Bruin Sports senior staffers Ryan Eshoff and Brantley Watson talk UCLA men’s basketball. The Bruins are currently 6-8 overall and 1-1 in the Pac-10. Here are six questions burning on the minds of the two writers:
Are the Bruins better or worse without Drew Gordon, now at University of New Mexico?
Eshoff: Better. Gordon has never been as good as he thought he was, dating back to his high school days. Sorry that UCLA’s style of “hanging banners” didn’t fly with you and your folks, Drew. Reeves Nelson has been more productive anyway.
Watson: Worse, of course. When you lose a 6-foot-9-inch starting forward who leads in rebounding, you’re bound to take a few steps back. Albeit Gordon was no Kevin Love, he’s a big body. “Reevesy” is good, but he still has a long way to go.
Pick one player from this year’s group with whom to build your own team.
Eshoff:The guy with the most athleticism and the best feel for the game: Tyler Honeycutt. Despite his many setbacks, Honeycutt’s length and abilities have already added a new dimension to the Bruins’ usually lackluster attack.
Watson: Last I checked, Malcolm Lee was our most athletic player. He’s the only player who has shown a consistent ability to get to the hole. And as we all know, athletic guards dominate today’s game. He’s the one, not your boy Honeycutt.
Josh Smith, Tyler Lamb and Lazeric Jones. Thoughts on UCLA’s ’10 recruits?
Eshoff: Potentially huge (literally, regarding Smith). The UCLA staff has landed what probably should be its starting center (Smith) and starting point guard (Jones) heading into next season.
Watson: Not impressed. If Bobo hasn’t made an impact in two years, what makes me think Smith will play a big role? And Lamb, although rated high, isn’t the dominant shooting guard UCLA needs. Lazeric is nice though, that’s for sure.
What will be the effects of the sanctions levied against USC’s program?
Eshoff: It hurts the Pac-10 in that there’s one less team that can represent the conference in March Madness. However, UCLA will likely need to win the conference tourney to qualify for the Dance, and the absence of USC will help.
Watson: It sucks. As much as I’m a big UCLA fan, I’m a bigger Pac-10 fan. I want to see the Pac-10 succeed, and the loss of USC from the postseason mix is unfortunate, especially after starting the season off with some impressive wins.
What do you think of the task that coach Ben Howland has going forward?
Eshoff: It’s a concern that some of the recent recruits (see: Morgan, Anderson, Moser, et al.) have failed to live up to high expectations. Player development has to be a focal point of the program in order to regain national prominence.
Watson: His plate is full. Extremely. I understand that programs have “down years,” but UCLA’s “down year” shouldn’t be this bad. Bruin Nation won’t accept another season like this one. I hope he turns it around, and soon.
Prediction on UCLA’s final Pac-10 record, after the first weekend:
Eshoff: 6-12. The Bruins have struggled to find a home-court advantage, and they were shellacked on their only real road trip. They should sweep Stanford and pick up a few wins against the likes of Oregon State and the Arizona schools.
Watson: 5-13. It pains me to say that. The Bruins aren’t really road-tested, and that could hurt them going into the Pac-10 season. I just haven’t seen anything so far that points toward this team finishing .500 …