UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK / JOHN WEYLER : Baker Sticks to His Basic Philosophy: Keep Anteaters on the Run

Rod Baker stood at the podium in a banquet room of an Iowa City motel, in front of a couple hundred Iowa high school coaches with pens and clipboards at the ready, and explained the nuances of the Anteaters’ secondary break.

But there was a lot more than just chalk talk during Baker’s session of a coaching clinic Saturday before the final round of the Hawkeye Invitational tournament. In between diagrams of flashing wing players, staggered screens and plays he stole from the Seattle SuperSonics, the Clippers and Bob Knight, Baker gave some insight into his basic philosophies of the game:

* “We feel we have to push the ball up the floor every night, every time we get the ball. We want our wings and posts to run all the time, if only for the reason to make your wings and posts run all the time.

“We count on being as fit, or more fit, than you and we’re going to test your fitness every night. I plead with our guys to run, run, run and sometimes we have to explain to them that they will be on a very short leash if they don’t run.

“The shot clock keeps running down. It’s at 35 (seconds) now and soon it’ll be 30. It’s becoming more and more important to get the best possible shot in the quickest amount of time.”

* “I’m a shooter’s dream. I tell all our wing players that if you can make a shot, you’re not doing the team any service if you pass that shot up.

“Of course Chris Brown has always taken that to heart. In his first game last year, against Georgetown in the USA Arena where they have the college (three-point) line and the pro line, the first two shots of his college career were from a step beyond the pro line. And he buried them both.

“Ever since then, he’s believed that there’s a shot on the end of every pass.”

* “We opened at Oklahoma, then faced a top 20 team (Ohio University) here and we still have to play at Arizona State. We don’t play a game at home until late December. So the guy who made this schedule is a fool.

“But I think we had to create these situations because I don’t think playing at those places are anymore difficult than playing in Logan, Utah, or Las Cruces, N.M., or Las Vegas, and we’re going to have to do that in conference.

“We’re a new team and you can’t tell players what it’s like. They have to experience it. But if we can come out of this intact, physically, of course, but especially mentally, I think we’ll be in good shape.”

*

Good mornings: Baker, glancing over his shoulder at the screen to view his handiwork on the overhead projector: “You know, these plays always work on these things at 9:45 in the morning. It all looks real good. Let’s hope it works half this good tonight.”

*

Off schedule: Iowa administrative assistant Jerry Strom revealed why Irvine played Ohio University and the Hawkeyes played Pepperdine in the first round of the Hawkeye Invitational tournament.

“Last year, we went out to Irvine thinking we’d have this nice little winter vacation in California,” he said. “At least that’s what the players thought. Coaches are smart enough to know you have to be ready to play every night. Anyway, we came away with a very humiliating (86-78) loss.

“This year, everyone wanted to get even for that game, but Coach (Tom) Davis took all the emotion out of it, looked at Rod’s recruiting class, their overall personnel and said, ‘No, we’ll play Pepperdine.’ ”

*

Which direction? The Anteaters call the play that Baker borrowed from the Sonics “Misdirection.” It is designed to end in two screens for Brown and a three-point attempt.

Baker estimates that at least half of Brown’s 122 three-pointers last season came as a result of the play.

“In the conference championship game (against New Mexico State) we ran that play to death and Chris had 11 threes,” Baker said. “Actually, he made a 12th but the referee called an illegal screen.”

The Anteaters are still running the play, but Brown is struggling. Winning the national three-point shooting title has become a bit of an anchor for him. He has been dragging at least one very determined defender with him everywhere he goes on the court this season.

Brown has connected on only nine of 27 three-pointers and admits he’s been pressing to live up to his title as the nation’s No. 1 three-point shooter.

*

A Battle won? Junior forward Shaun Battle was ejected from the Anteaters’ first game for supposedly throwing a punch and then fouled out of their second. But he had nine points, six rebounds and only one foul in 17 minutes of Irvine’s 75-68 victory over Pepperdine in the consolation game of the Iowa tournament.

“Shaun settled down and played well,” Baker said. “The more we have him on the floor, the better we can be.”

Shaun said he’s learned his lesson and now is Mr. Nice Guy.

“I’m done with all that other stuff,” he said, smiling. “It’s all gone. You won’t see it no more.”

Anteater notes

Water polo Coach Ted Newland has been named head coach for the U.S. team in the World University Games next summer in Japan. Newland also coached the team in 1973, ’77 and ’91 . . . Senior Peter Muller was an honorable mention All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation selection. He led the water polo team in scoring with 43 points, including eight two-point goals.