Bruins prepare for new season
By Andrew Howard
Nov. 11, 2008 10:11 p.m.
After weeks of practice and two exhibition games, the season officially begins for the UCLA men’s basketball team.
Tonight at Pauley Pavilion, the No. 4 Bruins will face Prairie View A&M in the opening round of the 2K Sports Classic in the first game that will count towards the team’s record this season. And while coach Ben Howland admits that the time has come fast, he couldn’t be more excited to get the season underway.
“We’re excited to play against real competition now that counts as a game,” Howland said. “It’s happened in a hurry.”
The Bruins begin a journey tonight they hope will take them to Madison Square Garden on Nov. 20-21.
But before the Bruins can think of the possibility of playing in one of the most historic arenas in basketball history, they must focus on tonight’s game against Prairie View A&M.
Howland said that early in the season, it is difficult to prepare and game plan against their opponents due to the lack of film and information on teams. With regards to scouting Prairie View A&M, Howland said the Bruins looked at tape from last season on Tuesday.
The Bruins can take encouragement from their two exhibition wins, both of which were Bruin wins by predictably large margins. Howland stressed that the most important thing for the Bruins will be to stay healthy in the early part of the season as the team has just eleven scholarship players, two less than the allowed 13.
“Knock on wood, (the team’s health) is the best it’s been since we started,” Howland said. “Nobody had to go to the training room (Sunday). They like to have a day off from the training room.”
Coming into the season, one of the more noticeable changes in this year’s team compared to last season’s Final Four squad is the lack of a dominant low-post presence. Kevin Love is now a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Lorenzo Mata-Real graduated.
Due to the lack of size inside, Howland said the Bruins will become more of an up-tempo team looking to run the court, similar to the Bruins’ offensive style prior to the arrival of Love. Being able to push the tempo will be something that the Bruins will need to do against a Prairie View A&M team that likes to run the floor.
“Their thing is to get up and down, which is great,” Howland said. “We’ll welcome that.”
Should the Bruins defeat Prairie View A&M, they will play the winner of Miami of Ohio and Weber State Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion. Howland said that the team has looked at tapes of Miami of Ohio against Ohio State that has proven to be beneficial.
“Miami of Ohio is going to be a very patient team if we play them, for example,” Howland said. “They’re going to want to play in the fifties.”
The other possible opponent is Weber State, Howland’s alma mater. Much like Miami of Ohio, Howland said that Weber State will look to keep the score low and to be patient in the half-court sets.
Assuming the Bruins take care of business in the first two games of the tournament, the Bruins will travel to New York City for the semifinals and finals played at legendary Madison Square Garden.
One of the more intriguing matchups could be the final game of the tournament where the Bruins could potentially face the No. 8 Duke Blue Devils.
For freshman forward Drew Gordon, the possibility of a return to the Garden would be nice. The last time Gordon played at Madison Square Garden was a short one. It was for the Jordan Classic, an all-star game with the top-25 high school players, and two minutes into the game, Gordon suffered a torn meniscus.
Junior forward James Keefe believes that the biggest thing the Bruins can take away from their two exhibition games heading into the regular season is the opportunity to play against new players.
“It really gave us a chance to go up against someone else other than ourselves in practice,” Keefe said. “When we go up against the same players in practice everyday, you obviously know what they’re doing.”
With the season officially set to begin, Keefe added that the Bruins must have the right mentality day-in and day-out now.
“You got to come everyday because this goes on your record,” Keefe said. “You mess up in a couple games, that affects your overall poll when the NCAA postseason starts. So just everyday, just one game at a time.”
