Testing Well at Stanford

There’s plenty of talk these days -- some of it from very high places -- about the brand of basketball emerging at UCLA.

But before everybody tosses the recent history of the program into the dustbin, there might be a few things worth picking out of the trash.

Other than the rabbit-out-of-the-hat postseason runs Steve Lavin was famous for, the trait most worth salvaging might be the quality of some of those performances at Maples Pavilion, a place Ben Howland visits for the first time as UCLA coach today.

Logic says a UCLA team that lost to Arizona by 25 at home Saturday doesn’t stand a chance against a No. 2-ranked Stanford team that defeated Arizona by 10 in Tucson.

The Bruins say logic doesn’t always apply.

“No, because ‘SC beat Arizona, then lost to Arizona State. Everybody can be beaten in the Pac-10,” freshman Trevor Ariza said.

“Dijon [Thompson] told me it’s always a good game up there.”

Point guard Cedric Bozeman said the same thing.

“For some reason, when we go up to Stanford, the team always pulls together and plays pretty well,” Bozeman said. “I think it’s a players’ gym.”

Just last season, the Bruins followed their 35-point loss to Arizona with a one-point loss at Stanford.

In 2000 and 2001, UCLA upset Stanford teams that were ranked No. 1 in the nation when the teams met at Maples.

Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery calls it all balderdash.

He remembers the Maples Massacre, the 48-point victory over UCLA under Lavin in 1997, and he knows Stanford has dominated the series in recent years, winning 11 of the last 15 games, six in a row at Pauley Pavilion.

Bruin magic at Maples? He’ll have none of it.

“That was probably typical of that group of kids at UCLA, or maybe the thing was they tended to focus a little better in that game here and played some of their best basketball here -- generally, after we had beaten them there,” he said.

“That was typical of that UCLA team and the way they played. So it doesn’t have much to do with it.”

With “that UCLA team” a thing of the past, Howland’s UCLA team enters Maples today for a rare 5:30 p.m. weekday game.

What’s notable is that even after the blowout loss to Arizona, the Bruins are drawing positive reviews from the most respected coaches in the Pacific 10.

“They’re much more disciplined. They work harder,” Arizona Coach Lute Olson said this week. “I think defensively they’re much more solid. They just seem to be much more focused on defense as a critical part of the game.”

Montgomery admitted he was surprised by the Arizona score, but his logic isn’t much different from Ariza’s.

“You know, if you look at the Arizona State game versus ‘SC, the ‘SC game versus Arizona and Arizona-UCLA, the one common thread is that the teams that have won really, really have shot the ball well.

“There are a lot of guys in this league that can score and shoot. You get a guy like [USC’s] Desmon Farmer who gets you 40, you’re going to have a chance to win.

“The bottom line is if the ball is going down for some of the guys in our league, it makes them very difficult to beat.”

Like Olson, Montgomery sees a UCLA team that has changed under Howland.

“Quite a bit,” Montgomery said. “They look like Ben’s gone back to the basics and said, ‘Look, let’s do the things you need to do to win basketball games.’

“They’re very good in halfcourt defense, very sound. They’re really defending the ball, not gambling so much and making so many mistakes. They’re still real quick, still really athletic, still really long. But they’re doing a good job of helping each other. They’re rotating. They’re protecting the basket.

“They’re more conservative offensively, taking the break when it’s opportunistic. They’ll run on a deep rebound or a turnover.

“Yet they still have a lot of guys capable of putting the ball in the hole and getting it done. I think they’ve benefited from having Trevor Ariza back. He’s a real fine freshman for them, and T.J. Cummings is playing a lot better.

“It’s a different-look UCLA team. They’ve kind of quietly snuck up on people. They’re near the top of the conference and have a good record but have not done it in spectacular fashion, but done it very workmanlike.”

Workmanlike is a word that also applies to this Stanford team, one of the last two unbeaten teams in the country, along with St. Joseph’s.

Howland sees a team that has the strength and toughness he so admires inside, and good shooters outside in Matt Lottich and point guard Chris Hernandez -- a team that was very good even before Josh Childress returned from his foot injury.

“They lead the conference in rebounding margin and field-goal percentage defense, and they’re among the top teams in field-goal percentage offense,” Howland said.

“It will be a very, very difficult challenge for us.”

Bozeman counts himself among Stanford’s admirers.

“I watch Stanford whenever I get a chance because Josh Childress is a good friend,” he said. “They’re very good. That team is very good. They’re a tough, hard-nosed team, and I think they deserve to be No. 1 in the country.

“They’re relentless. There are no soft guys on that team at all. They’re a very tough team.”

In short, they’re a lot like Howland would like the Bruins to become.

“Winning breeds winning. Losing breeds losing,” Howland said. “Once you get a program winning, it feeds on itself.”

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Cardinal Rule

Stanford swept UCLA last season, in 1999 and 1998, and hasn’t been swept since 1994-95. Since then the Cardinal has gone 11-5 against the Bruins:

*--* Season at Maples at Pauley 2002-03 Stanford, 52-51 Stanford, 93-84 2001-02 UCLA, 95-92 Stanford, 86-76 2000-01 UCLA, 79-73 Stanford, 85-79 1999-2000 UCLA, 94-93 (OT) Stanford, 78-73 1998-99 Stanford, 77-73 Stanford, 72-59 1997-98 Stanford, 93-80 Stanford, 84-81 1996-97 Stanford, 109-61 UCLA, 87-68 1995-96 Stanford, 67-66 UCLA, 64-56

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