ATLANTA “”mdash; Dejected, disheartened and out of answers, All-American Arron Afflalo sat in front of his Georgia Dome locker, trying to understand what went wrong.
Since the Bruins had lost the title game to Florida 361 days earlier, Afflalo had taken it as his role to be the leader and the heart and soul of the Bruins.
But on Saturday night, in what could have possibly been his last game as a Bruin, all Afflalo could do was sit on the bench and watch.
“My pain comes from not being there for my teammates, my family,” Afflalo said. “I am a leader, and my teammates rely on me to do certain things for them.”
Picking up his third personal foul with 11:26 left in the first half, Afflalo was limited to five minutes and zero points before the break.
By the time he returned with 17:38 left in the second half, the Bruins were down nine, and their all-everything captain could do nothing about it.
“I picked up some stupid fouls, and it really affected my team,” Afflalo said. “As the leader of this team, I need to be smarter than that.”
All one needs to do is ask Saturday’s opposing coach, Billy Donovan, and one can infer how much the Bruins really missed Afflalo.
“Arron is a great player, and there were a lot of fouls that took people, including him, out of the game,” Donovan said. “Being such a competitor, I am sure it really took Afflalo out of the flow of the game.”
Afflalo ended the game with 17 points, but all of those came during the last six minutes when the Bruins were essentially out of the game.
It was an extremely disappointing performance for Afflalo, considering he struggled in the same position last year against the same Florida team.
Afterward, Afflalo could only talk about what could have been.
“I came back this season to bring UCLA a national title, and it’s extremely frustrating that we came so close again,” Afflalo said. “Coach (Ben) Howland devised a great plan for us to stop them, but we just had some defensive lapses and they took advantage.”
Afflalo said he will now sit down with his family and his coaches to decide his future at UCLA.
This season, Afflalo accomplished what any college player could ask for as he was named Pac-10 Player of the Year and an AP All-American, and the Bruins won the Pac-10 and reached the Final Four for the second consecutive year.
But in the tradition of any UCLA player, Afflalo could only talk about one thing on Saturday ““ NCAA championships.
“I love the guys on my team, and I came to UCLA with intention to win an NCAA championship,” Afflalo said. “And that still hasn’t been accomplished.”
Afflalo will have plenty to consider in making his decision.
He has largely struggled in NCAA Tournament competition the last two years, shooting 34.3 percent and averaging 13.5 points, except for the Kansas game.
But he also possesses many off-the-court features and characteristics that fail to show up in the stat book, which any other college player could only wish to match up to.
“He is a special player,” Afflalo’s teammate, Alfred Aboya, said. “He loves the game; he takes pride in his defense. He is a leader. He hates to lose.”
If Saturday was Afflalo’s last time in a Bruin uniform, he will have plenty to be proud of.
“His legacy is strong; he is the reason why UCLA is back where it needs to be,” Darren Collison said. “He brings the competitive spirit to our team.”
“He is one of the greatest players to come to UCLA,” Luc Richard Mbah a Moute said. “He lifted the program back to where it should be, and he is doing something really special for our program.”