Josh Shipp’s breakout game against Arizona on Saturday was a statement in more ways than one.
It wasn’t just the fact that Shipp scored 24 points, but the sophomore played one of the better defensive games of the season as well.
Shipp drew the assignment of stopping freshman sensation Chase Budinger for most of the game. With Shipp in his face on possession after possession, Budinger shot just 4-13 and turned the ball over four times.
Shipp was even forced to match up with the taller, stronger Ivan Radenovic in the post a few times in the first half. Shipp made up for the size differential by aggressively bodying-up on Radenovic and fronting him to deny him the ball.
“Josh is being underrated I think right now as a good defender,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said. “I think he’s become a much better defender for us than he was his first year. We still need him to step up and rebound for us, especially on the defensive end of the floor, but I was excited about how he played.”
Learning how to be a better defender has been somewhat of a process for Shipp. Coming into UCLA, Shipp had prided himself on scoring and being a great offensive force, but didn’t buy into the importance of being just as good defensively.
That was an attitude that had to be immediately adjusted with Howland, who has always preached defense first since his arrival at UCLA.
“(Coming in as a freshman) I wasn’t really serious about playing defense. I would take defensive possessions off and just play offense,” Shipp said.
“(Howland) just told me that if I wanted to be a great player, I needed to play both ends of the floor.”
Shipp shined in his first year at UCLA as a player who had a unique ability to score by shooting outside and by attacking the basket. But his defensive game was still a work in progress.
He has still struggled at times defensively this season, but performances like the one he had on Saturday show just how far he has come in just his second full year on the court.
“(Playing defense) is fun to me now,” Shipp said. “I didn’t realize how fun it was before because I never really did it.”
AUTOMATIC MATA: Lorenzo Mata hasn’t been getting too many touches as of late. But when he does get the ball with good position, you might as well chalk up the two points.
Mata has shot 82.3 percent from the floor (14-17) in the last six games. He was a combined 10-11 against Arizona and Arizona State last week and put up 10 points in each game. Prior to last week, Mata had gone eight consecutive games without reaching double-digits.
If the numbers are any indication, UCLA might want to try and get Mata the ball more consistently throughout the game. It’s become somewhat of a trend for the Bruins to pound the ball inside to Mata at the beginnings of games and then try to get their scoring from other places as the game goes on. This was especially true in the loss at Stanford and the close call at Arizona State on Thursday.
“I would like to be one of the go-to guys,” Mata said. “But we’ve got so many weapons right now with Arron (Afflalo), Josh (Shipp) and Darren (Collison). I’m just doing what I’ve got to do to support and that’s helping us win.”
Mata’s confidence in his offensive game is brimming right now. As a player who didn’t have much of an idea about post moves and an undeveloped offensive game coming into UCLA, he now feels confident that he could step into a bigger offensive role if asked to do so.
One weapon that has been on prime display as of late is his jump hook.
“When I take a hook shot, I feel confident that I won’t miss ever,” Mata said. “I hardly miss any hook shots I take in practice.”
COLLISON HONORED: With the way Darren Collison played last week, the Pac-10 didn’t really have another option for Pac-10 player of the week.
Collison scored a career-high 18 points in UCLA’s come-from-behind win against Arizona State last Thursday and had 17 points and a career-high 15 assists against Arizona on Saturday.
It’s the second time Collison has won the award this season.
“I’m not surprised with how he’s playing right now,” Howland said. “He played 19 minutes a game as a freshman and worked very hard in the offseason.”
Collison also went 8-14 from behind the arc last week and is shooting 53.8 percent from 3-point range in conference play.
“That’s really remarkable,” Howland said. “He should be taking more 3s, I guess.”