TEMPE, Ariz. “”mdash; Taking Michael Roll from UCLA’s offense is like stripping a painter of his brush, a baker of his oven, a surfer of his board.
Some parts remain, but it is just not the same.
The canvas may still be there, but the artist can not produce a masterpiece without a brush.
The recipe may still be there, but the baker can not put it together without the essential instrument.
The waves may still be there, but the surfer can not ride them without a board.
Take Roll out of the UCLA basketball team’s attack and, well, you witness a game like Saturday’s 56-46 loss to Arizona State at Wells Fargo Arena.
“I just couldn’t buy a bucket,” Roll said. “It felt like they were all good.”
Instead, only one of his shots ““ a one-handed floater from just inside the free-throw line ““ went through the hoop. The make came 12 minutes into the first half. Roll essentially disappeared and was never heard from again.
“Every player is going to have his off-night,” sophomore guard Malcolm Lee said. “His shots just weren’t falling like they usually do. I kept telling him to shoot.”
Roll made one of his six shots in the first half and took just three ““ all from beyond the arc ““ in the second. He finished with two points on 1-for-9 shooting.
“It was terrible,” Roll said. “I was trying to stay focused on the next shot, but nothing worked.”
Roll came off screens, but the Sun Devils’ defense shadowed him well.
Roll handled the ball up top and dished out four assists, but ASU’s aggressive pressure forced him into contested shots.
“They knew where he was,” freshman forward Tyler Honeycutt said. “They were trying to stop him the whole time.”
Roll even went against Howland’s offensive philosophy, firing away from the left wing early in the shot clock.
The ball clanked off the back of the rim and coach Ben Howland quickly looked at Roll, who was back-pedaling to the other end, and held out his arms as if to ask, “What was that?”
“I’ve been wearing Mike out, playing him so many minutes,” Howland said. “Really, it’s yeoman work ““ it’s too much to ask. That’s just what we’ve been forced to do, in my opinion, to have a chance to win.”
A week after recording a career-high-tying 25 points, Roll equaled his season-low in scoring.
“I have off days and he encourages me to keep shooting,” senior forward Nikola Dragovic said. “I did the same for him because, at some point, he’s going to start making them.”
But Roll stopped shooting altogether after he missed a 3-pointer with 7:33 left in the second half.
“I felt fine,” he said. “I don’t think it was my legs. I stayed hydrated and all that. I just missed shots.”
When asked what was going through his mind as shot after shot rimmed out, Roll was reminded of a popular airline commercial.
“Want to get away?” he said before shaking his head.
UCLA had a chance to paint a promising picture in the regular-season finale, but its brush was nowhere to be found.