More from Howland conference call
On Malcolm Lee:
"Started practice yesterday and tweaked his sprained ankle that he sprained before. Went to contest a shot, came down on someone's foot. He hardly practiced yesterday. Really hasnt had practice since when we played. He has patella tendonitis - jumper's knee - but he said he felt fine."
On Lee's status:
"He's seemingly OK. He's actually in a final right now, and he saw a trainer and both said he should be able to practice."
On other injury issues:
"Guys have had winter colds that went around. That was part of the issue in Kansas and Montana. "
On playing Cal Poly:
"I'm really worried about winning this game tomorrow. It's all based on what he can do. After the terrible loss we suffered last Sunday, we had to give them two days off for finals. We came back and I thought we had a good practice on Wednesday, and a pretty good practice (Thursday). We've lost four games in a row. We're just trying to get back on our winning way here."
On jetlag:
"We were on the road nine of previous 12 days, going across the country twice. Coming back, I thought our practice Saturday before the game was just OK at best. Some of the guys were into finals stuff and screwed up that way. You could just tell we were worn down a little bit."
On the Montana loss:
"We're a very, very young team. Montana is good. They definitely have a great shot of coming out of their league as a NCAA tournament team. All the things were set up for a potential pitfall."
On the team's reaction to Montana loss:
"Kids are much more resilient than adults. I thought the guys were, especially at yesterday's practice, pretty upbeat. We had a long practice (Thursday), 2:30 hours."
On Reeves Nelson's recent struggles:
"Even though he didn't score or rebound great against Kansas, I thought it was maybe the best defensive effort of his career. He missed one rotation that was a significant one. He really worked hard to follow the game plan. Last game, he really played poorly. So much of his stuff is mental. He get down, he gets negative, down on himself, he drops his head. It's only a self-defeating thing when he starts to do that."
Ben's getting to be a tired act
WOW!!!! I think Ben's going to snap soon. I think the pressure is getting to him. He's getting soft. I don't see him lasting much longer.
Making excuses? Montana's a tough team? Worried about beating Cal Poly SLO? You F'n kidding me? Not even his first season did we fall to these depths. UNREAL!!!!
Maybe he forgot this interview.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CQQiTM24Lk
Whatever happened to this Ben? I don't even see him running up and down the sidelines like he used to.
Come back Ben. Come back.
BruinFaithful - What are you talking about? Howland has ALWAYS said he was worried about the next even if they were the easiest team ever. That is one of Howland's things besides always focusing on defensive issues and using his timeouts early.