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

Photo

Michael Fey picked up 3 of UCLA's 21 fouls during the Bruins' 70-66 loss to Michigan.

Photo

Coach Ben Howland reacts to a referee's call in the second half.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- After a shaky start, UCLA exuded confidence and an affinity for dunking during the first half of Saturday's road game against at Michigan. But the Bruins' play also brought about early foul trouble that was a considerable factor in UCLA's first major road-game loss.

Playing against the biggest team they've matched up with so far, the first-half foul trouble encountered by centers Michael Fey and Ryan Hollins, and forward T. J. Cummings dictated a weakness in the post which was carried over to the final buzzer.

"Our post defense was inadequate," Coach Ben Howland said. "They were scoring easily in the post and we weren't covering down."

"We put ourselves in a hole with three minutes to go in the first half."

That hole was one the Bruins never seemed to climb out of.

"I felt like in the first half, I couldn't get into the flow," said Fey.

"Same in the second half , I wanted to stay in so I couldn't be as aggressive."

Fey was the first to foul, 45 seconds into the game, and was soon replaced with Hollins, who didn't fare much better when he picked up a personal foul two minutes later. Howland methodically replaced one with the other when Fey and Hollins picked up their fouls, but with only four minutes left in the first half, both were benched with two fouls each. A tentative John Hoffart sufficed as the Bruins’ center, but combined with a missing Cummings -- also out with two fouls -- the team had no presence in the post against Michigan's 6-foot-9 Graham Brown and 6-foot-11 Courtney Sims.

"You're going to have guys in foul trouble," said Howland. "You have to have other guys step up. The problem (was) we didn't have our starters in the last three minutes of the first half and that hurt us."

In his three minutes of play, Hoffart only added a turnover to the Bruins' statistics. Senior reserve guard Jon Crispin gave UCLA the lead with a pair of free throws but couldn't compensate defensively for the missing Dijon Thompson, who was also out with three fouls.

Playing without the physical presence of Fey or the height of Hollins "affected our confidence in the middle," said forward Trevor Ariza.

Fey, along with Hollins, finished the night with three fouls, so none of the three were forced to leave. But staying in meant letting the Wolverines past their post positions and subsequently to the basket.

Michigan's continuing focus on establishing an inside presence didn't help the Bruins post issues, either. Brown finished the night with 10 points, a feat which Michigan coach Tommy Amaker noted since he didn't think Brown had even attempted 10 shots in a game at Michigan. Wolverine Courtney Sims proved an unstoppable force particularly in the second half, solidifying Michigan's largest lead in the game with an 11-point advantage.

The Bruins left Ann Arbor on Saturday night with a well-learned lesson: weakness in the post does not win ball games.

"We have to do our work before (the ball) gets there and stay solid," Cummings said.

Luckily for the Bruins, Friday's Pac-10 home opener will mark a chance to erase their 4-3 record and begin from scratch, but this time, without abandoning their presence in the post.

Comments

Post a comment