Pac-12 media members picked the UCLA men’s basketball team to finish first in the conference this season.
The first-place selection comes by the narrowest of margins as UCLA received just one more first place vote than California and three more than Arizona.
To coach Ben Howland, the ranking means nothing.
“Wherever the media picks us, it doesn’t help us win one game,” Howland said. “All it does is make the bullseye even bigger and you’ve already got the bullseye because you’ve got those four letters on you chest. We’ve got to go out and prove it. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Howland was joined at Pac-12 media day by senior guard Lazeric Jones. Jones is the only captain Howland has chosen and is one of just two seniors on the roster. Jones was bothered by a lingering wrist injury last season but now feels he’s ready to take a step forward.
“Me being hurt messed us up a little bit,” Jones said of last season. “If I was healthier and I continued to grow as the year went on, by the time the tournament came, I would have been a lot more confident. That kind of falls on me. I definitely threw us off last year. Hopefully I can stay healthy this year and take us further than where we were.”
A lot of the media day talk focused on UCLA’s lack of a home arena and the Bruins’ depth in the front court.
Below are some other interesting quotes from Howland and Jones. We’ll continue to post tidbits from media day coverage as the season nears. The Bruins take on Cal State San Bernardino in their exhibition game on Nov. 6 at Citizen’s Bank Arena in Ontario.
UCLA coach Ben Howland
On sophomore center Joshua Smith’s conditioning
“He thinks he’s better than he was a year ago at this time but I don’t think he’s where he was at the end of last season. I think he’s still got a ways to go to get there.”
“He’s a dominant player right now but I want him to be the most dominant player. He wants to improve. He wants to get better. It’s my job to help him do that.”
On sophomore guard Tyler Lamb
“I think he’s really worked hard on his shot. He’s become a better shooter. He kind of had a little bit of side spin on his rotation a year ago so he’s worked hard to get more of that pure rotation on his shot and I think he’s become a stronger player.”
On size advantage
“It will be tough both ways. We’re going to have to have 6’10” guys guarding 6’4” guys so we’ve got to be better at taking advantage of it when we’re on offense by rebounding a lot and not get hurt by it defensively.”
On the commute to the Sports Arena
“I think it’s going to help us. We’ve got to be tougher than everybody if we’re going to finish where we want to finish and reach our potential. That means mental toughness because it’s hard. Yesterday, it took our team 25 minutes to get here. We were so lucky. It was unbelievable. We all know that’s not always going to happen. We have to be able to overcome a lot of potential obstacles.”
Senior guard Lazeric Jones
On the backcourt not getting much attention
“We’re not trying to take any of their shine because they deserve it but there’s definitely a chip on our shoulder. We have to show people that we’re good. I was hurt last year and people didn’t get to see exactly what I could do so this is just a moment where I can come out and start over. I have a clean slate. People don’t know if I can shoot or do certain things but it’s my time to go out there and prove myself.”
On the difference from last year to this year
“Last year, some people were trying to feel their way through things. Josh was new but now we know that Josh is our first option. We have to go to Josh. We didn’t figure that out until later in the year last year. We were still trying to find our identity.”
On his health and last season’s injury
“To be honest, last year, not to sound cocky but I feel like me being hurt messed us up a little bit. If I was healthier and I continued to grow as the year went on, by the time the tournament came, I would have been a lot more confident. That kind of falls on me. I definitely threw us off last year. Hopefully I can stay healthy this year and take us further than where we were.”
“It was a lot worse than people thought. It hurt every time it got hit, really bad. It was stiff to the point where if it moved back or forth any way, it hurt like it had just happened again. It was so bad. Some teams would grab it and pull from the inside or it would get smashed between two people, it really used to hurt.”
On how far he has come in two years on the team
“It’s all the best for me. I don’t think too many people that ever met me thought I would be in this situation. I can’t tell you that I thought I was going to be in this situation a couple of years ago. I take it all in stride right now. I’m excited to be here (at media day). I’m excited that people want to talk to me because not too long ago, I was a nobody. Today, I still feel like I’m the same person. I just want to enjoy this moment because you never know when it’s going to be over.”
On being a team leader
“You have to give the most effort to be a leader. For you to be able to tell anyone what to do, you have to be able to do it yourself and be able to take criticism. I know when Coach talks to me, I have to be able to take it so that when the other players don’t listen to Coach, I can get on them about it. It’s about effort and playing the hardest. I feel like we have a team full of leaders and people who have their moments and say the right things but right now, I’m the point guard so I have to be that leader.”