L.A. CONFIDENTIAL.

Byline: -- Brian Dohn

Observations from UCLA men's basketball ...

If coach Ben Howland's preseason idea works, Josh Shipp will start at off-guard position. After spending much of his career playing the wing, it would mean Shipp will be guarding a different type of player.

"I don't think it's really that much different," Shipp said. "You've got a guy in front of you, and your job is to stop him. It's not really that hard."

But that off-guard may be a little faster, no? "Then you have to get a little faster," Shipp said. "You've got to get on top of your game. It's just a man in front of you, and you have to take it personal and want to stop him." ...

UCLA center Lorenzo Mata said he worked hard on his low-post game over the summer to add some diversity on the offensive end. "My left hand has always been good, but now I'm trying to work on my right with a turnover around jump shot in the low post," Mata said. "I've been trying to work with Kevin (Love) a lot, and he's shown me some stuff and I've shown him some stuff."