That was certainly not the way I would have gone about entering the NCAA Tournament.
But, eh, different schools of thought I guess.
I mean, losing what is basically a home game against a bottom-feeding Pac-10 team when a No. 1 overall seed in the tournament is at stake because you just decide not to play hard for the first half is definitely one way to go. Not a way I’d choose, but a way.
Who knows, it might even work out.
UCLA should have blown out Cal. The Bruins should have shown up for the first half. But since they didn’t, the next best scenario was UCLA losing that game.
If, this late in the season, they can’t bring themselves to try hard every game, then either the season is hopeless or UCLA desperately needs a wake-up call.
Maybe they got it.
Maybe they realized they’re not Florida, or Kansas, or North Carolina, or any other team with unlimited potential thanks to their talent. UCLA does not have that kind of talent. When the Bruins are playing hard, they are the best team in the nation. When they are not playing hard, they are mediocre (as can be seen by losing to Cal).
UCLA was down 37-25 at the half and 15 of those points came on 3-pointers from Josh Shipp, who is not a good 3-point shooter despite what the yokels on Fox Sports Net will tell you. Doing some quick math, if Josh Shipp did his normal 3-point shooting in the first half, UCLA would have been down 21 at the half.
I’ll be honest with you. Part of me thinks Arron Afflalo purposely tanked this game just so the other players on the team would realize how hard they would need to play in the NCAA Tournament. The other part of me, which is slightly more rational, thinks he probably just had a bad game, but there’s an element of doubt there.
There are not too many ways to explain why Ayinde Ubaka, who had zero points when the Bruins faced Cal at Berkeley earlier in the year thanks mostly to Afflalo, dropped 29 on Afflalo this time around.
Best-case scenario for the Bruins right now is that they maintain a No. 1 seed in the West and actually realize that playing hard and winning go hand-in-hand. I don’t really get why that hasn’t been realized in the past 10 to 15 years most of these guys have been playing basketball, but whatever. Better late than never.
Worst-case scenario? The Bruins say missed free throws were the cause of the defeat and think that the reason for the loss lies in poor shooting rather than poor effort.
I have to say, I’m still optimistic.
The NCAA Tournament is high profile. Even the first game, when UCLA takes on Weber State or whatever, will be on national TV. OK, so national TV didn’t really help the Bruins for the Washington game, but I’m trying to look on a bright side that is getting duller and drearier by the second.
Maybe that 16 seed will be the toughest opponent UCLA plays simply because it will be so hard for the Bruins to get up for the game.
If ever a team was going to lose to a 16 seed (and I don’t consider that remotely likely), it would be a team that does not put in a consistent effort and has less talent than a usual No. 1 seed.
So really, I’m looking at that first game as the toughest the Bruins will play in the tournament.
The rest should be a cakewalk.
E-mail Woods at dwoods@media.ucla.edu if you would rather have gone to your two classes that are attendance-based than watch that game.