Weekly Answers, Pt. 1
1) Would Malcolm Jones play safety if he plays defense next year? Can you talk about the UCLA RB situation? - Spencer
No, Malcolm will probably play running back, with an outside shot at linebacker. He's good enough to play either, and play immediately. I expect Johnathan Franklin to get the majority of time next year, with Milton Knox sprinkled in more. Derrick Coleman could move to fullback or put on weight and be used as a short-yardage guy. Franklin really needs to get stronger, and he will over the offseason. Damien Thigpen is going to be used as a dual-threat, for specific plays, and that will be his biggest contribution. I haven't seen enough of Jordon James to say he'll play immediately.
2) Do you think Christian Ramirez is going to be in the RB rotation next year or do you think his time has passed? - Anonymous
His time has passed. He could be a special teams ace if he wants to be.
3) The bball team actually had a decent showing against #1 Kansas, they kept it close for most of the game and were even threatening a few times. Is it possible this team is actually BETTER in some ways since Drew Gordon left? - Sid
The team is much better in some ways, much worse in others. In the long run, I think they'll play better, but in the Pac-10 and in the Pac-10 tourney, they'll miss Gordon's size and strength. But the team is better off without the distraction, and Reeves Nelson is sure fun to watch.
4) What juniors on the football team would you recommend leave early for the draft? - Anonymous
When I said Brian Price wasn't ready to leave in early November, I didn't see enough explosiveness against double teams, and I didn't think he could handle the play-in, play-out intensity of the NFL. Then he went on a tear to close the season, and he was absolutely dominant. I don't know if he will go, but at this point, he should go.
5) Josh Shirley "gone" rumors real or similar to the line that came out about Jordan James in the weeks prior to his verbal? - spedjones
Arizona is picking up steam in the hunt, but I still think Shirley is a UCLA/USC guy when it comes down to it. I heard from a source that if Barr becomes a reality, and with Olaniyan in the mix, Shirley ends up at SC.
6) Would you say that Rick Neuheisel burned Randall Carroll's redshirt to send a message to Carroll and possibly other players on public behavior? - Anonymous
No, I thought the team thought he would pick the playbook up more and become a factor in the offense. Then Rosario and Embree blossomed into reliable threats, and the team couldn't justify working Carroll in. The plan was to use him though.
7) I am starting to think this year's troubles may be good in one way: it is forcing CBH to finally be more flexible in terms of changing his schemes (defense, and hopefully offense) and giving minutes to the players that show the most effort, rather than by seniority. agree or disagree? - Charlie Bucket
Absolutely agree. Nelson, Honeycutt and Lee are bona fide starters. Lane will blossom into a good player. Moser, too, once he gets his shot consistent. Add Smith into the mix next year and a good PG recruit, and the team is back on track.
8) Did you notice that the Pac-10 commercials removed Tiger Woods from their commercials? - Anonymous
Yes, it happened a few days ago. Understandable, don't you think?
9) Is it me or did Rick Neuheisel seem to age quite a bit during the season? - Tustin Paul
I think he's realizing that UCLA was a little further behind then he thought. The Pac-10 is good, very good, and even with an improved season, the Bruins are clear-cut behind USC, Arizona, Oregon and Cal, will battle with Oregon State and depending on Toby Gerhart's decision, will battle with Stanford. I think he started realizing midway through that a couple good recruiting classes wouldn't be a magic potion.
10) You mentioned that the Coliseum crowd got under the skin of the UCLA football team. How so? - VB
Just as Rose Bowl fans would have given it to the Trojans, the Coliseum folks gave it to the Bruins. They were downright vicious in the 15 or so minutes I was down on the field. Vicious. I loved it.
Jon, what do you mean Gerhart's decision? Gerhart is a Senior this year and won't be back to compete with us next year.
Gerhart has the option to return, but won't.
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/collegesports/2009/12/08/toby-gerhart-expected-to-enter-the-nfl-draft-according-to-toby-gerhart/
What happened to the rest of last week's questions?
just guessing (based on the "Part I" in the title of this and protocol last week, and the week before, and the week before, and the week before, and...you get my drift) - there will be subsequent parts to Jon's answers.
Jon,
Has Coach Howland ever addressed why he thinks his teams year in and year out shoot poorly at free throws, excluding Collison. As a team, they have always shot poor. What can the team do to prevent this? Better free throws and UCLA wins the first game for sure..and maybe other games as well.
Roll is too good of a shooter to be such a poor free throw shooter, doesnt make sense.
Free throws are as much a psychological challenge as they are a physical challenge. A player might be an outstanding free throw shooter in practice, but have a completely different result in an in-game setting (being out of breath, crowd noise, etc.)
Steve Nash, for example, is about a 70-75% free throw shooter in practice. His percentage jumps to over 90% in game. Explanation? Who knows. You can practice free throw shooting till the cows come home when nobody's watching, but it's a different ballgame when the game is on the line and all eyes are on you. Some people just have it (that innate ability to focus and just drain them), others don't.
From what I've watched so far this year, NOBODY seems to "reset" themselves or even take a deep breath before shooting FT's. They just all seem to go up there and let fly. No focusing, no concentration.
I disagree with your comment about the UCLA team always being poor at free throws. If I recall, UCLA was an outstanding free throw shooting team when KLove was here, with all 5 starters shooting over 75%. Mata kinda dragged the team average down, but Collison, Westbrook, Shipp, Luc, and KLove were all solid.