Fingernails across the chalkboard be damned.
There is not a more sickening sound in the world than your alarm
clock buzzing at 9:30 a.m. over Thanksgiving break.
As part of a terrorist plot to ensure that I never have a full
night’s sleep this quarter, Saturday’s basketball
extravaganza between No. 4 Duke and No. 14 UCLA tipped off at 10
a.m. PST.
Thus, in deference to my responsibilities as a basketball
columnist, I stumbled out of bed and into a recliner in the living
the room, resisting the urge to put my alarm clock down the garbage
disposal.
After sitting through two hours of typically schizophrenic
basketball from the Bruins, the result was predictable ““ Duke
84, UCLA 73.
What was maddening to watch, however, was how the Bruins ran
their offense.
Maybe I was still a little groggy from all of the tryptophan in
a leftover turkey sandwich the night before, but did UCLA set a
single screen for Jason Kapono the entire game?
The last time I saw that many guys standing around doing
nothing, I was walking by one of the construction sites on
campus.
Kapono, the Bruins’ best offensive player and perhaps the
best shooter in the country, did a superb impression of H.G.
Wells’ Invisible Man for the first 25 minutes of the game. He
had just three points at halftime on one-of-five shooting, and was
not a factor at all.
Now before you get your headbands in a bunch, I am not
criticizing Kapono himself. In fact, he was much more aggressive in
the second half, as he created enough shot opportunities for
himself to finish with a team-high 19 points.
What I want to know is when are the Bruins going to take
advantage of their biggest asset on offense ““ not John
Hoffart’s dynamic turn-around jumper or T.J. Cummings’
unselfish passing, but Kapono’s outside shooting?
Other squads run opposing defenders through an obstacle course
of bodies to free their best shooter for an open look at the
basket. On Saturday, Duke repeatedly used a series of plays
designed to get guard J.J. Redick open from behind the arc, and the
Blue Devil guard delivered, as he led all scorers with 20 points,
including five crucial trifectas.
The only screen that UCLA marksmen Kapono, sophomore Dijon
Thompson, or junior Jon Crispin saw in Indianapolis might have been
attached to the television set in their hotel rooms.
“We have to do a better job of finding Jason,” UCLA
head coach Steve Lavin said. “Duke did a better job than us
of finding him on the perimeter.”
I will readily admit that I don’t understand every aspect
of the voodoo hexes and witchcraft that comprise UCLA assistant
coach Jim Saia’s motion offense, but somewhere in that
eight-inch playbook there has to be a set designed to free a
shooter.
With an undersized Cummings and a pair of freshmen splitting
time at center, the Bruin lineup currently has all the interior
presence of a donut, and it is allowing opposing teams to key on
Kapono by extending their pressure beyond the arc.
“They played smothering defense,” Kapono said.
“They were grabbing, tugging, and pushing me the whole game.
They didn’t want to give me any good shots.”
Whether the Bruins need more balance on offense or other players
to step up, Kapono has to get more open looks at the basket for the
squad to avoid falling further into a preseason chasm.
Otherwise it could be a frustrating season in Westwood.