THEY'VE WALKED THE WALK FARMAR AND AFFLALO CRITICIZED BRUINS, THEN ELEVATED THEM.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

Arron Afflalo and Jordan Farmar didn't mince words. As high school seniors, they flat-out questioned the desire of UCLA's players, and vowed to end two years of mediocrity in Westwood.

Afflalo said the 2003-04 Bruins showed ``a lack of toughness'' and demonstrated ``little will to win.'' Farmar said he was recruited for ``toughness,'' something the program was lacking.

Two years after making those comments, Afflalo and Farmar, the Bruins' starting sophomore guards, delivered on their promise to return UCLA to glory. They have led the second-seeded Bruins (31-6) to their first Final Four since 1995, as UCLA will face No. 4 seed LSU on Saturday at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.

And amazingly, Afflalo and Farmar provided the attitude adjustment with little resistance from the very players they criticized.

``It's because we have great kids, and they're all on the same page,'' UCLA third-year coach Ben Howland said. ``They're about winning, about getting the program back to where we all expect it to be, which is at the highest level. They've done a good job of getting along with one another because, the bottom line is, they're great kids.''

UCLA was very much a leaderless program searching for direction, which played into Afflalo's and Farmar's strengths.

The Bruins lived through the 10-19 debacle that cost coach Steve Lavin his job after the 2002-03 season, then were jolted by the equivalent of drinking about 100 Starbucks espressos when Ben Howland took over.

Howland's first UCLA team went 11-17, but didn't include a player he recruited. Often during that frustrating, sometimes maddening, season, Howland spoke to Farmar and Afflalo, the two marquee players of the four-member recruiting class, about what the program needed.

Defense and toughness, both mental and physical, were the usual topics. And both players got the message across.

When Afflalo and Farmar arrived on campus in the summer of 2004 and began running pickup games, there were no ill feelings toward the newcomers.

``We all got along really well,'' said Farmar, a former McDonald's All- American from Taft High of Woodland Hills. ``Everyone wanted to change the program, turn it around, wanted to make it into a winning program. They were very much on the same page trying to do that.''

For Afflalo, Farmar, and fellow freshmen Josh Shipp and Lorenzo Mata, competing hard in practice wasn't new. The culture shock came for the returning Bruins, like current fifth-year senior wing Cedric Bozeman, current starting center Ryan Hollins, backup center Michael Fey and even sixth-year walk-on guard Janou Rubin.

``Practices were very intense,'' Bozeman said. ``Definitely, there were a lot of battles in practice. I think it made us better as a team, competing hard. When you come in new, you have a lot of things to prove, and even the old guys have a lot to prove.''

According to players, the intensity and hatred of losing Afflalo and Farmar brought immediately elevated the level of practices.

``I'm not really a vocal leader. I lead more by example,'' Afflalo said. ``I try to go out there and do the right thing, play my heart out and hopefully, the others will see that. I would love to believe (that happened), and I think so.''

When Bozeman was reminded of Afflalo's and Farmar's comments following Saturday's 50-45 defeat of top-seeded Memphis in the Oakland Regional final, he shook his head and laughed.

``Yeah, I remember that,'' Bozeman said. ``At that point, it kind of grazed my ear. I took nothing of it. This team, I guess, everybody's on the same page. At that time, I think we had people that had different agendas. At this point, all that is in the past.''

Bozeman said nothing personal was taken from Afflalo's and Farmar's approach. But it certainly helped when Afflalo and Farmar developed into two of UCLA's most valuable players in leading the school back to the NCAA Tournament last season.

Afflalo, who is one of the best defensive players in the west, leads the Bruins in scoring at 16.2 points per game. Farmar, the Pacific-10 Conference freshman of year a season ago, is second on the team in scoring (13.4 ppg) and led the Pac-10 in assists (5.2 per game) this season.

Howland has repeatedly said the duo make up the best backcourt in the nation, and he said the reason both had immediate success changing the attitude within the program was simple.

``They were really good players,'' Howland said. ``They're two McDonald's All-Americans. Two guys that could have gone just about anywhere, so when they're coming in, they're raising the level because they're big-time players.''

Farmar said he never had a doubt he could change the climate within the program.

``I've never been in a losing situation,'' Farmar said. ``I have extreme confidence in myself, and I think everybody's that come into this program feels the same way. I'll do whatever it takes to win.

``It's about the guys we have here. It's not about how tall, how strong you are, how big and muscular you are. The only muscle that matters is (heart), and all the guys have an extreme amount of heart and character.''

Brian Dohn, [phone]

brian.dohn(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo, 2 boxes

Photo:

MIKE WARREN 

Box:

(1) UCLA FINAL FOUR MEMORIES

- Jill Painter

(2) FINAL FOUR