Lahaina, Hawaii “”mdash; Consistency. If you ask anybody
that’s ever been affiliated with any sort of leadership role,
it’s always named as one of the most important qualities that
a leader can have. With each game that goes by, Darren Collison is
proving that he can be consistent. And not just consistent, but
consistently excellent. The sophomore point guard won the EA Sports
Maui Invitational’s Most Valuable Player Award for his
relentlessly tormenting defense and his steadiness in running the
Bruins’ offensive attack. “It’s crazy (to win
MVP),” Collison said. “Any one of us could have it.
I’m more proud of the victory we had.” Collison never
had a prolonged stretch of ineffectiveness for the Bruins in the
tournament. The point guard scored double-digit points and dished
out seven assists in each of the three tournament games. The only
long period of time where Collison didn’t impact the Bruins
was when he picked up his third foul early in the game against
Kentucky and had to be benched. “He does a lot of those
things that people don’t notice,” junior guard Arron
Afflalo said. “Just his ball pressure, things that
aren’t real stats ““ he creates havoc for us.” If
Collison continues to produce the way he has in his first four
games of the season, the Maui Invitational MVP Award might be just
the first of many benchmark achievements to come.
AFFLALO SOLID: Arron Afflalo may not have had
his best game as a Bruin in UCLA’s victory over Georgia Tech,
but the guard’s play was certainly much better than the night
before.
Afflalo bounced back from a 5-for-18 shooting performance
against Kentucky, leading the Bruins in scoring with 19 points on
6-for-13 shooting. Howland offered very strong praise for Afflalo
after the game. “No offense to Jordan (Farmar), but our heart
and soul from last year is the same as this year and that’s
that guy at the far left over there,” Howland said, pointing
at Afflalo at the postgame press conference. “He plays with
such passion at both ends of the floor. Although Afflalo did have a
much better game against Georgia Tech, his struggles from the
3-point range continued. “I didn’t necessarily bounce
back too well,” Afflalo said. “I made one more 3
““ I was 1 for 8 yesterday and 2 for 8 today. Three-pointers
are 3-pointers; it’s only one facet of the game. I try to be
a complete basketball player and help my team in other
ways.”
BENCH STEPS UP: One of the things Howland was
most impressed with in the Bruins’ victory over Georgia Tech
was the strong play the Bruins received from their bench. Junior
guard Michael Roll was instrumental off the bench in the first
half, scoring 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting and knocking down three
3-pointers. Sophomore big-men Ryan Wright and Alfred Aboya were
both instrumental defensively against Georgia Tech’s post
players. Ra’Sean Dickey, who had been instrumental for the
Yellow Jackets in their first two tournament wins, was particularly
frustrated when matched up with Wright and had more turnovers (4)
than points (2) and rebounds (2). “I was very, very happy
with how well our bench played,” Howland said. “All 10
that played did a great job tonight.”