LOS ANGELES -- J'mison Morgan has a swollen left knee, making him the sixth UCLA basketball player to be injured since practice began last week.
The Bruins had a day off Tuesday, but the sophomore center needed an MRI for the swelling. A team spokesman said results won't be known until Wednesday.
Jerime Anderson (left groin), James Keefe (left shoulder), Malcolm Lee (concussion), Brendan Lane (left ankle) and Mike Moser (lower back) are the other injured scholarship players.
Anderson, Morgan, Lee and Lane will miss practice Wednesday, while Moser is day-to-day. Keefe will practice briefly, while Lane could be out 1-to-2 weeks.
STANFORD, Calif. -- Stanford freshman Andy Brown will miss the season with a left knee injury.
Brown, a 6-8 forward, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during the Cardinal's practice Saturday, the school said Monday.
This is the second time in 10 months Brown has torn the ACL in his left knee. He tore it in January, cutting short his senior season at Mater Dei High School.
Coach Lorenzo Romar said Tuesday seven of his 12 players, including senior leader Quincy Pondexter, have had the flu since Saturday’s first full day of practice.
The Huskies had only seven players for drills at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Monday and Tuesday, limiting them to 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 drills. The only plus: there’s been more individual attention and coaching of the team’s two freshmen who don’t have the flu, Abdul Gaddy and C.J. Wilcox.
Trainers and assistants have spent extra time wiping down the locker room, but there’s only so much they can do.
“Every time we see the team, someone else has it,” Romar said.
He said this spreading flu is the worst illness he’s had on a team since he began coaching in 1992 as an assistant at UCLA.
In all, Howland has lost seven underclassmen to the NBA in the last six years, including five in the last three. "It's a Catch-22," he said. "Every kid wants to be a pro. That's understandable. The fact is, when you get the best players, often times you lose them."
The only way to survive is through recruiting. From what I saw during practice, Howland's current five-man freshman class has a lot of potential, but nobody in the quintet is ready to have a major impact this season. The most physically ready is Reeves Nelson, a 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward from Modesto, Calif. During one 5-on-5 sequence last Friday, Nelson chased down an offensive rebound in the lane, spun around and dunked over two defenders. It was a big-time play, but even he will play a reserve role at best.
Many of you have asked about Sunday's scrimmage at St. Mary's and unfortuantely I don't have a whole lot to report. Players and coaches couldn't talk about the scrimmage because of NCAA rules and it was closed to the media. There are reports that say some players were less than enthused about their performance.
Twitter...
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Isaiah Thomas: "On the bus headed to the airport...We played horrible the 1st 20min but after that we played like Washington basketball suppose to play!"
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Abdul Gaddy: "Learned a lot about our team!! Time to get back n the lab and improve on weaknesses...."
Im not sold on Washington this year, but the Pac-10 doesnt offer much to compete against Washington. I think their lack of rebounding is really going to hurt them at times this year.
The Pac-10 might be so upside down this season, California could win its first conference title in 50 years.
For sure, the times are changing. Arizona finally put the Lute Olson era behind it by hiring Xavier coach Sean Miller, who replaced interim coach Russ Pennell, who was preceded by interim coach Kevin O'Neill.
Speaking of O'Neill, the intense, defense-minded coach landed at another Pac-10 program at the end of an era. Tim Floyd brought success to USC, but he also brought an NCAA investigation. He stepped down, and O'Neill filled the breach.
Even UCLA, a model of consistency, will undergo some changes. Final Four veterans Darren Collison, Josh Shipp and Alfred Aboya are gone, leaving Ben Howland to rebuild UCLA around a new nucleus of top recruits.
That leaves defending champion Washington and Cal as the preseason Pac-10 favorites. Washington ended its conference-title drought last season, winning its first outright title since 1953. Cal is position to do the same this season after going without a conference title since the legendary Pete Newell retired in 1960.
Pac 10 Preseason Thread
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