As things started to piece themselves together during UCLA’s stretch run last season, the improvement of one player in particular stood out.
Senior center Ryan Hollins, now a rookie with the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats, emerged as a force inside for the men’s basketball team, taking his offensive game to an entirely new level while stepping up on the defensive end as well.
As this regular season winds down, it’s hard not to compare Hollins’ emergence to that of junior center Lorenzo Mata. Mata has geared up his game for the Bruins in the second half of the Pac-10 season much the same way Hollins did last year.
It was only fitting that on Monday night, Hollins took it upon himself to have a chat with Mata about the way the season has been going.
“(Hollins) was telling me that I can even do better than him,” Mata said. “Hopefully I’ll be able to play like Ryan Hollins did at this time of the year last year.”
In his last four games, Mata has been averaging 10.5 points, two blocks and five rebounds per game.
Mata did not score eight points in any of the eight games prior to those last four. But in his last four games, the eight he scored against Stanford on Saturday was his lowest scoring output.
“He’s definitely been big for us,” sophomore forward Josh Shipp said. “He’s rebounding, catching the ball, finishing, doing all the things we need.”
In addition to his increased scoring, Mata’s defensive game continues to improve. Mata has had to match up against players with a variety of different styles during conference play. He has not only been able to keep his assignments in check, but has been helping out the rest of the team by altering and blocking shots on drives and stepping up and taking charges.
“I just do what I do,” Mata said. “On help-side defense, I try to rotate quick and take charges, that’s something I feel like I’m good at. When I can block a shot, I go up and block the shot.
“My defense is something that means a lot to the team and we all have to do it together. Everyone’s got to do their part. My part is to be out there and just grind it out and play hard-nosed defense.”
COLLISON LOOKS TO REBOUND: Coming off two incredible performances against Arizona State and Arizona, sophomore point guard Darren Collison came back down to earth against California and Stanford last week.
While Collison’s ability to run the offense efficiently was a key part of the Bruins’ two victories, for coach Ben Howland, decision-making in certain aspects of the games could have improved.
“Part of it is just, you get back from Arizona and all of a sudden now you’re Allen Iverson,” Howland said. “That’s just natural for a kid to get affected by that.”
“The good thing about it is you’ve got games ahead of you in which you can redeem yourself and get better,” Collison said. “Thursday (against Washington State) is a game that you want to have one of your better games.”
In the Stanford game, Howland wasn’t happy with the way Collison continually tried to attack the basket even after he was blocked several times by the Lopez twins. Collison finished the game shooting just 4-13 from the floor.
Still, he plans to remain aggressive if a similar situation arises in the future.
“I’m going to keep coming and coming every single time,” Collison said. “You should never get discouraged because you get your shots blocked ““ it’s part of the game.”