Overworked backcourt?
With Darren Collison and Russell Westbrook playing anywhere from 37-40 minutes a game in the Pac-10, the question is continually asked if UCLA's standout guards are playing too much.
``I'm not that concerned or they wouldn't be playing that much,'' Ben Howland said. ``They're such highly-conditioned athletes, they can do that. ... Darren and Russell can go forever and still play hard. That's really hard to do.''
Howland said he played Brandin Knight 38 minutes a game when he was at Pittsburgh. Collison and Westbrook are averaging 34 and 33 minutes, respectively, for the season.
To paraphrase John McKay, the ball aint heavy. Not only that, but the affair on Thursday nite against OSU was basically a scrimmage.
Plus, Darren missed a significant amount of games due to injury. He should be fresher than the other starters. And Russell is still growing into his body. He wasn't dunking until his last year in in HS where he grew to 6'3".
Besides, these kids have their eyes to the NBA. Hard to impress scouts/GMs sitting on the bench.