Senior Forward James Keefe Injures Left Shoulder

By Bruin Basketball Report

UCLA senior forward James Keefe suffered an injury to his left shoulder on Tuesday night. The results of his MRI today were negative, however, there was some instability to the joint. Keefe will be out for 4-6 weeks while going through rehabilitation. 

“We are very relieved that the injury isn’t going to be a long-term one,” UCLA Head Coach Ben Howland said. “Everything looks to be intact and we are very happy for him and for the team." 

This isn’t the first injury that Keefe has sustained to his left shoulder. On Aug. 10, 2007, Keefe had surgery to repair a torn labrum in the same shoulder that forced him to miss the first 12 games of the 2007-08 season. 

Keefe is one of three seniors on the Bruins’ 2009-10 roster and averaged 3.0 points and 3.4 rebounds per game last year. 

UCLA opens the season on Nov. 16 with a home contest against Cal State Fullerton, which is a little less than six weeks away.

(source: UCLA Athletic Department)

Bruin Player Injury Report

By Bruin Basketball Report

As UCLA prepares for the 2008-09 regular season and an upcoming exhibition match-up on November 3rd against Cal Baptist, a few players have gotten banged up in practice.

Alfred Aboya sprained his right ankle and will miss practice today and Saturday. He is listed as probable for the exhibition game against Cal Baptist on Monday. The senior is expected to be the Bruins' starting center this season.

Junior forward Nikola Dragovic is still recovering from a cyst in his left foot, however, he did participate in 50% of practice on Friday and will practice on Saturday. As a result of his injury, he still needs practice time to improve his endurance and game conditioning. He is listed as doubtful for Monday's exhibition game.

Freshman guard Malcolm Lee has missed the last three practices but is expected to return to practice on Saturday. Coach Ben Howland feels Lee has a chance to play on Monday against Cal Baptist.

BBR Notes: UCLA is ranked No.4 in the AP preseason poll. North Carolina was voted unanimously No.1 in the ranking. Connecticut and Louisville followed the Tar Heels in the early voting by the writers.

Collison Announces Return To UCLA For Senior Season

By Bruin Basketball Report

Junior Darren Collison has decided to remain at UCLA for his senior season, he announced during a teleconference this afternoon.

The UCLA point-guard averaged 14.5 points and 3.8 assists while shooting 48.1% from the field including 52.5% from beyond the arc in 33 games. Collison also led the team in free-throw shooting at 87.2%.

"Its my chance to do something special in my senior year", Collison said. "It wasn't until this last week that I made the decision to return."

He had considered entering the draft after last season but decided instead to remain at UCLA. At the time, some scouts had projected Collison to be a middle to late first-round draft choice

"I'm in a good financial situation thanks to my parent," Collison said. "It helped make my decision easier."

Collison battled back from an early knee injury in the season this year to be named a third-team All-American as well as second-team All-Pac-10 player. However, Collison struggled mightily during the NCAA postseason tournament and may have hurt his draft stock in the meantime.

"I want to improve my medium range jump shot," Collison said. "Fill all the holes in my game."

Mock drafts had Collison going somewhere in the late first-round, although some felt he might slip further in the draft especially with so many quality underclassmen declaring early.

"I have no doubt Darren would have been a first-round draft choice this season," UCLA Head Coach Ben Howland said. "It tears me up thinking about his loyalty to the program and it will be very special with him returning next year."

While UCLA has a stellar freshmen class, with three highly-rated backcourt players in Jrue Holiday, Malcolm Lee, and Jerime Anderson arriving next season, the team would certainly benefit with the return of experienced players.

"We have a good class coming in and I'm excited about the players who are returning," Collison said.

Howland feels Collison could improve his strength and put additional weight. He thinks Collison could get up to 175 pounds this summer.

"It gives us an All-American at the starting point," Howland said. "We have arguably the best point-guard in the nation next season."

(photo by Bruin Basketball Report)

Howland Marvels At Love's Development

By KS Wong
Bruin Basketball Report

With Kevin Love piling up postseason honors on his resume, most notably his recent AP First-Team All-American selection, UCLA Coach Ben Howland took time to reflect on his good fortune of having Love in Westwood this season.

As one of the highest profile prep stars to join the Bruins in decades, Love has had to deal with lofty expectations.

"When you’re ranked the No. 1 high school player in the country, there are high expectations," Howland said. "The great thing is, I think he’s exceeded my expectations for how good he would be as a freshman and I have high expectations. He’s done a great job."

After breezing through the early portion of the non-conference schedule and racking up double-doubles, Love found himself in a unfamiliar spot on the bench at the end of a close contest against Texas.

Howland, looking for better interior defense, went with senior Lorenzo Mata-Real down the stretch against the Longhorns - a game UCLA eventually would lose 63-61. Mata-Real is a veteran player who started every game as a junior and was familiar with the team's defensive scheme. Clearly at the time, the UCLA coach did not have the confidence yet in his freshman phenom on the defensive end.

But Love got the message from the game - loud and clear. Even a player, who was averaging a double-double, would ride the pine under Howland if he couldn't defend.

Love has improved his defense tremendously over the course of the season. His rotations are quicker, his hedges on screens are more crisp, to the point he can be a defensive force in the paint. Against Texas A&M, Love recorded seven blocked shots. Moreover, at the end of the conference season, he received honorable mention for the Pac-10 All-Defensive Team.

"I didn’t make much defense in high school," Love said. "I just kind of stood around and waited for rebounds and got four, five blocks a game, but other than that I wasn’t out 20 feet from the basket trying to defend, but I’ve gotten a lot better."

"He’s developed into a good defensive player," Howland said. "And a lot of it is the experience of learning so many new things. Every program is different in terms of how they play defense, or what they teach. We have a lot of intricate rotations and we expect to do things defensively that are sometimes, maybe, unique. But he’s really, really tough, he’s hard-nosed, he’s really become a good defensive player."

In addition to his improvement on defense, Love has been the major cog in the UCLA offense. At the beginning of the season, Love predicted he might be able to average a double-double, a prediction Coach Howland thought at the time would be extremely difficult to acheive considering the high level of competition the Bruins would face game in and game out. Yet, Love has been a double-double machine, averaging 17.6 points and 10.7 rebounds.

With the tremendous success that Love individually and his team has achieved on the court, its highly likely this will be his only season at UCLA. But Howland understands the reality of the current environment in collegiate sports and is realistic and supportive of his star players.

It’s more difficult from the standpoint of being able to plan the future," Howland said. "Having a great player for one year or two years is still a great problem that you want to have. You want to get the best players that fit into the program that are good kids. Arron Afflalo is already planning to come back and take some summer school classes to continue working toward finishing his degree; he’s very close. Those are great kids, so I appreciate the opportunity to work with them."

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_t4vbPWsiQ&hl=en]
(Kevin Love at West Regional courtesy of Erkki Corpuz)

(photo by Bruin Basketball Report)

Kevin Love on Cover of Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated

Love Named To USBWA All-America First-Team

By Bruin Basketball Report

UCLA's Kevin Love has been named to the United States Basketball Writers Association's (USBWA) All-America First Team.  In leading UCLA to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, he has scored in double figures in every game and is sixth in the league in scoring (17.1) and second in rebounds (10.6).

The 6'9 freshman center gives UCLA a back-to-back USBWA All-America selection, following Arron Afflalo last season.

Rounding out the USBWA First Team are: Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina, Michael Beasley of Kansas State, D.J. Augustin of Texas, and Chris Douglas-Roberts of Memphis.  Beasley was named USBWA Freshman of the Year last week.

All five First Team selections are the finalist for the 2007-08 Oscar Robertson Trophy, awarded by the USBWA to the national player of the year.

In other national player awards, both UCLA's Kevin Love and Darren Collison are also finalists for the 2007-08 John R. Wooden Award.

BBR Notes: Coach Howland will update the media Tuesday afternoon on the injury and playing status of Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Kevin Love.  Due to school finals, the team did not practice Sunday or Monday.

UCLA finished No.2 in the final ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll.  The team received five first-place votes.  North Carolina was ranked No.1 and received 23 first-place votes.

UCLA Needs Shipp To Keep Shooting

By KS Wong
Bruin Basketball Report

One doesn't need to look at box scores of the past games to figure out whether Josh Shipp is in a shooting slump.

Just look at his body language on the court.

The swagger Shipp normally carries onto the floor is missing.

Against Oregon, Shipp attempted just a single three-point shot, and even then, one could see the slight hesitation before he cocked to let the ball go.

Anyone watching the shot's trajectory knew the ball was going wayward, but the problem for Josh Shipp is that he knew the shot was going to miss before he even took it.

Confidence is everything in shooting, especially if you're a rhythm shooter like Shipp.

In his last six games, Shipp is 0 for 20 from beyond the arc. Before his recent shooting woes, he was making almost 40% of his three-point shot attempts.

Moreover, Shipp's 154 three-point attempts are almost three times more than the next Bruin.

But before UCLA fans start to, yeah I'll say it, jump Shipp, they have to realize this team will not go very far in the NCAA tournament without him.

UCLA Coach Ben Howland obviously knows this better than anyone else, and is allowing Shipp to work through his recent shooting woes. Despite struggling with his shot, Shipp played 35 minutes against the Ducks on Saturday.

Howland realizes, come tourney time, the play gets rougher inside and the paint gets smaller.

The Bruins are a talented bunch. Freshman Kevin Love is a beast inside and tough to stop, Russell Westbrook has NBA-crazy athleticism to get to the basket, and Darren Collison is the quickest in the land, but without Shipp's outside shooting, the Bruins are vulnerable to teams packing it inside on them.

The good news about Shipp's shooting slump is that it is old news too. It has happened before, a matter of fact it did just last season.

Shipp went through a similar slump last season, going 2 of 17 over a seven game span, but he regrouped and found his shot at the end of the season and tournament time. As a result, Shipp was a major factor in UCLA's Final Four run last season.

No doubt Shipp is mired in a horrific shooting slump, but the only way he'll break out of it is by shooting himself out of it.

He needs to regain his swagger.

With four regular season games remaining, there is still time.

related BBR articles from last season:
Feb 2007 article: Shipp Key To Bruin's Late Season Run
Mar 2007 article: Shipp's Return Key To Bruins' Chances

(photo credit: AP)

Mbah a Moute Probable For USC Game

By Bruin Basketball Report

from the UCLA Athletic Department:

UCLA junior forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute completed his first full practice with contact today since spraining his left ankle in the second half of the Arizona contest (Feb. 2).

"He looked good, his ankle was fine but he was a little winded," UCLA Head Coach Ben Howland said.

He is probable for the Bruins' game at USC on Sunday, Feb. 17.

Mbah a Moute Listed As Probable For USC Game

By Bruin Basketball Report

UCLA forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is no longer wearing a walking boot, but is wearing an air cast on his left ankle.

He is listed as probable for Sunday's game against USC at the Galen Center.

The Bruins did not practice today.

Bruins Go First Class To Pullman

By KS Wong
Bruin Basketball Report

The road trip to the Washington State campus has long been a difficult trek for all Pac-10 teams.  The remoteness of the campus in far eastern Washington typically requires multiple stops and layovers.  But this year, the trip will be a little easier for the Bruins who will be flying direct to Pullman from Los Angeles on Wednesday.

"For the first time since I've been here, we're actually chartering a flight right into Pullman." UCLA Coach Ben Howland said at his weekly press conference.  "It has always been so grueling to get there."

The UCLA basketball team will be hopping on a thirty passenger turbo-prop airplane at Hawthorne Airport for the flight up north.

"It has taken us ten to eleven hours to get there in the past - twelve total hours from the time we leave Pauley Pavilion," Howland said.

On the topic of Luc Richard Mbah a Moute's sprained ankle, Coach Howland mentioned at the pressor how much the team will miss the presence of Mbah a Moute on both ends of the court this week against the Washington schools.

"He turned his ankle pretty good on that play. We don’t expect him to play in either game this week," Howland said. Luc is one of our best defensive players, he always guards one of the other team’s best offensive player. Whenever he’s out - it’s a big hit for the team."

"I was so depressed when I learned he (Luc) was out this week," Howland said. "It's hard to express. Its very disappointing."

Both freshman Chace Stanback and sophomore Nikola Dragovic are expected to play increased minutes in the absence of Mbah a Moute during this road trip. Howland said he has been impressed with Dragovic's defensive effort of late.

"He's trying real hard to stay in front of the ball," Howland said. "He can't apply the type of ball pressure like Luc, but he has to be smart on defense."

The UCLA coach gleamed with pride when he told the press about senior Lorenzo Mata-Real's recent academic success.

"The great news about Lorenzo is that he tested out of Spanish. It is one less class he'll need for graduation."

(photo credit: AP)

Mbah a Moute Out At Least 7 Days

By Bruin Basketball Report

According to the UCLA Athletic Department:

After being evaluated this morning by UCLA men's basketball athletic trainer Carrie Rubertino, Mbah a Moute's sprained ankle (second half against Arizona) will sideline him for at least seven days.

He will definitely be out for this week's games at Washington State (Feb. 7) and Washington (Feb. 10).

He will continue to be evaluated and require treatment on a daily basis.

Kevin Love Added To Wooden All-American Midseason Watch-List

By Bruin Basketball Report

UCLA freshman center Kevin Love was named a John R. Wooden Award 2007-08 Midseason Top 30 Candidate.

Love is averaging 17.3 points on 59.0% field goal shooting and 11.3 rebounds. The former Lake Oswego HS star has helped key the Bruins to a 18-2, 6-1 record and first place in the Pac-10 conference.

Eleven players selected to the midseason Top 30 were not on the preseason list. This group includes returning players enjoying breakout seasons (Brian Roberts of Dayton, Raymar Morgan of Michigan State, Wayne Ellington of North Carolina, Luke Harangody of Notre Dame and Sam Young of Pittsburgh), and freshmen James Harden of Arizona State, Eric Gordon of Indiana, Michael Beasley of Kansas State, Derrick Rose of Memphis, O.J. Mayo of USC, and Love of UCLA.

“This was another year where a lot of players have been surprises,” said Duke Llewellyn, Wooden Award chairman. “Players across the nation stepped up and made a case for themselves, whether they were veteran players or freshmen. We look forward to continuing to follow these talented players as we determine the 10 candidates for the Wooden Award All-American Team.”

Players who do not make the Midseason list are still eligible for the national ballot, which will be selected in March and will consist of approximately 20 players, chosen by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board Committee, who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA

The Pac-10 (7 players) has the most players chosen to the Wooden Midseason Top 30, followed by the ACC with 5, Big 12 with four, the SEC Big East, and Big 10 with three each, Conference USA with two, and the Atlantic 10, Southern and Metro Atlantic Athletic each with one.

The 2008 Award ceremony will be held at The Los Angeles Athletic Club the weekend of April 11-12.

Both UCLA 's Darren Collison and Josh Shipp had been named as top 50 preseason candidates but were not named on the midseason watchlist.

Complete top 30 candidates list

D.J. Augustin, So, Texas
Michael Beasley, Fr, Kansas State
Jon Brockman, Jr, Washington
Chase Budinger So, Arizona
Mario Chalmers, Jr, Kansas
Stephen Curry, So, Davidson
Chris Douglas-Roberts, Jr, Memphis
Wayne Ellington, So, North Carolina
Shan Foster, Sr, Vanderbilt
Eric Gordon, Fr, Indiana
Jamont Gordon, Jr, Mississippi State
Malik Hairston, Sr, Oregon
Tyler Hansbrough, Jr, North Carolina
Luke Harangody, So, Notre Dame
James Harden, Fr, Arizona State
Roy Hibbert, Sr, Georgetown
Chris Lofton, Sr, Tennessee
Kevin Love, Fr, UCLA
Derrick Low, Sr, Washington State
O.J. Mayo, Fr, USC
Raymar Morgan, So, Michigan State
Demarcus Nelson, Sr, Duke
Tyrese Rice, Jr, Boston College
Brian Roberts, Sr, Dayton
Derrick Rose, Fr, Memphis
Brandon Rush, Jr, Kansas
Sean Singletary, Sr, Virginia
Jason Thompson, Sr, Rider
D.J. White, Sr, Indiana
Sam Young, Jr, Pittsburgh

Mata-Real Returns To Practice, Collison Brace-less

By KS Wong
Bruin Basketball Report

Update:  Junior Michael Roll re-injured the plantar fascia in his left foot today in practice. An MRI has been scheduled for Wednesday.

With two upcoming road games to open the Pac-10 this week, the Bruins will be close to full strength.

Senior center Lorenzo Mata-Real returned for full-contact practice this afternoon.  He had strained a groin muscle at practice last week on December 26 and was forced to miss the UC Davis contest.

With games against formidable front lines at Stanford (Brook and Robin Lopez) and California (DeVon Hardin and Ryan Anderson), the return of  6'9 Mata-Real's is welcome news for the team.

Despite coming off the bench this season behind freshman Kevin Love, Mata-Real has been playing the best basketball of his collegiate career this year.  He's averaging 4.5 points and 5.6 rebounds a game in 19.1 minutes, however, its his defensive presence, experience, and toughness inside where he contributes the most to the team.   Mata-Real is averaging 1.3 blocks per contest.

Point guard Darren Collison practiced today for the first time without the protective knee brace on his left knee.  He sprained his MCL during the first exhibition game on November 2.  Although not quite back to 100%, Collison has commented the knee brace has been inhibiting his motion.

Collison is averaging 12.7 points and 3.9 assists in just seven games this season.

Walk-on guard Mustafa Abdul-Hamid also was cleared to practice today although he was scheduled to only go for half the practice.  He suffered a stress reaction in his right foot on December 6 and has missed every practice and the last five games since the injury.

BBR Notes:  UCLA remained ranked No.5 in both AP and Coaches polls released today.  North Carolina, Memphis, Kansas, and Washington State occupy the top four spots in both polls.

(photo by Bruin Basketball Report)

Lorenzo Mata-Real High School Jersey #42 Retired

By Bruin Basketball Report

Accompanied by his family and UCLA Coach Ben Howland, senior center Lorenzo Mata-Real had his jersey #42 retired by Southgate High School during a halftime ceremony of Friday night's game against Eastern League rival South East.

As a senior at Southgate, Mata-Real averaged 25 points and 18 rebounds and made the LA Times' All-Star squad. South Gate went 18-8 overall and finished undefeated in the Eastern League.

Mata-Real was part of Coach Howland's first recruiting class at UCLA in 2004 which included; Mata-Real, Josh Shipp, Jordan Farmar (Lakers), and Arron Afflalo (Pistons).

Video of Mata-Real's ceremony at Southgate High School:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1nI79LIgzs&rel=1]

Kevin Love Named Pac-10 Player of the Week

By KS Wong
Bruin Basketball Report

UCLA freshman Kevin Love was named the Pac-10 Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for November 19-25. He becomes UCLA's 46th Player of the Week all-time.

Love averaged 18.0 points and 10.7 rebounds in the Bruin's three wins last week including leading the team to the CBE Classic championship while earning CBE Classic MVP honors.

Against Maryland, Love scored 18 points and hauled down 16 rebounds, a UCLA freshman record, to help UCLA win 71-59. The previous freshman rebounding record was held by Jelani McCoy and JaRon Rush with 15.

In the 68-63 win versus No. 10 Michigan State, Love poured in 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, recording his third double-double of the season.

Against Yale, Love sprained an ankle and had to leave the game early but still managed to score 15 points and record 5 rebounds in the 81-47 win.

Love practiced yesterday and is expected to start against George Washington on Wednesday.

For the season, the Bruin center is averaging a double-double, 19.3 rebounds and 10.5 rebounds while shooting 56.1% from the field. He is also hitting on 37.5% from three-point distance.

BBR Notes: The Bruins remained atop the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll at No.1 this week. In the AP writers poll the Bruins are No.2 just points behind No.1 North Carolina.

(photo credit: J Rosenfeld)

Junior Alfred Aboya Cleared To Play Wednesday

By KS Wong
Bruin Basketball Report

Great news on the injury front for the UCLA Bruins basketball team.

Junior center/forward Alfred Aboya met with a specialist today and has been cleared to play on Wednesday against George Washington, the UCLA Athletic department announced today.

Aboya will begin non-contact practice today and will return to full practice tomorrow wearing protective goggles.

In the game against Yale, Aboya was hit in the face with an elbow, fracturing his right orbital floor.

Freshman center Kevin Love practiced yesterday and will play on Wednesday as well.

(photo by Bruin Basketball Report)

Aboya's Eye Injury Confirmed

By Bruin Basketball Report

The UCLA Athletic department confirmed tonight that Alfred Aboya has a fracture of the orbital floor of his right eye.  He is expected to undergo further evaluation early next week.

Alfred Aboya took an elbow to the right eye in Friday night's 81-47 victory over Yale.  Aboya was experiencing blurred vision and immediately walked off the court and into an evaluation room. UCLA team doctors decided to send him to the UCLA Medical Center for further evaluation.

Its unknown at this point how long Aboya will be out of action.  The Bruin's next game is this coming Wednesday, November 28th against George Washington at Pauley Pavilion and it would seem doubtful he would play in the game.  The following game would be against Texas on December 2nd.

When Aboya does return to action, he will likely play with a protective face mask for a prolonged period of time to prevent further injury.

UCLA is already without three scholarship players James Keefe, Michael Roll, and Darren Collison.  Keefe is scheduled to return in mid-December while Roll may return in the next few weeks as well. Collison may come back as soon as the George Washington game but may return as late as the Texas game

Mbah a Moute Injures Shoulder

By KS Wong
Bruin Basketball Report

Junior forward Luc Richard Mbah a

Love Injures Left Shin In Practice

By KS Wong
Bruin Basketball Report

10/27 Update: X-rays were negative and he should return to practice today.

UCLA freshman Kevin Love suffered a serious bruise to his left shin after being kicked during practice on Friday.

Head Coach Ben Howland said Love had precautionary X-rays done but the results won't be known until later this evening. However, the examining physician did not believe the injury was serious, and Howland stated Love walked up the stairs and out of Pauley Pavilion under his own power.

Love has already suffered a number nicks and bruises since the team began practices two weeks ago. Last Monday Love left practice with long scratch marks on his back and multiple contusions to his left calf.

The Bruins can not afford any more injuries along the front line.

Center Lorenzo Mata-Real sprained his right foot in Wednesday's practice, although he may return to practice tomorrow or Tuesday. He is currently wearing a walking boot as a precaution.

Sophomore James Keefe is out until mid-December while recuperating from offseason shoulder surgery.

(photo: Bruin Basketball Report)

Mbah a Moute Happy With Progress, Keefe Updates Condition

(courtesy of UCLA Athletics)

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute

on being on the Naismith Trophy Preseason Watch List

"It's an honor and living proof of your hard work and how good your team is. All those honors are based on how good your team is. It doesn't matter right now. All that matters is our team and what we do and I think if we do the right things, then all the awards will come for not only me, but everybody else on the team."

on his health

"My health is good and my knees are fine. Everything is good for the most part."

on his knees bothering him more than he realized last year

"They might have bothered me more a little bit, but I wouldn't say that. A lot of people would say so. All I know is that they now feel good and don't hurt as much. I'll be able to tell you more half way through the season when I have all those games on my legs and I'll see how they feel."

on if he feels the arrival of Kevin Love will change the tempo the Bruins will play

"Definitely. We want to use our athleticism and our quickness and having a guy like him [Kevin Love] here that can run and play up-tempo will definitely help us. We definitely want to get out and run, but all of that is created by our defense. We want to establish our defense first and create turnovers so we will be able to run."

on changing his shot

"It definitely feels good. It feels a lot better. Shooting is a season-long activity and you have to work on it all the time. There are people that have long careers and are still working on their shot and continuing to get better. That's what I am doing. I'm trying to get better all the time and I'm trying to be the best shooter I can possibly be. I've put a lot of work into it. I did over the summer and I'm continuing to do it so I can stay consistent throughout the season."

on the team's progress so far

"Everybody is doing well. We always go hard at practice and it makes the games easy when you go hard at practice."

on Coach Howland's comment that he could guard any position

"I played point guard in high school so I could definitely guard a point guard. The thing I'm most proud of is my defense. I continue to work on it and continue to get quicker. If I continue to do that, it will help my team a lot because I can switch when we need to and we'll have no problems doing that."

on his love for defense

"I just think winning is all about defense. All of my coaches have stressed defense. When you play good defense, it creates your offense. It makes us want to play better on offense. We want to go out and make stops, get rebounds and then get our chance to score against them. I just like doing that."

on his soccer playing days

"I started as a goalie and then moved to midfield and ended up playing striker. I pretty much played all the positions."

on the physical practices the team has been having

"There was no knock over today. I didn't get knocked out today. It was a good day, I guess."

James Keefe

on what he is doing during practice

"Right now in practice I go through warm-ups and before practice I meet with the strength and conditioning coach and he'll put me through a workout that includes running and sliding and some jump training. During practice I work on my rehabilitation and the strengthening of my shoulder. I can shoot some and I do some shooting drills after practice."

on his range of motion

"For the most part, I have full range of motion. Right now, it is about strengthening. I still haven't turned on some of the muscles and I'm using other muscles to counteract it. So I just need to get the right muscles moving and build those up. I can't lift much upper body yet."

on if he is where he should be in the recovery process

"I spoke with the doctor and she says that I am on course. Now that I have my full range [of motion], it's just all about getting the strength back in the shoulder."

on getting back to practices

"I can't wait to get back to practice. Everyone is practicing hard and competing for playing time. I have to sit back and watch and hope I can be in there. It's hard, but I know when I come back I'll be fine. I'm just trying to take it one day at a time."

on what will be the hardest part when he comes back

"My shot is fine right now, but obviously I'm not going at full-speed and there is no defense, but I've been able to get my form back. I should be fine in the conditioning department. Getting my strength back will be the hardest part because I still can't lift weight with the upper body. It will take some time to rebuild my upper-body strength. Once that happens, I'll be fine."

BBR Notes: Lorenzo Mata-Real did not practice today. He sprained his right foot in Wednesday's practice after stepping on Alfred Aboya's foot. Mata-Real's X-rays were negative and he will miss tomorrow's practice and will more than likely return to practice on Oct. 27th or Oct. 29th. The injury is not related to his earlier foot injury. His right foot was in a precautionary boot today.

(photos: Bruin Basketball Report)