Experience.
That word just keeps coming up when discussing UCLA in the Final Four.
The Bruins are entering their third consecutive Final Four, and that, according to UCLA players and coach Ben Howland, is the difference between them and the other three powerhouses heading to San Antonio.
But that experience goes far beyond the game itself. While the memory of playing under the bright lights in the Final Four will likely present some kind of advantage to the Bruins in terms of playing relaxed, the Bruins will also have the advantage of experience in terms of dealing with the media and the various obligations presented by the unusual format of events over the weekend.
In his press conference on Tuesday, Howland said that on Friday the team will have over three hours of additional obligations in the middle of the day. But after two years of it, he doesn’t expect it to bother the team too much.
“I think for our players (being used to it) is the most important part,” Howland said. “The experience of having been there is always a valuable experience when you go the next time. I think outside the game more than anything. When you go through (all the media obligations) the first time, it’s a little different with having done it before. It’s draining.”
All but two of the Bruins ““ Chace Stanback and Kevin Love ““ have been to a Final Four. Darren Collison, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Lorenzo Mata-Real and Alfred Aboya have all played in two.
Love, the freshman center and leading scorer, spoke Tuesday about the advice he’s been receiving from his teammates.
“They just told me to keep a level head and treat it like your last game because it could be,” Love said. “It’s different for me. I’ve mentioned a couple of times that … my teammates have been here two years before; like Luc started on three Final Four teams, and I think he’s the first person since Bill Walton to do that.”
The Bruins will be traveling two time zones east to San Antonio, whereas the other Final Four teams will not be as affected by the travel. Still, the Bruins don’t think they will be affected that much by the travel. “We leave (Wednesday),” sophomore forward James Keefe said. “By game time we will already have been there a few days.”
Keefe went on to say that the main difference between a Final Four and a regular road trip is the venue. Final Fours are almost exclusively played in large domed arenas, quite a switch from normal cozy basketball arenas.
“I’d never played in a dome before (last year),” Keefe said. “There’s a lot of air up there. It’s just like a magical atmosphere.”
ABOYA THE CRAFTSMAN: Alfred Aboya, forward and enforcer extraordinaire on the basketball team, is apparently trying to add another title: carpenter.
The junior injured himself over the weekend while trying to construct a piece of furniture from Ikea, Howland said.
“Alfred had a knot in his back yesterday,” Howland said. “He couldn’t work out or anything. He was three hours in the same position using a screwdriver, so I don’t know what the heck it was, what he was doing. But that was poor news. The trainer assured me he should be OK by today.”
No word on whether he was ultimately successful with the furniture building.
FINAL FOUR SEND-OFF: UCLA will hold a send-off for the men’s basketball team as the Bruins depart for San Antonio today from 3 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. All interested students and alumni are encouraged to line Bruin Walk on either side between the John Wooden Center and the J. D. Morgan Center. They ask that fans wear blue.
Also, the CBS Early Show is asking alumni and fans from UCLA to show up at Hoop City next to the Alamodome in San Antonio from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. on Friday for live shots.