Two steps forward, one huge step back.
That has been the trend of the UCLA men’s basketball team
this season.
Every time you think they are starting to make that jump from a
marginal contender to an elite team, they stumble in their
quest.
First, it was losses at home against Cal and Washington. Both
times, the Bruins were ranked No. 11 in the AP poll. Both times,
they had a chance to clearly establish themselves as the leaders of
the conference. Both times, they fell back nearly out of the AP Top
20.
This Saturday against No. 12 West Virginia, the No. 18 Bruins
had a chance to beat a team on national television and to showcase
the strength of the Pac-10 in the eyes of the East Coast voters.
More importantly, they had a chance to do a something they
hadn’t done all year: beat a top-15 team.
Instead, they failed.
“It’s the third time we lost on our home floor, and
it’s the third time we missed an opportunity,”
sophomore guard Arron Afflalo said. “We’ve always been
on the verge of cracking the top 10 and doing some special things
for this program for what’s on the front of the jersey, but
we’ve always come up one or two points short.”
It’s obvious the players see what chances they’ve
had and what opportunities they’ve lost. But they also
realize what lies ahead.
“You’ve got to take it; you’ve got to learn
from it,” senior center Ryan Hollins said.
“You’re going to walk away with a bitter taste in your
mouth.”
“I think we have to learn from our losses,” point
guard Jordan Farmar said. “Sure, there were some things I
could have done differently, but you can’t be frustrated. You
just can’t.”
Luckily for the Bruins, they have been on the top of the Pac-10
standings during their up-and-down season.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, they’ve also played the
easiest part of their schedule. The Bruins’ game Saturday was
the completion of a four-game homestand, and the Bruins have only
played three road games all season.
This week, they travel to Oregon and Oregon State, and
it’s a road trip that could be very dangerous. Just ask
Arizona, which lost to both schools on their road trip to the
Emerald State and is now out of the AP Top 25.
UCLA is obviously a young team, and as coach Ben Howland pointed
out during his press conference on Saturday, there is no substitute
for experience.
But there is also no substitute for talent, and there is no
doubt that the Bruins have a lot of it.
Following last Saturday’s loss against Washington, Husky
coach Lorenzo Romar called the Bruins “the deepest team in
the nation.”
The Bruins have let victories against Washington and Cal slip
through their fingers. Against West Virginia and Memphis,
they’ve had chances to come back and tie it. The Bruins can
no longer blame their losses on inexperience.
“We can keep saying we’re a young team, but at some
point that excuse gets old,” Afflalo said. “If we put
two good halves defensively together, that’s not going to be
a problem.”
It seems like the Bruins’ entire season has been a season
of two halves. Whether it’s playing a good first half against
Washington, or having a first good half of a trip to Arizona, it
just seems like the Bruins haven’t been able to put together
two straight good performances this seasons.
That’s the most frustrating thing. People have looked at
injuries as the key, but in my opinion, it’s just a matter of
having the maturity to make the plays down the stretch and playing
a full 40 minutes.
On Saturday against West Virginia, the veteran Mountaineers
avoided making turnovers down the stretch and made the big plays,
including Mike Gansey’s key steal against Farmar. The
Saturday before, Washington Husky seniors Brandon Roy and Mike
Jensen made the key plays against the Bruins down the stretch.
Last year, the Bruins had a veteran presence in Dijon Thompson,
who made those big plays. This year, the Bruins don’t have
that.
But the reality is that the Bruins are still 15-4, and once they
start to play together as a team and put together a full 40
minutes, a top veteran won’t be necessary.
E-mail Parikh at sparikh@media.ucla.edu