They say she’s different. She’s changed really.
Practices have been more stringent. A bad pass and they’ll
have to run. Lack of communication and players will undoubtedly be
called out. Missed free throws, shoot them until it’s
corrected. Missed layups, don’t even think about it.
Sounds like any coach’s style. But that hasn’t been
UCLA women’s basketball coach Kathy Olivier’s
forte.
“She didn’t do that last year. She used to let us
slide,” senior guard Nikki Blue said. “But now,
she’s not tolerating anything. Zero tolerance.
“Before, during the games, if we made a bad pass
it’d be like “˜Oh well.’ Now this year we make a
bad pass and she’s really, really upset.
“She’s gotten so much better as a coach.”
Senior guard Lisa Willis called Olivier’s transformation
drastic.
“She was everybody’s friend, she’s not like
that (now),” Willis said. “She means business.
That’s the best thing that could ever happen.”
Coaching what she calls the best team in her 13-year tenure,
Olivier knows she’s more demanding and has placed higher
standards on her team. That’s because of all the expectations
of this team this year.
More than ever, the expectations are at a premium. In the early
going, the Bruins are pegged to finish second in the Pac-10
conference behind five-time reigning champion Stanford.
This is the year for UCLA women’s basketball, and the
players and coaches know it.
“We all have expectations and so I would be cheating them
if I didn’t push them,” Olivier said.
“Let’s go. Let’s call it our year. Let’s
make it our year. Let’s make it our year.”
This is the deepest UCLA team in the senior’s four years
with everyone returning minus graduated senior Sissy Pickett.
The Triple Threat is at full strength with junior Noelle Quinn
returning from left knee surgery in the middle of last season.
Blue, a three-time All Pac-10 first-team pick, was hampered by a
sprained right ankle and mild concussions throughout the season,
but is at full strength. Willis, a member of the USA Basketball
team that won gold in the summer World University Games, is ready
to go.
“This is it. That’s how I feel,” Blue said.
“The thought process is that I have to give it all this year.
No what-ifs.”
UCLA, however, can ill-afford another injury to any member of
the Triple Threat this season if it hopes to go deep into the
postseason.
After last season, the Bruins found out what it was like without
one of them.
Not only did the team miss Quinn’s 16.9 points, 7.1
rebounds and 3.6 assists per game, but her presence on the floor
was what became apparent down the stretch.
In her absence, UCLA sputtered, finishing 5-7 without Quinn in
the lineup after starting the season 11-5.
A trio of players ““ sophomore Lauren Pedersen, senior
Ortal Oren and junior Shaina Zaidi ““ all struggled mightily
to fill the gap that Quinn left. The result was a sixth-place
finish in the conference (16-12, 10-8 Pac-10) after being ranked as
high as No. 16 in the nation early on in the season, knocking off
the likes of then fourth-ranked Texas and then No. 14 Purdue.
“I’m sure everyone’s seen the movies where a
key player gets hurt and somebody else that subs in that never gets
to play and then becomes a star,” Willis said. “They
had their chance last year.”
At times, aside from Blue and Willis, the team showed signs of
giving up. While nobody is ready to admit that Quinn’s
absence resulted in a lacksidaisical performance, just about
everybody will concur that her return has added a boost to the
team’s morale.
“It sucked because we were content with the fact that
Noelle wasn’t here,” Willis said. “If Noelle were
here we would be winning. That was kind of like making it OK. That
wasn’t making it OK with me.”
Quinn missed the rest of last season (12 games) after her
injury, but has since rehabilitated feverishly this summer to
revert to her old self.
“My knee is about 95 percent,” she said. “But
when I’m in the flow of the game it doesn’t bother me.
So far as being afraid, I’m past that.”
This summer, Quinn competed for a spot on the USA team and she
also competed when the Bruins traveled to Australia to compete
against club and junior national teams.
After the injury, Quinn says she has a different outlook on life
now. She grew from the injury.
“I’m trying to play harder because there’s
nothing to lose,” she said. “I’m not taking
things for granted because tomorrow is not a promise. Nothing is a
promise. Live life and play basketball with no regrets.”
Supporting Quinn in her quest will be the Bruins’ depth
off the bench.
Freshman guard Ashlee Trebilcock, a second-team Parade Magazine
All-American, will see immediate playing time.
The 5-foot-9 guard out of Hart High has proven in high school
that she can be a legitimate scoring threat. Deemed as a physically
“soft” school the last few years, UCLA is looking to
freshmen Chinyere Ibekwe, 6-4, and Tierra Henderson, 5-10, to bring
a dimension of toughness this season.
“I need to not turn the ball over, make good decisions and
hit shots when Nikki drives and dishes,” Trebilcock said of
her role this season. “The freshmen want to have a good year
for the seniors. We have a sense of urgency. We want to get
something done this year.”
Last season, the Triple Threat combined to average 50.2 points,
19.0 rebounds, 10.5 steals and 11.9 assists per game. After an 11-4
start to the season, any momentum was quickly gone after
Quinn’s knee injury.
Once Quinn went down, UCLA could find no one other than Blue and
Willis to score.
The Pac-10 Tournament was indicative of that in the loss to
Arizona State. Blue and Willis scored 61 of the 71 points, with
only two other Bruins logging any points.
Asked if Willis remembers the game, she could only scoff.
“Do I?” she said. “You could tell but I
didn’t know it was that bad. I normally just look at my stats
but when I saw the stats I was like “˜Dang there are a lot of
zeros.’
“I hate how that game wrapped out the season and we went
out like that.”
But on that same note, the entire bench and the Bruins’
role players now have the experience to be plugged in during
crucial moments of play.
Now riding the backs of one of the most explosive players in the
nation in Blue, most complete player in Quinn and one of the best
defenders in the nation in Willis, UCLA aims to take down every
team in its path starting this Friday when they take on defending
national champion Baylor at the Bear’s home court, when its
championship banner will be hoisted in the rafters.
“We can compete with any backcourt in the country,”
Quinn said. “Everyone knows across the nation who we are,
well not everybody, but they will.”
In terms of the season for the senior leaders, Willis is saying
Elite Eight. The talent is there.
And during her time on the USA Team, her teammates were
reiterating a similar message.
“People were saying that we’re silly,” said
Willis on others commenting on the amount of talent at UCLA, yet
lack of results over the years.
“My friend (and teammate) from Ohio State (Brandie
Hoskins) told me “˜It’s your year. If you stay healthy
there’s no reason for you not to make
noise.'”
There’s only so many more years UCLA can use its past
players like Ann Meyers to sell the program.
Blue and Willis know that. Everyone is saying this is the year.
And for the first time in four years the players and coaches are
believing it.
“Enough is enough. That’s how the captains
feel,” Olivier said. “People are more pissed.
We’ve had enough. Let’s keep focus. This is our
year.”