• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

Photo

Photo

Photo

  PATIL ARMENIAN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Dan Gadzuric and the Bruins will face the Rainbow Warriors of Hawaii Saturday in a non-conference game in Pauley Pavilion. MEN'S BASKETBALL vs. Saturday Pauley Pavillion 5:30 p.m. Fox Sports West XTRA 1150 AM

By AJ Cadman

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

There is definitely a big pot of gold that awaits the UCLA men’s basketball team at the end of the rainbow.

The Bruins (2-3) head into Saturday’s non-conference showdown with the Rainbow Warriors of Hawaii (1-2) at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in Pauley Pavilion, not exactly where they thought they would be one month ago. But optimism is still the talk in Westwood, even after a loss to Georgia Tech Saturday at the Wooden Classic.

The Bruins have been in this predicament before.

“(This is) similar to the start we had in 1997,” UCLA head coach Steve Lavin said, recalling his first season at the helm. “We had six juniors and seniors. We never really got away from the emphasis on fundamentals and repetition in practice. That is the only way you improve.”

When Lavin took over for the dismissed Jim Harrick, he inherited a core of players who were two years removed from a national championship.

With Bruin veterans Toby Bailey, J.R. Henderson, Charles O’Bannon and Cameron Dollar, UCLA started the season going 3-3. That team, however, reached the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament four months later.

Four years later, Lavin has nine upperclassman who have been to the Sweet Sixteen twice before. They, too, have a core of all-conference performers. But a more embattled Lavin understands the root of the problem and says that practice will eventually make perfect.

“We have to break down our defensive fundamentals every day in practice,” said Lavin. “As a team, we are never really satisfied. That’s definitely the area we need to work on most.

“The things we are talking about are correctable errors.”

The numbers don’t lie about UCLA’s exposed weakness. The Bruins are giving up 83.6 points per contest, which at their current pace, would be their worst season total since they began recording statistics in 1948.

Teams are shooting 46 percent from the field and 38 percent from behind the three-point line. In every game, win or lose, the opposing school has seen one of their top scorers have a career night against the Bruins.

Against Kansas, it was recent Big 12 Player of the Week Kenny Gregory who dropped 24 points for one of his season highs. Kentucky’s Keith Bogans had a career-high 25, as did CS Northridge’s Jeff Parris. UC Santa Barbara guard Mark Hull had a career-best 23 points against the Bruins last week and Georgia Tech’s Tony Akins had a season-high 28 points on Saturday.

And while a thin frontline plagued by injuries can explain a horrific 1:1 (39.4-39.4) rebounding ratio, UCLA’s struggles on the defensive end of the floor come center stage when the offense sputters.

“We have to stop particular individuals from having a big night,” Lavin said. “That puts increased pressure in our half court offense to put up enough points.

“On nights where we struggle offensively, we have rough games.”

In what will be the Bruins’ first-ever meeting with Hawaii, the Rainbow Warriors are led by 6-foot-10 senior forward Troy Ostler, their leading scorer and rebounder with 18.0 and 7.7 averages.

Head coach Riley Wallace’s squad should contend for a Western Athletic Conference title following a 17-12 overall record last season, but face a tough task with their first road test of the season.

For UCLA, the early season message is clear: improve before the start of conference schedule.

“The answer to all of our problems results from keeping poise,” said Lavin. “Basketball is a simple game. When we figure out that we can play the game more efficiently, we will give ourselves a better chance to win.”

Comments

Post a comment