Patience on offense.
It’s something that UCLA men’s basketball coach Ben Howland has been preaching to his young team all season long and an aspect the Bruins have struggled with.
In losses to Stanford and USC, Howland lamented how his team had a tendency to force shots early in the shot clock, resulting in low shooting percentages and poor offensive performances.
Yet in the Bruins’ two huge wins this weekend, that patience Howland has implored his players to have was clearly evident.
“We did a good job again for the second game in a row. Something I’ve been talking about a lot is being patient on offense,” Howland said.
In Saturday’s 74-62 win over Washington State in front of 8,349 at Pauley Pavilion, the patience came in the form of the Bruins taking just 19 shots in the second half and making 14 of them.
Senior forward Nikola Dragovic provided a perfect example of the type of offensive play Howland wants from the Bruins.
After struggling from the field in the first half of Saturday’s game, Dragovic rebounded in the second, making five of eight shots, including three of four from 3-point territory. Two of his 3-pointers were part of an 11-0 run that pushed UCLA’s lead from four points to 15 and put the game out of reach.
“Coach told me over the past couple weeks that I need to be patient and wait for the ball and wait for it to come to me,” said Dragovic, who finished with 18 points. “That’s what I did in the second half.”
Asked what the difference was in the second half, when the Bruins turned a three-point lead at halftime into a 12-point win, freshman forward Reeves Nelson was quick to the point.
“Nik started making shots,” said Nelson, who led the Bruins in points for the second consecutive game with 19.
Dragovic said that despite the ups and downs of shooting the ball so far this season, he has remained confident in his ability to make shots.
“As any shooter, I keep believing in myself, coach believes in myself, my teammates believe in me,” Dragovic said. “I just kept working and getting some extra shots in.”
Abdul-Hamid important to Bruins’ chemistry
The loud ovations began during the customary “Roll Call” by The Den and continued every time he entered the game.
It was quite a weekend for redshirt junior guard Mustafa Abdul-Hamid. The former walk-on shot himself from seldom-used bench player to hero with a game-winning jumper to beat Washington on Thursday.
On Saturday, Abdul-Hamid continued his strong play with eight points on three-of-five shooting in 18 minutes.
At the postgame press conference, Howland said that after back-to-back wins, he believes the team is beginning to come together as a unit and that Abdul-Hamid has played a crucial role.
“I think Mustafa’s come in and really, really played well in these last two games,” Howland said. “He’s definitely earning his keep here now as we move forward.”
For Abdul-Hamid, the most important aspect of this weekend wasn’t the game-winning shot that was the top play on SportsCenter or his increased playing time, but the fact that the Bruins may be starting to turn the corner.
“It feels good more than anything to win two games in a row,” Abdul-Hamid said.
Bruins take charges
Howland was ecstatic, walking out toward mid-court emphatically clapping his hands.
The reason for Howland’s reaction?
A charge taken by senior forward James Keefe.
For Howland, a coach who appreciates defense above anything else, seeing his players take charges stood out clearly.
“Probably the greatest thing of the whole day, beyond the win, is to see James Keefe and Reeves Nelson step up and take charges,” Howland said. “I’m telling you right now, we haven’t done that very well in the last month of these games. That is so big. I would have jumped through the roof if I could.”
Dribblers
The win was the Bruins’ first win on a Saturday this season. The team had lost its previous five Saturday games. … UCLA improved to 7-0 this season when leading or tied at halftime.