Hounded by questions of how they would handle the awe and hype
of Thursday’s first-round NCAA Tournament game against Texas
Tech, Jordan Farmar and Arron Afflalo repeated the same mantra
they’ve recited every week for the past month.
It’s just another game.
Outside of Dijon Thompson, the tournament has been a foreign
concept to the Bruins. So it should come as little surprise that
they would choose to approach it in the same manner that got them
there.
“We’re trying to look at it as just another
basketball game, even though the magnitude is a lot greater
now,” Farmar said. “When you break it down, we’re
going to go out and do what we’ve been doing all
year.”
But the NCAA Tournament is oftentimes described as the start of
a new season.
As the regular season progressed, questions about starting three
freshmen slowly subsided. Yet in the days leading up to
Thursday’s contest, issues of experience are beginning to
reemerge. And though the young Bruins have deflected those
questions by saying that the rules and objective are still the
same, there is some realization that the environment will be
different this Thursday.
“I don’t know what to expect,” Afflalo said.
“I’m just going to go out, play comfortably and be
calm.”
Yet Thompson acknowledged it’s easy to get overwhelmed by
the tournament’s atmosphere. The senior forward could not
recall how anxious he felt going into his lone NCAA Tournament,
which is indicative of how distant the Bruins’ last
tournament trip in 2002 seems.
UCLA coach Ben Howland, who in 1998 guided Northern Arizona to
its first tournament appearance in school history and in 2003 took
Pittsburgh to its first Sweet 16 in two decades, isn’t too
worried about his team becoming unnerved.
“It’s more excitement than anxiety,” Howland
said. “This is what you work hard for all season
long.”
Texas Tech, meanwhile, hasn’t been surrounded by the same
type of questions that have been circling the Bruins. Having
reached the second round as a No. 8 seed in last year’s
tournament, the Red Raiders are better acquainted with the
tournament atmosphere. This year, under coach Bob Knight’s
rigid motion offense, they advanced to the finals of the Big-XII
Tournament before narrowly losing to Oklahoma State.
“They’re a very good screening team and set solid
physical picks,” Howland said. “Their perimeter players
can all shoot it, bounce it, and they have really good shot
selection.”
Anchored by senior Ronald Ross, Texas Tech features a strong
contingent of starting guards, who all average at least 14 points a
game.
Though they took the smallest amount of 3-pointers in their
conference, the Red Raiders shot the highest percentage.
In the frontcourt, Howland noted that junior Michael Fey will
have to learn to defend Texas Tech’s big men who frequently
play out on the perimeter.
“He has a hard time matching up with other bigs and taking
them out on the perimeter,” Howland said of his starting
center.
Howland has already begun looking to make the necessary
adjustments. But the experience of the tournament itself is not
something that can entirely be prepared for.
So the Bruins will prepare for Thursday like they have for every
other game, because they know the same things will make the
difference.
“It comes down to defending, rebounding, and taking care
of the basketball, and taking good shots,” Howland said.
“It’s the same basics you follow all year
long.”