| | By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
WESTWOOD, Calif. -- Here's a news flash: UCLA hasn't imploded -- again.
Spend a day at practice and it's quite the contrary.
Like the stories that were written countless times that Bill Clinton would get bounced from his Oval Office, UCLA continues to survive any attempt to rush the Bruins out of the top 25, the NCAA Tournament or the spotlight in college basketball.
So, OK, the latest is that senior Rico Hines and junior Matt Barnes got into a scuffle at a pickup game a few weeks back. The common knowledge around the team, and now widely reported, is that Hines flipped out and hit Barnes with a chair causing a cut on Barnes' forehead.
|  | | Earl Watson says he's ready for the Bruins to lean on him for support this season. |
No coaches were in the gym, but they quickly found out. Hines was disciplined, missing an exhibition and the season opener against Kansas in the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament Nov. 9 in New York.
Yeah, so?
"We're always slated to be down," UCLA sophomore forward Jason Kapono said during ESPN.com's preseason tour Saturday. "We've got 'West Coast softies.' We have too many problems. We're unhappy. The coach is too young. But the bottom line is we play together and we fight through it."
So, a fight at a pickup game is going to bring this team down? Don't think so. A minor altercation is nothing for this crew, especially for senior point Earl Watson.
Watson has seen it all, from lengthy suspensions to Jelani McCoy and Kris Johnson his first year, to a first-round loss to Detroit two years ago; from the nearly year-long sit down of his close friend JaRon Rush last season, to the departure of Rush and Jerome Moiso to the NBA draft in the spring; then losing six of seven games last season and looking like they were not even an NIT team.
So, what happened?
Watson led the Bruins to eight straight wins, the first six to get into the NCAA Tournament, and the last two in the first two rounds. Before losing to Iowa State in the Sweet 16, Watson led the Bruins to wins over Ball State and Maryland with 28 assists and six turnovers.
Now he's dealing with the same chatter about how this team can't get it done.
Uhh, and what about beating Maryland by 35? Guess, everyone forgot.
"This team is a group of survivors," Watson said. "Nothing bothers us or gets us down. Stanford had us down 10 and we won. Cal had us down 20 and we won. Carolina had us down in Chapel Hill and we won. People don't understand us.
"I'm a survivor," Watson said. "Coach 'Lav' really picked me up after what happened to JaRon. He's like my brother. Once JaRon came back, I started rolling."
Watson said he's become the team's rock, determined to not let anything faze him. He said he figured out during those eight straight wins last season that he had to be the stable force on the team.
"We have nine juniors or seniors coming back and this is the first time coach 'Lav' has had this many upperclassmen in his five years," Watson said. "People don't realize that in that first-round loss, Dan (Gadzuric) wasn't playing. He was hurt. I haven't been here a year, and I won't be because of Rico, where we've had the same team from the first game to the last. I know a lot of people don't understand how coach 'Lav' is winning games. We do get better each year."
And they get smarter, too.
Kapono and Gadzuric realized that they weren't ready to leave for the NBA. Rush had no choice, facing too many issues if he returned to UCLA. Moiso was prepared and got picked No. 11 in the draft.
But Kapono had no guarantees that he would crack the first round. He declared and then quickly returned after hearing that he wasn't a lock. Gadzuric gave the idea a thought, but then never entered his name in the draft.
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Perseverance is our trademark. It doesn't matter what goes on or why. Everyone just gets through it and no one worries about it. ” |
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— Jason Kapono,
UCLA sophomore forward |
Guess what? They're not thinking about it now, nor are they ready to officially declare themselves for 2001, even though Gadzuric and Kapono had been believed to be already gone after this, their, sophomore and junior seasons, respectively.
"If it's a good time to go, then I'll decide to go, but I like college and people don't know that this team is tightly grouped together," Gadzuric said. "We work hard and we face the consequences that come along during the year. We make mistakes, but we always keep on going."
Kapono didn't declare for the draft because he was tired of Lavin or UCLA. He wanted to be in the league and saw a weak draft at shooting guard. He was cautious, didn't sign with an agent and saw that he would be taking a risk after hearing the right advice from NBA teams.
"It had nothing to do with UCLA," Kapono said. "Everyone says that around here because they're not used to it. When coach (John) Wooden was here, they had players stay three or four years. Nowadays, it's hard to keep a team as a unit. Hey, L.A. is a tough town. We just always get the questions and the comments."
Kapono, Watson and Gadzuric give the Bruins three experienced starters who can get the Bruins back to the NCAA Tournament. Watson may not be an NBA player, but he's as good a college point guard as there is in the country with his ability to keep the team grounded, jump start the offense and be the point man on defense.
Gadzuric is less like the wild child he once was, using his impressive 6-foot-11, 235-pound frame to his advantage in the post. Kapono is stronger, and in the best shape of his life as he tries to be even more of a threat offensively in the half court, and a quicker defender.
The other two spots -- filled by Matt Barnes and Ray Young -- are not equal to Arizona's starting five, but the pair of role players can fill the void needed for a slash to the basket, a rebound and a defensive stop.
The questions come in off the bench where the Bruins are thin in perimeter help, relying on junior Billy Knight and seniors Hines, Ryan Bailey and freshman point Ryan Walcott. None are impact scorers off the bench and will have to simply hold serve until the starters can catch their breath.
But freshman forward T.J. Cummings is ready to contribute. He's already got the skills to score inside and brings another lanky, defensive presence with his long reach. Meanwhile, freshman forward Josiah Johnson is further behind, but not too far where he won't be a contributor this season.
"The luxury we have now is that we don't have 12 sophomores or freshmen," Lavin said. "This team won't have stage fright or have the deer in headlights syndrome. We won't be intimidated, scared or in awe like we had been sometimes with a younger team."
UCLA opens with Kansas, a top 10 team and a Final Four favorite. The next night the Bruins will play either Kentucky or St. John's. That's three weeks away. If the Bruins go 0-2, the media will write them off. But remember, Duke was 0-2 in the same tournament last year.
"This team knows the first game is no joke," Watson said. "We're playing Kansas and we have to be peeking at the right time."
"Perseverance is our trademark," Kapono said. "It doesn't matter what goes on or why. Everyone just gets through it and no one worries about it."
Lavin understands that the first-round loss to Detroit was unacceptable two years ago. He knows that finishing 10-8 and tied for fourth in the Pac-10 isn't UCLA. But he also knows he's been to two Sweet 16s and an Elite Eight in four years.
And at last check, the Bruins were cleaning up on the recruiting trail -- getting commitments for what looks like a top 10 class (wing Dijon Thompson, Redondo Beach H.S./Calif.; forward Andre Patterson, Washington Prep/Los Angeles; point Cedric Bozeman, Mater Dei H.S./Santa Ana, Calif.; center Michael Fey, Capital H.S./Olympia, Wash.).
They've still got one more scholarship to go and are in tight with a few other potential top 25 players. A new NCAA rule allows a maximum of five scholarship players in one year, a total of eight in two years.
"Paul Hackett (USC football coach) and Jim Harrick (former UCLA basketball coach) have gotten this stuff before," Lavin said of the scrutiny. "I know it's not personal. It's L.A. But we keep plugging along."
And they're all still standing, breathing and playing ball together. Really. We saw it. It may be a snapshot of UCLA basketball. But it's a microcosm of this team and program.
These Bruins aren't back. Heck, they never left.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
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