There are many added benefits to being ranked No. 1 in the
country. There is additional media exposure, additional fan support
““ and of course, the pride of being No. 1. According to coach
Ben Howland, however, being No. 1 might not be as glamorous for the
Bruins as it is made out to be. “Everywhere (the players) go
on campus its all about, “˜God, that’s so great, and so
wonderful,'” Howland said of the ranking.
“It’s only natural that it affects them.”
Following Tuesday’s game, Howland felt that the ranking was
one of the reasons for the Bruins’ lackluster play in the
first half against Long Beach State. The Bruins were outrebounded
significantly, 25-14, and were out-hustled on most of the loose
balls. After the first half, Howland made sure the Bruins knew they
must forget their ranking really quickly, or they were going to
lose. “Yeah, he was mad,” forward Josh Shipp said.
“He was questioning our effort, which is unacceptable.”
Team leader Arron Afflalo understood where Howland was coming from,
and was glad to put the ranking out of the way.
“There’s been a lot of hoopla about our ranking, so we
were talking about that a little bit as a team,” Afflalo
said. “At halftime, we said we don’t want to discuss
that anymore. We said we need to come out with that effort or
we’re going to get beat tonight.” All in all, the
reality of being No. 1 is understandably exciting for the Bruins.
Even during last year’s national championship run, the
highest the Bruins were ever ranked during the regular season was
No. 11. But for Howland, this is definitely not new territory.
During his fourth season at Pitt, Howland’s Panthers were
consistently in the top 10, and were ranked No. 1 at one point.
Tuesday, Howland used his past experience to make a point for the
Bruins. “My third year (at Pitt), we started off 3-0 in the
Big East. We won at Boston College and Rutgers and were in the top
25 for the first time in five years,” Howland said.
“Everybody was back-slapping us, telling us how great we
were. Then we lost to Notre Dame at home.” Howland used the
experience not only to help his players at Pitt during his fourth
year there, but also brought it up for the Bruins on Tuesday. If
Tuesday’s second half was any indication, Howland’s
speech definitely worked.
DEFENSIVE DESIRE: After the game, Howland
complimented his players on their superior outside shooting, but
was still hesitant to call the Bruins a better defensive team than
they were last season. “The defense we played in Maui left a
lot to be desired,” Howland said. “We have a long way
to go before we can match up to last year’s team in terms of
defense.” Howland was referring to the Bruins’ games
against Chaminade, Kentucky and Georgia Tech. In all three games,
UCLA allowed over 45-percent shooting from the field. Overall, the
Bruins are giving up an average of 66.2 points per game, which is
currently good for eighth place in the Pac-10.