It hasn’t happened all that often this season, but there
was some good news on the injury front to come out of UCLA coach
Ben Howland’s weekly press conference. Redshirt senior Cedric
Bozeman ““ out of the lineup since Dec. 27, 2005, after
tearing cartilage in his left shoulder ““ practiced with light
contact Tuesday and is expected to see limited playing time against
Oregon on Thursday. “It’s a start, and I’m happy
to be back,” said Bozeman, who will be limited to eight to 10
minutes per half against the Ducks. “I’m not at 100
percent, but I think I feel pretty good where I can help the team
anyway possible. No left-handed tomahawk dunk though.” The
Bruins will certainly welcome all the help they can get. Just in
the last two weeks, Howland has had to make the difficult
announcement that sophomores Josh Shipp and Lorenzo Mata would miss
the rest of the regular season due to injuries. But Bozeman’s
return gives UCLA another seasoned ball handler on the court as
well as some much-needed depth to a rotation that, at least against
West Virginia, was only seven players deep. “(His return)
takes pressure off of everyone,” sophomore Jordan Farmar
said. “He’s definitely a big part of the key component
to this team. He was helping us a lot, contributing in all aspects
of the game. He’ll help the whole team.” Bozeman has
started in all 11 games he’s played in this season, averaging
10.3 points and 4 rebounds in 31.2 minutes per game while shooting
an impressive 53.2 percent from the field. Though the 6-foot-6
senior was cleared to resume noncontact drills last week and felt
minimal pain in his shoulder, Howland said it’s the
tendonitis in Bozeman’s surgically operated right knee that
continues to hinder his complete recovery. Bozeman, who missed the
entire 2004-2005 season with a torn ACL in that right knee and will
wear a protective knee sleeve this week, had an MRI taken of the
knee last week and found no new damage. “The knee is cool.
The tendonitis is there definitely a little bit,” Bozeman
said. “I have a little pain (in my shoulder), but nothing
that stops me from lifting it. It’s definitely a little sore,
but nothing that I can’t play through.” So far this
season, the Bruins are 10-1 with Bozeman in the lineup and 5-3
without him.
FARMAR HEALTHIER: Don’t take
Farmar’s word that the sophomore point guard is recovering
from a sprained right ankle. Just look at the box score from
UCLA’s last two games. Against USC and West Virginia last
week, Farmar averaged 18.5 points and 4.5 assists per game while
nailing six 3-pointers. In the six games before that, he averaged
only 7.7 points per game and made only three 3-pointers.
“(The ankle) is getting a lot better,” Farmar said.
“I haven’t hurt it in a while, so that’s
definitely a positive. It’s definitely not bothering me that
much. “I don’t think I’ll be 100 percent this
year, but hopefully close to tournament time I’ll get around
(100 percent), and that’s all that matters.”
DRIBBLERS: Freshman point guard Darren Collison
suffered a sprained left ankle in Saturday’s loss to West
Virginia. Collison did not practice on Monday or Tuesday, but will
practice today and is expected to be able to play against Oregon on
Thursday. … Howland on Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe
Bryant’s 81-point performance on Sunday: “I watched
that and I was astounded.” “Yeah, I think (he can get
100 points) if he takes enough shots. But I don’t think it
will happen.”