All of a sudden, Bruins see themselves in finals
By Daily Bruin Staff
Feb. 21, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 CATHY JUN Senior guard Earl Watson
shoots over an opponent last week. The red-hot Bruins face Oregon
tonight.
By Chris Umpierre
Daily Bruin Staff
If someone had said in November that the UCLA men’s
basketball team would be in the thick of the Pac-10 race in late
February, they would have been handed a straitjacket and told to go
to a padded cell.
As crazy as it might sound, UCLA ““ which began the season
an atrocious 4-4 ““ is not only sitting pretty in sole
possession of second place in the Pac-10, but they control their
own destiny to claim the school’s first conference title
since 1997.
If the No. 15 Bruins (17-6, 10-2 Pac-10) run the table for the
rest of the season, starting with tonight’s game against
Oregon (13-10, 4-9) at the always hostile McArthur Court, the
conference is theirs.
Things have flip-flopped so much these days in Westwood, that
the Bruins, who have won 13 of their last 15 games, aren’t
talking about getting into the NCAA tournament or even winning the
league title.
The team has their eyes on a much bigger prize.
MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Oregon Today 7 p.m.
Eugene, OR Fox Sports Net 2 Radio 1150 AM “We feel we have
the potential to go all the way,” said shooting guard Ray
Young.
“Right now, we can put it together for the national
championship,” said forward Jason Kapono.
Senior point guard Earl Watson says he isn’t surprised at
how fast the outlook for his team, which seemed in December to have
a date with the lowly NIT tournament, has changed.
“I thought we would have been in this position before that
(4-4 record to start the year) and after that stretch,” he
said. “Never once did I ever count out my teammates out our
potential.”
He feels his team began the year so poorly because they were
adjusting to losing two quality players, forwards Jerome Moiso and
JaRon Rush. UCLA is clearly not the overpowering team they were
last year.
Watson felt it took his team some time to learn that they had to
win games differently this season.
“We are not the type of team to throw lobs all day like we
used to (last year),” he said. “That’s a huge
weapon. To get that taken away, there’s an adjustment
period.”
According to Young, the horrendous start was due to the fact
that UCLA played tough teams. In the pre-season, the Bruins played
No. 2 North Carolina, No. 11 Kansas, and No. 13 Kentucky.
“As we’ll see late in the season, there are a lot of
teams that started off with great records but never really played
anybody,” Young said. “They start to fall off at the
end of the season because they aren’t getting better.
“Our whole objective was to keep getting better as the
year goes on. Don’t peak too early but definitely don’t
peak too late. Just be a buzzsaw.”
But don’t go out and start planning the NCAA championship
party just yet. Before any nets are cut and champagne is corked,
UCLA still has six league games left, including four on the road.
First up will be a tough Oregon team that is not as bad as their
record may indicate.
Add the fact that the game is being played in McArthur Court,
and it becomes clear that the Bruins will have their hands full
tonight.
Known as “The Pit,” McArthur Court has a reputation
of being one of the toughest places to play in the nation.
It has been especially hard on UCLA. The Bruins have lost five
of their last seven games in McArthur, including last year’s
73-58 loss.
“From tipoff to the final buzzer their fans bring
incredible energy and enthusiasm,” said UCLA Head Coach Steve
Lavin, who is 1-3 in The Pit. “I call it a fox hole, a
hornet’s nest, or a snake pit to the players. Those are the
kind of environments you have to enjoy playing in.”
Young says McArthur is the toughest arena in which he has
competed.
“It’s a small court and their fans are real
rowdy,” he said. “It’s always been hard for us to
win there. We take this as a challenge.”
There’s a good chance UCLA will face the Ducks and their
rambunctious crowd without 6-foot-11 center Dan Gadzuric.
Gadzuric, who didn’t practice this week, is still hampered
by a sore left ankle he injured against DePaul.
While the hopes of hanging the program’s twelfth
championship banner have suddenly turned from a distant dream to
reality, the team understands they haven’t yet reached their
goal.
“We’re not going anywhere yet,” Watson said.
“We’ve got a long way to go. We just got to take it one
week at a time. Winning a Pac-10 championship is the first
step.”
