Howland: 'They are all going to be hard-fought, close games'

The Bruins are in Phoenix tonight preparing for their Sweet 16 matchup with Western Kentucky in the third round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, but UCLA Coach Ben Howland held a news conference in the noon hour. Among the highlights:

>> Howland said that the MRI on Luc Richard Mbah a Moute’s left ankle came back showing no damage. "It’s normal as far as I know," he said. "He has swelling that you can see through the MRI, there’s no fracture of any type. He actually in a final right now; it was put back until today. Alfred [Aboya] won’t be here because Luc forgot to pay for his parking pass for the quarter and he got a ticket for that, so he’s running over to the parking ticket office, wherever that is, and paying for his quarterly parking pass.

"Luc’s [final] was extended, it’s a hard class, and the professor was nice because we were playing last week. Everybody else is done with the exception of that final today. I saw Luc yesterday; he was studying all day yesterday. He did go get his MRI, the MRI came back fine or I would have heard of otherwise by now. That was precautionary as we stated, we want to make sure that there’s nothing going on that potentially could be a problem. He had less swelling yesterday; he had severe swelling on Sunday. I looked at his ankle and said, ‘Wow.’ That thing was elephantitis. It was fat.

"I don’t know how [trainer] Carrie [Rubertino] would characterize it, but he can play. I think it’s important for him to practice these next two days and we do run the risk of him re-injuring it because we are going to be full contact, we’re not going to be just an easy practice. We have a lot to prepare for in Western Kentucky, a lot of different presses, a lot of pressure, so we have a lot to do. I still have to finish my practice plan upstairs, because I really want to have a good practice today."

>> On Josh Shipp: "He was treated for strep throat after the game on Saturday with antibiotics. He was feeling much better yesterday."

On Shipp’s well-documented shooting problems, especially on three-point shots, Howland said: "Anytime when he’s starting to miss more than one in a row –- he’s such a good shooter –- that’s odd, it’s usually because it’s a little flat. He just needs more arc on his shot, so I’m constantly reminding him to be on balance and not fading one way or another. And shooting the ball with confidence and that’s where repetition comes in. It’s really my fault, I should have spent a lot more time helping him work this out. I have so much confidence in him I’ve never been that worried, but I just wanted to do it myself yesterday. It was just me and him and one of our managers, Spencer Onishi, who’s a very good passer, so he was getting a lot of good passes right where we wanted them.

"I think he was on target against Cal in the first round of the Pac-10 tournament. I think he had 18 in that game. So he’s had some games, but I’m confident he’s going to play well. He makes big shots, big plays, he’s a mainstay and I have total confidence in Josh. You guys ... I’ve been saying it over and over again like a broken record."

Naturally, since Howland praised Onishi, one reporter asked if he would be suited for Thursday’s game. "You never know," smiled Howland, adding, "He’s not on the roster, so he’s not eligible."

>> What about Western Kentucky?

"They’re really good. Their guard play in particular is really good; their guards can play anywhere in the country. [Courtney] Lee and [Tyrone] Brazelton, they’re big-time players. Their point guard [Brazelton] is really quick; he’s as quick as anybody we’ve seen all year. Very intelligent, he jump-stops at the end of his drives, he can beat you either way, he shoots the ball. He is a good playmaker, a very good defender. Lee is an NBA player; he’ll be in the NBA in a year.

"They’ve played some good teams: they played Tennessee early, and they’ve played Gonzaga, which has some good big kids, so they’ve played some outstanding teams. But I think their defense is more geared toward the team than any one specific player. They may double [Kevin Love], they may try to press us, I don’t know.

"One thing is they start three seniors, so they have a lot of leadership, a lot of experience in their three guards who start for them.

"Anytime you have seniors in a program that have been in the program for four years and they are your mainstay guys, I think it’s highly advantageous. There’s no question it helps. You see it: The light goes on for a senior, sometimes guys have special years their senior year, the last time around. We haven’t had many seniors in this program since I’ve been here, but I thought Ced Bozeman had a real special senior year with all the adversity he went through. I thought Ryan Hollins, the last half of his senior year, the light went on: This is it, this is my last chance. He did a great job. Dijon Thompson had a great senior year in his last year. So you see that in players."

>> Asked if the close win over Texas A&M was a blessing in disguise of some type, Howland said, "It was a blessing that we won. I’m not so sure it was a blessing that we had to play against a team and fight our hearts out for a very fortunate win down the stretch, but we’ve had a lot of those games. I’d rather play Mississippi Valley State over again, but that’s not going to happen.

"They are all going to be hard-fought, close games at this point. We haven’t blown anybody out at this point in the past two years. We haven’t blown anybody out in the second round in the last three years in the NCAA Tournament. Everybody is good. It’s parity in college basketball; teams are so close that I think it’s very rare that you’re going to see a blowout in the NCAA Tournament, especially once you get past the first round. So we have to play really well just to win." Howland emphasized consistency, "Especially at the defensive end, and that’s what you have to hang your hat on night in and night out."

>> Howland also said he didn’t think that tournament officials respond to media criticisms about specific calls in games. "I don’t think so. If they did that, we’d be in for a lot of problems. In fact, those officials that we had that did our game against Texas A&M were Big East officials. Those were exactly the officials you want to have when you’re playing a team that has the bigger crowd. I was excited to have them because I think Big East officials are great. Tim Higgins, who was the lead official, has done the national championship I don’t know how many times, probably eight or 10, the Final Four probably 15 or 20 times. Officials make mistakes, officials miss calls both ways, and that definitely happened in that game as well. You can’t get over-involved to where it takes you away from your game. And that happens sometimes to players and it happens to coaches and I try to really avoid that myself. I definitely thought they got a good game called for them. I thought it was very fair. In order to ask those questions, you have to go back and review the film, review the game and watch it again. You can’t just do it on a one-time watch."

>> Howland also noted that it was helpful to be playing close to home, first in Anaheim and now in Phoenix. "We’re just glad we’re close to home. Is it the same time zone now? . . . because they don’t change the clocks in Arizona; I lived there for five years. The main thing is the same time zone. Our Chancellor Gene Block, he’s a scientist, his whole area of research is on time zones and how it affects you and it really does affect you, going especially west to east. It’s much easier going east to west. I went to lunch with him one day and he was telling me how they were putting mice on planes and doing all these studies and mice would actually die going from west to east on these three- to four-hour trips in certain cases and there’s some definite things you should look to do. It’s much easier coming the other way. So for that factor, we’re really happy to be close, and then also, family of our players and fans that are able to purchase tickets, are able to drive to Phoenix. It’s going to be nice; I think we’re looking at 84 or 85 degrees each day. I’m laughing, I talked to some friends in Pittsburgh and it’s freezing back there right now and we can walk outside in shorts and a T-shirt, it’s nice."

Comments

[Ruggedly]

Oregon bloggers just want everyone to shut up with their referee conspiracy theories... right?

http://properbloggery.com/2008/03/26/the-bitter-48/