Team tries to reconfigure after losing star players

UCLA 76 WSU 64

By Jackie Abellada
Daily Bruin Contributor

How hard is it for a team to lose a Michael Jordan? A Troy
Aikman? A Wayne Gretzky?

The UCLA women’s basketball team (5-10, 2-5 Pac-10) might
have an answer.

Just three games before the team geared up for Pac-10
competition, Bruin forward Michelle Greco was sidelined due to
“undisclosed medical reasons.”

For two entire games, Greco watched her teammates fall to the
University of San Diego and Colorado as her own basketball career
teetered with uncertainty.

Finally, a decision was made. On Dec. 12, UCLA announced that
the former Pac-10 scoring leader would sit out the remainder of the
season because of her “history of mild
concussions.”

“While sitting out will be difficult, I am encouraged by
the doctors who have indicated that taking a year off from playing
at this time will enhance my ability to return for my senior season
and then play at the next level,” said Greco in a press
release.

The team has sorely missed the 20-plus points that its leader
delivers day in and day out. After Greco’s official
announcement, the Bruins lost six of eight games against Baylor,
Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford and Washington.

And all but one (against Oregon) of those defeats were by
double-digits.

Her absence on the court has been devastating to say the least.
Her ability to draw in double teams, even triple teams have allowed
her teammates to take advantage of open baskets. But, without
Greco, the Bruins have faced man-to-man coverage where they must
create their own shots ““ a situation that has taken its toll
on the rest of the team.

“Obviously, she is a big part of our point
production,” head coach Kathy Olivier said. “But the
other thing she is a big part of is our confidence. She just makes
things look easy, and when the basket looks big to someone, its
contagious.”

Just when the squad was able to finally grab a commanding 64-48
win against California, the squad was hit with another major blow.
Kristee Porter, who appeared to take on the role of the
team’s go-to scorer, averaging 10.8 points per game,
announced her decision Jan. 4 to turn professional in volleyball.
As a result, Porter must surrender her commitments to UCLA
athletics, giving up her eligibility to participate in basketball
and track and field.

Now, the team must once again re-configure itself and find a way
to survive through the season without both Greco and Porter in the
lineup.

And it appears that these Bruins are up to the challenge as
several players have been able to step it up and crank their games
up a notch offensively.

Post-Greco, Jalina Bradley, a junior guard, has averaged 9.7
points per game. Shalada Allen, a senior center, had a career-best
performance, scoring 16 points and grabbing eight rebounds against
Washington.

“We always said, “˜Without Michelle, we are going to
score by committee,'” point guard Natalie Nakase after
a loss to Oregon.

And, the team hopes its performance against Washington State
this past Sunday shows that these Bruins should not be ruled out
just yet. In the game, the Bruins were down as much as 11 points
before rallying back to grab the victory, 76-64. Nakase led the
Bruins charge with a career-high 24 points.

“I think this team has been through a lot,” said
Olivier. “They have constantly been placed in a lot of
different situations, and they have handled them pretty well. So
once we get some continuity, I think we’ll be
fine.”

Despite the past defeats and the lost of Greco and Porter,
Olivier remains optimistic about her team’s chances and
performances during its remaining thirteen Pac-10 games.

“I think it is still too early to tell how the remainder
of the season will go, but we are a team that gets going late in
the season and we have been constantly focusing on improving
ourselves.”