I’m sure he was a great teammate.
Well, not sure, but maybe.
And I’m sure he was well-liked among his coaches and regarded as a hard-worker.
Well, I’m not sure … actually, probably not.
But personally, I’m really sad he left.
Actually, no I’m not. In fact, good riddance.
He may have thought that UCLA basketball and coach Ben Howland just weren’t the right fit for him, but in all actuality, Drew Gordon just wasn’t the right fit for UCLA basketball and Ben Howland.
Let’s be honest: He was a nuisance.
Now, off the court, I interacted with Gordon on several occasions, and off the court, he is a fun guy, no disputing that. But he didn’t come to UCLA to be an off-court guy. We wanted performances on the court named after John and Nell Wooden.
And in the six games that he played, we saw glimpses of what could be a special player.
The Bruins began the season 2-4 with Gordon. Not good, I know. But in those two wins, Gordon did lead the Bruins in scoring and in rebounding.
But on the flip side, in the four losses, Gordon did not perform nearly as well as the 19-point, six rebound outing he had against Cal State Bakersfield and the 18 points and nine rebounds he posted against Pepperdine ““ the Bruins’ two early-season wins.
Not to mention an embarrassing two-point, one-rebound performance against Long Beach State in Gordon’s last game as a Bruin. Fact of the matter is, Gordon was only effective for the Bruins when he felt like things were going his way and the offense was running through him. He needed to feel like he was top dog, most likely a position he’s been in his entire playing career. He didn’t know how to deal with being second fiddle.
And Gordon wasn’t the best loser either … or teammate.
After UCLA lost three straight games at the 76 Classic at the Anaheim Convention Center, his Facebook status read, “Three strikes and we’re outta there!”
That’s not cool, Drew-Drew.
But that’s all over now. There’s no need to dwell on the past. The Bruins have moved on from the enigma that was Gordon, and they’re better now. Most notably, Reeves Nelson is better.
Reevesy is maturing daily, mainly because he is getting more time. In the six games Gordon played, Gordon logged 147 minutes as opposed to 89 for Nelson. But since Gordon’s departure, Nelson has amassed 448 minutes of playing time, meaning he is averaging 26.4 minutes per game since Gordon left. That’s more than Drew’s 24.5.
Clearly, that’s a lot of minutes for a freshman. And come next year, with the way kids are one-and-done these days, Nelson will be the equivalent to a veteran in college basketball. In addition, Nelson averages 11.2 points per game, the same as Gordon averaged, and 5.8 rebounds as opposed to 5.3 for Gordon.
Another positive that came out of Gordon’s exit is the minutes it has allowed Tyler Honeycutt, who has emerged as possibly the Bruins’ best rebounder and passer as a freshman.
And the proof is in the pudding. Honeycutt, who is shorter than Gordon and weighs at least 30 to 40 pounds less, if not 50, leads UCLA in rebounding, grabbing 6.4 boards per game from essentially a backcourt position.
Drew-Drew was a big man and he still couldn’t rebound with T-Cutt.
And let’s look at the record. The Bruins were 2-4 with Gordon and they’re 9-8 without him. Neither record is ideal, but the Bruins have been impressive, losing presumably their best big man (or at least we thought) six games into the season and still maintaining above a .500 record after his departure.
But despite his lack of consistent production, and the fact that T-Honey and Reevesy are more than holding their own, there were also constant rumors that Gordon may have been encouraging other players to transfer. I don’t know how much truth there is behind that rumor, but still, as a fan, you hate to hear that.
And seeing Gordon at every party I went to on Gayley was cool for a while, but I soon came to realize that maybe the UCLA social scene needed Drew-Drew more than the athletic arena did.
Actually, that’s not a maybe. It’s a fact.
Drew-Drew, you so crazy.
E-mail Watson at bwatson@media.ucla.edu.