What do you expect from this UCLA basketball team? For the past
few seasons, the answer was: Expect anything. A few victories over
No. 1 teams, and a few losses to the EA Sports All-Stars. But this
team, under the guidance of new coach Ben Howland, will not
vacillate between greatness and utter ineptitude.
No, it probably won’t beat Arizona, and it probably
won’t beat Michigan State. But what it will do is beat Loyola
Marymount and UC Santa Barbara. Yes, this is a UCLA team that lacks
depth and talent, but it will make up for those deficiencies with
good coaching and gutsy performances.
For these gutty little Bruins, a very successful season means 17
regular season victories and a win in the Pac-10 Tournament, which
the Bruins could parlay into a NCAA Tournament bid if the stars are
aligned correctly and if Quinn Hawking eats his Wheaties. However,
I will have fun rooting for this team regardless of where it ends
up at the conclusion of the season.
Why? Because this team has heart. The players are a likable
bunch of student-athletes. The team is nothing like the UCLA teams
of the Steve Lavin era, which were mostly composed of a bunch of
arrogant athletes with a great deal of talent and little heart.
You know the scene in that unparalleled film,
“Armageddon,” in which Bruce Willis’ gang of
losers is walking toward the camera in heart- stopping slow motion,
and someone inevitably remarks, “So these are the guys that
are going to save the world?” Well, that is what this team is
like: a bunch of misfits who may save your basketball world from a
(proverbial) giant asteroid.
While not one player is as charming as Ben Affleck or as
eccentric as Steve Buscemi, each player on this team has a clearly
defined starring role. The team has its journeyman in Brian
Morrison, a player with a lot to prove in Cedric Bozeman, a rising
star in Dijon Thompson, and to top it off, a bunch of unwanted
recruits with nothing to lose (obviously, a bunch of them).
If this team manages to win the games it should and not incur
any terrible losses, then the season is a success story, just like
“Armageddon” (because in the film, Bruce Willis saves
the world).
You’ve heard it constantly since the start of the season,
but it’s true ““ coaching will be key for this
team’s success. What last season’s team lacked in
coaching, the team often made up for with sheer talent. The absence
of coaching was demonstrated each time UCLA lost to a lousy team
and each time the Bruins dispatched a highly talented team.
Victories came only because of talent, and conversely, games were
lost because of a lack of coaching. This season, things are already
looking up: UCLA has already defeated two lousy teams: Vermont and
UC Riverside.
If you are tired of hearing how Howland is going to save this
basketball team, put it in perspective: Maybe it’s not that
Howland is here, but that Lavin, and the negative energy he brought
to the program, is gone.
Finally, so much has been said about this team’s lack of
depth that I would be remiss to not mention it. The Bruins lost
considerable talent with the departures of Jason Kapono, Ray Young
and Andre Patterson.
However, the additions of freshman Trevor Ariza and junior
transfer Brian Morrison now appear to be more significant than
initially expected. Morrison lit up UC Riverside for 28, draining 6
three-pointers, and proving he is a transfer guard who can play.
While Ariza won’t see action until at least Dec. 17, his play
in Bruin exhibition games was encouraging.
It may take a few years to make UCLA the powerhouse it should
be, but it’s pretty easy to improve on 10-19. In this
season’s weak Pac-10 Conference, the Bruins could surprise
some people. Expectations for this team are low, just like mine for
“Armageddon” before I saw it.
I wish I could tell you I loved “Armageddon,”
because that would make for a beautifully clichéd ending to
this column. And you know what, for some strange reason, I
didn’t hate it.
E-mail Miller at dmiller@media.ucla.edu.