Point guard slam-dunks a great season

Monday, March 1, 1999

Point guard slam-dunks a great season

MHOOPS: Bruins win final home game, but may lose great
player

By Brent Boyd

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

It was either a wave good-bye, or a salute to victory.

But whatever it was, there was one thing that remains certain.
When Baron Davis, with his right arm raised toward the rafters,
left the court for the final time in the last home game of the
season, he left as a winner and left the crowd with some great
lasting images – whether they be for just this season or for his
collegiate career.

Rumors have abounded that the sophomore guard may declare for
the NBA draft at the end of this season, cutting short his
eligibility by two seasons.

If he does decide to leave, this was definitely the proper exit.
In UCLA’s 79-62 win over Washington, Davis was virtually a one-man
highlight reel. Though Davis finished with 14 points and six
assists, the box score seemed to show that he didn’t have his best
game as of late – Davis has averaged nearly 20 points per game in
the last month. But it would be difficult to convince the Huskies,
the 11,465 in Pauley Pavilion, or anyone watching Saturday night’s
SportsCenter of that.

His performance was so exhilarating that on his most talked
about dunk he was called for a charge … and no one cared. Davis
was so dominating that a student section, which had been chanting
"Two more years" at the beginning of the game, realized that this
was probably asking just a little bit too much and chanted "One
more year" at the end.

And his performance was so impressive that the only thing
reporters wanted to talk about at the end of the game was whether
or not this would be the last time they would interview Davis in
the Pauley Pavilion locker room.

"Honestly, I haven’t decided anything yet," he said, answering
the question for the umpteenth time. "I’ll make the decision after
the season.

"I’ll sit down with friends, coaches, relatives and figure out
what’s best for me, what’s best for Baron Davis."

No doubt it would have been best for the Huskies’ defenders if
he would have left after last season.

Six minutes into the game, Davis took the ball on the left side
of the key, drove through it and dunked over six-foot, six-inch
forward Thalo Green. And though Davis was called for a foul, the
momentum helped spur UCLA on a 15-6 run and an early 25-13
lead.

Then with two minutes remaining, and the game firmly in grasp,
Davis really got hot.

In a move that is as difficult to properly describe as it is to
defend – well, Davis told exactly what he did:

"I just brought the ball straight back behind me, and threw it
around to myself."

Then dunked … all in one motion.

It was a move that left the crowd speechless and defender Bryan
Brown looking helpless.

Two possessions later, Davis did a tomahawk slam dunk during
which he was so high on that the rim left a bruise midway up his
forearm.

"If this was my last game, it was definitely a great one to go
out on," Davis said in what may be the understatement of the
year.

And whether he says it or not, his actions may just prove louder
than words. It definitely looked like his last home game. On his
way out of the game, he walked to mid-court then held up his fist
to the crowd and received hugs from the entire team and coaching
staff. Whether it was an act or for pure sentimental reasons –
well, that will be seen in about a month.

In any case, Davis’ performance and the questions surrounding
his future overshadowed tremendous showings by both the team and
individuals.

Freshman forward JaRon Rush finished with 12 points and 15
rebounds. He had eight of UCLA’s 15 offensive rebounds. Freshman
forward Jerome Moiso had his best performance of the last few weeks
with 11 points and six rebounds, sophomore forward Travis Reed
added 10 points and sophomore guard Earl Watson had a game-high
18.

And in its third impressive performance in a row – UCLA has
outscored its last three opponents (Syracuse, Washington State, and
Washington) by an average score of 90-64 – UCLA stayed even on the
boards with Washington, despite a distinct height disadvantage. The
Bruins also forced 29 Husky turnovers and only had 11 of their
own.

This was the result of a 40-minute tenacious UCLA press which
resulted in two things – a tremendous amount of transition and
fast-break points for the Bruins, and would not allow Washington to
get the ball down low to seven-foot center Todd MacCulloch.

In UCLA’s 93-83 loss to Washington last month, MacCulloch was
the difference, as he scored 26 points and had 21 rebounds. But,
this time it was a different story.

UCLA just simply would not let him get the ball – he finished
with only five shot attempts.

"We turned the ball over so many times that we eliminated
MacCulloch ourselves," Washington head coach Bob Bender said.

MacCulloch finished with only 10 points and 13 rebounds, despite
the fact that UCLA was missing its version of MacCulloch in
six-foot, 10-inch freshman forward Dan Gadzuric, who is out for the
season.

"We had to defend him by committee and we had to rebound by
committee," UCLA head coach Steve Lavin said.

And as a result, Washington now needs to be concerned about
another committee – the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee. A week
ago it looked as though Washington (16-11, 9-8 Pac-10) was a
shoo-in for a NCAA Tournament berth, but blow-out losses to both
USC and UCLA this week put its tournament-status in limbo. The
Huskies have one more game – against Washington State next week –
to state their case to the NCAA.

"This is a one-game season," Bender said. "There are no
guarantees, (but) you finish fourth in this league, you deserve to
go in.:

UCLA (21-7, 11-5) has no such concerns. The win, combined with
Arizona’s loss to Stanford, put the Bruins in a second-place tie in
the Pac-10, and with two games remaining – at Arizona State and
Arizona – the only question remaining is where UCLA will be seeded.
UCLA is playing its best basketball of the season, and a sweep in
Arizona may allow the Bruins to gain a desired third-seed.

In any case, the performance against Washington won’t hurt the
Bruins’ case.

UCLA cruised to a 36-25 halftime lead, and extended it to as
much as 55-34 with 11 minutes remaining. The Huskies would go on a
14-2 run over the next five minutes, and would eventually cut the
deficit to 59-51, but would get no closer. The Bruins went on a 7-0
run over the next 63 seconds – culminating in a Davis three-pointer
– to put the game away and perhaps the Pauley-Pavilion career of
Baron Davis.

* * *

Both Rush and Watson went down with injuries in the second half,
but both should play Thursday at Arizona State. Watson banged his
knee with another player with about 10 minutes remaining, while
Rush was knocked unconscious from a Husky elbow with just seconds
remaining. Neither of them returned to play.GENEVIEVE LIANG/Daily
Bruin Senior Staff

Baron Davis readies one of his several dunks.

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