Sophomore forward Tyler Honeycutt attempts a jumper against Washington in Seattle on Feb. 20.
Now that UCLA has successfully floated through its season opener, you can breathe a sigh of relief.
This is a different UCLA basketball team than ““ no, wait, don’t say it.
You have to be careful with your words when you’re dealing with the psyche of the recently traumatized.
A certain two-word phrase hangs over Nell and John Wooden Court, a phrase with more weight and meaning to the Bruin fans right now than any of those dusty championship banners up there.
Last season.
Whew, there, I got it out. Some of you may have just been hit by a flashback montage of Nikola Dragovic’s missed 3-pointers. Remain calm. It’s over now, apparently.
UCLA’s 14-18 record from a year ago doesn’t look so terrible on paper, but the misstep that was the 2009-2010 Bruin season was not fun. It was the first time in five years that UCLA wasn’t dancing in March, but it was more than just that.
It was losing to teams like Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State, which, during most years, are forced to bask in whatever rays of glory reach their campuses from Pauley Pavilion’s magical glow. It was Pac-10 foe Washington using UCLA as its personal punching bag in front of a national audience for ESPN’s College GameDay. It was ‘SC students chanting “just like football” twice in one season.
Oh, I’m sorry, should I stop with the nostalgia?
Coach Ben Howland might appreciate it.
“I can’t speak for the players, but we’ve put last year behind us,” he said after UCLA’s season-opening win over Cal State Northridge on Friday night. “I’m not thinking about last year right now as we go into tonight’s game. We’re moving on.”
I wonder if it bothers him that we kind media folk keep asking about last season.
It’s relevant though. Just ask his star forward.
“It’s in the back of our head,” sophomore Tyler Honeycutt said. “We kind of use it as motivation, but we’re still playing our game.”
Whether they choose to discuss it openly or deny its influence, last year’s dismal performance is a part of this team’s identity and will continue to be for the entire season.
So far it appears, like Honeycutt said, that they have used it as motivation, cruising through their two exhibition contests and then easily putting away CSUN in the official opener.
The benefit of the doubt that so many of UCLA’s privileged players have received for decades just based on the four letters on their uniform has been partially removed for this team. Only two of its scholarship players ““ junior guards Jerime Anderson and Malcolm Lee ““ even know what a winning season at UCLA feels like.
For the first time since Howland started his tenure, his team is starting from scratch. With each game they win, even over the likes of Cal State Northridge, this Bruin team has a chance to rebuild the reputation of the program.
Yes, this is a different UCLA basketball team than last season.
Maybe most importantly, the faces are new. If you haven’t familiarized yourself with them yet, close that psychology textbook and crack open a media guide because you have work to do.
You have a new point guard. His name is Lazeric Jones, but you can call him Zeke. That tremendous freshman center is Joshua Smith, and he will be dunking a lot this year. There’s also another Tyler for you to remember (last name: Lamb), a freshman guard who is already one-for-one on alley-oops thrown this season.
“We have a lot better chemistry,” sophomore forward Reeves Nelson said. “Everyone keeps talking about it, but it really is true. After the year we had last year, even the new guys like Zeke, Lamb and Big Josh, everybody knows it’s all business this year.”
That all looked true on Friday against CSUN. In the first three minutes of the game, UCLA had impressed us with its chemistry, its shooting and its power. Jones and Lee nailed long-range jumpers, and Honeycutt fed Nelson perfectly not once but twice as the power forward slashed hard to the basket. They were soon up 15-0.
In those first three minutes of last season’s opener, UCLA had already missed three layups, three jumpers and two free throws. They trailed Cal State Fullerton 5-0. We all know how that ended.
Obviously you can’t predict the weekend’s weather from a sunny Monday morning, but for now, you can take off your rain jacket, Bruin fans. At least it’s a new day.
E-mail Smukler at esmukler@media.ucla.edu.