Bruins learn from mistakes, seek to improve consistency

All year long, the UCLA basketball team had been able to win
games with inconsistent offensive performances.

This was especially true of the NCAA Tournament when the Bruins
won Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight and Final Four games shooting a
combined 39.1 percent (58-148) from the field and 27.6 percent
(13-47) from 3-point range.

But against Florida, the UCLA defense couldn’t make up for
its offensive inefficiency like it did with previous Bruin
wins.

The Bruins shot 36.1% (22-61) from the field and just 17.6%
(3-17) from behind the arc in their 73-57 loss to the Gators.

“We made a lot of mistakes and turned over the
ball,” freshman point guard Darren Collison said. “They
were really aggressive on defense, and the team that makes the most
mistakes is going to lose the game.”

It was just a total offensive struggle for most of the game for
UCLA. In the first half, UCLA shot just 8-27 from the field and
didn’t do much better in the second half, going 14-34.

By scoring 57 points, UCLA became just the third team since the
shot-clock era to score fewer than 60 points in a national title
game.

And with the exception of sophomore guard Jordan Farmar, who
scored 18 points in what turned out to be his most productive
offensive game of the tournament, the individual performances were
less than encouraging.

Sophomore shooting guard Arron Afflalo was held scoreless in the
first half and finished the game with 10 points on 3-10 shooting.
Afflalo averaged 16.6 points per game in the NCAA Tournament but
did not score more than 15 points in any NCAA Tournament game.

“Maybe I was trying to hunt the ball a little too
much,” Afflalo said. “I had a couple of opportunities
in the paint. Probably just needed to slow down, shot fake, do some
things better to get my shot off.”

Freshman forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, after dominating on
both ends of the floor against LSU, was also held scoreless in the
first half and finished the game with only six points.

One shining light for UCLA offense was Farmar. Even though he
struggled from behind the arc, going 0-7 after hitting his first
attempt of the game, Farmar was able to create good looks inside
with his dribble penetration.

Farmar also made the extra pass when he had to, finishing the
game with a team-high four assists and only turning the ball over
twice.

But even Farmar had to work extra hard to get the good looks
that he did, and he and the rest of his teammates were contested
virtually every time they were in the paint.

“(Florida) left us relying on dribble penetration,”
Farmar said. “Once we got in there, it either was a blocked
shot, they changed a lot of shots. That’s just what their two
bigs bring to the table.”

When the Bruins did get open looks outside, they clanked them.
Afflalo missed a couple of wide open looks. Mbah a Moute did the
same. Afflalo hit two 3-pointers late in the game and Ryan Hollins
converted on a couple of looks outside of the paint, but
UCLA’s shooting performance left a lot to be desired.
It’s something that the Bruins know they will have to do on a
more consistent basis if they want to get back to the Final Four
next season.

“I will be a better shooter next year,” Mbah a Moute
said. “I promise you that.”

The offensive prospects are already looking a lot higher for
next season. Forward Josh Shipp, who averaged 9.3 points per game
and shot 46% as a freshman in the 2004-05 season, will return to
the lineup, and incoming freshman center James Keefe is expected to
give the Bruins a consistent scorer right away.

“It means a lot to us to make it this far,”
sophomore center Lorenzo Mata said. “Next year, we have a lot
of players coming back and we hope to build on the success of this
year and come back to the Final Four.”