NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Natalie Nakase
leads an offense that relies on conditioning to break down
opponents’ defenses.
By Jackie Abellada
Daily Bruin Contributor
Ah, the dog days of summer. For most of us, it is a time of joy
and relaxation; a time when worries of papers and exams are long
forgotten; a time when sitting through a boring lecture is traded
in for some fun in the sun.
But, for some, this is not necessarily the case.
As Malika Leatham, center for the UCLA women’s basketball
team, reminisced about her 2001 summer experience, she cannot help
but smile. No, she wasn’t thinking about her trip to some
remote place across the globe. Rather, she was imagining a
different kind of adventure.
“We lifted weights,” Leatham said. “We did
conditioning drills. We worked on foot speed. And we played every
day.”
Yes, that’s right. Leatham and all of her teammates stayed
in the confines of Westwood the whole summer doing what they do
best ““ playing basketball.
But that’s not all they did. On top of their normal
regiment of pickup games and individual workouts, the Bruins also
spent on and a half to two hours a day, four days a week working on
a rigorous program to improve their endurance, quickness, agility
and balance under the supervision of head strength and conditioning
coach Mike Linn.
“Our main objective is to help athletes in their in-season
competitions, especially basketball,” Linn said.
“Basketball is one of those sports which, if you don’t
train in the summertime, it’s really hard because their
season is so long and there is only so much stuff we can do
in-season with them.”
The purpose of the summer workouts is to build on the
team’s performance last season.
And so far, so good. Compared to last year’s team, the
squad has definitely made improvements, especially in its ability
to come back from behind after trailing in the first half.
According to head coach Kathy Olivier, these were the types of
games that the squad would have lost last season.
Just ask one of the women any question regarding their
recent performances on the court, and they’ll almost always
talk about what they did this summer.
“The reason why we talk about it so much is because we
feel that it is all worth it,” Leatham said.
The team’s commitment to stick around also had an added
bonus: the Bruins bonded as a team. No, they did not sit around a
campfire, hold hands and sing “Kumbaya.” But it appears
that the Bruins are more comfortable around each other since they
shared some tough times as well as some good ones together. In the
process, they learned each other’s strengths and weaknesses,
and this helps them to be in sync while on the court.
“As far as staying around, I think it made our team
chemistry that much better,” Olivier said. “Even though
our team chemistry was really good last year, I just think it is
good to have a commitment from everybody ““Â not just
eight people.”
This type of training is something that is expected of any
athlete in a top-notch sport, according to Linn, who also
supervises the workouts of the football and baseball teams.
Nevertheless, he commends the players’ willingness to make
the sacrifice and the effort. And their determination to go that
extra mile illustrates their willingness to improve not only
individually but also collectively as a team.
“They just came in and did a good job being committed as a
team,” Linn added. “And hopefully, it shows off this
year and we get some good quality wins.”