Free-throw woes
Last week against Stanford and Cal, the Bruins shot just
31-for-54 from the free-throw line, a meager 57 percent success
rate.
UCLA head coach Steve Lavin knows that their free-throw
percentage will have to improve if they expect to win tough Pac-10
games.
“Winning comes down to shooting at a high percentage,
including free throws,” he said.
Freshman Cedric Bozeman is especially struggling at the line. He
is just 3-for-14 (21 percent) on the year, including 1-for-5 last
week. He says he needs to stop rushing at the line in order to
improve his percentage.
“It’s a mental thing,” Bozeman said. “I
know I’m better than that. I get 10 seconds at the line, and
I need to use them all.”
Is Cedric still injured?
Despite his improved play as of late, Lavin still thinks
Bozeman’s knee is not at 100 percent.
“Cedric is not at full strength,” Lavin said.
“There’s the natural rehabilitation process to get
back, and there’s also the confidence.”
Lavin then said it could take until the end of February for
Bozeman to return to his pre-injury form.
But at practice yesterday, the point guard denied that he is
still facing any effects from the knee injury that sidelined him
for a month in December and early January.
“I feel good,” Bozeman said. “I’m 100
percent.”
Pac-10 prowess
A glance at the Pac-10 standings shows that six teams are within
one game of each other in the loss column.
But does it really matter? After all, the Pac-10 will be likely
to get five or six bids to the NCAA Tournament, where the true
college basketball champion is decided.
“(Winning the conference) isn’t a do-or-die
situation like it was in the past because of the NCAA
Tournament,” Arizona head coach Lute Olson said.
But Olson and other coaches agree that the bunched up standings
show the similar talent levels among the majority of the teams in
the conference.
“This is a really competitive league,” Cal head
coach Ben Braun said. “There is a lot of parity.”
Compiled by Greg Schain, Daily Bruin Reporter.