Clearly confident

  EDWARD LIN/ Daily Bruin Senior Staff Senior forward
Matt Barnes hopes to guide UCLA (No. 25 in nation)
into the NCAA Tournament.

By Christina Teller
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

You know him.

He’s the one who made the full court press work last year.
The one with the tattoo of the hulk-like figure carrying a rim
ripped from a backboard. The one whose extended arms broke down so
many offenses last year.

Oh, you haven’t seen him this year?

Well he had a new hairstyle for a while. A little longer, kind
of curly.

He was the one who was knocking down three-pointers like they
were going out of style against USC the first time.

The quiet storm.

Yeah, that was Matt Barnes.

The 6-foot-7 power forward who made his name as a defensive
nuisance last season and has extended his reputation beyond the
three-point line.

A player whose scorching shooting pace has slowed over the past
few weeks ““ but who doesn’t have those stretches?

An improved player. Not by a stroke of luck or after an
overnight transformation. But as the one who took his game to
another level with the help of a little confidence.

Last season, Barnes used the press to jump-start his game.

“The press was a main factor with me because it helped me
get loose on defense and made my offense come along a little bit
easier,” said Barnes, who averaged 11.6 points per game last
season.

This year, because the Bruins rarely use the press, Barnes
relies on a different spark to get his game going ““
shooting.

A year ago, it would have seemed improbable, as Barnes was
18-for-91 (20 percent) from three-point range in the first three
years of his career. Now, 31-for-69 (45 percent) this season, it
makes sense.

The key, said Barnes, is confidence.

Confidence inside and from the outside.

Most recently it came from working out with members of the
Sacramento Kings as well as dedicating himself to developing his
guard skills with the help of his teammate Jason Kapono and
shooting coach over the summer.

“I’ve always been able to shoot the ball, but
I’ve never really had the confidence to shoot it,”
Barnes said. “I just wanted to get to the point where when I
shoot it I know it’s going to go in.”

On top of the hours of shooting, pick-up games with the pros and
track workouts, the two played their share of one-on-one games.

“It was really even,” Barnes said. “I’m
more of an athletic type and he’s the more skills type. We go
at each other, he becomes more athletic, and I become more skilled.
It’s a back and forth battle, and I definitely think
it’s going to help us both in the long-run.”

But that’s not the end of it.

“Now that I’ve got my jump-shot going, I don’t
know…,” he smiled as he trailed off. “It’s
going to be a tough one for him.”

All of this generates confidence.

But what may have been most instrumental for Barnes’
development as a player was confidence from his coach. It is not
only that Lavin demonstrated his belief in Barnes as a player, but
that the coach’s confidence resulted in an increase in
playing time, allowing Barnes to spread his wings.

After dealing with more bench time than court time his first two
years, playing behind classmates Jerome Moiso, JaRon Rush and Dan
Gadzuric, Barnes grew frustrated.

“It was tough because I thought I should have been
playing, and when I did play, I thought I did a pretty good job,
but I just didn’t get many minutes,” Barnes said.

But he kept his head up, working hard at practice, and Lavin
noticed.

“(Matt) was doing things on a consistent basis in practice
and it was carrying over into games,” Lavin said. “What
he did in games led to more confidence to go to him in late-game
situations where the game is still in doubt to help determine the
outcome of the game.”

It was at Arizona State when Barnes knew he had earned a longer
rope.

During a timeout late in the game, Lavin called a play that
isolated Barnes. It was Lavin’s way of giving Barnes the
green light, and it worked that night. The play was a clear out to
the right, and Barnes, who was up against a bigger guy, faked a
shot and went right by him for a layup.

“After that game, I felt a little more confident out there
because I knew if I made a mistake that maybe I wouldn’t come
right out as I had in prior years,” Barnes said. “I
felt a little more leverage as far as making mistakes.”

Barnes had come a long way. He came not just from the bench to
the court, but from the frustration with coaches and thoughts about
transferring to buckling down, working hard and earning his
time.

“We kind of joked about it after the game. From the dog
house to isolation plays ““ Matt Barnes in a matter of
months,” Ray Young said. “Coach rarely says isolate a
man, especially Matt Barnes because he was in a doghouse for
years.

“He had just been showing improvement and took advantage
of the leeway. Coach (Lavin) began to trust him and let him fly a
little bit,” Young continued.

Now that Barnes has become a central part of the Bruin squad, he
has been able to use his attributes ““ court vision,
inside-outside game, passing ability ““ to his advantage.

As UCLA heads into its rematch with Cal tonight, the Bruins need
Barnes to be the quiet storm that he can be.