Jasmine Dixon was the team’s leading scorer and rebounder last season, averaging 15.3 points and eight rebounds per game.
Taking care of your teammates is a rule that has been preached everywhere in basketball. From the smallest YMCA gym to state-of-the-art training complexes in the NBA, you can be sure to hear a variation of the rule no matter where you go.
Nowadays, it can be heard inside of Pauley Pavilion as the UCLA women’s basketball team begins another season of competition in the Pac-10 conference.
Before the team opened its season on Nov. 8 against Vanguard, coach Nikki Caldwell discussed how her team has the talent to succeed but needs to focus on the intangibles in order to excel.
“One of the main things we’re focusing on are the things that don’t necessarily show up in the box score,” Caldwell said. “Like if a teammate falls down, picking them up; if a teammate is at the free-throw line, making sure all the people come in and give them a little tap; making sure we’re celebrating not just for ourselves but for our teammates.”
Last season’s conference title hopes ended with a 70-46 defeat in the finals of the Pac-10 tournament to Stanford, which has won the conference title for eight years out of the past nine. Besides Stanford, No. 16 UCLA is the only other Pac-10 team ranked in the Top 25, and all eyes will be on the two teams to compete for the conference title.
The Bruins will be anchored by 10 returning players from last season. When asked what separates this veteran team from others she has coached while at Tennessee, Caldwell responded with one word: “Versatility.”
After starting 27 games last year, sophomore forward Markel Walker will begin the year coming off the bench. Her athleticism, combined with her height at 6-foot-1, makes her a strong rebounding threat; last year she was second on the team in rebounding with 7.5 boards per game. Using Walker off the bench will give Caldwell a bigger and aggressive front court when she needs it.
Walker has shown that she can crash the boards and score in the paint, but this year Caldwell is looking for something else out of her.
“(I’ve been working on) my outside game so I can be more of a threat outside to help my team and space us well,” Walker said.
The Bruin back court will be led by senior guards Darxia Morris and Doreena Campbell. Both are different types of guards that offer unique things.
Hailed by Caldwell as the Bruins’ best on-the-ball defender, Morris will serve as the lock-down defensive type of guard who can run the offense. Campbell will be more of a free-roaming, spot-up type.
“(Campbell) is somebody who we are going to play off the ball a little more this year … have her not always be someone who creates her own shots and be the recipient of more screening action,” Caldwell said.
The ability of Campbell and Morris to space the offense will allow the talented back court to go to work. Junior forward Jasmine Dixon will be the focal point of the Bruin offense this season and should get a majority of the touches when she is on the floor.
At 6 feet, Dixon is able to play the forward position as well as any other player in the conference and epitomizes Caldwell’s description of why the team is so versatile.
Dixon spreads the floor and can score from just about anywhere inside the arc. Last year she put up big numbers, averaging eight rebounds, 1.4 assists and 15.3 points per game on 55 percent shooting.
Following up that kind of a season will not be easy. When asked what she could improve on for this year, Dixon seemed more concerned with physical problems than the state of her game.
“The No. 1 thing for me would be going left and getting back in shape,” Dixon said. “I really didn’t play during the summer, so I felt like I gained a little weight. I’m trying to run, run, run to get back into shape … more than anybody else.”
The defense the Bruins will be relying on this season is one that earned them numerous wins last year. UCLA held teams to an average of 57.5 points per game and had a scoring margin of 10.3 over its opponents.
Caldwell’s approach to this year’s defensive strategy will be very hands-off.
“It’s what they’re feeling,” Caldwell said. “Some days we feel like we want to trap, some days we don’t. Some days we want to man up and some days we don’t. Just letting them have fun with it and pull from their different arsenal of attack defensively, I think it keeps them very active.”
Ten returning players, four of whom are seniors, make up this team. But even with all their experience, one thing the Bruins lack is a bona fide leader on the court. Dixon, Walker and Morris could all be pegged as candidates, given their skill and positions, but Caldwell has not seen one emerge just yet.
“I think (a leader) is something that we have been really, really searching for,” Caldwell said. “And we’re having to do it by committee.”
With the title of leader up in the air, the players have started to realize that finding a leader might be crucial in helping them down the stretch of a long season that has now begun.
“I feel like I need to be more vocal and lead by example,” Walker said. “I know what I’m supposed to do on the court to make my team better.”