Bruin Seniors Not Yet Ready for Graduation

Not yet.

From underneath the rubble of an unsightly, disorganized UCLA tournament game Friday, there arose two voices, one cry.

Not yet.

Amid the haze of bad passes and silly fouls and wild shots, up stood seniors J.R. Henderson and Toby Bailey, two glares, one message.

Not yet.

Skeptics may wonder why anyone would want to continue what has become an increasingly embarrassing UCLA season.

But Henderson and Bailey do, so on Friday they did, finding inspiration in the bad playground game that masqueraded as the Bruins’ 65-62 victory over Miami.

UCLA is down by seven at the end of the first half, Henderson makes a steal, hits a layup, a turnaround jumper, another layup, and at halftime the score is tied.

UCLA is still struggling early in the second half, Bailey scores six consecutive points, gives them an eight-point lead.

UCLA is down to its last breath in the final minutes, Bailey spins along the baseline and finds Henderson who banks it in to pull UCLA within one.

Then you knew what would happen next.

Henderson is fouled, sighs, and makes two free throws to give them the lead.

Bailey is fouled, sighs, makes two free throws to clinch it.

They walk off the court shaking their heads, more weary than happy, the message delivered.

Not yet.

“I did not want to go out like this,” said Bailey, unsmiling. “If we lost, it was not going to be because I didn’t try my hardest.”

Henderson was so exhausted, he acknowledged something you’d never find beneath that frown. He acknowledged that he was human.

“I was kind of scared,” he said. “I felt their momentum. I knew that one of us had to make the big play to stop it.”

And so, on to the second round, Sunday afternoon, and the unavoidable question:

Now what?

If they play like they played against a bad Miami team Friday, the Bruins have no chance against Michigan.

You don’t believe me? Fine. Let’s pose the same question to Kris Johnson, who was bumped around and wiped out of Friday’s game with three points.

Can you beat Michigan playing this way?

For a moment, Johnson did not answer. He just stared. And stared.

“OK,” he finally said. “Now ask me a serious question.”

He knows it. They all know it.

You cannot beat Michigan when you are outrebounded by 12 by a similarly-sized Miami team.

You cannot beat Michigan making only four of 16 three-pointers, and barely half of your free throws.

You cannot beat Michigan by committing 15 turnovers with only 14 assists.

And this Bruin team absolutely cannot beat Michigan in Sunday’s late afternoon game if they don’t get loose in the morning.

That was their first mistake Friday. Actually, since Steve Lavin is the boss, it was his mistake.

Unlike many other teams here, they did not show up Friday morning at the Georgia Dome to shoot around. The practice works in the NBA--as well as throughout the country during this tournament--but apparently the Bruins figured it would not work for them.

Johnson said Lavin asked the team, and the team said no.

“We told Coach we didn’t feel it would help, we thought maybe our legs would be fresher if we didn’t,” Johnson said. “Senior mistake. It won’t happen again.”

It almost didn’t have a chance to happen again after UCLA stumbled to an early seven-point deficit while scoring just 10 points in the first ten minutes of the first half.

“Sluggish,” said Toby Bailey.

Awful is another word for it.

Fans were laughing as Baron Davis would throw a ball out of bounds while Bailey was cutting the other way.

Then Bailey would lose a ball off his foot.

Then Johnson would lose a rebound against somebody smaller.

Then Davis would throw up a wild three-pointer.

By halftime, the Michigan team, which had won earlier in the night, had seen enough. The players rose from their seats and left the building.

There is not truth to the rumor that they were chanting, “We got next.”

It was Davis who took control early in the second half, with two consecutive layups that gave the Bruins a four-point lead.

But again, like in any lousy pickup game, they couldn’t hold it.

Henderson wore down, later saying he was feeling poorly and the medicine, “Made me see stars.”

Johnson wore out, finally fouling out with 2:35 remaining, so stunned that when he got to the sidelines, he refused to sit.

Bailey grew more frustrated, silently pleading with teammates to give him the ball and the game.

Then it worked. One more time.

“The seniors, those are the guys we look to in the clutch,” said freshman Rico Hines, who drew a couple of important charging fouls. “It happened again.”

And now what?

Hines said that by entering the game against Michigan with few expectations from anyone other than themselves, the Bruins are finally in a good position.

“Finally, we are the underdogs,” Hines said. “We can let it all hang out, go out and grab and claw and scratch.”

Sounds good. Too bad they couldn’t do that Friday, before Henderson and Bailey saved them again.

Of course, the three seniors will play their last game soon, giving rise to that question again.

Now what?