Bruin center sets tone during Stanford game

Tuesday, January 19, 1999

Bruin center sets tone during Stanford game

MHOOPS: Performance in bout paints Gadzuric as valuable team
asset

By David Arnold

Daily Bruin Contributor

Just call Dan Gadzuric the Dutch Boy, because he knows
paint.

Yet, then again, talking to the great center from the
Netherlands makes the game sound so easy anyone could do it:

"I just came out strong," shrugged Gadzuric, "I went to the
basket and I didn’t fade away. I just put the ball in the
basket."

What Gadzuric did against Stanford was more than just put the
ball in the basket – he set the tone for the Bruins’ intensity all
night long. It was a tone that sounded suspiciously like 13,000
fans going hoarse with joy as Gadzuric stole the ball in the paint
at mid-court, dribbled to the paint by the basket, then dunked the
paint off the walls for the game’s first points.

For all the heartache and pain that the Cardinal’s zone defense
rained down on the Bruin faithful, Westwood may still rejoice in
the sight of the silver lining – a white uniform with the name
"Gadzuric" on the back, and "UCLA" on the front.

Because on Saturday, No. 50 was everything the Bruin coaches and
fans thought he was going to be when he signed up with the UCLA
basketball family.

"It really was his coming out party," admitted head coach Steve
Lavin,

"This was his best game this year by far. Just his physical
presence, his confidence, dominated on both ends of the court."

Gadzuric, one of the most highly-praised freshmen on the most
lauded freshman class in the nation, wasted no time at all in
leading Stanford on the court, while dominating his own team in the
stats book.

Despite starting, Gadzuric played only 19 minutes of the game
due to early foul trouble. In that span, however, he was able to
lead his team with 15 hard-fought points, while pulling down four
difficult rebounds and grabbing two strong steals.

And let us not forget which team this breakthrough was against.
The conference-leading, fourth-ranked Cardinal is likely to be one
of the largest and most physical teams the Bruins will face all
year, and Gadzuric had the assignment of defending against its
largest and most physical player: 7-foot senior Tim Young.

"(Gadzuric’s defense of Young) was why I was so excited about
Dan’s performance out there. Dan was probably the most dominating
player in the game," said Lavin.

Even Stanford head coach Mike Montgomery admitted, "Gadzuric was
really hurting us, so we tried to see if we could change up and get
them in some foul trouble. Gadzuric was the guy they were going
to."

Of course, his great performance in just 19 minutes of play
prompts a question about what numbers he could put up given all the
time he wants.

A question that may never be answered, if Gadzuric is always
sitting out 14 minutes of the first half with two fouls.

"It was frustrating," Gadzuric recalled, "but I couldn’t do
anything about it. When they call fouls I just agree with it
because they’re the refs and we’re just trying to play the game. I
know I could have played harder."

If Gadzuric can play any harder than he did against the Cardinal
on Saturday night, that jersey of his might start looking less like
just the silver lining, and more like the light at the end of a
tunnel.

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