Hearing Ben Howland go through his early-season ritual of bemoaning his team’s defensive play, you would think little has changed for the UCLA men’s basketball team.
It’s quite the opposite. Howland lost two starters to the NBA, a common trend during his tenure as the UCLA coach, but gained four new faces and the added respect of preseason prognosticators, who have the Bruins as a top 25 team virtually across the board.
They certainly are new, and many think they’re improved, but determining whether the No. 17 Bruins are actually the new and improved version of last year’s team starts Friday in the season opener against Loyola Marymount.
Howland has identified the team’s defense as a point of concern after two exhibitions. It may sound like a broken record, but it doesn’t fall on deaf ears.
“He’s just a defensive coach,” junior forward Reeves Nelson said. “No matter what we do, he’s going to want us to be better until we (have) a perfect game. Instead of wanting us to have baby steps or a learning curve, he wants to get it up to speed as quickly as possible.”
The Bruins will have to learn on the fly before the competition gets stiffer. UCLA will open with three consecutive home games before taking off for Hawaii to participate in an especially tough Maui Invitational.
“If we’re not improving, it’s going to be a rough tournament,” redshirt sophomore forward David Wear said. “We definitely need to pack down this next week or two and definitely start tightening things up defensively and offensively so we can transition and play well over there.”
The transition includes acclimating David Wear and his brother redshirt sophomore forward Travis Wear, who both stand 6-feet-10-inches, into the rotation, their first real basketball in a year-and-a-half since transferring from North Carolina to UCLA. The twins admitted to a shaky start in UCLA’s exhibition game on Sunday because of nerves, but said that those miscues will remain in the preseason.
Same goes for the rest of the team. As senior point guard Lazeric Jones put it: “Things will be a lot different when we start playing for keeps.”
Nelson hurts ankle
The Sports Illustrated cover jinx nearly claimed another victim.
Junior forward Reeves Nelson, who landed on the front of a regional cover in the magazine’s college basketball season preview issue, hurt his left ankle during Tuesday’s practice and missed practice Wednesday while getting X-rays, which were negative. He is listed as day-to-day with simply an ankle injury, leaving his status for the season opener in question.
Signing day
UCLA received signed National Letters of Intent from Kyle Anderson and Jordan Adams on Wednesday.
Anderson, a 6-foot-7-inch swingman from New Jersey, is regarded by scouting websites as one of the top players in the country.
“He’s going to have the ball a lot,” Howland said of Anderson’s role. “Next year it will be Larry Drew and him playing the point.”
The 6-foot-5-inch Adams, a forward from Georgia who plays at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, comes to UCLA to join a familiar face: Korey McCray, the new UCLA assistant coach who ran Adams’ club team in Atlanta.
“(McCray)’s known the kid for a long time, has a great relationship with him,” Howland said. “There’s no question.
“We don’t get Jordan Adams if Korey’s not on the staff.”