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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Bruin Men Open With Exhibition
Tonight At Pauley--(Nov. 10, 1999)

UCLA issued an official press release a couple of days ago, and we would have posted it yesterday if we'd been able to make it out of bed where we've been struggling with the flu, but since there's still time before the tip-off tonight at 7:30 p.m., better late than never.

Notwithstanding what you may have read elsewhere, the Bruins will be depleted even before they start, and looking at this team, you'd have trouble understanding why they were picked as high as they were in the CNN and Media Polls and the Trojans were picked to finish 7th. This is a UCLA team that's going to struggle, and struggle early due to injuries and a decimated roster. For tonight, Ryan Bailey is doubtful, suffering from tendenitis in his foot (and in fact we surprised to see him playing on Saturday in the Preview Day game, as was his father whom we chatted with before the Preview Day scrimmage); Dan Gadzuric is also out with a hyperextended knee, and he won't return until at least a week from Thursday at the earliest; Ray Young is out with an injured thumb, which may require surgery after the season; Todd Ramasar recently had shoulder surgery and may redshirt the rest of the year; Matt Barnes is academically ineligible until at least December. And while there's talk that Jaron Rush might play, anyone who saw him injure his elbow and forearm at the slam dunk contest which capped off the injury-fest otherwise known as "Preview Day" knows that he's doubtful and even if he can play, why should he against a team from Lithuania in a game that ultimately means nothing.

So who's left when the Bruins tip-off tonight against a team from Lithuania? Well, there's Jerome Moiso, Billy Knight, Rico Hines, Jason Kapono, Earl Watson, and Sean Farnham. And that's it. Six guys. With only one sub it looks like Lavin had better get a few of those walk-ons back over to the gym. . . .

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The "New" Offense: For those who were at Preview Day, you might have seen glimpses of UCLA's "new" offense, which is a "1-4 high" set, which allows for either a double-high post (assuming that Dan and Jerome were both healthy), or which allows the four to slide down to the left block, post or rebound, while the the three remains parked out on the left wing looking for the three-pointer, while the two slashes to the hole, looking for either a backdoor pass from the point or from the high post at the right elbow; the point has a few options, including hitting the five with the entry and going for the pick and roll, or simply making the entry and letting the big man do his thing, either hitting the two off the cut, feeding the three for the shot, or hitting the four down on the block. There are a lot of other variations of this set up, but it's pretty similar to those other John Wooden-inspired high post offenses of the 1960's which relied on good spacing and a real half-court game. And without Baron Davis and the run-run-run-style that UCLA has had for the last few years, this might be a welcome change. Can you say "Princeton"? Just don't look for it to be too terribly successful until more of the team is healthy and they learn where they're all supposed to be.

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Random Preview Day Observations: We struggled through last Saturday along with the rest of the crowd, first through a women's game which saw a couple more Bruin women get injured, and then a men's scrimmage game which was at times exceedingly painful to watch, and only had rare, brief glimpses of team play. Everyone kept saying, "Gee, what do you expect? This is just a scrimmage, first time in front of people; there are no subs, they've divided the team into two squads, and there were no bench players. . . It will be better when the season opens." Er, um, ok. Like tonight. At least the Bruins will have one sub, unlike Saturday when they really had none. But back to Saturday: The Preview Day scrimmage actually turned into a full 40 minute game, and the entire squad, or what there was of it, was divided into two teams (white and blue). So with the injuries, there really were no subs. Jason Kapono looked, well, he looked like a freshman who had never visited Pauley Pavilion before, instead of the relatively sophisticated player we know him to be who has played in at least a half a dozen big time games at Pauley before crowds much bigger than Satuday's. He's been playing very well in practice, but seemed to be nervous, dropped the ball a lot, intercepted a couple of passes intended for other teammates, and it really took him the whole game to get comfortable. By the end though he found his range, and connected on a couple of threes. Nice. Jaron Rush did what he usually does, slashing to the hole, being aggressive and dunking a lot off some very pretty lobs from teammates. Earl Watson looked calm, under control, moving the ball well, but we'll wait until there's some real defense being played and the team gets more comfortable with the offense. Rico Hines and Billy Knight were the two big surprises, shooting the ball well and they'd better be, at least until the other walking wounded return because they're all the Bruins have on the wings for now. Gadzuric didn't play, and neither did Ray Young (well he got a couple of minutes, and looked good warming up, but then hurt his thumb). Todd Ramasar had his arm in a sling and didn't play. Sean Farnham showed some improved athleticism, and Lavin is really getting the most out of him right now; he's easily the most improved player on the team from last year, in our humble opinion. Moiso pretty much disappeared during the Preview Day festivities, and until he and the team get used to running the offense and learning their positions on the floor, it's going to be interesting, at best for Jerome. Jason Flowers (who is not eligible to play this season, because as a transfer from UC Irvine, he has to sit out a year) looked ok, not great, but good enough that he might play a suitable backup role for a couple of years. But then Preview Day was certainly not the place to be judging anyone's talents, and Flowers might turn out to be very good when he finally gets the chance to really play. Jason is a very talented, compact point guard from Bellflower, who is kind of similar (in stature and build) to Shantay Legans, but who didn't show any of Shantay's aggressiveness or shot-making abilities, at least not on Saturday. But then there's not much you can really say about a scrimmage game, even if it was played under that really great new "Jumbotron" scoreboard with four video screens. Very cool, and at least the folks up in the upper regions of Pauley will now be able to see the game.

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A couple of recruiting notes: Today is the first day of the fall signing period. It looks like UCLA is only going to be looking forward to getting one letter during the signing period from T.J. Cummings (6'-9" Sr. PF) from Flossmoor, Illinois. T.J. is the son of NBA player Terry Cummings. Other players are being recruited, and reports that Phillip Ricci, the 6'-8" JUCO player has ruled out UCLA seem to be premature. But a few things seem to be constants: UCLA is not looking for another point guard out of this class; the Bruins have reportedly not offered Travon Bryant, and likewise, Andrew Zahn (6'-9" Sr. PF) from Redondo, who has visited Oregon State, Washington State and taken an unofficial visit to USC, has been telling people that the Bruins have asked him to wait until spring to commit, and he's reportedly going to wait.

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In any event, if you're going over to Pauley tonight, you'll get to see the six Bruins take on the Lithuanians, who are substituting for the Chinese who had to back out. Here's the UCLA official Press Release:

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Men's Basketball Opens Exhibition Season Wednesday
Bruins to host Lithuanian club team.

Nov. 8, 1999

LOS ANGELES - Steve Lavin's UCLA men's basketball team opens their 1999-2000 exhibition season Wednesday night (Nov. 10) vs. Kraitene, a club team from Marijampole, Lithuania. The Bruins were originally scheduled to play the Chinese National Team but their visit to the U. S. was cancelled. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion.

The Bruins, because of injury, could be without four players when they face Kraitene on Wednesday. Sophomore center Dan Gadzuric has been sidelined since Thursday with a hyperextended left knee and junior guard Ryan Bailey has been slowed sicne the start of fall camp with plantar faciitis (sprained ligament) on the bottom of his right foot. UCLA also had two players injured last Saturday during Fan Preview Day. Sophomore guard Ray Young sprained (ligament) his right thumb (shooting hand) and the thumb will be splinted and he will be out of action for at least a week. Sophomore forward JaRon Rush strained (muscle) his right elbow and is listed as day-to-day.

Before facing UCLA, Kraitene lost at Pacific on Saturday, 86-53. It was the first game of its U. S. tour. Kraitene plays at Santa Clara on Monday and at San Jose State on Tuesday, before visiting UCLA on Wednesday.

After the game with Kraitene on Wednesday, the Bruins will continue their exhibition season on Thursday, Nov. 18, hosting the California Midwest All-Stars.

The Bruin men and women will open the 1999-2000 regular season on Tuesday, Nov. 23 in a doubleheader at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA's women will host Texas at 6 p.m. and the UCLA-Fairfield men's contest will start 30 minutes after the conclusion of the Bruin-Longhorn women's game.

Kraitene (Marijampole, Lithuania) (0-1)
Nov. 6--at Pacific 86, Kraitene 53
Nov. 8--at Santa Clara
Nov. 9--at San Jose State
Nov. 10--at UCLA
Nov. 11--at UC Santa Barbara
Nov. 12--at UC Irvine
Nov. 13--at CS Northridge
Nov. 15--at San Diego State
Nov. 17--at Pepperdine