If you expect the Bruins to dwell on Saturday’s painful loss to Arizona State, think again.
Coach Ben Howland and the rest of the team are moving on.
“I don’t sleep after a game like that,” Howland said on Tuesday. “At this point, it’s Tuesday now. We can’t change a loss. We could learn from it. That’s what you always try to do. How you bounce back from adversity is everything.”
Senior forward Josh Shipp also echoed Howland’s sentiment that what’s done is done.
“We were definitely very disappointed about that loss,” Shipp said. “But it’s how we bounce back that shows the true character of this team.”
For most of the Bruins, this is not a new position to be in. Last season, UCLA started conference play 4-0 but took a home loss to USC.
However, the Bruins responded in a big way, winning their next five and 12 of their final 13 regular-season games.
After watching the game film, Howland saw the same mistakes he commented about on Saturday. He regretted not playing his bench players more minutes and saw that the Bruins were not getting to the free-throw line enough.
“We had them on the ropes and didn’t finish the job,” Howland said. “In terms of specifics, we only took two foul shots in the final 25 minutes of the game. We didn’t get enough shots in and around the basket, which would be potential for fouls.”
In dissecting Saturday’s loss, one of the biggest questions for Howland was figuring out why his instructions in the huddle to attack ASU’s zone defense did not translate onto the court.
“We did a better job of that when we worked on it in practice (on Monday),” Howland said. “In the game, you had the excitement, the adrenaline, everything’s going.”
After watching the tape, Shipp saw the Bruins’ inability to get the ball inside less as a function of excitement and more as a result of the Sun Devils’ pressure defense.
“If we could go out and say whatever we want to happen, the world would be a lot different,” Shipp said. “We tried to execute (what Howland said) but good job to Arizona State. It’s hard for us to simulate the intensity of the zone in our practices. They do it every day, and it’s not something we really work on.
“We knew what we had to do, but it just wasn’t happening out there for us.”
Howland also regretted not double-teaming James Harden, who posted 24 points on Saturday while being guarded mostly by Shipp and freshman guard Jrue Holiday.
“We should have ran at him like a Kobe Bryant or a LeBron James and just make him give (the ball) up,” Howland said. “Or double-team him so that someone else has to beat you. That was my fault. He’s an NBA player.”
CAL LOSS DOESN’T HELP THE HURTING: After UCLA’s game Saturday afternoon, the Bruins briefly dropped to second in the Pac-10, but California fell to Stanford late Saturday night, which put UCLA back in a tie at the top of the standings. However, it didn’t make the Bruins feel any better about the disappointment of their own game.
“We don’t measure our success on the failure of others,” Shipp said. “They lost and that helps us out, but at the same time, we’re still disappointed we lost.”
BRUINS TO FOCUS ON THE BOARDS: Through its first five conference games, UCLA is tied 140-140 in terms of rebounds with their opponents. Howland stressed that drawing even is not going to cut it.
“To win games, you’re going to have to outrebound your opponent,” junior forward James Keefe said. “It’s just something we’re going to have to work on.”
The battle of the boards won’t get any easier when they face Washington on Saturday. The Huskies lead the nation in rebounding margin, outboarding their opponents by almost 12 per game.
BACK SPASMS BOTHER ANDERSON: Freshman point guard Jerime Anderson suffered back spasms at Monday’s practice and missed the final 20 minutes of the session. He was expected to practice Tuesday.