UC Irvine Notebook / John Weyler : Anteaters Slow Things Down to Get Their Offense Going

See Kevin and Rod run. See Kevin and Rod shoot. And once in a while, see Kevin or Rod pass.

That’s the way it used to be for UC Irvine guards Kevin Floyd and Rod Palmer.

With acrobatic Kevin and sharp-shooting Rod running the show, the Anteaters planned to run up big scores and big victories this season. As it turned out, the scores weren’t so big and the victories were far and few between.

“We stopped playing stupid when we were down, 23-9, at Virginia,” Coach Bill Mulligan said. Irvine fell to 2-7 after that defeat.

The Anteaters slowed things down and then recently discovered an inside game. In the past two games--impressive victories over Cal State Fullerton and then-16th-ranked Nevada Las Vegas--center Mike Doktorczyk and power forward Ricky Butler have combined for 86 of Irvine’s 176 points.

In the 99-98 victory over the Rebels, Floyd and Palmer--who are tied for the team lead in scoring average at 15.7--chipped in a total of 11 points.

Scoring is one thing, but the switch in offensive emphasis is most evident when you look at who’s shooting the ball these days:

--In the first 17 games, Palmer attempted 261 field goals, an average of more than 15 per game. In the past two games, he has averaged less than five shots.

--In the first 17, Floyd averaged 13 shots a game. In the past two, he has averaged eight.

Mulligan doesn’t care how the ball goes in the basket. He’s a very democratic guy in that regard. Palmer was yanked from Saturday’s game after he missed a breakaway dunk. (“I don’t want guys doing that (dunking) . . . unless they make it, and then it’s OK,” Mulligan explained.)

But he’s part dictator, too, and he can read statistics. In Big West Conference games, Butler is shooting 58% from the floor, Doktorczyk 57%, Floyd 43% and Palmer 40%.

Now the question: Do Palmer and Floyd, the two best athletes on the team, get to shoot anymore?

“I think both of them want to win more than anything else,” Mulligan said. “They’re aware of the numbers. I think the emergence of Butler and Doktorczyk can only help them, though.

“We’re not telling anybody they can’t shoot. But we’re looking inside more now and if someone decides it’s their night and goes goofy, I won’t hesitate to go to (reserve guards) Justin Anderson or Brett Pagett.”

So much for a vote of confidence. But Palmer and Floyd are taking their new roles in stride . . . as long as Irvine is winning, anyway.

“I’m not frustrated,” Palmer said. “I mean, I think about it sometimes when your guy can take you to the hole and we have to stop and run the offense. But I think we’re playing better as a team because everyone’s more involved now.

“Early in the season, a lot of schools saw our guards were scoring a lot and they put their emphasis on stopping our outside game. My shooting percentage went down because I just forced up some bad shots. Now, with Ricky and Mike scoring so much, that should free things up on the perimeter. I might get six or seven less shots a game, but the ones I get will be open shots.”

Palmer usually finds his way to the bench--and Mulligan’s doghouse--with a forced 20-foot airball. Floyd usually gets there through air travel--one of his patented, coast-to-coast flying layups that ends in a charging call.

“I know I have to discipline myself more now, but the temptations are there,” Floyd said. “Right now, we’re taking what they’re giving. But if they start to double (cover) Ricky and Mike, that will free things up outside.”

So the Kevin and Rod Show might be off and running again.

Like many coaches, Mulligan has had some trying times with his point guards over the years.

Floyd’s full-speed-ahead approach to the game--he has to lead the league in offensive fouls--has sent Mulligan into contortions of pain on the sidelines, but few players have tried to please more desperately than the 6-foot-5 senior who transferred from Georgetown.

Floyd recently referred to himself as an on-the-court “extension of Coach Mulligan.”

Mulligan’s typically warm response?

“If I look like Mr. Turnover, now you know why.”

Floyd had 12 turnovers--four of them on offensive player-control fouls--against Las Vegas. But don’t let Mulligan fool you. He likes Floyd.

“He just gets overly excited and penetrates a little too much,” Mulligan said. “He really doesn’t mean to screw up.”

One week ago, Mulligan assessed his team’s season and said, “I’m not going to let this thing destroy me.”

Two victories later, the Anteaters are 5-5 in the Big West and happy to be alive. They’ve already played Las Vegas twice and have only two road games left, one of which is at 1-9 University of the Pacific.

Mulligan admits the conference record isn’t too bad, but he’s not operating under any false sense of security.

“We beat Fullerton by four, Fresno by three, Pacific by two and Vegas by one,” he said. “Of course we blew out San Jose State . . . by nine.

“If we were snake-bitten, like (George) Raveling at USC, it could be a lot, lot worse.”

Anteater Notes

Forward Jeff Herdman’s five-for-seven three-point shooting against Nevada Las Vegas vaulted him into the No. 1 spot in the nation in three-point field goal percentage. Herdman, a sophomore from Mission Viejo, is shooting 60.4% and takes over the position occupied last week by teammate Mike Doktorczyk (58.8%), who dropped to No. 2. . . . Sophomore Ricky Butler was named the Big West Conference co-player of the week. Butler scored 48 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in Irvine’s victories over Fullerton and Las Vegas. Utah State’s Dan Conway was the other honoree. He scored 47 points and had 16 rebounds in two games. . . . Bob Olson, Irvine’s sports information director, attended a game without a sport coat and tie for the first time in his seven years at Irvine last Thursday and the Anteaters won at Fullerton. It was shirt-and-sweater time for the Rebel upset, too. Said Mulligan: “If I ever see him in a tie again, I’ll cut it off.”

Former Irvine star Wayne Engelstad was on hand for the upset of Las Vegas before heading to Rome, where he’ll play in an Italian pro league. Engelstad had been playing for Albany of the Continental Basketball Assn. He was cut by the Denver Nuggets earlier in the season. “The CBA salary is $2,000 a month,” Mulligan said. “Rome offered him $40,000 for the last three months of the season.” . . . Reserve guard Brett Pagett had two points in Irvine’s first 18 games. Against Las Vegas, he banked in a leaping 19-footer--a straightaway, “missed-it-by-so-much-you-made-it” shot--at the buzzer before halftime to double the total. “Pagett’s shot beat ‘em, you know,” was one of the first things Mulligan said after the 99-98 victory.

Irvine’s sailing team stretched its dinghy regatta victory streak to 23 by winning the Southern Series No. 1 races at Santa Barbara last weekend. Skipper Jon Pinckney and crew Mike Sturman won the ‘A’ Division and skipper Nick Scandone and crew Scott Munch finished second in the ‘B’ Division. Irvine hasn’t lost a dinghy regatta since 1987.