UCLA’s invite to Big Dance is no indicator of impending win

Thursday, March 12, 1998

UCLA’s invite to Big Dance is no indicator of impending win

COLUMN: Don’t expect Bruins to be this year’s 1997 Arizona
Wildcats

Do You Wanna’ Dance?

Hello, beautiful people, my name is Fabrizio, Fabrizio Bailando
of the Krzyzewski Big Dance School. No, silly, we aren’t a
specialty studio for heavy-set people: we’re a place of instruction
for that darling little NCAA tournament you all love so much.

I have been asked by that charming Mr. Kariakin to provide UCLA
with the basic steps to succeess before the galla begins this
afternoon.

Now, first position, Bruins! First position! And away we go!

To begin with, get the idea out of your heads that the secret
lies in following the steps of last year’s Arizona team. Ignore the
similarities: player suspensions, a dynamic freshman pointguard,
three losses in their last six games, a non-top three seed in the
South Regional. The differences are even more significant.

For one, the Bruins can’t sneak up on everybody the way ‘Zona
did last year. When you have a tradition as storied as UCLA’s, not
to mention three returning players from a national championship
team, teams don’t overlook you.

Next, they had/have more inside depth, with AJ Bramlet (6-11),
Bennett Davison (6-8), Donnell Harris (6-11) and Eugene Edgerson
(just 6-6, but a rebounding fool). UCLA has only JR at 6-8.

Finally, the Bruins’ starting shooting guard isn’t stupid
enough. Miles Simon missed 11 games last season after being
declared academically inelligible at the start of last season. Oh,
and did I mention that his major is family studies? What did he
fail, Daipering 101?

No, no, no. If UCLA wants to go all the way at this year’s
dance, it’s going to have to coreograph its own moves.

Kick, kick. Sashay, sashay.

First, Coach Lavin must use his bench more in the early going. I
know he doesn’t exactly have Kobe Bryant waiting in the wings, but
his starters a rest now and then. As we saw last Saturday, 38
minutes of sublime play don’t mean a thing if the team is too
exhausted to keep up over the last two. This should be easy enough
against the likes of Miami, but the Bruins will need to
consistantly sub early if they want to hang around.

Now, pirouette and step, step, step.

The second move also involves a bench player: Travis Reed, this
is your solo.

In the Bruin’s probable second round matchup against Michigan,
somebody will to have to put a body on the Wolverines’ extremely
wide load in the middle, 300-pound Robert ‘Tractor’ Traylor. If JR
tries, he’ll likely spend most of the afternoon watching from the
bench. So, it’s up to Trav. Now, Chad Overhauser probably would
have been better, but hey, you take what you can get.

Lavin needs to put the young guy in early and and give him some
simple instructions: if the fat boy gets the ball inside on you,
bear hug him. Call it ‘Hack-a-Track,’ if you want, but Traylor must
be contained or the came will quickly get out of reach.

Leap and plie’. Leap and plie’.

Finally, Baron Davis must still be in the game at the end. That
is not as easy as it sounds: Baron has fouled out of nine of the
last twenty games, including three of the last six. And he was
saddled with four fouls in another five games during that
stretch.

Baron has promised not to foul out during the tournament, but I
wouldn’t hold my breath unless he and Lavin can somehow figure out
a way to control his game without dampening its explosiveness.

Now, for the finale, a couple of other tournement
predictions:

Final Four: Duke, Kansas, Arizona, and Princeton. Yeah, I said
Princeton; you got a problem with that!

Princeton almost took Carolina early this season at the Dean
Dome. Now, the two would meet on a neutral sight. Say all you want
about how the Tigers’ back door offense won’t fool anyone anymore;
it was never meant to. Princeton relies on execution, not trickery,
and they always have. Don’t believe me, ask Jim Harrick.

That being said, North Carolina us also my favorite to win the
national championship (it’s called hedging your bets, people).
Should they get by Princeton, the Tar Heels have the goods to take
it. Otherwise, its the (ugh!) Jayhawks.

Belle of the ball: St. John’s. Felipe Lopez (remember him)
finally makes good after three seasons of being college
basketball’s biggest dissappointment. Purdue, perrenial tourney
chokers that they are, should present no problem, and
Clemson/Stanford won’t be enough either.

Ugly girl that should have stayed home: South Carolina. They’ll
be lucky to make it past Xavier, and a Richmond upset isn’t out of
the question. Call it a hunch.