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Pac-10 men's basketball previews -- No. 4, UCLA
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UCLA's Jerime Anderson is a key/Photo Nick Laham/Getty Images
We are up to No. 4 in our series on the Pac-10 men’s basketball previews, and it is a surprise even to us that we have UCLA this low in our preseason predictions.
The top three teams in our projections will be released in the next day or so, with the Stanford preview coming last. We are revealing teams in inverse order of their predicted finish. (See Washington State story here; see USC here, see Oregon here, see Arizona State here, see Arizona here.)
Now we take a look at a team we pick to finish fourth, UCLA, knowing full well the Bruins have enough talent to finish first, especially if coach Ben Howland gets his team playing defense like it did during the three seasons it got to the Final Four.
The close call to Concordia in the one-point exhibition win caught our attention, and we may be giving that performance too much weight. Afterall, the Bruins are still loaded with talent, and Howland should get them playing at a high level by January. And it won’t take a whole lot to win the Pac-10 title this season.
But the Bruins have never lost as much talent in one year as they did this season, with the departure of Darren Collison, Jrue Holiday, Josh Shipp and Alfred Aboya.
Nikola Dragovic is the only returning starter from a Bruins team that was not as good as expected last season and lacked the defensive intensity that identified most UCLA teams.
The backcourt is of particular concern for UCLA. Everybody assumes things will straighten themselves out when Jerime Andrerson returns from a groin injury to man the starting point-guard spot, but he averaged 8.6 minutes and 2.3 points last season. He is not ready to be the next Darren Collison just yet.
Malcolm Lee will be the other guard, and he played only slightly more. Wing player Michael Roll will bring experience and a reliable outside shot to the floor as soon as he recovers from a sprained ankle, which should be soon, although considering Roll one of UCLA’s top players says something about the Bruins.
There is some talent in the frontcourt with Dragovic (probably the team’s best outside shooter after Roll), James Keefe (who returned earlier than expected from his injury), and sophomore Drew Gordon (a San Jose resident who looks like he could be something special). Freshmen Reeves Nelson and Tyler Honeycutt figure to make significant contributions as the season goes on. Honeycutt, the second-highest rated recruit among the Pac-10 freshmen (behind only Washington guard Abdul Gaddy) could be a Pac-10 star in a year or two, but he is not there yet.
The Bruins play only one nonconference game away from southern California, and that should help the Bruins get comfortable, but a home game against Kansas and a possible neutral-court game against Butler will show Howland what he has before Pac-10 play begins.
It’s hard to believe the Bruins will finish no better than fourth, considering how weak the Pac-10 is this season, but that’s where we have them.
For more Bay Area college sports, see jakestakeonsports.com. See also:
RANKING SCHEDULE STRENGTH OF PAC-10 MEN'S TEAMS
APPEL NAMES PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN
RANKING THE SCHEDULE STRENGTH OF PAC-10 WOMEN'S TEAMS
STANFORD'S MEN'S SCHEDULE A LITTLE TOUGHER
STANFORD WOMEN ATTEMPT 39 THREE-POINTERS IN EXHIBITION
TWO CAL FRESHMEN COULD MAKE BEARS CONTENDERS
STANFORD WOMEN UNANIMOUS PICK TO WIN PAC-10
STANFORD WOMEN ATTEND POINT-GUARD COLLEGE
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