Fans of the UCLA men’s basketball team can take a deep
breath and just relax. There is no need to worry quite yet, if at
all.
Playing on the same day that the No. 13 Stanford Cardinal were
upset at home by the Anteaters of UC Irvine and No. 4 Michigan
State lost by 22 points to Hawaii, the Bruins were able to avoid
embarrassment by recording a victory against Delaware State, thanks
to UCLA’s newly acquired freshman talent.
More importantly, they were able to do so without starting point
guard Jordan Farmar, senior center Michael Fey and sophomore
forward Josh Shipp.
Saturday was a chance for fans to watch freshman Darren Collison
take matters into his own hands as he ran an offense that was
having trouble remaining consistent.
I had convinced several freshmen friends that they should make
this the first game they attend in Pauley Pavilion, as they would
see Collison and his teammate Luc Richard Mbah a Moute get more
playing time than they would have if Farmar and Shipp weren’t
injured.
I’ll be the first to admit that I was in the wrong about
the type of game it would be.
After the Bruins started the game with a 13-0 run, excitement
came to a halt and the pace of the game became extremely slow, as
both teams utilized all 35 seconds of the shot clock on nearly
every possession.
In fact, the loudest cheers came when it was announced that USC
was trailing Fresno State 21-10 and when UCLA coach Ben Howland
decided to play freshman walk-on Kelvin Kim with less than one
minute remaining in the second half.
I wasn’t expecting such a slow game with so little visible
excitement.
However, there is much to be excited about when looking back at
what happened against the Hornets in comparison to the upset in
Palo Alto.
First, it’s always nice when your coach is pleased, even
when the team’s star players are hurt.
After the win over Delaware State, Howland was optimistic about
his freshmen players, who were put into positions with which they
were completely unfamiliar.
“He’ll get more confident as he gets more
time,” Howland said of Collison, who started in place of
Farmar. “I think it’s a great experience for him.
I’m excited about Darren.”
Excitement wasn’t the feeling in the case of the Cardinal,
however. Stanford coach Trent Johnson described the game simply as,
“Ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly.”
It’s comforting for Bruin fans to know that a freshman can
guide a team to victory while Stanford’s Chris Hernandez, a
fifth-year senior with First Team All Pac-10 accolades, is unable
to do so against a lowly UC Irvine team.
Granted, Collison’s numbers may not have been great as he
struggled against the Hornets’ press in the first half.
Cedric Bozeman was able to make Collison’s job easier by
showing senior leadership in the absence of Farmar.
“We only had one point guard tonight, so it put a lot of
pressure on Darren.” Bozeman said.
Howland talked to Collison during halftime, and freshman was
soon able to weasel out of the Hornet traps.
“I told him, “˜Hey, don’t feel bad: Jordan
Farmar had nine turnovers in one game last year.'”
Howland said. “It’s a lesson learned for a freshman
point guard, and it’s tough.”
The biggest advantage of Saturday’s game, however, is the
experience that Mbah a Moute, Collison and Michael Roll were able
to attain while playing for a combined 87 minutes en route to the
Bruins’ third victory of the season.