Steve Lavin said on Tuesday that he considers exhibition games
to be like dress rehearsals.
Apparently, the stage directions didn’t call for
defense.
Or winning.
Instead, the Bruins acted out an uninspired tragedy that ended
in a 92-67 exhibition loss to Branch West Basketball Academy
Wednesday night at Pauley Pavilion.
“Even a blind man could see what we struggled with
tonight,” senior forward Jason Kapono said. “To start
the season off like this is very poor.”
Quite poor, considering UCLA hadn’t lost an exhibition
game since 1993, when the Bruins fell to the Australian national
team 96-85.
How bad was it?
Consider:
“¢bull; The 25-point defeat qualified as the worst UCLA loss
ever at Pauley Pavilion.
“¢bull; The bombers from Branch West broke the Pauley record for
three pointers in a game, with 14 three balls in all, most of them
uncontested while the Bruins looked on.
“¢bull; UCLA had no offensive rebounds in the first half and was
outrebounded 45-24 overall.
“¢bull; Branch West had just one win coming into the contest, a
four-point thriller over Lamar.
What, were the Bruins looking ahead to next week’s game
against EA Sports?
“Defensively, we didn’t play with the necessary
intensity or intelligence that it takes to win basketball
games,” Lavin said. “But this is why we play exhibition
games ““Â to find out what we need to work on.”
Lavin can start in the paint. Freshman centers Michael Fey and
Ryan Hollins combined for just two rebounds in 21 minutes, and
junior T.J. Cummings (also two rebounds) picked up a fourth foul
with over 13 minutes remaining in the game.
To their credit, they were matched up against hulking former NBA
player Horacio Llamas, who generally had his way with the
youngsters, finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
“A coach needs to see his freshmen and really evaluate
them to see who’s ready both physically and emotionally, and
that’s what Lavin was doing out there,” Branch West
head coach Bob Gottlieb said.
On offense, the Bruins forced shots and turned the ball over
repeatedly, often telegraphing passes that turned into steals and
layups.
But most of all, it was a lackadaisical, almost uninterested
defensive attitude that gave the Academy repeated open looks.
Former Quinnipiac standout Nate Pondexter was four for five from
beyond the arc and finished with 21 points, while Doug Gottlieb was
a perfect four for four.
“There was a lot of switching out there without us
talking, which left a lot of open shots,” Cummings said.
Ray Young was impressive in his first game since the 2000-2001
season. The senior, who redshirted last season, went 7 for 13 to
lead the team with 15 points.
But beyond Young, the only Bruin who looked to be in game form
was Lavin, who was clad in typically dapper digs, black undershirt
and all.
With UCLA’s season opener against San Diego less than two
weeks away and Duke lurking in 16 days, Pondexter had some advice
for the Bruins.
“Boy, they gotta practice tomorrow, man,” Pondexter
said.