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UCLA women’s basketball head Coach Kathy Olivier (pictured with forward Lindsey Pluimer) feels like a chess player who doesn’t have to settle for playing checkers any more. She finally has plenty of pieces she can move around the board.
"It’s been very competitive within," she said at today’s Pac-10 Regional Media Day in the Press Room of the Morgan Center on campus. The 2007-08 Bruins return only one senior and two juniors and have a six-member freshman class that has been rated as high as fourth in the nation. "And I think that’s a plus; we haven’t had that in a long time. In years past, it’s been very obvious who the starters would be and this year, it’s kind of up in the air right now.
"They are very coachable girls that are here. They are excited to be at UCLA. They’re extremely competitive. They have a good time together because there are six of 'em; they kind of run as a pack. We’re young, but we’re talented."
Olivier said that like men’s Coach Ben Howland, defense will be emphasized first this season. "We’re talking more about our defense than we have talked about in the past, because I felt we were more offensively minded last year. It’s whoever plays the defense is going to be on the floor and we’re going to play uptempo defense [and] mix it up a little.
"We’re focused on bringing it every game, at the same level, regardless of who we play. We really want to set the tone of how we play this year. In years past, we didn’t have as much depth. I think people know they were going to play regardless if they were having a bad night, they still knew they were going to play. With this team, what I have really enjoyed is having the depth and saying, ‘OK, it’s not your day, it’s someone else’s day.' "
One freshman who will have an immediate impact is 6-3 center Regina Rogers from Chief Sealth High in Seattle. "I’ve been calling her Lady Shaq," said Olivier. "I just think she’s a post player with a point guard’s mentality, which is very nice to have: a quick thinker, fun to play with, sees the floor well. And a banger. She banged around one of our scout guys; he hasn’t been banged in three years [and he was saying] like ‘what is going on?’ So that was entertaining and that was great."
Returning senior forward Lindsey Pluimer (15.5 points per game last season) will be co-captain with sophomore guard Erica Tukiainen (2.8 ppg). "The freshmen have come in and really stepped up everything and are at a whole different level," said Pluimer. "I think we have a great chemistry this year, which is very important. I don’t think we had that as much last year. I think our youth is going to be helpful in a lot of areas."
Tukiainen agreed: "Our team chemistry is completely different, both on and off the court. In the summertime we already started clicking when we were playing pickup and that’s really exciting. We have the chemistry and we have a lot of talent and when you put the chemistry and talent together you can do a lot of big things."
Asked about what this year’s team can achieve after last season’s senior-laden team went 14-18, Olivier was enthusiastic. "When you’re at UCLA, your goal is always to get to the NCAA Tournament. If you’re not talking like that, you shouldn’t be at a school like UCLA. We did not get to the tournament last year, we got there the year before. This year our goal is to finish in the top of the Pac-10 and the Pac-10 has three teams [Stanford, California, Arizona State] ranked in the top 15. We want to finish in the top three in the Pac-10."
Olivier wasn’t shy about crediting Howland for some of her emphasis on defense, or embracing the high profile of Bruin basketball. "I mean he’s great. He works very well with the women, he’s totally into the gender-equity deal, we share Pauley with them. I’ve learned a lot from him.
"I’ve sat in on his practices a number of times and I think the thing that he told me is transition defense, you got to get that done, these are things that I’ve taken from Ben. I think he’s a master of scheduling. The guy does a great job in his non-conference schedules and a great job with his team as far as overall team defense. We picked it up a level as far as the demanding, get it done, you’re at UCLA, it’s a high level of basketball, be proud of that and step it up. And he’s the epitome of that."
The Bruin lineup isn’t settled other than Pluimer at one forward and Tukiainen at one guard, with UCLA opening its exhibition season tomorrow night at Pauley Pavilion against Team Concept -– including former Bruins Noelle Quinn, Nikki Blue and Natalie Jarrett -– with tipoff at 7:05 p.m.
Kathy Olivier and Lindsey Pluimer photo courtesy of UCLA.
 The UCLA men’s water polo team was ranked third in the nation going into last Sunday’s showdown with No. 1 USC, but the Bruins had lost five of six matches against its toughest competition: California (0-3), Stanford (1-1) and USC (0-1). But that changed at the Sunset Canyon Recreation Center as the Bruins defeated USC, 9-5.
More in our midweek update:
Hall of Fame:
>> UCLA will admit eight new members to its Hall of Fame on Thursday evening, Nov. 8, and it’s one of the best classes ever:
Amy Acuff (track & field) won five NCAA high jump titles between 1994 and 1997 and finished fourth in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. She continues to be the leading American hope for a medal in the high jump in Beijing in 2008.
George Brown (track & field) won a rare triple-triple as a long jumper in 1951 and 1952: He won the Pacific Coast Conference, NCAA and AAU championships in the events both years and was acknowledged as the best long jumper in the world from 1951-53. As a sideline, he was also a scorer in the 220-yard dash in the 1951 and 1952 NCAA Championships.
Jennifer Brundage (softball) was the Honda Award winner in 1995 as the nation’s best softball player. She hit .518 and holds UCLA single-season records of 14 home runs, 60 runs batted in, 59 runs and 87 hits. She was a member of the 1992 NCAA Championship team and the 1993 second-place team. She won a gold medal as a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic team.
Jim Ferguson (water polo) was a three-time All-American from 1968-70 and his teams finished second, first and second in his three years. At the end of his Bruin career, he was the UCLA career leader in goals and assists. He was also co-captain of the bronze medal-winning U.S. team at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.
Troy Glaus (baseball) is best known as a member of the Angels, but at UCLA (1995-97), he set Pac-10 single-season records in 1997 for home runs (34) and total bases (227) and tied for the conference title in runs batted in (91), all in just 67 games! He helped the Bruins reach the College World Series that season for the first time since 1969.
John Moore (basketball) played for John Wooden from 1952-55 and was a consensus All-American in 1955. He was UCLA’s leading scorer in 1953 and 1955 as a starting forward on a team that won the PCC Southern Division championship.
Jeff Nygaard (volleyball) was the middle blocker and a member of two NCAA championship teams in 1993 and 1995. He was a three-time All-American from 1993-95 and National Player of the Year in 1994 and 1995. He was a member of the 1996 and 2000 U.S. Olympic volleyball teams and competed in the 2004 Olympics in beach volleyball.
Keri Phebus (tennis) was an All-American in all four years at UCLA, from 1993-96. He won the Honda Award as the nation’s best collegiate tennis player in 1995 after winning the NCAA singles and doubles titles.
Baseball:
>> The Bruins were ranked No. 12 in the CSTV Fall Top 25, released last Friday. UCLA is listed third in the Pac-10, with Arizona State at No. 1 and two-time defending national champion Oregon State at No. 4.
>> Two Bruins were ranked among the top 30 collegiate prospects in the nation by Baseball America. Shortstop Brandon Crawford was listed 10th and left-handed pitcher Tim Murphy was ranked 18th. UCLA was one of only six teams to have two or more players on that list.
Football:
>> UCLA set an all-time record for season tickets in 2007 with the final total (including student season tickets) finishing at 49,200.
Rowing:
>> UCLA’s varsity eight was disqualified in its race last Saturday at the Head of the American regatta, but the second eight came in seventh in its race. The varsity four also finished seventh.
Men’s Golf:
>> UCLA won the Callaway Golf Collegiate Match Play Championship yesterday in Greensboro, Ga., winning 15 of 20 matches and defeating Georgia Tech, 4-1, in the final. Senior Kevin Chappell and freshman Phillip Francis won all four of their matches and Craig Leslie and James Lee also won their matches in the final. Erik Flores won his first three matches, but lost, 1-up, against Taylor Hall of Georgia Tech.
Men’s Soccer:
>> The Bruins (8-6-2, 4-2-1 conference) remain in first place in the six-team Pac-10 standings by 1 point with three games remaining in the regular season. UCLA lost a tight game to Washington, 1-0, last Sunday at Drake Stadium despite outshooting the Huskies, 15-4.
Men’s Water Polo:
>> Goalkeeper Chay Lapin (pictured) was the hero as UCLA took a 3-1 lead, had a 4-3 halftime edge and then outscored top-ranked USC 5-2 in the second half to give the Trojans their first loss of the year, 9-5, last Sunday. The Bruins are now 16-5 overall and stand fourth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation at 3-2.
Lapin had a career-high 15 saves in goal for the Bruins, who snapped a four-match losing streak to the Trojans. He was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Mikasa co-Player of the Week.
Women’s Soccer:
>> The Bruins (12-1-2) are an unanimous No. 1 in the national polls and have not only won nine matches in a row (and are unbeaten in their last 14), but have not been scored on in 518 minutes of play! UCLA is 5-0 in Pac-10 matches and has outscored its opposition, 10-0. And, sophomore scoring machine Lauren Cheney continues to lead the nation in scoring at 1.13 goals per game.
Lexus Gauntlet:
>> After four of the 25 scheduled events, UCLA leads USC, 12 1/2-7 1/2 in the 2007-08 Lexus Gauntlet. The next matchup with Gauntlet implications is this Friday’s women’s volleyball match at USC.
Chay Lapin photo courtesy UCLA.
UCLA head football Coach Karl Dorrell spent most of Tuesday’s practice working with the offense, but was pleased with progress on both sides of the ball.
"It was a good Tuesday," he said at the close of practice. "We got a chance to put together a great game plan and get ourselves playing much improved football by the weekend.
"Tuesdays are usually the hardest day, because that’s when you’re getting most of the information on the game plan and it seemed like these guys did a nice job of attacking the information and trying to get it to be perfected on the very first rep instead of the third or fourth rep. I was really encouraged with everyone’s focus."
On quarterback Patrick Cowan, Dorrell was pleased to see him in full pads for the entire day: "He’s doing pretty good. He’s still a little sore, but he was able to practice today. He’s getting into better shape. He’s moving his feet better and I think he’s getting healthier. It’s really helpful for any player to practice during the week in preparation for a game and then play on Saturday or Sunday, even at the highest level. I’ve coached some really good players that when they didn’t practice and then played on Sunday, they weren’t quite the same. When you’re practicing well and when you’re able to go out and work on your timing and preparation, it allows you to transfer much easier to the game. It’s important that he practice today and tomorrow and Thursday and be really sharp to be ready to go on Saturday."
The Bruin head coach also was pleasantly surprised by receiver Brandon Breazell. "I didn’t think he’d be able to do much running at all today and he did some routes with me early on with the receivers. I was encouraged, more so today than what I was expecting for him to do." Dorrell believes, at this point, that Breazell will be able to play Saturday.
Asked about Arizona, Dorrell noted that their passing offense has improved significantly during the season. "They have Willie [Tuitama] primarily in the gun in most of their sets," he said. "And they spread you out." As the Wildcats haven’t had significant injuries during the season, Dorrell felt the continuity in their personnel has allowed them to play at a higher level now than in earlier games. "They have a talented group, so we have to make sure defensively that we’re doing what’s necessary for them to earn everything that they attempt to get."
The Bruins will practice in full pads tomorrow and begin tapering off Thursday. The team will fly to Tucson on Friday.
UCLA Coach Ben Howland opened Tuesday’s practice to members of the Bruin Hoopsters support group and to the media (including ESPN’s Jay Bilas and a "Total Access" crew compiling a feature on the Bruins).
They saw a carefully planned and vigorously executed practice, starting with stretching, then half-court perimeter play drills (with special low-post drills for the centers), around-the-horn catch-and-shoot drills, 5-on-0 drills to practice different kinds of plays and four periods of scrimmages of various types in which statistics are kept using varying combinations of players on offense and defense.
 Much of the scrimmaging had Kevin Love, Luc Richard Mbah A Moute, Michael Roll and Darren Collison on the Blue squad and Lorenzo Mata-Real, Alfred Aboya, Nikola Dragovic, Russell Westbrook and Chace Stanback on the Gold squad. Mata-Real replaced Love after the latter was hit in the right knee and Mustafa Abdul-Hamid joined the Gold for the remainder of the day.
Bruin coach Ben Howland said afterward that what impressed him the most over the first 14 practice sessions was that, "Our guys are playing real hard, playing unselfishly. We have a core group that knows how to work hard and so they’ve continued that tradition, that they have started."
He had praise for progress being made by forward/center Aboya as well as freshman Stanback:
>> "Alfred has really improved his shot. Alfred is a better shooter, for sure, than he was his first two years here and I have confidence when he’s open from 17 and in, that it’s going to go in."
>> "The best thing about Chace’s game right now is he’s a good rebounder. It’s tough when you’re a freshman and you’re learning a lot of stuff that you haven’t done before in a new system, in a new situation. He’s working hard to improve his shot and he’s getting bigger and stronger working in the weight room, but he’s going to be a good player. It just takes time and experience."
Asked whether the Blue squad would be the starters for Friday’s exhibition game against Azusa Pacific, Howland said, "The lineup is not set."
However, he was clear about what he expects from his team beginning Friday: "Our defense -– No. 1 -– rebounding, whether zone or man . . . transition defense, stopping the ball, getting back, not giving up anything easy in transition and trying to make teams score against us in their half-court sets, to make it as hard as possible for them to score. And taking good, smart shots at the other end, trying to get easy shots whenever we can."
Howland said the Bruins have improved their shooting over the summer. "We have a lot of guys who can put the ball in the basket," citing Roll, Collison, Love, Mbah A Moute and especially Shipp, who was near-flawless for long stretches of Tuesday’s session. On the rebounding side, Howland said, Love was consistently the best of the Bruins, followed by Mbah A Moute, Aboya, Stanback and Westbrook. He noted that Mata-Real has done well, but hasn’t had as much time on the court as the others due to injury.
One reporter asked if the coach might fancy himself in a new hairstyle a la Westbrook’s new "Flaming Hawk." Said Howland, "I’m lucky to have hair. I want to keep it as long as I can."
UCLA practice photo by Rich Perelman.
 Sophomore guard Russell Westbrook drew a lot of interest from reporters after Tuesday’s practice. Look at that hairstyle!
"It’s the Flaming Hawk," he said. "It was my idea. I wanted to do it. My hair was long. I did it in high school before . . . different designs. I wanted to get a new style, be different."
Although he designed the look, a Mohawk with side panels showing a basketball with flames coming off of it, a barber from Westbrook’s neighborhood named Jabari did the actual styling for him for $20 last Sunday.
On the court, Westbrook said he’s comfortable playing either at the point or at shooting guard. Bruin coach Ben Howland asked him to improve his shot over the summer, and he worked at it daily.
 "I tried to work on my shot every day," he said. "I still do now, before or after practice, off days; still trying to get better every day." During the summer, he’s shoot for two or more hours and always make 500 shots before he finished.
He also feels better after gaining some weight. "I’m bigger, faster, stronger from over the summer.," he explained. "I was 186, 188 [last year], now I’m up to 195. It helps a lot because in college, everybody’s bigger and people are stronger, so it really helps me out."
Russell Westbrook photos by Rich Perelman.
UCLA coach Ben Howland opened up a Bruin practice session for probably the last time this season and a crowd of about 200 Hoopsters (a Bruin basketball support group) and reporters watched with interest until star freshman Kevin Love crumpled to the ground during a 5-on-5 scrimmage period.
It got so quiet you could hear people breathing, as Love held his right knee in pain and then hobbled off the court. He received attention from the training staff while the scrimmage continued and re-entered the scrimmage about six minutes later. But he quickly walked off the court again and got his knee taped. More than a dozen news media descended on him immediately after practice.
"I’m fine," he said. "It’s the second time I’ve been hit in that particular area and I actually already had a bruise there, so going up and hitting it again was unfortunate.
"I’ll be back 100 percent tomorrow; I’m fine. It just felt a little weak afterwards. I actually went back down and tried to start playing again, but I felt a little weak and I didn’t want to risk anything because we have a game on Friday."
Asked about the transition between high school and the start of his collegiate career on Friday, he said that one of the things he wanted to do in college was to get better defensively. And where better than at UCLA under the coaching of Howland?
Howland also thought that Love would be fine and noted the enormous difference in talent, intensity and physicality between the high school level and the highest levels of college basketball.
From UCLA Sports Information:
"The results of an MRI show that UCLA running back Kahlil Bell has a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He injured the knee in the first quarter of last Saturday's game at Washington State. Surgery will be scheduled after the swelling in his knee subsides."
Translation: He is done for the season. Bell, a junior, had 142 carries for 795 yards this season (5.6 average) in eight games and scored five touchdowns. He was also UCLA's No. 4 receiver by number of receptions at 13, for 93 yards (7.2 avg.). He will be missed.
"I would like to start by assuring you of one thing about this football team, before we start our conference, we’re determined to work through some of the difficult circumstances that happened this season.
"There have been some unfortunate setbacks, but this team has a lot to play for with four games remaining, and we still have a lot of time to improve and that begins this week.
"So we’re going to continue to work hard, our coaching staff will continue to work hard and grind out and find ways to improve our team in all three of our areas. We emphasized with the team on Sunday that we need to continue to work hard and work on our execution better in practice so that can be transferred to games.
"We’re going to continue to work hard; that’s really the answer, to all of the scenarios that are floating out there."
That was the beginning of today’s news conference with UCLA head football Coach Karl Dorrell at the Morgan Center on campus. He met the questions on everyone’s mind -– and message board -– head on, before any question was asked.
"We’re not in the best of shape in terms of our health," he said, "but there are a lot of teams that are ailing. You have to continue to find ways to improve. We’re going to have some young players that are going to step up and have opportunities to play and I’m confident with getting them prepared and getting them ready to play that they can do some good things for us." He noted especially the need for receivers Ryan Graves and Terrence Austin, running back Christian Ramirez and defensive linemen Brian Price, David Carter and Jeff Miller to step up this Saturday.
Asked what caused Saturday’s breakdown in Pullman, Dorrell said: "It begins with how well you are executing on Saturdays. That’s the biggest thing. I think, secondly, it’s more of a mental thing than anything. It’s not a physical issue; we’re more than capable of playing very, very well and we need to push this team to overcome these setbacks that have happened. And that’s really what our mindset is.
"You find a way to eventually push through this. And we had some of that last year, where we had to find a way to push through and find a way to play better. We’ve got to keep our nose to the grindstone and keep working."
Asked for more specifics, he said: "You have to keep working hard and get the performance that’s needed in practice and then make it transfer to the game. That’s really all we can do, both players and coaches. So we’re just going to have to prepare hard and really be more detailed and work hard at execution and doing the things that are necessary for us to get the same results on Saturday."
On the injury front:
>> On the offense, running back Khalil Bell had an MRI examination Monday afternoon, but Dorrell implied that he probably would not play against Arizona. Receiver Brandon Breazell has a "rib contusion" but a second set of X-rays were negative and he is "day to day." He might be able to play against Arizona. Receiver Marcus Everett will be out again this week.
Quarterback Patrick Cowan "is no worse for wear," said Dorrell. "He is better than he was last week at this point." Dorrell indicated that it would be important for Cowan to get more reps in practice this week, something he did not have last week. Ben Olson is still not able to practice, but "should be able to do some drills and footwork stuff this week," Dorrell said.
Bell returned to the game after his first injury after being thoroughly checked by the Bruin training staff on the sidelines. Dorrell said on the second injury, "He just planted funny and he heard a pop and that’s why he kind of gave out and leaned forward and finished the run."
Dorrell also said there was no specific reason why Ramirez didn’t play against Washington State, but "he’s going to get a chance to play now." Chris Markey is the likely starter this week, with Chane Moline and Ramirez behind him.
>> On defense, linebacker Christian Taylor was cleared to practice. He will be held out of contact tomorrow, but should be able to play Saturday. Brigham Harwell might be able to play, but that will depend on how much he can do in practice this week. Tackles Jess Ward and Chase Moline continue to be out.
On Arizona, Dorrell said: "They’ve been able to throw the ball very well. Their offense is different in that they’re throwing the ball so much more. They throw the ball on average about 45-50 times a game. They don’t attempt to rush the ball as often as they throw it, but they can run the football." He also mentioned that their defensive front has been solid.
The starting time for the UCLA-Arizona State game will be 12:30 p.m. at the Rose Bowl on Nov. 10. The game will be televised by ABC.
Chris Foster, the UCLA beat reporter for The Times, spoke briefly with Bruin Athletic Director Dan Guerrero today after football Coach Karl Dorrell’s news conference.
Asked about the current situation of the team, Guerrero said the Bruins have their fate in their own hands with four games to go. UCLA would tie for the conference championship (at 8-1) and go to the Rose Bowl if it were to win its last four games.
But he added, "I will be very interested to see how we finish the season."
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