Two years ago, the transformation of Ben Howland’s team from the beginning of the season to the end was marked by two games, both against Memphis.
In the first matchup on Nov. 23, 2005, the Bruins got sped up into a running game with the Tigers and lost 88-80 in a game that wasn’t that close.
In the Elite Eight that season, after a year of the Bruins finally buying into Howland’s defensive principles, UCLA beat Memphis, 50-45, in a game many in the national media called “ugly” and Howland would probably term “beautiful.”
This year it is once again the high-powered Tigers versus the defensive-minded Bruins, but don’t confuse yourself into thinking that this national semi-final matchup is 2006 redux.
The Tigers are now led by a freshman phenom at point guard in Derrick Rose, who is much of what Memphis lacked in 2006: an unselfish, play-making ball handler. Howland has called them the most athletic team he’s seen besides Kansas last season and the UNLV teams under Jerry Tarkanian in the early ’90s.
Instead of being all offense, as in 2006, this year’s Tiger team is a very good defensive team as well, led by senior forward and Conference USA defensive player of the year Joey Dorsey.
Make no mistake: This Memphis team poses a serious threat to the Bruins’ title hopes.
“I think this is a tremendously difficult game against Memphis, as I’ve studied them more and more,” Howland said. “They’re so good; they’re, in my opinion, much better than they were the last time we played Memphis. We’ve got our hands full.”
But, just as Memphis is not that same team that lost to the Bruins in the Elite Eight in 2006, the Bruins are not the same team that beat them. Instead of the extreme reliance on the perimeter on both defense and offense, UCLA has a much more balanced attack on offense this season thanks to the addition of freshman center Kevin Love.
As with any basketball game, it will come down to matchups.
Howland said in Tuesday’s press conference that Darren Collison will be matching up against Rose, which will be quite the test for UCLA’s junior point guard. Collison gives up a couple of inches and a fair amount of weight to Rose, who has been compared to Jason Kidd by Howland.
“Rose is so good,” Howland said. “He’s Jason Kidd … only probably with a better jump shot at the same stage. I think that’s pretty high praise for a young man, and I mean it.”
Rose might be the second overall pick in the NBA Draft in June, and he has impressed his coach with his unselfish play.
“He’s been playing extremely well all year,” John Calipari said. “Against Texas (in the regional final) he stepped it up a notch. He’s not into hype or the matchups; he just wants to go out and help the team win.”
The Collison-Rose matchup could prove to be key. If Collison can return to his lockdown defensive form of last year against Rose, it could go a long way to stifling the Memphis attack, which is focused largely on dribble penetration and has been a tough strategy for the Memphis players to learn this season.
“It’s a complicated (offense) when you first get to learn it,” Tiger forward Robert Dozier said. “After a while we kind of got settled in ““ we learned the offense very well.”
This offense could prove troublesome for the Bruins on defense. Against teams that have spread the floor and tried to take them off the dribble, the Bruins have struggled this year, losing to both Texas and USC. Usually, UCLA excels at defending offenses that run a high screen because it allows a UCLA big man to hedge up top, but Memphis hardly ever screens, leaving it hard to have any kind of help on defense.
Calipari’s “Princeton on steroids,” with the quality of athletes that Memphis possesses, could prove to be the toughest challenge to date for UCLA.
When asked if the Tigers had the most athletic team the Bruins have faced all season, Love had a quick reply.
“Absolutely,” he said. “They cause a lot of problems for us. It’s going to be a different matchup for us.
“My eyes pop really out of my head (when I watch them) because they’re so explosive. They’re a pretty crazy team.”