It’s rough going on the Pac-10 hoops road
UCLA, Arizona
both fall in first
week of action
By Randy Satterburg
Daily Bruin Staff
Early returns from around the Pac-10 indicate that it will be
even tougher than usual to win on the road this conference season
and that whichever team fares the best in this capacity has an
inside track on a league title.
On opening night of the conference season only Stanford managed
to win on the road, while Arizona, Cal and USC joined UCLA in
getting ambushed away from the comforts of home. UCLA and Cal
bounced back for splits in Oregon and Washington respectively, but
Stanford got bombed by 14 points against Washington State in
Pullman to return home with a split of its own, while USC and
Arizona came home empty-handed.
"It looks like the old axiom is true, you better hope to split
on the road and win ’em all at home," UCLA head coach Jim Harrick
said at his weekly press conference Tuesday. "If you want to be
successful in this league you better think about doing it."
* * *
Despite the loss of talented players such as Jason Kidd, Lamond
Murray and Khalid Reeves, among others, to the NBA, the Pac-10 has
had remarkable success in the non-conference season. It’s 66-24
nonleague record and 9-1 mark against ranked opponents is the best
of any conference, and last week five Pac-10 teams (UCLA, Arizona,
Arizona State, Cal and Stanford) were ranked in the Top 25, with
Oregon and Washington State not too far off.
"Obviously the league is very competitive this season," Harrick
said. "I think we have seven teams in the top 40 and deservedly
so."
* * *
How did Oregon manage a victory against UCLA despite making only
37.1 percent of its shots? The Bruins held their first three
opponents under 40 percent from the field and were unbeaten in that
string. UCLA had been 14-0 in games dating back to last year in
which they held their opponents under 40 percent shooting, but that
streak came to an end against Oregon.
The Ducks were not hurt badly by their errant shooting because
they grabbed many of their missed shots as offensive rebounds.
Oregon out-rebounded UCLA, the second best rebounding team in the
Pac-10 (behind Stanford), 45-37, including 15 more offensive boards
than the Bruins. UCLA regained control of the glass two nights
later with a more typical plus-12 rebounding margin against Oregon
State.
* * *
UCLA’s bench production was down on the Oregon trip, but Harrick
expects it to pick up again once some players get closer to full
strength after battling minor injuries.
Cameron Dollar has been slowed by a bruised thigh that resulted
from a collision in practice. Dollar has tried to play through the
injury but was not at top form against Oregon State (17 minutes, 0
points) or Oregon (8 minutes).
"He tells me, ‘I’m okay coach,’ but I think (his leg) is
bothering him some," Harrick said.
More serious is the back injury which has held Kevin Dempsey out
of the last three games and will keep him out for at least the next
two weeks. Marquis Burns is also suffering from back pains and
spasms lingering from a scary fall on a dunk attempt against George
Mason on Dec. 22.
Harrick hopes the resurgence of freshman Kris Johnson, who won
the job as back-up center in the preseason before getting hurt,
will pick up the slack.
"When (Johnson) gets completely healthy he will be able to play
anywhere," Harrick said.