Success has been hard to come by for the Bruin men’s basketball team this season. Opportunities, on the other hand, have become more plentiful, especially for the team’s youngest players.
With UCLA’s (6-8, 1-1 Pac-10) first road trip of the conference season kicking off tonight against California (9-4, 1-0), another big chance has been placed in the lap of a freshman on the eve of a marquee matchup.
Freshman forward Tyler Honeycutt will be inserted into the starting lineup for the first time in place of sophomore guard Jerime Anderson, coach Ben Howland announced at his weekly press conference. Anderson, who tweaked his groin muscle last week, was late for an injury rehabilitation appointment, and Howland decided to place him on the bench to start Wednesday’s game as a punishment.
Howland chose Honeycutt to take Anderson’s place. After missing the first six games of the season with a stress reaction in his leg, the 6-foot-7 forward has made his presence felt since then.
“It seems like Tyler is always under the basket, always in there scrapping, (getting) an offensive rebound or keeping the ball alive,” senior guard Michael Roll said. “So, hopefully he can get us a couple of extra possessions.”
Howland also commended Honeycutt on his rebounding, a crucial aspect of his team’s game the coach admits has been far from perfect recently.
“You look at our rebounding numbers right now, and they are really, really subpar for what I’d like to have,” Howland said.
UCLA is currently eighth in the Pac-10 in both total rebounding and rebounds surrendered.
Honeycutt said he wants to make sure to use his time as best he can.
“I think it’ll make me work harder because I’ve got to prove I’m a starter,” he said. “Usually your starters are your best players.”
With the Bruins struggling to find wins, it seems Howland will be leaving the door open for any of his players to contribute as long as they show him a willingness to work hard.
“I think that we have to reward good effort more than anything right now,” Howland said. “That’s going to be the key for us to win.”
It will take UCLA’s absolute best effort to handle Cal, the team a preseason media poll picked to win the Pac-10.
“Any way you look at it, Cal’s a very difficult matchup,” Howland said.
A first glance would certainly highlight senior guard Jerome Randle, whom Howland suggested is a lock to make the NBA next year, comparing him to Houston Rockets guard and Oregon alumnus Aaron Brooks. Randle is a pure ball-handler whose quickness and deep range has elevated him to a top-five conference ranking for points, assists and 3-pointers.
That combination does not bode well for a UCLA team who has had trouble with perimeter defense.
“We have some limitations this year defensively because of athleticism,” Howland said.
The Golden Bears are also one of the few Pac-10 teams to retain most of their scoring from last season, boasting experienced senior wingmen Patrick Christopher and Theo Robertson in their starting five. Christopher is on many watch lists for this June’s NBA Draft, and Robertson is a fifth-year player who spent much of last year as the nation’s top 3-point shooter.
Hidden in the shadow of these sizable odds however, there is an opportunity for UCLA to get its most significant win of the season. The kind of games remaining for the Bruins in which they can validate any improvement are diminishing. Beating one of the conference’s title contenders on their own floor would certainly do that, and even a close loss might stimulate momentum.
“We’ve come back after a few losses and played really well, sometimes we’ve come out flat,” senior forward James Keefe said. “We’ve got to make sure we bounce back.”
Even though students at Cal have yet to return from winter break, Saturday’s game against rival Stanford brought out more than 10,700 fans and the atmosphere for tonight’s game is not expected to be any tamer.
Sophomore guard Malcolm Lee related a story from last year’s 72-68 Bruin victory at Haas Pavilion.
“I remember I came in the game and air balled a free throw last year,” Lee said with a laugh. “I was just over-analyzing it because my first free throw was hard, and I tried to take something off it, but I air balled.”
Lee’s experience was meant as a sort of parable in light of Honeycutt’s first start.
“Cal’s got a good fan base,” Lee said. “It’s going to be packed, and it’s going to be real intense in there, so it’s easy to fall to the pressure.”
With reports by Farzad Mashhood, Bruin Sports senior staff.