Joel Huerto is managing editor of One Man Fastbreak.net and a sports consultant with Opposing Views.com. He has been a member of the sports media for almost 20 years, which included nine years as a news editor at the Los Angeles Times. He will cover a variety of topics, from coach and player profiles to hot-button issues. Joel is also known as "maniLA ice" for his cool demeanor in the friendly confines of the YMCA hardwood. He loves to shoot the "tear drop" and prefers to play zone to hide his deficiencies on defense. Photo courtesy of Image of Sport.
What hair UCLA Coach Ben Howland has remaining on his head he must be pulling right now.
Why? Howland is playing the "what if" game. What if he had convinced Russell Westbrook to stay one more year? What if Luc Richard Mbah a Moute decided to come back for his senior season? What if Kevin Love put off the NBA one more season?
If all three had happened, Howland would have had a starting lineup of Westbrook, Darren Collison, Josh Shipp, Mbah a Moute and Love, with Alfred Aboya, Michael Roll, James Keefe and Nikola Dragovic all coming off the bench. Mix in a studly freshman class that includes Jrue Holiday, Malcolm Lee, Jerime Anderson, Drew Gooden and J'mison Morgan and you have a UCLA squad that could challenge the great Bruin teams of Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton.
Unfortunately for Howland, he has to settle for good rather than great.
Despite the loss of three starters from last season's Final Four team, Howland has UCLA in a position for another deep run in the NCAA tournament. The Bruins are ninth in the polls and undefeated in the Pacific 10 Conference. They're doing it with their signature lock-down defense and an efficient offense — yes, the Bruins have finally figured out this shooting thing, thanks to Roll and Dragovic.
If Howland had those two knocking down threes last season, UCLA would have added a 12th championship banner at Pauley Pavilion.
Roll and Dragovic are only fifth and sixth, respectively, on the team scoring list, but their three-point shooting allows better spacing on the court and allows Collison, Shipp and Holiday (the team's top scorers) room to drive to the basket.
A year ago, the opposition dared the Bruins to shoot from the outside, and doubled and tripled Love inside. Even Howland acknowledges this season's squad has more balance on offense.
Fresh off their 23-pound destruction of Arizona where the Bruins shot nearly 60% from the field, UCLA has the look of a Pac-10 champion, again, and Howland will have this crew primed and ready for a fourth consecutive trip to the Final Four.
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