Tidbits from Howland press conference

* UCLA head coach Ben Howland said during Tuesday’s press conference that the Bruins would not go back into the zone, and that his decision to switch was dictated by foul trouble.
“They scored well against the zone, too,” Howland said. “They made a couple really tough shots. Harper Kamp’s jump hook, even though it’s one of his best shots, that was tough. You have to give them credit, they did a good job.”
Howland is still nervous to allow wide-open shots, which occurred a few times against the Bears in the team’s loss on Sunday.
“Crabbe had a wide-open three against our zone, and he just missed it,” Howland said. “The one thing I hate about zone, eventually if they’re patient, they’re going to get a good shot. We were fortunate there.”
What if the team is in foul trouble again?
“No. No, we’re not going to be playing zone,” Howland said. “The reason I went to it was the foul trouble to Reeves and Josh. Josh played with four fouls for a while, and three fouls for a while.”

* Given UCLA’s rather lackadaisical effort against Cal, Howland was asked if anyone was sick prior to the game.
“No, we were sick after the game,” Howland joked.
I was particularly curious about Tyler Lamb, who played a season-low three minutes, but Howland said it was just his fault that he didn’t play the freshman guard more.
“I should’ve played him more,” Howland said. “I talked to him about that. He gives us good defensive presence. That was my fault.”

*Howland on Brendan Lane:
“I thought he did a good job in the Cal game. I was glad to see him score a couple baskets, along with that three. He had a couple baskets around the basket which were good.”

“Howland on Arizona State being a trap game on Thursday:
“I don’t think so. This is a huge game for us. They’re coming off a win – and they’ve been close – they had Cal down seven with the ball with 6:20 to go. We know what it’s like to play Cal at Cal. We’re going to have to play really well Thursday to win.”