UCLA Team Report

GETTING INSIDE

Darren Collison was 86-18 as a starting point guard during his UCLA career.

Gone.

Alfred Aboya and Josh Shipp combined with Collison to play in 424 games for the Bruins.

Also gone.

Even Jrue Holiday, after just one season in Westwood, is gone … to the NBA.

The Bruins aren’t exactly starting over in coach Ben Howland’s seventh season, but they are turning to a new chapter. Those three straight Final Four appearances from 2006 to 2008 are in the rear-view mirror. So are the 123 victories (and just 26 defeats) from the past four seasons.

The Bruins are rebuilding with an assortment of former high school All-Americans, but they are rebuilding. Nine freshmen and sophomores are among the scholarship players, and not one player who averaged double-figure scoring returns from a year ago.

UCLA has depth and options, and a potential star-in-waiting in sophomore guard Malcolm Lee, from whom much is expected. An upper-division finish in the Pac-10 seems likely.

Much will depend on the ability of the young players to embrace what Howland demands on the defensive end.

Sophomore Jerime Anderson will try to step into Collison’s considerable shoes at the point, and sophomore Drew Gordon, at just 6-8, may have to play center, provided he stays healthy and out of foul trouble.

This team figures to be at its best late in the season, when it matters most.

NOTES, QUOTES

• Sophomore F Drew Gordon suffered an injury to the patellar tendon of his right knee at the USA Under-19 team trials last spring, but is healthy and ready to go. Gordon is likely to begin the season as the starting center because the Bruins have no else ready to handle that job.

• Senior F James Keefe, who averaged 3.0 points and 3.4 rebounds last season, was expected to miss 4-to-6 weeks, sidelining him until perhaps mid-November, after injuring his left shoulder. The injury is not as serious as the torn labrum he suffered to the same shoulder two years ago that forced him to miss the first 12 games of the season.

• UCLA’s 123 victories the past four seasons exceeds by six wins the best four-year stretch of legendary Bruins coach John Wooden, who celebrated his 99th birthday on Oct. 14. Of course, Wooden’s teams never played more than 31 games in any season.

Last Year:   26-9 overall, 13-5 in Pac-10; lost in second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Head Coach:   Ben Howland (career 320-153); seventh year at UCLA (152-54).

Quote To Note:   “You have to be really detailed and be very patient in terms of trying to teach the very basics. These freshmen have no idea. They really don’t.”—UCLA coach Ben Howland on the state of his young squad.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

Scouting The Newcomers:   Coach Ben Howland brought in a five-man recruiting class rated as the nation’s ninth-best by Scout.com. Figure three or four of them will contribute almost from the start. Tyler Honeycutt, a wiry 6-9 forward, is given a good shot at finding a place in the starting lineup after being medically cleared following a spinal stress fracture he sustained last April in an all-star game. PF Reeves Nelson should earn playing time simply because he is an excellent rebounder and the Bruins need that skill. Meanwhile, 6-8 Mike Moser hopes to create opportunity at one of the two forward spots. PF Brendan Lane, at 6-9, 205, and C Anthony Stover, a 6-10, 225-pounder, may contribute somewhat less at the start.

Key Early-season Games:   The Bruins are part of a strong eight-team field in the 76 Classic at Anaheim, where they better not sleep on a Nov. 26 opener vs. much-improved Portland. A second-round matchup (Nov. 27) looms with Butler or Minnesota, and the other side of the bracket features West Virginia and Clemson. But the two headliners on UCLA’s non-conference slate are a Dec. 6 home matchup with likely No. 1 Kansas, then a Dec. 19 visit to Notre Dame with All-America senior Luke Harangody. A fairly challenging schedule for a young Bruins squad.

Program Direction:   This is a matter of perspective, because coach Ben Howland has created such high expectations at Westwood. The Bruins aren’t likely to make their fourth trip to the Final Four in five seasons and are regarded as no better than a third-place team in the Pac-10 this season. Given their recent history, that’s a comedown. But this is generally a young team, and if the freshmen and sophomores deliver, as expected, UCLA should be an NCAA Tournament team with the promise of bigger things in the immediate future.

Probable Starting Lineup:   PG Jerime Anderson, SG Malcolm Lee, SF Michael Roll, SF Nikola Dragovic, C Drew Gordon.

Roster Report:  

• Sophomore G Malcolm Lee, expected to blossom into a productive scorer, averaged just 3.2 points a year ago. He scored 27 points in 14 regular-season Pac-10 games.

• Senior F Michael Roll led the Pac-10 in 3-point accuracy last season at 51.5 percent.

• Senior F Nikola Dragovic is the team’s top returning scorer (9.4 ppg) and rebounder (4.3 rpg) and he also led the Bruins with 60 3-point baskets.

• UCLA’s only commitment to its 2010 recruit class, as of mid-October, was Tyler Lamb, a four-star shooting guard from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Calif.