Bruins try to get in the groove for preseason

Thursday, November 14, 1996

BASKETBALL:

UCLA needs to fine tune game plan as they take on German teamBy
Hye Kwon

Daily Bruin Staff

Two days after notching a 35 point victory against Athletes in
Action, the UCLA men’s basketball team will battle Germany’s
22-and-under national team tonight in a continuing effort to smooth
out some of the rough edges the team might have.

If outside shooting happened to be one of the question marks
interim head coach Steve Lavin had for his Bruins, it was partly
answered by the play of Brandon Loyd. In 25 minutes of action on
Tuesday night, the sophomore guard knocked down three treys, a feat
that made Lavin excited about the possibility of an effective
inside-outside scheme.

"He’s put together a couple of weeks now in which he’s been a
real threat," Lavin said. "What’s great about he being a threat
from the three point land is that he’ll stretch defenses. What it
does is it makes defenses play honest on the perimeter, which opens
things up for J.R. (Henderson) and Jelani (McCoy) on the
inside."

Another possible problem area for UCLA, with 6-10 omm’A Givens
and 6-11 Ike Nwankwo gone from last year’s team, is how it will
adjust when its big men are in foul trouble. This problem was most
apparent Tuesday night when McCoy was ejected from the game after
picking up two technical fouls.

Lavin contends that undersized power forward Bob Meyers, who was
seldom used prior to the midpoint of last season, will play a
pivotal role in alleviating the pressure down low.

"What (Meyers) gives away in height, he makes up for in bulk,"
Lavin said. "I think between J.R., who’s 6-9, and Bob, who is so
strong and thick, we’ll be OK."

Tonight’s game, which will tip off at 7:30 p.m. at Pauley
Pavilion, will be the fifth game the Germans will have played in
the last week. And judging by the quality of teams they have lost
to, the Bruins should be the clear favorites tonight.

Lightly regarded San Jose State hammered the Germans 70-54 on
Monday night. The Germans were led by 7-foot center Patrick
Femerling who tallied 21 points and 12 rebounds.

* * *

The Bruins have added a new wrinkle to their pregame warm up
sequence. On Tuesday night, the team engaged in a defensive stance
drill right before the player introductions.

"Cameron (Dollar) asked if we can do that," Lavin said.
"Hopefully it’ll get us some early starts and get us some intensity
coming out of the gate. I’m not sure (if the drill will be
continued). I have no problem with it. If it helps them get ready,
I have no problems."

JUSTIN WARREN/Daily Bruin

Jelani McCoy (# 34) still has to work on preventing technical
fouls.