LaBradford Smith Is a Young Man on the Spot : Freshman Point Guard Faces Pooh Richardson When Louisville, UCLA Play

LaBradford Smith, the University of Louisville’s freshman point guard, doesn’t blink an eye at the mention of the player he’ll be up against in today’s nationally televised basketball game with UCLA.

Oh, sure, he’s well aware of Pooh Richardson. He knows Richardson’s reputation. He has studied Richardson’s strengths.

But he’s looking forward to the matchup.

“Good players always want to play against the best,” Smith said. “If you play against someone who is not that good, you don’t improve. You play against somebody like Pooh and you try to pick things up. You see something, then you try to put it in your own style and make it a part of your own game.”

Smith has the kind of deep-rooted confidence that made Louisville Coach Denny Crum sure that the kid could handle being thrown in over his head the way he had to be this season.

Crum knew what he was doing when he chose for his starting point guard a youngster who not only had never played a college game but had never before played the position.

At 6-feet-3, Smith really is meant to be a guard. But his Bay City (Tex.) High School team needed him at forward and center. He was twice Texas player of the year as he led his team to a record of 125-4 in games he played in over four years.

Smith will take the court before a crowd of more than 19,000 at Freedom Hall knowing that he might be outplayed, but also knowing that he is a gifted player.

It didn’t shake his confidence when he was outplayed by David Rivers in the opener against Notre Dame. He didn’t turn tail and run after struggling against Kentucky’s Rex Chapman. He came back with 21 points against Cleveland State’s Ken (Mouse) McFadden. And he had 32 points against Indiana’s Keith Smart.

Louisville has a 6-5 record after losing some close games. The only big loss was the 15-point defeat in the opener at Notre Dame.

“If I were only concerned about this season, I don’t think I’d have an inexperienced player at point guard,” Crum said. “But I’m looking at what is best for us and best for him in the long run.

“I expect LaBradford to have a tough time with Pooh. I think anybody would have his work cut out for him playing Pooh.”

Crum coached Richardson with the Pan Am team last summer.

Meanwhile, Smith was playing for the U.S. in the World Basketball Championships for junior men in Bormio, Italy.

“I’ve looked at the film of Pooh and I see what Coach has told me, about how quick he is and how he likes to penetrate,” Smith said. “I also know that he’s a real defensive player.”

That could cause some trouble for Smith, who shoots a lot for a point guard. He even puts up three-pointers. With a 12.9-point average, he’s the third-leading scorer on the Cardinal team, behind center Pervis Ellison and forward Herb Crook.

Smith also leads the team in three-point shooting, having made 11 of 32; free-throw percentage, .911, and assists, 41. On the other hand, he also leads the team in turnovers with 47, and fouls with 35.

It is not a timid game that he plays.

Bruin Notes UCLA’s game at Louisville today will be nationally televised (NBC, 11 a.m.). It also will be broadcast live on KMPC radio, 710 a.m. . . . UCLA is 6-8 and has won its last two games. Louisville is coming off two losses, to Georgia Tech and Florida State. . . . UCLA leads the series, 7-3, and beat the Cardinals last season at Pauley Pavilion, 99-86, getting 42 points from Reggie Miller.

Louisville has won the last two at Freedom Hall. The last time Louisville beat UCLA was in 1986 when the Cardinals were on their way to the NCAA title. . . . Louisville Coach Denny Crum is in his 17th year as a head coach, all at Louisville. He is six victories away from No. 400 and he has won two national titles, in 1980, when his team beat UCLA in the title game, and 1986. He graduated from UCLA in 1958 and was an assistant coach under John Wooden from 1968-1971.

Louisville senior forward Herbert Crook, the big guy whom Bruin guard Pooh Richardson took a swing at last season, said Thursday that he was not holding a grudge about that little altercation. Crook said, “That’s one of those things that you forget about.” . . . Cardinal center Pervis Ellison has blocked 33 shots this season.

UCLA Coach Walt Hazzard said he has received a letter from Frank McIntyre, the Pac-10 director of officials, apologizing for an official’s call in the 116-110 double overtime loss at Stanford. Hazzard had argued that a shot by Stanford’s Todd Lichti, which sent the game into the second overtime, was a two-point shot, not a three-pointer, as called by the official.