Dragovic takes the lead
Nikola Dragovic made one thing clear on Tuesday night: The weight is over.
Bogged down by a felony assault charges for more than a month, Dragovic finally made it past the second stage of the process on Monday, pleading not guilty in a Los Angeles court. The conversations with lawyers and interviews with investigators were like an albatross around his shoulders, dragging him down even as he tried to lift UCLA.
Then he went out on another court, the Wooden Court at Pauley Pavilion, and led the Bruins with 17 points on Tuesday night in a 75-63 win over visiting Colorado State.
After a middling first half, Dragovic had 14 points in the second, taking over just when UCLA needed it most. With just under 12 minutes left in the game, Dragovic hit an inside shot, two free throws and a 3-pointer to help trim the Rams' lead to two points with 10 minutes to go. Then, with less than seven minutes left and Colorado State up four, Dragovic was fouled on a 3-pointer and hit all three shots, freshman forward Reeves Nelson came back on the next possession and hit two more free throws to put the Bruins up one, and they never trailed again.
"Just by not having to deal with lawyers, having to go to meetings, even think about it, I'm able to put more time into basketball," said Dragovic, who made 5-of-8 shots and all five free throws. "At practice, I don't have any problems. I think it's always been there. I just have to keep working."
Early in the game, nothing was working for the Bruins.
In a two-minute stretch midway through the first half, Colorado State (8-4) went from down three to up five, as UCLA committed turnover after turnover, 12 in total at the half.
"We had a lot of careless mistakes, especially in transition," said sophomore guard Malcolm Lee, who 16 points and seven rebounds in a game-high 39 minutes. We should have had more patience with the ball and capitalized. But we learned in the second half and adjusted pretty well."
Late in the second half, the Bruins discovered a gaping hole in the undersized Rams' inside defense, and responded with a 17-4 run to close the game. With 6-foot-9 Dragovic working in the post against 6-foot-4 Colorado State forward Travis Busch, UCLA started to take advantage in the key, scoring 16 second-half points in the paint.
"I just had a shorter man on me, and I told (point guard Jerime Anderson) to look inside," said Dragovic, who entered the game shooting just 27 percent from the field. "I was able to kind of shoot over him. People usually tell me I don't have that inside game with my back to the rim, but that's why I worked on it this summer. Most of the teams try to play small against us, and it's a good thing we can fight back."
For what seems like ages, the 4-7 Bruins were indeed able to claw their way back from a large deficit.
After the game, the players did not seem proud as much as relieved, simply to get the monkey off their back.
None more so than Dragovic, even if his teammates did not see the off-court issues affect him on the court.
"Nikola's a shooter and he doesn't really let things get into his head," said point guard Jerime Anderson, who had 12 points, seven assists and four rebounds. "He just shoots, and he continues to shoot, and he should always do that. The best thing for him to do is keep shooting, he did tonight and he made the shots we needed."
What a quality young man
weight != wait
well, no, I meant weight. Guess it made more sense in my head.
Jon was alluding to the "weight" of Dragovic's troubles off the court. Thanks for chiming in.
Where are all the blog guys who wanted Howland's head on a platter for continuing to play Dragovic??
Hear I thought he ment wate! How silly of me.
The use of 'weight' was sly when followed by 'bogged down' to start the next sentence!
Rome wasn't built in a day.
Things are looking up!
Way to go Dragovic and Bruins team!
Dragovic still sucks. CBH should play the freshmen more often. Bruins are 2-0 without him and 2-7 with him. Last night doesn't make up for his 0-9 shooting and 1 reb performance. Until last night, he was shooting around 26%. Poor player. Wish he had left to turn pro in Europe after last year. He's taking time and valuable experience away from Lane, Moser, and Nelson. They are the future of UCLA, not Dragovic and Keefe.
The only place Drago is going to lead this team is into the sewer. It's time to cut him. Also get Roll out of the starting lineup his molasses speed is a complete liability on defense and his shooting is inconsistent. Drago, Roll, Keefe all belong on a WAC team not the PAC 10. Let the kids play and let's start over.