan sophomore point guard Jacques Streeter, who started all 32 games last season as a true freshman, will look to make things difficult for a UCLA team that struggled with dribble penetration in the two exhibition games.
“We’re still having a problem defending the dribble,” Howland said. “That’s an important thing, especially going to a Fullerton game which has on their team a bunch of really good athletes who can really break you down off the dribble.”
The Bruin defense, typically a strength of Howland-coached teams, was not up to the level it has been the past few seasons. The Bruins allowed Concordia to shoot 45.3 percent from the field, including 48.3 percent in the first half.
Not surprisingly, defense was the topic of conversation for the Bruins in the week leading up to tonight’s season opener.
“Coach Howland is a real defense-oriented guy and of course we’re not up to the standards where he ““ or we ““ want to be at,” sophomore guard Malcolm Lee said.
As the season progresses, Howland said that the team will start doubling the post, something the Bruins did not do against Humboldt State and were hurt by it.
Starting tonight, the Bruins hope that the lone returning starter from last season, senior forward Nikola Dragovic, can find his shot. Relied on last season to hit from behind the 3-point arch, Dragovic had trouble making shots in the two exhibition games, making just six-of-23 shots, including just three-of-11 from 3-point range.
“He’s definitely got to play better for us for our team to have success,” Howland said.
Sophomore point guard Jerime Anderson, who made his season debut against Humboldt State and said his injured groin is healthy, said the two subpar exhibition games were the result of a having not played together for a long time.
“I think we showed a little rust out there,” Anderson said.
The play of the freshmen will be another question for a young UCLA team trying to overcome the loss of five players to the NBA in the last two seasons.
Freshman forward Tyler Honeycutt will be out for three to four weeks with a stress reaction in his foot, opening up opportunities for the other four ““ Reeves Nelson, Brendan Lane, Mike Moser, and Anthony Stover ““ to gain playing time.
Howland believes there is a simple formula for the freshmen to follow if they wish to see extended minutes on the court.
“For me, I just want those freshmen coming in to play good defense and let the game come to them offensively,” Howland said.
Tonight the journey begins. If this young Bruin squad hopes to shed the rebuilding-year tag, it must get off to a fast start in the first two weeks of the season.
“We’re definitely ready,” senior Michael Roll said. “This is good for us, just everybody get out there that’s going to be playing during the games, get on the same page.”