Approaching the yellow light that was Cal’s zone defense,
UCLA neither aggressively stepped on the gas pedal nor patiently
slowed down in recognition of the situation. Instead, the Bruins
stayed a futile course and were punished severely for it. Though
the Golden Bears had not employed a zone defense for any extended
period of time this season, the Bruins failed to give them any
incentive to deviate from the straightforward defensive strategy.
“We were not comfortable with attacking the zone,” UCLA
coach Ben Howland said. “We were tentative and on our heels
instead of being aggressive and on our toes.” From the
game’s outset, UCLA appeared confused offensively. Unable to
penetrate off the dribble or find players inside, the Bruins passed
the ball around the perimeter and settled for 3-pointers. Though
they did get some open looks, the shots simply weren’t
falling, as the Bruins went an abysmal 2-for-24 from behind-the arc
until the game’s waning moments. On the occasional
opportunity when a Bruin was able to slash towards the basket, he
still failed to execute by not reversing the ball to the opposite
side of the court. UCLA’s high post players were unable to
dish the ball out to their open teammates when Cal’s zone
collapsed on them. “We were inept at attacking the
zone,” said Howland, who has had plenty of experience facing
the zone defense while coaching at Pittsburgh against Big East
rival Syracuse. “We were forced out on the perimeter and were
not doing a good job penetrating off the dribble to jump stop or
read.” Howland and his players acknowledged they were caught
off-guard by Cal’s decision to employ the defense. Having
spent about 10 to 15 minutes each practice on a zone offense during
the course of the year, Howland said it would be a bigger focal
point during this week’s practices.
WEAK IN THE PAINT: The Bruins’ problems were not limited
to the offensive end of the floor. After struggling against
Stanford center Rob Little in Thursday’s loss, UCLA’s
big men once again failed to contain the opposing team’s post
players. Cal junior David Paris, who entered Saturday’s
contest averaging just 6.6 points per game, exploded for 20 points
against UCLA’s weak interior defense. “I really was
surprised with the way they just stuck with their game the way the
game was going,” Paris said. “I felt like we were in
control the whole game. There really weren’t any significant
changes to it.” However, it was not just Paris who was giving
the Bruins fits inside. Junior Rod Benson added another 14 points
to go along with his career-high 14 rebounds. Early in the second
half, Howland started sending double teams into the post, and
though the strategy limited Paris and Benson some, it created a new
set of problems the Bruins will need to address. “It’s
disappointing because it’s hard to rotate every single time
the ball goes to the post,” Howland said. “But
that’s something we’re going to have to think about
doing based on our performance here this weekend.”
CHANGING ROTATION: For the second time this season, Howland
opted to play Josiah Johnson over Ryan Hollins at the power forward
position. Johnson, whose only action this conference season was
during a one-minute span at Oregon, also played ahead of Matt
McKinney. Howland noted that Johnson, besides being an effective
defensive rebounder, gave the Bruins a better chance against
Cal’s zone defense. “What Joe can do is turn and face
the zone which we need our bigs to do,” Howland said.
A BAD LUCK CHARM: In an attempt to demonstrate team unity, the
entire UCLA team came out dawning white headbands for
Saturday’s contest. Three years ago, the Bruins tried the
same thing in a road game at Cal. That team also suffered an
embarrassing loss, 69-51. “We were trying to bring something
to build some kind of team unity,” point guard Jordan Farmar
said. “We’re in this together, trying to play for each
other.” Midway through the first half, the accessory had worn
out its welcome for Afflalo and by the time the second half
started, Farmar, Brian Morrison, and Josh Shipp had all ditched the
look as well.