There’s a tinge of added pressure around the UCLA
men’s basketball program these days, and it’s not just
coming from the television cameras creeping closer and closer to
coach Ben Howland’s press conference podium.
It’s emanating from a two-game losing streak, the
Bruins’ longest this season, coming at quite the inopportune
time.
It’s emerging from UCLA’s position in a tight race
for the Pac-10 regular-season title, with five teams within one win
of each other atop the standings.
And more specifically, it’s arising from a 71-68 loss to
USC, which left Bruins without an explanation for their performance
or the absence of an expected victory in their pocket.
“It’s a major concern,” sophomore Arron
Afflalo said. “This is the time of the season when
you’re supposed to be playing your best basketball.
You’re not supposed to be going on losing streaks you
haven’t encountered all year.
“Against USC, we weren’t looking ahead. We just
didn’t come out with the fire we usually come out with. I
can’t speak for everyone else. I felt I attempted that, but
you need it from all 12 guys.”
While UCLA (20-6, 10-4 Pac-10) will look to rebound at Pauley
Pavilion this week against the Oregon schools ““ teams that
are 3-16 in their last combined 19 games ““ the Bruins have
made it apparent that this week is not about focusing on Beavers
and Ducks.
It’s about focusing on themselves.
Normally every week at his press conference, Howland offers up a
scouting report of the Bruins’ first opponent, with a degree
of depth rivaling most research papers.
Not this week.
“I’m not even thinking about Oregon State right
now,” Howland said on Tuesday. “Typically that’s
what you do. But all I’m concerned about today is our guys
and our team.”
According to senior Cedric Bozeman, the Bruins have to get back
to doing the little things that helped them win 10 of their first
12 conference games, but have been conspicuously absent during
their last two contests.
These “little things” include taking care of the
ball and playing the smothering defense UCLA exhibited during the
middle of the conference season. But in their last two games, the
Bruins have committed 34 turnovers and allowed Washington and USC
to score 70 and 71 points respectively ““ well above
UCLA’s 60.2 average points allowed per game.
“I think we’re still playing good as a team, but
it’s little things that we used to take care of, that has
kept us from winning these last two games,” Bozeman said.
“It’s just the little things. We’ve kind of
slipped up in those categories.”
But time is running out to shore up on lingering deficiencies.
The Bruins have four conference games remaining before the Pac-10
Tournament starts on March 8. UCLA will play at most three games
there, prior to competing in the NCAA Tournament.
To Afflalo, that leaves little time for UCLA to develop the
sense of urgency that was so desperately lacking last weekend at
the Sports Arena.
“There’s no way we should be losing to a team like
USC at this point in the season,” Afflalo said.
“We need to have a sense of urgency. We’ve got
potentially 13 games left, and only four of them are normal games.
Everything else is an elimination game, so if we’re not
intense and we’re not playing with a sense of urgency, our
season is going to be over.”