The Bruins followed up probably their most disappointing loss of
the season at Stanford with probably their most encouraging win;
encouraging most of all for one simple reason ““ Luc Richard
Mbah a Moute is back.
Dude had, by my close estimation, 15 points, 40 rebounds and a
steal on every Oregon possession.
I’m usually about as accurate as espn.com box scores
(which is to say, not accurate) but the point is that he was
active.
On seemingly every defensive possession, he locked down his man
and even switched onto lightning quick Oregon guard Aaron Brooks a
few times, keeping him from the basket. On offense, he was last
year’s Luc, scooping up missed shots and turning them into
easy layups.
It was a refreshing performance from a player who has had
trouble this year meeting expectations after a stellar freshman
year.
I know he’s been plagued by tendonitis in his knees and I
understand he still hasn’t perfected a consistent jump shot.
Because of that, he needs to play more like he did last year,
meaning he needs to put himself around the basket in a position to
get rebounds and putbacks.
Maybe he just needs to understand that with Josh Shipp jacking
3s, he’s going to get a fair amount of putback
opportunities.
I know, I know. Putbacks and rebounds probably won’t get
anyone into the upper first round of the NBA Draft in June. Luc
will probably need a consistent jump shot at some point if he wants
to get there.
But right now, this team needs him to be the guy he was last
year. And the jumper is just not there yet. So I say (and Luc
should listen since I am a world-renowned basketball expert)
don’t worry about the NBA quite yet. Sacrifice the perimeter
for the paint and get your points from touches at the high post and
from missed shots. Have some patience and work on the jumper over
the off-season and see how it works next year.
Against Oregon, he played this role to perfection, and not
surprisingly, the Bruins dominated a game that was basically never
in doubt from the opening tip, when Pauley Pavilion was louder than
I’ve ever heard it (the bad fans must have been getting food
or something).
The Bruins are a good to very good team with Luc playing the way
he’s been playing much of the year ““ inconsistent, but
still good on defense. If Luc plays the way he played last night
for the rest of the year, the Bruins will be nearly unbeatable.
That is, of course, hyperbole that tends to get written 15
minutes after games, but I have a strong feeling that I might even
believe that tomorrow.
Ben Howland apparently rested him more this week in practice,
and obviously it paid off. I’ve never had tendonitis, and
I’ve also never been a 6-foot-7-inch power forward for the
UCLA basketball team, but I figure it probably is the type of thing
where you want to get your rest where you can.
Obviously, I say keep him well-rested.
This is a great team with old Luc in the lineup, if you cast
your memories all the way back to the beginning of the year (ah,
perspective, how infrequently I find you). He was basically the
best player on the floor every time he was on it.
Think what this team would be like with that Luc constantly in
the lineup. Arron Afflalo is basically playing out of his mind at
this point in the season, and Darren Collison has been money all
season. Old Luc adds a much-needed dimension to a
perimeter-oriented team.
Or maybe I’m overreacting and he just made me happy by
finally making his layups. It’s hard to tell.
E-mail Woods at dwoods@media.ucla.edu if you heckled him at
last night’s game.