Freshman Joshua Smith has become the center of success for men’s basketball
Freshman center Joshua Smith has seen an increase in his minutes and production during UCLA’s win streak.
By Brantley Watson
Feb. 9, 2011 2:37 a.m.
This season’s turning point for the UCLA men’s basketball team might not come in the form of a moment, but in the form of a player.
Freshman center Joshua Smith has played a large role in the Bruins’ recent success, scoring in double figures in six of the last seven games he’s played in, seeing his minutes go up in the process.
In UCLA’s past two contests, a win over USC Wednesday and another victory over St. John’s Saturday, Smith has played 56 minutes, the most minutes he has played in back-to-back games all season.
And that increase in playing time certainly paid off for the Bruins, as Smith dropped in 15 against the Trojans and matched his season-high with 19 points against the Red Storm.
UCLA coach Ben Howland attributes Smith’s increase in playing time, as well as his productivity, to a specific play that took place against Arizona State on Jan. 29.
“I thought the dunk at ASU, when he turned and dunked on the guy, was a turning point for Josh,” Howland said Tuesday.
“He’s being more authoritative and more aggressive with the ball. And his teammates, they’re all for it. They were excited.”
One Bruin who was rather excited, aside from Smith, was junior point guard Jerime Anderson.
In addition to a change in conditioning, Anderson explained that he has seen a new attitude on offense from Smith, which Anderson may have had a hand in extracting.
“I think it’s just a different mentality now,” Anderson said. “Every game I tell him he should just dunk on somebody because he’s so big, and he’s so powerful, nobody can really hang with him down low.”
Smith accredited some of his new aggressiveness around the basket to Anderson and his constant berating, and feels comfortable in his new role as a central offensive weapon for the Bruins.
“Every time in practice, I would miss wide-open layups that I could dunk, and they would just tell me to go up and dunk it,” Smith said of his new affinity for dunking. “Now it just feels good to dunk it so they don’t have to say anything.”
In his Tuesday press conference, Howland was extremely pleased with the increased amount of time that Smith has been able to stay on the court, which he said shows progress in Smith’s ability to stay out of foul trouble and his personal conditioning.
In the past five games that Smith has been on the court for more than 20 minutes, he is averaging nearly 14 points and more than seven rebounds, a significant increase from his season average of a little more than 10 points and six rebounds.
“With our team, anybody on our team can produce on any night,” Smith said. “With me, I’m just trying to be more aggressive to help the team out. That’s not necessarily scoring, but sealing and getting the ball and trying to make things happen.”
Injury update
Junior point guard Lazeric Jones underwent an MRI on his left wrist that came back showing a sprain but no fracture.
When he’s not playing, he will wear a fitted cast while the wrist heals.
Jones sustained the injury in Wednesday’s win over USC.
