UCLA had every reason to get blown out on Saturday.
The Bruins committed 20 turnovers. They got heckled by the
opposing fans. They got no calls down the stretch from the
referees. And their two best players, Jordan Farmar and Arron
Afflalo, had two of their worst games of the season.
And they lost by three.
That in itself should be considered an achievement. The Bruins,
from the periphery at least, were thoroughly outplayed on Saturday.
But the irony is that UCLA was in the game and had a chance to win
it until the very end.
One look at the reaction from the Washington Huskies following
Saturday’s game and you can tell why.
“Oh, that is the most physical game I’ve ever played
in,” Husky guard Brandon Roy said. “Those guys were
animals out there. It’s not fun to play them.”
Roy’s coach, Lorenzo Romar, had the same opinion.
“It was a street fight for 40 minutes. You ask me who the
most physical team is in the Pac-10, and UCLA has got to be
it.”
The reality is that this is a different UCLA team than in years
past. The team is not as fun to watch anymore, but I don’t
think anyone cares. (They just won a game 50-30 … yikes!)
UCLA plays a very physical game, and prides itself on its
defense. Look at the Bruins’ leading scorer, Arron Afflalo,
for example.
“I mean, to me, scoring is great,” Afflalo said.
“But if I can do a good job of shutting down my guy, that is
where I get my pride in.
“I can always affect my defense.”
And that is where the influence of coach Ben Howland has helped.
Although the Bruins have the talent to play up and down the court,
they enjoy making their opposition work for their shots, and teams
get frustrated as a result.
And it’s working. Despite Saturday’s loss, UCLA is
still currently first in the Pac-10, and the reality is that it
will probably receive a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament if it
stays on track.
“They play hard as if that’s all they have, but yet
they have talent and that’s a great combination,” Romar
said. “That is why they have won a lot of basketball
games.”
And Saturday’s loss showed that at its best.
Roy, the Huskies’ leading scorer, was frustrated during
all of Saturday’s game, going 3-for-11 from the field.
Shooting guard Ryan Appleby got in UCLA center Ryan Hollins’
face after getting fouled.
The Huskies, overall, finished shooting just 39 percent from the
field.
“Our defense gave us a chance to win this game,”
Howland said. “We don’t make some of the mistakes we
made, we have a good chance to win the game.”
But that doesn’t only apply to Saturday’s game. In
all the Bruins’ losses this season, UCLA has been in the game
until the very end. Aside from the team’s loss to Memphis,
its other four losses have been by a combined 18 points.
And come tournament time, the Bruins will have a good chance
against any team they play.
Freshmen Alfred Aboya, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Darren
Collison have already progressed so much this season.
By March, they may be able to make those last-minute shots
rather than succumbing to whatever happened on Saturday.
But until then, all the Bruins fans will know they will never
have to see the Bruins fall far behind or be outplayed in terms of
effort in any game.
For a UCLA fan who endured the end of the Lavin years, it is
quite a achievement, I must say.
E-mail Parikh at sparikh@media.ucla.edu if you are also
happy to see Hollins become the player he has been this
season.