Pacific 10 Basketball Tournament : UCLA Seems to Have It All Going for First Time

The telephone rang one day this week in the UCLA basketball office, so Reggie Miller answered it. Miller does not like to miss opportunities to talk.

“Joe’s pool hall, 8-ball speaking,” Miller said.

If that wasn’t what the caller was expecting, it couldn’t be much more startling than this: Someone other than UCLA winning the Pacific 10 basketball tournament.

“It would be a source of embarrassment to them if they don’t win it,” USC Coach George Raveling said.

So UCLA, not often embarrassed this season, is in kind of an unusual position. The Bruins might actually be one of the first teams ever to be considered overwhelming favorites because they are behind the 8-ball, which of course is Reggie.

The Bruins, who will play Arizona State at 3 p.m. today at Pauley Pavilion, have a lot going for them, not the least of which is Reggie.

Miller prepared for the tournament by scoring 36 points against USC and 42 against Louisville. It certainly won’t hurt UCLA’s chances to have Miller hot, but the Bruins also have other factors in their favor.

First, the first Pac-10 tournament is being played on UCLA’s home court, which some consider dirty pool. “All of us feel that it’s rather unfair,” Washington Coach Andy Russo said.

And since the tournament champion will be forced to win either three games in three days or possibly four games in four days, UCLA has another advantage.

The Bruins should be able to lessen the chance of fatigue because Coach Walt Hazzard can go 12 deep on his roster.

UCLA is 18-2 since Dec. 21, winning the Pac-10 regular-season championship with a 14-4 record, and in all likelihood has an NCAA tournament invitation wrapped up, regardless of the outcome of the Pac-10 tournament.

Hazzard, however, maintains that UCLA isn’t thinking about it like that. He said that circumstances dictate treating a team in Pauley as though it were a burglar.

“You don’t want somebody coming in your house and stealing a piece of bread, do you?” Hazzard asked.

Probably not, but Montel Hatcher, UCLA’s sixth man, contends that the Bruins are not about to come out in the conference tournament and play scared.

“I don’t think there’s really any pressure on us,” he said. “We feel like we can play with anyone, and if we play our game, there shouldn’t be anyone who can really get in our way. We’re capable of doing a lot more damage.”