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Monday, March 31, 1997

O'Bannon's resurgence as a leader has given the Bruins a chance at a Final Four runBy Brent Boyd

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Nobody is really quite sure when or where it happened.

Kris Johnson thinks it was a month ago in Tucson.

Steve Lavin says Berkeley in early January was more like it.

And Charles O'Bannon believes everything changed with a home-cooked meal on Christmas Eve.

Although the specifics may be debatable, one thing remains agreed upon by all ­ it certainly did happen, and not a moment too soon.

Senior forward Charles O'Bannon metamorphosed from a sometimes spectacular ­ but often inconsistent ­ player into the Bruins' driving force, and in the process saved the 1996-97 basketball season in Westwood.

"He is playing at a level that I have never seen him play at before," junior forward Johnson said. "He's gotten to the level where he is one of the top players in college basketball. So guys can just kind of watch him and jump on his back and go along for the ride."

And what a ride it has been.

Two months into the season, the Bruins looked as if they might not even make the NCAA Championship Tournament. But now on the opening day of the Big Dance, the Bruins stand as Pac-10 champions for the third consecutive year and seem poised to make a serious run at the Final Four.

And it has everything to do with Charles O'Bannon.

* * *

One need not look beyond the statistics to see the impact O'Bannon has made. In the past 17 games (every game since the 48-point loss to Stanford), he has produced some impressive numbers ­ 19.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, and most importantly, a 14-3 UCLA record.

"The second half of the Cal game (Jan. 11) is when I first saw it," head coach Steve Lavin said. "After the Stanford loss ­ the low point of the season for us ­ I saw a completely different Charles O'Bannon. He got 13 rebounds in the second half and it is from that point on that our team has taken off."

O'Bannon currently ranks first on the team in scoring (17.3) and rebounding (7.2), third in assists (2.6), and fourth in steals (1.0). With 19 more rebounds in the NCAA tourney, he will become the only player in UCLA history to rank among the top 10 career leaders in all four categories.

"I think my overall game has improved tremendously," O'Bannon said. "In the past, I used to try and force things. I used to try and do the impossible, rather than just doing the basic and the ordinary. By just letting the game come to me and playing basketball, my field goal percentage and all of my stats have improved."

* * *

But, O'Bannon's effect upon the team has reached far beyond the box scores. He has finally taken on the team's leadership role.

"I really look at the Arizona game (Feb. 13) as the game in which he solidified his game," Johnson said. "He really stepped up, and he was making the big shot when we needed it and he'd hit a jumper and we'd just say, 'Wow, what a big shot!' And he's done that a number of times since then."

In Tucson, O'Bannon connected on 10 of 14 field goal attempts and scored what was then a season-high 26 points. The performance included a game-tying basket with only 59 seconds remaining, ultimately leading to the UCLA victory and a choke hold on the Pac-10 race.

But that game was only one of many clutch performances by O'Bannon.

In the other match-up against Arizona ­ an 84-78 Bruin overtime win in Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 18 ­ not only did he grab 13 rebounds, but he scored 24 points, including eight in overtime to seal the victory.

Three weeks ago against sixth- ranked Duke, O'Bannon shut out Blue Devil guard Ricky Price for the final 16 minutes, enabling the Bruins to emerge with one of the biggest victories of the past two seasons.

And finally, last Thursday against Washington, O'Bannon scored a career-high 31 points and led the Bruins to an 87-85 victory, after trailing by as many as 15 points.

Last year, with no go-to guy, chances are the Bruins would have lost all four of those tightly contested games. But O'Bannon has clearly filled that void this season.

"We know that he's going to hit the big shot, and that's what the team needed ­ somebody to go to," Johnson said. "It wasn't like that last year; we were just inconsistent. Sometimes I would get the ball (in clutch situations), sometimes J.R. would get it, and sometimes Toby would get it."

Count O'Bannon as one player who relishes the thought of holding the ball when the game is on the line.

"That's the thrill of playing here, and one of the reasons why I came here," he said, unable to hold back the huge grin that so desperately wanted to appear. "That's what I get up for; that's why I play the game. UCLA vs. Duke, and you have the ball and the game is close. You can't draw a better scenario.

"That's what I live for, that's why I love playing this game ­ to play in a game like that."

* * *

So why did it take so long? Why wasn't O'Bannon around to assume the role of leader when the team was so desperately looking for an anchor at the end of last season, or at the beginning of this one?

Last year, he was expected to naturally inherit the role that his brother Ed ­ with a national championship trophy firmly in his grasp and a tremendous shadow left behind ­ had vacated the year before.

"Last season there was a lot of talk about who was going to lead the team. Everyone was asking, 'Is it going to be the O'Bannon kid that steps into the spot?'" the younger brother remembers. "I tried hard last year. I gave it my all. It's really easy to say that you want to be a leader, but it takes a lot of responsibility. It takes a lot more than saying the few words that I want to be captain.

"You need the respect of your teammates, the respect of your coaching staff. You need to prove to yourself and everyone involved in the program that you're capable of leading the team."

A season ago, it was hard for him to be considered the team leader when he was suffering the consequences of his misbehavior. O'Bannon was benched by head coach Jim Harrick in the second half of the Arizona State game as a result of his third technical foul, and was benched again for the first half against Duke because of off-the-court problems.

"I feel as though my junior year was a learning experience," he said. "For all of the wrongs I did, for all the things I suffered, I have taken this and learned from that. And it's made me a better person, a stronger man, and I've improved in a number of ways."

This season he has had only one technical ­ and that was for hanging on the rim.

"I'm a lot more mature. As far as off the court, I am more responsible, and on the basketball court, my work ethic has improved."

* * *

O'Bannon points to Dec. 24 as the day it all turned around. The night before, he suffered a dismal five-point performance in the Bruins' 64-57 victory over St. Louis. Two days before that, the Bruins were embarrassed on national television by Illinois, 79-63.

It was then that he sat down with Ed and his father, Ed Sr., to discuss his future.

"We discussed what I needed to do to make my dreams come true ­ to play in the NBA," O'Bannon said. "And they basically said that if I don't pick up my play in the next couple months, all this hard work that I've done for the past few years has been for nothing."

It wasn't as if he was a bad player. Far from it.

He had been first-team all-conference the year before, and was averaging over 15 points a game through the first seven games of this season. But the three O'Bannons knew, like everyone else, that he could be so much better.

And Charles knew just the way to do it. The answer was staring him in the face, literally.

"I think one of my biggest problems was that I had tried so hard not to be like (Ed)," Charles said. "I tried to prove to everyone that I am different from Ed O'Bannon. And I think that was my downfall. But, this year I'm trying to do everything that Ed did. Why change something that's good? Why do something opposite of what's been successful?

"Just being a younger brother, growing up in another brother's shadow, you obviously want to be your own person. But, this year it's been only positive. I've accepted the leadership role on this team like he did. I never try to compare myself with Ed or with his stats or what he accomplished, but I'm trying to do things very similar to what he did."

One of those things is to come to the court to play ­ every day.

Self-described as never having been a practice player, O'Bannon has been consciously trying to step up his effort during workouts.

It hasn't gone unnoticed by his teammates.

"People see him playing hard and they know that they've got to play hard," Johnson said. "It has gotten to the point now where they have no choice but to play hard."

O'Bannon has finally realized what leadership truly means. A leader needs to be able to set a good example for others to follow.

"I stepped back and thought about a lot of things that have happened, and things I needed to improve on, and that was one of them ­ improving my work ethic during practice," he said. "If some of the players take heed and notice that I'm trying to improve my game, then maybe they'll do the same. I didn't realize the impact I would have if I just did the extra things."

And even though he is not regarded as the team's vocal leader ­ that role is reserved for point guard Cameron Dollar ­ O'Bannon has been known to light into players dogging it in practice, or even off the court.

Steve Lavin has credited his leadership on the court, in the locker rooms, in the airports, and in the hotels when the coaches aren't around, as having a strong impact upon the rest of the team.

"This year, Charles and the other two seniors (Dollar and Bob Myers) have helped me make the transition, and as a rookie, I am very indebted to those three guys," Lavin said. "They are basically an extension of the coaching staff."

As for his star forward, Lavin knows O'Bannon's future is bright.

"His stock has just shot through the roof," Lavin said. "To me he's playing like a first-team All-American and a potential college basketball player of the year. Everyone is standing up taking notice of him because he's playing at a much higher level ­ he's playing with passion, he's playing with desire, and he's helping his teammates win."

Only two months ago, he may not have even been chosen in the first round of the NBA draft (according to several draft guides), but he now ranks among the top prospects in the nation.

A reunion with his brother in Dallas is not inconceivable. Last year, the mere thought may have forced Charles to shudder ­ he had already been in the shadows long enough ­ it is now something he would relish.

"It would be extremely nice to play with Ed again," O'Bannon said. "But right now, to be honest, it would be nice to play anywhere in the NBA."

But, before the draft, O'Bannon has some business to finish at UCLA.

Right now, he has only one city on his mind ­ Indianapolis.

* * *

The picture is impossible to ignore. It hangs within short jump-shot range of O'Bannon's dressing stall in the Bruin locker room.

Like O'Bannon, the picture itself has experienced a metamorphosis. At the beginning of the season it was an eerie reminder of what could have been.

But, today the imposing image represents all that could be.

It is a picture of Indianapolis' RCA Dome, site of last year's first-round disappointment against Princeton, and the site of the Final Four less than three weeks away.

Anything other than returning to the site of so many nightmares and dreams would be considered a disappointment.

"Without question," O'Bannon said. "We want the championship."

And when Charles O'Bannon wants something, he is not easily denied.

At least not anymore.

SUSIE MING HWA CHU/Daily Bruin

It's no secret why Charles O'Bannon is smiling. He has led the hot Bruins' success.

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