Men’s Basketball Notebook

Wednesday, February 4, 1998

Men’s Basketball Notebook

MHOOPS:

Thank you, ASU

When the No. 6 UCLA men’s basketball team tipped off against
Washington on Saturday it was a game that was supposed to be for
sole possession of third place in the Pac-10. So when the Bruins
defeated the Huskies 105-94, the seniors were asked how it felt to
be third place at the halfway point in conference for the first
time in their careers.

But, they really don’t know.

With the help of Arizona State, UCLA is now tied for second
place heading into the second round of league play. The Sun Devils
beat Stanford at Maples Pavilion last Saturday in overtime,
90-87.

Arizona sits in first with a perfect 9-0 conference record.UCLA
(17-3 overall, 7-2 Pac-10) has owned the conference crown for the
last three years. And though the Bruins would like to win for the
fourth-straight year, they have an even greater overall goal.

"We’d love to win the Pac-10 championship," UCLA head coach
Steve Lavin. "But the point isn’t, do you win the league, the point
is, are you playing good basketball in March."

Only 10 minutes to go in the game

In the first game of the season against North Carolina, the
Bruins played well – for 10 minutes. UCLA actually had a five-point
lead early in the game, but ended up losing by 41 points.

A month and a half later, the Bruins put up a good half against
Arizona at the McKale Center in Tucson leading by three going into
intermission. But the second half would lead to an 87-75 conference
opening loss for UCLA.

Fast forward to last Saturday’s match against Washington. The
Bruins seemed untouchable for 30 minutes, building up a 30-point
lead. But basketball games last 40 minutes, and UCLA saw its once
formidable lead shrink to seven. However, the Bruins would still
pull away with a 11-point victory.

"We went from playing a good half to playing a great 30
minutes," senior Kris Johnson said. "Obviously, the last 10 minutes
were terrible. Day by day we’re getting a little better and we’re
sustaining it for that much longer."

Added Lavin: "We’re not a good basketball team, but we’re doing
some good things and there’s a lot of positive things we can build
on. I still think by mid-February we’re a team that may be
beginning to gel and be a pretty good team."

Senior leadership

It’s one thing to talk about leadership, but it’s another to
lead by example.

The conference season is halfway over, and UCLA finds itself
with an abundance of examples.

The three seniors lead the Bruins in scoring. J.R. Henderson is
ahead of the pack averaging 19.0 points, Bailey is second with 17.2
and Johnson is third with 16.8 points per game.

The seniors are also tops in rebounding. Henderson leads UCLA
with 8.1 boards per game, while Bailey ranks third, averaging 5.3
boards behind junior Jelani McCoy’s 7.2 per game.

"Those three (Bailey, Henderson, Johnson) right now are pushing
for all-conference," Lavin said. "They are in that senior zone, you
know Ed O’Bannon, Tyus Edney and George Zidek (of the 1995
championship team) had that senior zone. I think that great
programs have great seniors – from their leadership, they are an
extension of the coaching staff."

Switch-a-roo

Since the USC game on Jan. 21, the Bruins have slightly fiddled
with its backcourt, moving Baron Davis to the two position and
putting Earl Watson in the one position. And it seems to have
worked.

"No question that Baron playing at the wing down the floor and
Earl playing the point has kind of been a turnaround offensively,"
Lavin said.

The Bruins have been shooting in the mid-50s to mid-60s from the
field and have had a season high 25 assists twice since the
backcourt switch. Before the USC game, UCLA stayed more in the
mid-40 percent shooting range.

Under pressure

The second half of conference look for the Bruins to play more
of the pressure defense that helped them force 29 turnovers against
Washington State on Jan. 29.

Basketball notebook compiled by Emmanuelle Ejercito, Daily Bruin
Senior Staff.