ANN ARBOR, Mich. — After a shaky start, UCLA exuded confidence
and an affinity for dunking during the first half of Saturday’s
road game against at Michigan. But the Bruins’ play also brought
about early foul trouble that was a considerable factor in UCLA’s
first major road-game loss.
Playing against the biggest team they’ve matched up with so far,
the first-half foul trouble encountered by centers Michael Fey and
Ryan Hollins, and forward T. J. Cummings dictated a weakness in the
post which was carried over to the final buzzer.
"Our post defense was inadequate," Coach Ben Howland said. "They
were scoring easily in the post and we weren’t covering down."
"We put ourselves in a hole with three minutes to go in the
first half."
That hole was one the Bruins never seemed to climb out of.
"I felt like in the first half, I couldn’t get into the flow,"
said Fey.
"Same in the second half , I wanted to stay in so I couldn’t be
as aggressive."
Fey was the first to foul, 45 seconds into the game, and was
soon replaced with Hollins, who didn’t fare much better when he
picked up a personal foul two minutes later. Howland methodically
replaced one with the other when Fey and Hollins picked up their
fouls, but with only four minutes left in the first half, both were
benched with two fouls each. A tentative John Hoffart sufficed as
the Bruins’ center, but combined with a missing Cummings —
also out with two fouls — the team had no presence in the post
against Michigan’s 6-foot-9 Graham Brown and 6-foot-11 Courtney
Sims.
"You’re going to have guys in foul trouble," said Howland. "You
have to have other guys step up. The problem (was) we didn’t have
our starters in the last three minutes of the first half and that
hurt us."
In his three minutes of play, Hoffart only added a turnover to
the Bruins’ statistics. Senior reserve guard Jon Crispin gave UCLA
the lead with a pair of free throws but couldn’t compensate
defensively for the missing Dijon Thompson, who was also out with
three fouls.
Playing without the physical presence of Fey or the height of
Hollins "affected our confidence in the middle," said forward
Trevor Ariza.
Fey, along with Hollins, finished the night with three fouls, so
none of the three were forced to leave. But staying in meant
letting the Wolverines past their post positions and subsequently
to the basket.
Michigan’s continuing focus on establishing an inside presence
didn’t help the Bruins post issues, either. Brown finished the
night with 10 points, a feat which Michigan coach Tommy Amaker
noted since he didn’t think Brown had even attempted 10 shots in a
game at Michigan. Wolverine Courtney Sims proved an unstoppable
force particularly in the second half, solidifying Michigan’s
largest lead in the game with an 11-point advantage.
The Bruins left Ann Arbor on Saturday night with a well-learned
lesson: weakness in the post does not win ball games.
"We have to do our work before (the ball) gets there and stay
solid," Cummings said.
Luckily for the Bruins, Friday’s Pac-10 home opener will mark a
chance to erase their 4-3 record and begin from scratch, but this
time, without abandoning their presence in the post.