The sting of playing a season-low 21 minutes on Senior Day
obviously has not subsided yet for T.J. Cummings. The senior
forward ““ who finished Saturday’s loss to Notre Dame on
the bench ““ was terse when speaking to reporters about the
game Tuesday. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he
said. UCLA coach Ben Howland spoke to Cummings Monday before
practice, and explained to him why he didn’t get his usual
playing time. “I told him his defense was suspect at
best,” Howland said. “If he’s not producing, then
we’ve got to play the guys who give us the best chance to
win.” Howland did note that Cummings grabbed three steals in
practice on Monday. That wouldn’t be notable, except that
Cummings has grabbed just four steals in 618 minutes of play all
season. “If you’re playing hard and getting your hands
up, you’d expect to have more than one steal every 200
minutes,” Howland said. Cummings declined to discuss his
performance or his conversation with Howland, instead choosing to
focus on the team’s upcoming trip to face the Oregon
schools.
INJURY UPDATE: Howland described Brian Morrison
as “very unlikely” to play this weekend and noted that
his ankle is still sore and not completely healed. Howland’s
weariness was confirmed when Director of Basketball Operations
Chris Carlson spotted Morrison limping on campus during a routine
class check. “In retrospect, it was unwise to bring him back
so quickly,” Howland said regarding Morrison’s
late-January return against the Arizona schools. Howland also
announced that junior forward Josiah Johnson, who has a sprained
knee, will not play for the rest of the season. “He has a
long way to go,” Howland said. Howland also indicated that he
does not envision freshman forward Matt McKinney, who has not
played all season due to a broken foot, to play this year. A likely
option is for him to apply for a medical redshirt year.
SCHOLARSHIP CHECK: Though junior guard Janou
Rubin earned a Pac-10 Player of the Week honor and a role as one of
top players off the bench this season, Howland said he planned to
uphold a signed agreement which states Rubin will relinquish his
scholarship for next season. Rubin, a walk-on, was rewarded before
the season with a scholarship for just this year.
FARMAR TO PLAY FOR USA: UCLA signee Jordan
Farmar was selected to join the 2004 USA Basketball Men’s
Junior National Select Team, it was announced Tuesday. Composed of
10 of the country’s top high school players, the team will
face the World Select Team at the University of Texas on April 4,
in conjunction with the NCAA men’s Final Four.
With reports from Diamond Leung, Bruin sports senior
staff.