UCLA'S FRESH SET OF PROBLEMS THREE-GAME LOSING STREAK IS RESULT OF NEWCOMERS HITTING 'THE WALL'.Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer They came to UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX to resurrect its once-proud basketball program. They promised to bring energy, toughness and talent. The one thing UCLA's four freshmen - Jordan Farmar Jordan Robert Farmar (born November 30, 1986) is an American professional basketball player at starting point guard for the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers. He was previously the starting point guard for the UCLA men's basketball team. , Arron Afflalo Arron Agustin Afflalo (born October 15, 1985) is an American professional basketball player, currently with the Detroit Pistons. He recently completed a three-year career at University of California, Los Angeles in the Pacific Ten Conference of the NCAA as the starting shooting , Josh Shipp Josh Shipp (born 23 January in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) is an American motivational speaker and author focusing on youth and college-aged audiences. He is noted as being one of the youngest speakers ever accepted into the National Speakers Association. and Lorenzo Mata - may have underestimated was the size of the learning curve in making the transition from high school to college basketball College basketball most often refers to the American basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA. History
UCLA's three-game losing streak threatens to destroy a promising start to the season, and the freshmen spent the past week trying to regroup re·group v. re·grouped, re·group·ing, re·groups v.tr. To arrange in a new grouping. v.intr. 1. To come back together in a tactical formation, as after a dispersal in a retreat. . Heading into today's contest against archrival arch·ri·val n. A principal rival. USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. at the Sports Arena, the struggling quartet is the primary reason the Bruins have gone from first to fourth place in the Pacific-10 Conference The Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) is a college athletic conference which operates in the western United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I. Membership Full members standings. ``It's pretty tough,'' Shipp said. ``The second half of the season, there's all these scouting reports, fatigue. I mean, I didn't really expect all this. It's a big adjustment.'' During the eight-day span in which the Bruins (10-6, 4-4 Pac-10) lost in the closing seconds to Arizona, then gave poor efforts in losses to Stanford and California, the efficiency and productivity of the four freshmen dropped significantly. Afflalo, Farmar, Shipp and Mata shot 43.6 percent from the field in UCLA 's first five league games, and the Bruins won four. During this three-game slide, the quartet is shooting 35.5 percent. UCLA's offense suffered accordingly. In the 11-point loss to Stanford, UCLA matched its season low with 64 points. Two nights later, the Bruins scored 51 points in losing to Cal, which came into the game in last place. ``The only thing I can think of is it's the middle of the season, they're young, they haven't been through this, so I think it's that freshman wall I've been talking about,'' UCLA senior Dijon Thompson Dijon Lynn Thompson (born February 23, 1983 in Los Angeles, California, USA) is an American professional basketball player for Alba Berlin of the German Bundesliga. said. ``I think it's just a little bit overwhelming. It's my job and my responsibility to pick them up.'' Fatigue always is an issue for freshmen in late January, and it shows in the way Farmar and Afflalo are playing. The loss of Cedric Bozeman Cedric R. Bozeman (born March 7 1983 in Los Angeles, California) is an American professional basketball player, formerly of the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA. Bozeman averaged 1.1 points in 23 games with five starts with the Hawks before being waived in January 2007. before the season with a knee injury left Farmar as UCLA's only point guard. Farmar's 34.3 minutes per game is third-most in the Pac-10. Partly because of the inconsistency of senior Brian Morrison, Afflalo is averaging 31.4 minutes per game. ``They've done a very good job,'' UCLA coach Ben Howland Ben Howland (born May 28, 1957 in Lebanon, Oregon) is an American college head coach of men's basketball. He has been the head coach of the University of California, Los Angeles since 2003, and recently signed a contract extension through 2013. said. ``I go back and look at the freshmen I've coached, and I think they've done a great job. I think it's hard for anybody to really know what to expect until you go through it.'' Indeed, experience is another factor for the drop in play. Also, scouting reports are more clearly defined. When Farmar tried to run off time by dribbling around late against Arizona State, a group of Sun Devils
Farmar limited his turnovers to three in 107 minutes during the three-game span before the Arizona State game, but he turned the ball over 17 times in his last 133 minutes. ``In college, it's more a team game than it is in high school,'' said Farmar, a former star at Taft High of Woodland Hills. ``Rotations are quicker on defense, and things like that. It's something I expected. I didn't expect to come in and just have my way with college basketball. I knew I was going to make mistakes. ``I was going to learn, but I learn more and more I need my teammates. I'm not going to be out there doing it by myself. None of us are.'' Mata, a center, barely had time to check in against Stanford before the Cardinal began pounding the basketball into the low post. It resulted in two ridiculously easy baskets within 35 seconds and prevented the Bruins from making a run. After averaging 14.3 minutes and 4.5 rebounds per game in the first four league games, Mata is averaging seven minutes and 1.5 rebounds per game in the past four. Howland said earlier this week that Ryan Hollins Ryan Hollins (born October 10, 1984) is an American professional basketball player. At 7 foot, 225 lbs, he is a center from the University of California, Los Angeles. He was selected in the second round of the 2006 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Bobcats. moved ahead of Mata as Michael Fey's primary backup. ``It's tough because everybody's strong, everybody's the same height,'' said Mata, who played at South Gate High. ``High school wasn't like that. Like coach said, I'm going to be in the weight room for six or seven straight months (after the season). I'm looking forward to that. ``When I go in, they all go after me. Like coach said, it's sharks smelling blood. Once I get in there, teams are going right into the post. Right at the freshman.'' Teams also adjusted to Shipp's offensive game. UCLA's small forward suddenly has very little room to shoot from the outside, and his confidence in shooting jumpers seems to be waning. Shipp, who prepped at Fairfax High of Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , shot 54 percent in nonconference games but is shooting 35.2 percent in Pac-10 action. Afflalo, a shooting guard, discovered muscling his way to the basket like he did in high school isn't always the best solution. After shooting 46.7 percent in nonconference play, he is shooting 40.3 percent against Pac-10 opponents. ``You have to be a little smarter,'' said Afflalo, who played at Centennial High of Compton. ``You can't just try and be a brute. You have to pick and choose when to use your strength. It's more of an intelligent game. You can't just go out there and try to run over guys because there are schemes, there is film, there are so many games that prevent you from doing so many things. ``It's different, but hopefully that learning curve we're going through right now won't be the rest of the season.'' Brian Dohn, (818) 713-3607 brian.dohn(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos, 2 boxes Photo: (1 -- color) Jordan Farmar and three other UCLA freshman are learning the difference between high school and college basketball. Edna T. Simpson/Daily News (2) UCLA's four freshmen: from left, Lorenzo Mata, Jordan Farmar, Arron Afflalo and Josh Shipp. Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer Box: (1) USC vs. UCLA - Brian Dohn and Scott Wolf (2) FRESHMEN FUNK |
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