Davis Fit Enough to Begin March

Fifty-one weeks later, he is not all the way back, not from the knee injury suffered March 15, 1998, and not from the toe injury suffered March 4, 1999.

But he is at least back on center stage. A calf-to-thigh brace on his left leg, a sliver of a metal plate tucked under the insole of the just-arrived custom right shoe and a plan--all are support for the wounds.

When UCLA opens the NCAA tournament tonight as the fifth-seeded team in the South Regional against Midwestern Collegiate Conference champion Detroit Mercy at the RCA Dome, it will be with Baron Davis determined to make this month his own. As if the last two weren’t enough.

Perhaps because it could be his last run as a Bruin.

Definitely because of what happened during the last run.

The torn anterior cruciate ligament came in the first half of the second game of the 1998 NCAA tournament, suffered when he landed awkwardly after a dunk.

Davis lost the chance to play in the summer, limited to rehabilitation instead of the traditional pickup games at UCLA against NBA players that could have offered the best gauge of how ready he is for the pros.

More prominent at this moment, though, is that he lost the chance to play a chunk of college basketball when everyone was watching.

Which is why he is “just hyped” and “real excited.”

More than he would have been because of what transpired a year ago.

“A lot more,” Davis said. “Just to get out there and show what I can do and lead my team to victory.”

He got to do that once in the tournament in his freshman season, contributing 13 points, three steals, three rebounds and two assists in the opening round against Miami. The knee injury came after he had played 14 minutes of the next game, leaving the Bruins to finish the upset win over Michigan without him. He missed the entire Sweet 16 loss to eventual champion Kentucky.

March Sadness.

“I just thought that last year we had a good opportunity to be a Cinderella team,” he said. “I didn’t know I was hurt that bad, so I really thought that we could have beat Kentucky. You know how you just have a feeling that you can be a team to shock the world. I was just starting to come around. I just wanted to show everybody on national TV that I can play, too.

“I was hurt and people didn’t really get to see me play. They got to see me probably like a game and a half, if that. Maybe just a couple minutes of the Michigan game because I don’t think everybody saw the Miami game. I’m definitely going to come out and prove that the tournament brings out the best in everyone.”

As if, even after a great second half of a sophomore season as the knee strengthened, he still has something to prove.

“No,” Davis said.

An instant later, he did a 180.

“I do,” he countered before taking a breath. “There’s still doubters. I’m not finished yet proving to everybody what I can do. I’m not finished yet.”

The doubters are not in NBA front offices. Davis could be a lottery pick with a good showing in the tournament.

The doubters are hard to find anywhere. But he wants to use the tournament to drive them away for good.

“I remember walking out with him the night before the Michigan game,” Bruin Coach Steve Lavin said. “We were talking about, ‘This is where players make names for themselves. Players become legends overnight in games like the one you’re going to play in tomorrow.’ And he had already thought of that and was well aware of that because he’s got a pretty good feel for the history of the game and the players and the history of the tournament.

“And I think this year, he knows this is more clearly his team. He’s clearly the quarterback of the team. This is clearly a situation where he’s the leader. It’s him and Earl [Watson], but in particular this year it’s really been him.

“Last year, there was Toby [Bailey], J.R. [Henderson] and Kris [Johnson], and he was always kind of careful to not step on their toes, to understand, to be respectful of the fact that it was their senior year and that they had accomplished a lot. He didn’t in any want to take away from their spotlight.

“But this year, there’s nothing holding him back. He doesn’t have to hide in the shadows. He can clearly come out and lead this team like he’s capable of. That’s what he’s done the last five weeks, so I would imagine he’ll do the same [in the tournament], but probably at a higher level of energy and all those other emotions he brings to the court.”

The improved condition of the middle toe on his right foot, a painful injury that was aggravated last Saturday in the regular-season finale at Arizona and put him a walking boot, helps. Davis practiced Tuesday in Los Angeles and again here Wednesday, then said the pain is nothing he can’t play through.

Maybe the time of year has helped the recovery process.

Bruin Notes

The Bruins, conveniently forgetting they finished the regular season ranked 15th and were seeded seven spots higher in the South Regional than their opponents, took the liberty of installing themselves as the underdogs for tonight’s game at the RCA Dome. Because they heard that Dick Vitale picked Detroit Mercy. And just because. “It feels like we are the underdogs,” said reserve guard Brandon Loyd, who plans to play tonight despite a bruised right (shooting) hand that kept him out of the regular-season finale against Arizona. And how could that be? “They just hate us, basically,” Baron Davis said of the masses. “That’s all. We’re UCLA. We’re young, we’re good looking. For some reason, they don’t like us.” The Titans, unranked and seeded No. 12 in the region, found amusement in the comments, but little credibility. “We appreciate the reverse psychology,” forward Bacari Alexander said. “We’re not very good either. We’re just happy to be here.” Said Coach Perry Watson: “That’s just interview talk.” . . .

UCLA swingman Ray Young, his availability as a backup forward especially important because JaRon Rush is nursing a sore back, said he will play. That’s also a boost for the Bruins’ pressing defense, because Young has been a critical part of the success. “The only way I’ll probably not play is if somebody tries to assassinate me,” he said.