Efforts of young players laudable, but Kapono and Gadzuric on top

  DANIEL WONG/ Daily Bruin Senior Staff Dan
Gadzuric dominated the Cardinal big men as he went on to
record his seventh double-double of the season in UCLA’s game
against Stanford on Saturday.

By Dylan Hernandez
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

PALO ALTO “”mdash; It was the game during which the youngsters
matured, when they took that giant step across the invisible line
that separates teenagers from men, when they went from being mere
prospects to legitimate basketball players.

Without its four freshmen and one sophomore, who collectively
played with more sagacity than they had all season, the UCLA
men’s basketball team very well could have found itself short
of beating Stanford at Maples Pavilion Saturday.

No one questioned that.

When cornered in the visiting locker room after the game, Bruin
junior forward Jason Kapono said, “Write about the
freshmen.”

Yet, almost lost in the enthusiasm over the efforts of the
squad’s younger players were those of the Bruin veterans.

It was Kapono, the multi-dimensional junior forward, who scored
22 points and outplayed Stanford’s one-dimensional
All-American candidate, Casey Jacobsen.

It was Dan Gadzuric, the Bruins’ senior center, who had 12
points, snagged 15 rebounds and manhandled the Cardinals’
massive body in the paint, Curtis Borchardt.

Kapono, though slightly ill with the flu, knew what he had to
do. Facing fewer double teams than he had seen in some time, Kapono
fought through the sniffles and buried eight of his 12 shots. When
Jacobsen, or whoever else that was on him, wouldn’t let him
get his shot off, he hit open teammates.

One of Kapono’s passes, one which he unleashed while
caught in midair in front of the basket with 12:08 left in the
game, found its way into Gadzuric’s hands. Gadzuric elevated
over Borchardt, then violently pounded the ball through the
basket.

Borchardt staggered back a few steps like a weakened drunkard,
and Gadzuric hung on the rim and thrust his pelvis in the direction
of his rival’s face. Gadzuric’s actions earned him a
technical foul, but if there was ever a time to get teed up, this
was it. The gesture, however vulgar it could be interpreted,
affirmed Gadzuric’s status as the alpha male in the
paint.

“I used my strength with (Borchardt),” said
Gadzuric, who, like Kapono, was also sick. “I was
concentrating on going to the basket and scoring, to utilize my
quickness and footwork.”

Kapono and Gadzuric cut Stanford’s head off, and rest of
the Cardinal squad fell.