Thursday, December 5, 1996
JAYHAWKS:
Men’s basketball team hopes to avenge last year’s loss with
hometown advantage and large, loyal Bruin crowdBy Hye Kwon
Daily Bruin Staff
For the UCLA men’s basketball team, playing No. 1 Kansas on
Saturday morning will be equivalent to an NBA squad hosting a
European All-Star team consisting almost entirely of American
players.
The name ‘University of Kansas’ seems to describe a school that
has geographical representation of the state of Kansas, but the
demographic profile of the top-ranked basketball team suggests
something quite different.
Thanks to successful efforts in recruiting California’s most
prized high school players, the Jayhawks (5-0) are loaded with
talent from the Golden State. Four of their five returning starters
are from California, of those three of them are from the
Southland.
Jerod Haase, a transfer from the University of California, is
from South Lake Tahoe, Scot Pollard is from San Diego, Paul Pierce
is from Los Angeles and Jacque Vaughn is from Muir High School in
Pasadena.
Because of the homecoming factor, Kansas head coach Roy Williams
can count on his California players being pumped up for Saturday’s
game.
"Paul and Jacque have been looking forward to going home,"
Williams said. "I know that Paul is really looking forward to
playing in front of friends and family."
UCLA center Jelani McCoy is one of several Bruins, including
most notably Toby Bailey, Charles O’Bannon and Kris Johnson, who
have competed against Kansas’ California natives at the prep
level.
"I played against Pollard and Pierce (in high school), but
playing them now is a whole new (situation)," McCoy, a San Diego
native, said. "This is not for a (California Interscholastic
Federation) championship or a state championship, but for the
(NCAA) championship.
"(But) I don’t get into that California stuff. I’ll play them no
matter where they’re from. I just want to play hard so we can win
the game."
Last year, the Bruins (1-1) held a 19 point lead against Kansas
in front of a hostile crowd at Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks came
back in the second half, outscoring UCLA 41-17 in the final 15
minutes, to close out the victory.
According to UCLA head coach Steve Lavin, who was Jim Harrick’s
assistant at the time, the Jayhawk fans were one of the most
important factors in Kansas’ comeback and the Bruins’ demise.
"All of our players on the plane ride back home talked about how
loud Allen Fieldhouse was," Lavin said. "Even when we were up 19,
blowing them out in the first half, it was unbelievably loud. It
was louder when they were down 19 than when they came back and went
ahead of us by double figures.
"What I’m really hoping is that we have the loudest Pauley
Pavilion crowd we’ve had in the last 15 years. I think our players
really deserve our fans work for 40 minutes."
In the off-season, one of the most anticipated matchups for this
game was at the point guard position. Two senior veterans, Cameron
Dollar and Vaughn, were supposed to go at it. However, Vaughn broke
his right wrist in an off-season pickup game which changes the
scenario.
"(Vaughn’s injury) takes a lot away from the game," Dollar said.
"Because last year when we played, I played injured. It’s an
unfortunate situation for him, but he’ll be OK soon."
For the time, sophomore Ryan Robertson is filling in for Vaughn
and has done an admirable job at it. In the five games Kansas has
played, Robertson averaged 6 assists per game for the Jayhawks. In
his All-American junior season, Vaughn averaged 6.6 assists.
"UCLA is a good, athletic team," Williams said. "They were
surprised in their first game and they’re going to be licking at
the chops for us."
After getting past Cal State Northridge on Tuesday, UCLA will
only be playing in its third game of the season. Kansas, on the
other hand, will have played six games by Saturday’s tip-off, which
is scheduled at 11:30 a.m.
"It’s going to be an important game," Lavin said. "It’s going to
be another measuring stick or what I call a report card that you
receive to find out what you need to improve on."
Despite the implications of recruiting, national polls,
postseason seeding and other things, Lavin contends that Saturday’s
game is not a do-or-die situation by any means.
"Coach Wooden used to talk about this time of the year as a
dress rehearsal and the curtain gets raised come the conference,"
Lavin said. "And then, once you get into the NCAA tournament, it’s
an encore performance."
Lavin’s argument that a team’s conference play should be the
prime determinant of its success is good in theory, but the NCAA
seeding committee apparently doesn’t agree.
Last year, the Bruins won the Pacific 10 with a stellar
conference record of 16-2, but was shipped out of the West
Regionals as a No. 4 seed. And everyone knows what happened in
Indianapolis.
That means if the 1997 NCAA selection committee is to operate
with the same formula as they used last year, Saturday’s game has
monumental importance for UCLA.
The Bruins have a recruit that has officially committed in the
early signing period for next year. Earl Watson’s letter, which was
mailed on the last day of the early signing period (Nov. 20),
arrived at the athletic department last week.
At Washington High School in Kansas City, Watson averaged 23
points and 10 rebounds as a junior. Watson has received national
acclaim at the Nike All-American camp in Indianapolis.
The Jayhawks (5-0) are loaded with talent from the Golden
State.JUSTIN WARREN/Daily Bruin
J.R. Henderson (52) hopes to help lead the Bruins to victory
over the top-ranked Jayhawks.