Alfred Aboya doesn’t go half speed.
Not in practice and not in games.
The senior center’s physical play day in and day out has become his calling card during his career at UCLA and this season will be no different for the big man from Cameroon.
With the Bruins frontcourt lacking the depth of last season’s squad, the 6-foot-9-inch Aboya will need to be on the court more so than any point in his career. That means he will need to cut back on just one thing ““ fouls.
He led the team with 90 fouls committed last season and this year coach Ben Howland cannot afford to have that happen again.
“Once you get fouls, you put the foot on the brake as far as your aggressiveness is concerned,” Aboya said. “But not having a foul allows me to play harder and it would help the whole team in the long run. It’s something that I need to focus on the whole year ““ not getting a foul because my team needs me on the floor.”
In the Bruins two exhibition games, UCLA saw the impact of what Aboya can do on the floor, as long as he stays out of foul trouble.
On Monday against Cal Baptist, Aboya committed two fouls within the first three minutes of the game. He finished with six points and three rebounds in 12 minutes on the court.
It was not the kind of production that the Bruins need from their most experienced post player.
But on Friday against Biola, it was a different Aboya.
He played 23 minutes, committed zero fouls, put up nine points and six rebounds, including four on the offensive glass. It was everything Howland wanted to see.
“In the first exhibition, I said in front of the whole team, “˜Alfred, let’s try not to get a foul in the first five minutes.’ Well, he got two in the first three minutes. So then the flipside was not to say anything about it. He’s a smart guy and he didn’t get any fouls (against Biola). So I was really happy. Now I won’t say anything, until it fails.”
Howland is so intent on keeping Aboya on the court late into games that he even gets special treatment in practice. Every time the big man picks up a foul against one of his Bruin teammates, the whole team runs. That policy has gotten into his head.
“That’s something that I place an emphasis on,” Aboya said. “Going into every game, my first thing is “˜Don’t get a foul. Don’t get a foul.'”
In practice, Howland allows Aboya to play physically, something that the younger post players have to deal with and learn from.
“It’s tough,” freshman forward Drew Gordon said. “He’s definitely a different type of competitor. He doesn’t fear anything and plays the hardest he can every possession.”
Last season, Aboya averaged one foul every 6.6 minutes on the floor. He also had Kevin Love, Lorenzo Mata-Real and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute to help him out in the front court if he picked up too many too soon. But even without those key players, don’t expect Aboya to scale down his intensity level.
“He’s still aggressive,” Howland said. “He’s just trying to play a little more with his hands in his pockets. Especially early in the game when officials come out and want to set the tone. We want to get off to great starts and have our best five players in the game.”
So as the Bruins’ lack of depth in the frontcourt is one of Howland’s main concerns for the season, Aboya’s ability to stay off the bench will be critical if they are to return to the Final Four one more time.
“Believe me, that’s key,” Howland said.