There was this New Year’s Eve feeling of optimism and elation Thursday at Pauley Pavilion after UCLA basketball slipped past Arizona State for a 72-70 victory.
Saturday brought us all back to reality.
The Bruins were simply outclassed by Arizona in their second game of the weekend, losing 77-63 in one of the most unremarkable and quiet contests I’ve ever seen at Pauley. There was no “˜wow’ factor, no reason for fans to leap up and cheer. UCLA never really put up a fight.
And so 2010 began with a sobering reality check. This UCLA team is one of the worst teams in the Pac-10, and this conference season will be filled with struggles.
During one stretch of the first half, the Bruins failed to attempt a shot in three straight possessions. The offense looks more like a turnover machine in these moments; players hesitate, second-guess and fumble.
In the second half there were more gaffes. Malcolm Lee threw a fast-break pass off of Tyler Honeycutt’s face. Nikola Dragovic tried to tap a ball to Reeves Nelson, even though he stood right beneath the hoop.
Coach Ben Howland said afterward that his players have to “be tougher mentally.” He blamed their abysmal first-half offense on rushed shots and poor decisions.
He also said rebounding is another area where they must improve.
But, listening to Howland, it’s clear there’s no quick fix for this team, which is ranked No. 225 in the latest RPI.
This is a team with many flaws.
The Bruins have no reliable scoring offensively. Right now they rely on the trio of Dragovic, Lee and Michael Roll for the bulk of their scoring.
Of those three, only Roll is an above-average jump shooter, and only Lee can penetrate. It seems like Dragovic has been slumping all season, but he’s still playing big minutes.
The bigger problems may be on the defensive end.
What surprises me the most about this UCLA team is that it lacks the defensive intensity that almost all of Howland’s teams have had. There’s no defensive leader like Alfred Aboya, Lorenzo Mata or Arron Afflalo.
Those players all fueled the fire that teams need to play dominant man-to-man defense. This year, the Bruins really lack that energy.
Howland has tried a zone, but he said he’s worried about using it more because the Bruins are a poor rebounding team.
It’s hard to make these problems disappear, even for a coach as skilled as Howland, and it seems like the Bruins are doing a little bit of soul-searching right now. They know they’ve essentially squandered any chance at an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament, and they aren’t improving as rapidly as they would like.
In the press conference after the Arizona game, the UCLA players sounded a little lost.
Lee wondered aloud if the Bruins should have woken up earlier to prepare for the game. Roll disagreed with Howland’s assessment of “rushed shots.” And Dragovic said he just did not know why he couldn’t find his shot Saturday, two days after he dropped 23 points on Arizona State.
A good goal now would be to finish the Pac-10 season 9-9. That would still leave the Bruins with a 14-16 final record, and no chance at an NCAA tournament bid. They might shoot for the National Invitation Tournament.
Maybe that’s why Howland is trying to emphasize mentality. No matter what, his team’s final record is going to be extremely disappointing relative to previous successes.
The Bruins need to try to keep games close and play 40 minutes of good basketball ““ exactly what they did not do against Arizona.
E-mail Allen at sallen@media.ucla.edu.